Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

As a part of the recent changes to Yahoo!7 Answers, we will also be rolling out a few changes to the search experience over the next few days.

We’ve taken the feedback you’ve provided and have incorporated your comments to improve the current search experience.  Through the new search experience, you’ll notice a new, re-designed layout on your search results page, making it easier to refine your search without having to leave the page.

1. We’ve taken all of the options which were previously available in Advanced Search and moved them to the left-hand-side of this page to make it easier to customise your search queries.
2. The category dropdown has been re-structured to fit this new design.
3. For those of you who perform the same search regularly, we’ve also thought of you: we’ve replaced the `Make this my default search option` with the `My Saved Search` feature.  `My Saved Search` allows you to save your favourite search so you can easily access the results from anywhere on Yahoo!7 Answers.  By checking this box Answers will store your most frequent searches.  You can then click on the `My Saved Search` link next to the `Search Answers` button to access your saved search from wherever you are on the site.

You can find out more about making the most of `My Saved Search` by checking out this help article.

As with all of the changes we’re making at the moment we’d love to hear your feedback.  Leave us a comment here on the blog or on the feedback thread on the Suggestion board.

Yesterday wasn’t just Yahoo!’s birthday but also that of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as the famous children’s author and illustrator – Dr. Seuss!

Most of us would have grown up with books such as “Green Eggs and Ham“, “Are you my Mother?”, “The Cat and the Hat“, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish“, “Horton Hears a Who“, “Yertle the Turtle“, “The Lorax” and “Fox in Sox” to name but a few.

Born on the 2nd of March, 1904, Ted, as he was known to his friends and family, had written over 60 books by the time of his death in 1991 at the ripe old age of 87! He also wrote and published books under the pen names “Theo. LeSieg” and “Rosetta Stone”.

In honour of his birthday, we’d like to know the following:

• Which film written by Dr. Seuss won an academy award?

Did you have a favourite Dr. Seuss book growing up? Leave a comment below!

Kate
Community Manager

Although it’s already the 3rd of March over here in Australia, it’s still the 2nd in the Northern Hemisphere and so the celebrations for Yahoo!’s 15th Birthday continue…

Be sure to check out the special birthday message from Yahoo! Founders David Filo and Jerry Yang. Here’s a snippet:

We want to share our pride, gratitude and excitement on this 15^th birthday, with all Yahoo! users (600 million of them), customers and partners.  It continues to be an incredible ride for the two of us, as well as for thousands of Yahoo! employees we have had the privilege of working with over the years.

We’ve had the unique opportunity to help create an industry and shape the online world, and will continue to focus on the values that brought us here —working hard, having fun, being passionate about your ideas, believing in each other, and always trying to invent the future.  And as we celebrate 15 years today, we are even more excited than ever about what lies ahead, and the potential of Yahoo! and the Internet.

And from the Yahoo! Messenger team:

Thanks to you, the users, for continuing to support us and use products like Yahoo! Messenger. We’ll be celebrating at all the Yahoo! offices today and know that if we could, we’d send each of you a slice of Yahoo! birthday cake.

Here are some images from celebrations in other Yahoo! offices:

Yahoo! 15th birthday celebration in Singapore. Photo by Yodel Anecdotal.

Yahoo! 15th birthday celebration in the Philippines. Photo by Yodel Anecdotal.

How did you celebrate? Leave a comment below!

Kate
Community Manager

Yahoo! turns 15 today!

And what’s a birthday party without cake? There are celebrations happening at Yahoo! offices all over the world on this special occasion. This is the cake we had in the Yahoo!7 offices this morning.

We all had different birthday cakes growing up, mostly homemade – my Mum’s specialities were different Sesame Street characters. My favourite was Big Bird!

Which brings me to this question:

• What is the best birthday cake you have ever had?

Happy Birthday and best wishes to each and every one of you, you are all part of what makes Yahoo!7 a great place to be

Kate
Community Manager

The next time you log into Yahoo!7 Answers you may notice things look a little bit different. We’re rolling out a new homepage and navigation over the next few days. Don’t worry: if you don’t see the new changes just yet, you will soon.

We’ve made quite a few changes to the homepage, so to make navigation a bit easier, we’ve broken things down for you by section, so let’s get started.

1- New Navigation

You may have noticed that atop the Answers banner, there are four new, navigation tabs: Home, Browse Categories, My Activity, and About. Each of these tabs (as well as the green Answers banner) will stay with you throughout your experience on the site, making it easier for you to get to the places on Answers you care about most.

Home: This brings you back to the main page of Answers, where you can see the Best of Answers rotating module, the link to the Answers Blog (which is now on the right hand side, as well as the most recent questions posted on the site.

Browse categories: more about this below

My activity: From here, you can go directly to your Answers profile, view your network, your network activity, and even edit your preferences.

About: Learn all about Answers, revisit the Community Guidelines, check out the leaderboard, Suggestion Board,  and visit the Answers Blog.

2 – Browsing categories

On the old Answers homepage all of the categories were permanently displayed on the left hand column, hogging up homepage space that could have been used for valuable questions. We’ve decided to tuck the categories away under the top hide-away menu where you can easily access them any time, or, if you want to view them all at once, just click on the browse category tab to be taken to the “All Categories” page. From here, you’ll be able to peruse all of the questions that are: open, resolved or in voting on the site.

3- An updated look and feel

Over the past few years we’ve heard from quite a few of you that you love the Answers green but it’s just a little too green. So we’ve taken your feedback to heart and have toned down the green just a bit and have replaced the white background with a light blue that is a little easier on the eyes. Our smilies have also received a facelift and look a bit more polished throughout the site.

Additionally, you’ll notice that the page feels a bit wider—one thing we heard from you when we introduced the new category pages several months back was that you liked the extra space. This extra space allows us to display even more questions on the homepage, making it easier for you to jump right in.

But wait, there’s more!

This release doesn’t just include cosmetic changes—we also included quite a few backend bug fixes, as well as a few feature requests, like updating the category leaderboards much more regularly. Starting today, category leaderboards will update on a daily basis instead of weekly.

Please note they will NOT be real-time, but will update at the beginning of each day (AEST).  This means at 9am AEST on Friday, your points total will show as it was at 7:59pm PST on Thursday.

Tell us what you think

Once you’ve given the new homepage a test drive, tell us what you think! We’ve started two threads on the Suggestion Board for the new homepage—one for questions and one for comments – and we’ll be checking them regularly.  Additionally, you’re always welcome to use the “Tell us what you think” link found at the bottom of every Yahoo!7 Answers page.  You’re also welcome to leave your comments here, on the blog.

Thanks, and we hope you like it!

It’s that day again and time for another Five on Friday!

Since everyone is no doubt really excited about the changes to Answers being rolled out over the next few days, we thought we’d keep today’s short and sweet.

We have a few different celebrities asking questions on Yahoo!7 Answers currently, as well as some sponsored questions that are worth taking a look at!

• Former V8 Supercar driver, Glenn Seton, asks “What dream would you like to turn into reality?“.
• Budding Home and Away star, Matylda Buczko, asks “If you could be any character on Home and Away, who would it be and why?“.
• Recent winner of the Nissan GT Academy Australian finals – Daniel Holland – who is currently being mentored by Glenn Seton, asks “Which driver do you admire?“.
• Channel Seven’s premier morning program, Sunrise, asks “What’s the best way to stop bullying and why?“.
• Intel are asking a question of a more practical nature – “What do you look for when you want to purchase a new computer?“.

If you have an answer for any of the above questions, be sure to go ahead and answer them!

If you have a question you’ve seen in your travels or you’d like some extra help on, leave a comment below or send us an email at y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au with a subject of “Five on Friday”!

Kate
Community Manager

February 22nd marks World Thinking Day for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts across the globe!

What is Thinking Day?

The founder of the world Boy Scouting movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, and his wife Olave who was instrumental in the formation of the the Girl Guides, shared the same birthday – February 22nd.

It was first celebrated in 1926 at the 4th Girl Guide and Girl Scout International Conference held at Girl Scouts of the USA’s Camp Edith Macy; after attendees decided there should be a special day for girls around the world, regardless of which organisation they were in, where they could think of each other and give thanks to their sisters in guiding/scouting.

At the 7th World Conference in Poland in 1932, the World Association’s Thinking Day Fund was established. This is a voluntary contribution by members of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides across the world to help offer guiding and scouting opportunities to young girls and women.

World Thinking Day 2010

The theme for World Thinking Day 2010 is – ‘together we can end extreme poverty and hunger’.

Girls across the world are raising awareness and funds to improve the lives of poorest people of the world.

Five countries, one from each of the world regions, have been chosen this year. These are being highlighted for the difference Girl Guiding/ Scouting makes and the way the organisations challenge poverty in these countries:

1. Haiti
2. Zimbabwe
3. Sudan
4. Georgia
5. Maldives

• In what ways can you raise raise awareness about extreme poverty and hunger?

Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting – Guides are known as Girl Scouts in some countries, such as the United States – will work with young girls and women to develop the skills and the confidence to overcome poverty.

Guides and Scouts in Australia

Whilst Thinking Day is celebrated by the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the Scouts also commemorate February 22nd with Founders Day.

Many of us would either have been in Brownies or Cubs, Guides or Scouts, Venturers or Ranger Guides, Rovers or Rangers. Or at least known someone at school or in our lives who was involved in them. I myself was a brownie from the age of 7, transitioning to guides until I was 15, when I switched over to the Scouts and became a Venturer. All my siblings were involved in both Guiding and Scouting, my Mum even used to send us to school in our uniforms on “mufty days” (casual days)! It was very much a part of our lives well into adulthood.

Both organisations are still going strong with the Girl Guides celebrating 100 years of operations this year. Long gone are the traditional stereotypes associated with being a Guide or Scout, where all you did was tie knots or sew aprons. Girls in both organisations are active and outgoing, with a vast array of activities – both indoor and outdoor.

If you have a child or young adult ranging from 4 to 25 and are looking for a safe and great social opportunity for them, I’d highly recommend contacting either Scouts Australia or Girl Guides Australia. The main difference between the two is that Scouts is for both males and females, whilst Guides are just for females. Both websites have information for the state organisations and can assist you with contacting your local unit.

• Girl Guides Australia – http://www.guidesaus.org.au/
• Girl Guides New Zealand – http://www.girlguidingnz.org.nz/
• Scouts Australia – http://www.scouts.com.au/
• Scouts New Zealand – http://www.scouts.org.nz/

2010 is the Year of the Girl Guide in Australia! Even if you are over 25, there are other ways to get involved, check out the Girl Guides Australia site. Why not get out there?

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by aussiegall

It’s time for another Five on Friday!

Since it’s summer in Australia at the moment and we’ve been experiencing higher rainfalls than average, this week features questions related to gardening.

Craig W seems to be experiencing a plague of aphids and he would like to know how to prevent aphids on corn silk?

Vonnie appears to have had a bit of an accident and wants to know does olive oil kill flowers?

Shoemy89 has been caring for her bamboo plant for quite a while but it’s leaves have recently started turning yellow and she’d like to know if she is taking proper care of it?

Sunya would like to know how tall do almond trees grow?

And Joshua would love to know what you find fun about gardening!

If you have an answer for any of the above questions, be sure to go ahead and answer them!

If you have a question you’ve seen in your travels or you’d like some extra help on, leave a comment below or send us an email at y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au with a subject of “Five on Friday”!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by gerreeeeee

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Will you design my Valentine? contest! Whether you posted a pictured via the flickr pool, commented on the blog post or answered the question we asked, it was great to see the community getting involved!

Each winner received an extra 100 points for their loving contributions to Answers.

The winner of the flickr component of the contest is Gerreeeeee, you can see his entry above. Congratulations!

The best poems, sayings or messages from the blog

Why are the clouds in the sky above? the moon shine bright at night?
Why does the ocean breeze taste like salt, the sun give radiant light?
Where always is an answer, there always is a reason.
The leaves need to begin to fall to continue with the season.
All things were made for another… in perfect harmony…
I believe that is why you are here, because (name), my reason, you were made for me.
I LOVE YOU

Happy Valentines Day — Lou

Roses are red violets are blue,
The sun is hot and so are you.

Roses are red violets are blue,
You love me and I love you too!

Love is sweet like cany but friendship is like a rock,
It only brakes when you throw it away, so lets be a bit of both but lets mostly be sweet and have a happy ever after. — Rose

My best valentines ever will be this one because on the 16th I get to find out the sex of my baby (I’m 5 months pregnant). — Samie

This is my best valentine as I get spoiled by 2 boys; I can share my love with the world for my fiance and our adorable son — Sarah

Best answer from the question “What does Valentines Day mean to you?”

Valentines Day is not as big of an event here in Australia as it is in the USA. It is growing and shops are dripping with gift ideas anyway!!
I like the idea of Valentines Day being about celebrating love for someone- unfortunately it seems to have become a little (A LOT) more commercial than that.

It falls on the Sunday here for us, and we both have the day off- we have no plans and that is just so we can relax and spend the day together.
The past couple of years we have made Valentines Day fun by only buying $5 presents! They are of course very cheap and cheesy but its fun and makes it more about the small and sentimental value of things not about the over the top hype of it all. We know how much we care about each other and don’t need one particular day to prove it. I know I would rather get a bunch of flowers or a present on a random day of the year for no particular reason than to get a gift just because its Feb 14th. — Jade!

Thank you to everyone who entered, we hope you had a great Valentines day!

Kate
Community Manager

When visiting Answers, there are three main ways to engage with the members of the community: you can ask a question, answer a question, or vote.

By now, you’ve figured out that asking a question costs you points, and answering a question awards you points. But did you know that you can also earn a point by voting on an answer?

How do I earn (or lose) points on Yahoo!7 Answers?

• Get a best answer: earn 10 points
• Get a “thumbs up” on your best answer: earn 1 point (max 50)
• Answer a question: earn 2 points
• Choose a best answer for your question: earn 3 points
• Vote for an answer: earn 1 point
• Vote for no best answer: 0 points
• Ask a question: spend 5 points
• No Best Answer was selected by voters on your question: 5 points returned
• Log into Yahoo!7 Answers: 1 point per day
• Violate the community guidelines: lose 10 points
• Delete an answer: lose 2 points

More details on points and levels can be found here.

How can I get to the next level on Answers?

When participating on the site, two tips will help you move from level to level in no time—they are:

• Provide Best Answers—be sure your answers are quality, don’t violate the Community Guidelines and answer the question!
• Search for your question before you ask it: while your question may seem unique, you may be shocked just how many people before you have come to Answers to ask “Why is the sky blue?” – Save your 5 points and use the Advanced Search feature to check the site for similar questions before asking your own.
• Use the “Sort” feature to find questions with the fewest answers- by filtering by the fewest answers you’re naturally “upping your odds” of earning a “Best Answer” as you’ll have fewer other answers to compete against, and, may be providing someone with the perfect answer!

With these tips under your belt, you’ll be at level 7 in no time! Happy answering!