Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

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!

Just a quick reminder that the Will you design my Valentine? contest ends at 12:30pm AEST (Sydney and Melbourne time).

This is in just under 3 hours time.

Good luck and get your entries in!

Kate
Community Manager

We’ve made the decision to extend the Will you design my Valentine? contest until Monday. This will give some of you time over the weekend to get your entries in!

All entries are now due on Monday the 15th of February by 12 noon AEST (Sydney/Melbourne time).

What’s the theme?

We want you to submit EITHER your sweetest Valentine or, the best anti-Valentine you can come up with.

What do I need to do?

There are several ways to enter:

• Download the Yamster or decorate your Avatar. You’re not limited to using just the Yamster or your Avatar, but please remember, no photographs of people or body parts will be permitted.  When you’re done, upload it to the Answers Flickr pool – found here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/yahoo7answersvalentines/.
• Post your  favourite love poems, sonnets, or, anti-Valentine’s day card messages as comments below.
• We’ve posted an open question here where you can share your plans for February 14th with us.

We’ll review all submissions and will select winners based on creativity, and dedication, so be sure to put your heart into it! Winners will be posted by the end of the day on Friday, February 12th and will receive bonus points on Yahoo!7 Answers.

REMEMBER, your Valentine or anti-Valentine, must still follow the Yahoo!7 Answers Community Guidelines and the Yahoo!7 Terms of Service, so don’t: rant, use hate speech, use suggestive language, be offensive, or say anything that might not be appropriate for anyone under the age of 13. If you wouldn’t show it to your grandma, don’t post it here.

Good luck!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by woodleywonderworks.

It’s time for our inaugural Five on Friday!

To start us off, this week’s questions were sourced by the rest of the team here at Yahoo!7. What we’d really like to see though, is all of you submitting questions either here on the blog or by sending us an email at y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au with a subject of “Five on Friday”!

1. Why do some areas of the world have safer drinking water than other areas? asked by Natalia.
2. My chocolate chip cookie batter is too soft! What do I do? asked by Tydodtyp R.
3. What would you do if your husband is not ambitious and play video games all the time? asked by Gangman.
4. Is 150 sit ups per day enough to burn off blubber? asked by Beau Maker.
5. How do I get my sheets feeling crisp when I wash them? asked by Miss_vanshe.

This weeks are all open questions, so if you have a good answer that might help one of the people above, be sure to answer their questions!

Have a great weekend!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by when i was a bird

Welcome to Week 3 of the Answers “Get Fit Program!” If you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to success as it takes anywhere from 21 to 28-days to form a new habit (the actual number of days has been openly debated by clinical psychologists over the years-  you can read about it here if you’d like .

Whether you side with Maxwell Maltz’s 21-day argument or Phillippa Lally’s longer version, both sides agree: change is hard, and it should be done: incrementally, repetitively, with support, and you should track your progress.

By now we hope you’ve taken advantage of some of the tips our pros Joan and Joanne from Plus One Health Management have provided, and, hopefully you’ve stopped by our Yahoo! Group, “Get fit and stay healthy!” to find a fellow Yahoo! Answerer looking to chat about weight-loss and share tips and tricks, or, maybe you’ve checked out the Health > Diet & Fitness category on Answers and have asked if “you have to sweat to lose weight?”

Whatever you’ve done, best of luck, and here are this week’s questions and answers!

Question: How can I control myself when craving carbs or sweets? — DelightfulJuly

Answer: With moderation and portion control! When you do feel like indulging select a small portion size (ex: a few M&Ms vs the entire bag) of what you’re craving and set aside time to actually enjoy eating the food.  Often, we get too distracted with our daily routine that we forget to enjoy our foods.  If you are still hungry after, then perhaps it’s time to find a healthier snack or meal.

Question: Teach me how to lose belly fat, and tone my tummy so I can button up my jeans and look great in them! – Lucky 7

Answer: In a nutshell, you want to reduce your body fat. To do so, you need to burn more calories than you eat. One pound of fat is the rough equivalent of 3,500 calories. Start with improving your diet and get exercising! Unfortunately, there aren’t any spot reducing solutions– that’s a popular myth that the diet industry loves for you to believe. So, by improving your overall physique you’ll end up pleased with your overall body image and look and won’t focus on one specific area.

Shine question: Are there any foods that I can eat to boost my mood?

Answer: Definitely! There are several veggies, nuts, and meats that have been proven to improve your mood and overall well-being over time. The list includes things like: walnuts, yogurt, and salmon (read the full list over at Shine) You know what they say—you are what you eat, so remember, eat healthy, and eat right!

Check back next week for the last round of questions and answers from the community and our fitness pros!