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I'm wondering if anyone has strategies for getting good answers to questions. I have a low (33%) acceptance rate, because I'm unsatisfied with the answers to many of my questions. I'm not saying the answers provided don't have good information in them or are poorly written, but I'm not satisfied that my questions are fully answered or the points in my questions are fully addressed.

One problem I see is that my questions sit in the new questions list for only a few hours before being knocked way down, while other, much older questions, are at the top, due to minor editing done "20 minutes ago" (for example).

The cynic in me is thinking I should deliberately write poor questions to force the editors to constantly tweak them to keep them near the top.

Any better ideas?

(I know I could start a bounty, but the way the bounty system works, the "top" answer would receive the reward whether or not I'm satisfied with it, and then the question will sink back to the bottom of the list where nobody will notice it - or even if it is noticed, someone with a better answer may not bother since another answer was already accepted.)

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Some suggestions:

  • Comment on every answer you're dissatisfied with, explaining what's missing.

  • After a bunch of unsatisfactory answers have come in, edit your question to include a statement about what answerers seem to be missing. (This freshens your question in both the substantive and front-page-attention senses.)

  • Some of your questions are pretty long or have pretty long paragraphs in them. Consider editing them down, if possible. Less text leads to more readers, which means more potential answerers.

  • Setting a bounty will keep a "featured" link to your question on the front page for a whole week. That certainly can't hurt its chances of getting more answers. I'd say it's worth a shot for some of your older questions that you'd really like a better answer for.

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I made a minor edit to a question which bumped it to the top of the newly-edited-questions list and got it answered. That's one option.

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    I've done that. It makes me feel dirty - like I'm cheating or begging for attention.
    – Seth J
    Commented Jun 23, 2011 at 18:17
  • But thanks for the suggestion. Knowing others do it might make me feel better about it.
    – Seth J
    Commented Jun 23, 2011 at 18:18

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