Hi everyone,
As Gene mentioned in the
Next Chapter for EE, we are actively working on projects to support making question and answers free.
A large issue we have had on our site is getting members to come back to close their questions and reward the experts who dedicated their time to giving a solution. We want to make sure we have systems in place to properly reward experts and identify the correct solutions if an author abandons their question.
On Monday 8/8, we will be releasing three updates to the question experience:
Inactive Question State
If a question has not received a comment from anyone within the last 14 days it goes into a new “Inactive” state.
Inactive question state details:
- Only Participants, Author, Mods & TA’s have the option to comment
- Once a comment is posted the question is no longer in the inactive state
- Participants can request to close the question by selecting the best/assisted solutions.
- If closed by a participant, it triggers our standard “Close Request Pending” process where Participants, Authors, Mods and TA’s have the 4 days to object to how the question is being closed.
- If no one objects, the question is closed as recommended
- If someone objects, the question remains in the inactive state
Inactive question message to participants:
Inactive question message to non-participants:

Additional notes:
- Participants will receive an email letting them know when the question goes into the inactive state
- Authors will still receive the abandoned question email
- Inactive state is an available filter in advanced search
Close Request Objections & Request Attentions
Objecting to an close request will no longer automatically file a request for attention. The ability to request attention is available for anyone to use as necessary.
Abandoned Question Wizard Lock
Currently, a member’s question wizard is locked when they have an abandoned question (14 days of no comment by the author). We have removed this lock since the question can be closed by someone other than the author in the inactive question state.
Please reach out if you have any questions.
Expert Comment
Features added per community feedback:
-Rourke