Live Search QnA

Infobox Software
name = Live Search
"QnA"



caption = Live Search QnA homepage
developer = Microsoft
latest_release_version =
latest_release_date =
latest_preview_version = Beta
latest_preview_date = April 29 2008
operating_system =
genre = Knowledge Market
license =
website = [http://qna.live.com http://qna.live.com]

Live Search QnA (formerly "Windows Live QnA", codenamed "Answers"), is a question and answer service, part of Microsoft's Live Search group of services. It is somewhat similar to Google Answers, but closer in function to Yahoo! Answers. The service is currently in a public beta, and is available for testing. Users can ask questions, tag them according to topic, and gain points and reputation for answering other users' questions.

The service is community based; questions are posed to the whole community, rather than just one researcher. At this point there are apparently no plans for any monetary compensation of any kind for answering questions; rather, like with Yahoo! Answers, the only rewards are having high point counts and good reputation. In order to open an account a user needs a Windows Live ID, and abide to the [http://qna.live.com/CommunityContent.aspx?frame=en-US/coc Code of Conduct] .

Live Search QnA is integrated with Live Search allowing users to search on the web and QnA. Questions are "tagged" by the poster to allow easy searching and navigation.

Levels, Scoring and Reputation System

Users are given four days to answer a question. Questions can be rated for their usefulness once a best answer has been selected. The scoring system is weighted to encourage users to participate and answer questions. Scores are awarded by answering questions and voting for answers. Bonus scores are awarded for creating the best answer or voting for the best answer. Generally, the user's QnA score will rise more quickly if their votes are for quality answers. A user is limited to 100 votes per day.

QnA users also have a reputation system under their profile that allows other users to know how likely their answer is a good one, based on the user's past performance. This is shown by the number of stars under their username. This is a lifetime rating, so all users begins with zero stars and as time passes, their reputation will change. The reputation system is based on the number of best answers given over time as a percentage of total answers given. It is also possible to affect a reputation negatively. Some users have been banned and returned, and are treated in a biased way upon return by the community.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Level System
# 20-499 scores
# 500-999 scores
# 1,000-1,999 scores
# 2,000-3,999 scores
# 4,000-7,999 scores
# 8,000-14,999 scores
# 15,000-29,999 scores
# 30,000-49,999 scores
# 50,000-99,999 scores
# 100,000+ scores

External links

* [http://qna.live.com Live Search QnA]
* [http://liveqna.spaces.live.com/default.aspx Live Search QnA Blog - Share what you know!]
* [http://boards.live.com/QNAboards/forum.aspx?ForumID=17 Live Search QnA Boards]