Poll: Do you wait 24 hours before closing a KudoZ question? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you wait 24 hours before closing a KudoZ question?".
This poll was originally submitted by JaneTranslates
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more inform... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you wait 24 hours before closing a KudoZ question?".
This poll was originally submitted by JaneTranslates
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Julio Torres
Mexico
Local time: 22:44
English to Spanish
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| Depending on the answer | May 1, 2006 |
Normally, I wait 24 hours or more.
Of course, if there is only one answer, with many agrees and a good explanation, I don't wait 24 hours.
Additionally, sometimes translators who vote "agree" give additional information. As I have the whole text, if I think I have collected enough information, I close the question.
But, if I'm looking for a translation in "standard" Spanish, it's necessary the question goes around the world in order to find the best transl... See more Normally, I wait 24 hours or more.
Of course, if there is only one answer, with many agrees and a good explanation, I don't wait 24 hours.
Additionally, sometimes translators who vote "agree" give additional information. As I have the whole text, if I think I have collected enough information, I close the question.
But, if I'm looking for a translation in "standard" Spanish, it's necessary the question goes around the world in order to find the best translation.
Additionally, there are very difficult or controversial questions, and then I wait more than 24 hours.
I think 48 hours is a good period of time to find a good answer. Only a few colleagues read question with more than 48 hours. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Forstag 
United States
Local time: 00:44
Spanish to English
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| It sometimes is not necessary | May 1, 2006 |
If the question was fairly straightforward and there is an answer that is well documented and supported by a number of "agrees", then I will sometimes grade it within the 24-hour period.
| | | | PAS
Local time: 06:44
Polish to English
+ ...
| A certain group of questions | May 1, 2006 |
Sometimes you ask a question to which the answer is so obvious that there is no point in waiting.
This is the "how could I not have remembered that!" category due to fatigue or a mental block.
Pawel Skalinski
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Reed James
Chile
Local time: 00:44
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
| A steadfast rule for me | May 1, 2006 |
I always wait 24 or 48 hours before I select the best answer. In fact, when possible, I ask the KudoZ question well ahead of time so that when I send in my translation, I have a wide selection (usually).
Reed
| | | | Sandra C.
France
Local time: 06:44
English to French
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... and I would say that most of the time, I succeed.
But sometimes the questions are so urgent that I don't have the luxury to wait that long.
Though I do think that in general it's better to wait as long as possible.
[Edited at 2006-05-01 13:44]
| | | | Heidi C
Local time: 00:44
English to Spanish
+ ...
| About waiting... | May 1, 2006 |
I think it is really important to wait for 24 hours.
Sometimes, I have opened questions that have been closed after just a couple of hours (or less) and have found terrible mistakes!! there are cases where there were 2 or 3 answers, one of them with tons of agrees, but the answers are way off base, all on the same vein (there is some other meaning or even a complete missreading and the 2nd or 3rd answer just rephrase the first answer), and sometimes the agrees are going really to t... See more I think it is really important to wait for 24 hours.
Sometimes, I have opened questions that have been closed after just a couple of hours (or less) and have found terrible mistakes!! there are cases where there were 2 or 3 answers, one of them with tons of agrees, but the answers are way off base, all on the same vein (there is some other meaning or even a complete missreading and the 2nd or 3rd answer just rephrase the first answer), and sometimes the agrees are going really to the person who wrote the answer and not really to the answer...
This is particularly true in cases when the asker has no idea of the correct answer and is basing his/her decision on the number of agrees and of answers.
It is important to wait for a while to let different people (in different time zones) look at the question and give their suggestions.
Of course in cases like this:
PAS wrote:
Sometimes you ask a question to which the answer is so obvious that there is no point in waiting.
This is the "how could I not have remembered that!" category due to fatigue or a mental block.
Pawel Skalinski
it is clear that the asker knew the answer and just needed an unblocking and not a lot of time is needed. (though just for discipline's sake, it would be nice if they waited a while to close their question...) Yet, even in this case, if you already bothered to submit a question, it is worth it seeing if you get any good suggestions you might have not thought about...
Regards,
Heidi
[Edited at 2006-05-01 19:20] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I completely forgot to close my questions... | May 1, 2006 |
I want to get my 2 cents in before this poll ends.
I proposed this topic after getting an awful shock--an email from ProZ asking me to please close my two questions that had been open for a week. How embarrassing!
In each case, I got the help I needed within an hour of asking, but I wanted to wait the 24 hours, so I finished and sent my translation and went on my merry way. Needless to say, I have now graded and closed both questions with many thanks to the answerers.... See more I want to get my 2 cents in before this poll ends.
I proposed this topic after getting an awful shock--an email from ProZ asking me to please close my two questions that had been open for a week. How embarrassing!
In each case, I got the help I needed within an hour of asking, but I wanted to wait the 24 hours, so I finished and sent my translation and went on my merry way. Needless to say, I have now graded and closed both questions with many thanks to the answerers.
In addition to all the many good reasons others have already expressed, I believe we should wait 24 hours out of respect for those who would like to add their agrees and comments--and get their BrowniZ--or even offer a different answer. Sometimes the most obvious questions turn out to have another dimension that someone notices along the line, perhaps stimulated by the earlier answers and comments. The more information we get from around the world, the more our knowledge of language and culture will grow.
I almost never add an agree to a closed question; it seems sort of crass. But I'd like to be given a fair chance before the question is closed.
Conclusion: I think that no matter how soon the asker gets and uses the needed answer, the 24-hour wait should be MANDATORY. There should be an automatic email system in place to send askers a notification that "24 hours have passed. You may now close your question, or wait longer for more input if you like."
Jane ▲ Collapse
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Gina W
United States
Local time: 00:44
Member (2003)
French to English
| Usually, but not always | May 1, 2006 |
Sometimes, if a sufficient length of time has passed (for example, 18 or more hours), and I have to go to bed and/or I know I may not be back on the site again soon, I will close the question. However, I usually do wait 24 hours, since that is what is suggested. I also have forgotten to grade questions and then gotten a reminder notification in the mail, so I don't really see the harm in closing a question if it's not quite 24 hours, but close enough or a sufficient amount of time has passed.
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But I must say I recently closed a question very quickly because it was a question with only one possible answer (searching for an abbreviation), so once the answer was given, I saw no point of letting people spend time reading a question when there is no need to it.
| | | | Heidi C
Local time: 00:44
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Logical conclusion to the poll!!!! | May 2, 2006 |
JaneTranslates wrote:
Conclusion: I think that no matter how soon the asker gets and uses the needed answer, the 24-hour wait should be MANDATORY. There should be an automatic email system in place to send askers a notification that "24 hours have passed. You may now close your question, or wait longer for more input if you like."
Jane
I completely agree with Jane
Great conclusion to a poll that reflects an important problem in Kudoz...
| | | | | I once closed an 'impossible' question... | May 2, 2006 |
I was completely baffled, and it turned out I had got a corrupt version of the text, with a couple of lines missing, but the remainder joined to look as if it almost made sense...
A couple of people had suggested that and another had found a very imaginative answer... in an 'ask the asker' note, or he should have had a point or two for trying! So I couldn't just squash the question. I gave the right explanation and closed it early. Otherwise I do leave them a day or two.
... See more I was completely baffled, and it turned out I had got a corrupt version of the text, with a couple of lines missing, but the remainder joined to look as if it almost made sense...
A couple of people had suggested that and another had found a very imaginative answer... in an 'ask the asker' note, or he should have had a point or two for trying! So I couldn't just squash the question. I gave the right explanation and closed it early. Otherwise I do leave them a day or two.
BTW, I do add comments sometimes to closed questions if I think something important is missing. The discussion is often just as useful as the selected answer in the KOG, if the term comes up in a different context.
Thanks for the topic! ▲ Collapse
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