MSN QnA (formerly ''Live Search QnA'' and ''Windows Live QnA'', codenamed ''Answers''), was a question and answer service, part of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

group of services. It is somewhat similar to

Google Answers Google Answers was an online knowledge market offered by Google, online from 2002 to 2006. History Google Answers' predecessor was Google Questions and Answers, which was launched in June 2001. This service involved Google staffers answering ...

, but closer in function to

Yahoo! Answers Yahoo! Answers was a community-driven question-and-answer (Q&A) website or knowledge market owned by Yahoo! where users would ask questions and answer those submitted by others, and upvote them to increase their visibility. Questions were orga ...

. Users could ask questions, tag them according to topic, and gain points and reputation for answering other users' questions. The service was 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 A Microsoft account or MSA (previously known as Microsoft Passport, .NET Passport, and Windows Live ID) is a single sign-on Microsoft user account for Microsoft customers to log in to Microsoft services (like Outlook.com), devices running on on ...

(now Microsoft account). All questions on MSN QnA were "tagged" by the poster to allow easy searching and navigation. The MSN QnA beta ended and the website closed on May 21st, 2009.

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 Reputation systems are programs or algorithms that allow users to rate each other in online communities in order to build trust through reputation. Some common uses of these systems can be found on E-commerce websites such as eBay, Amazon.com, and ...

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 by violating the code of conduct. The account that caused the violation receives moderation and removal of content. Participants that repeatedly violate the code of conduct are moderated to a "Former Member" status and to continue in the forum are required to start a new account and lose all reputation and points from the previous account. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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

History

MSN QnA originally started as a

Windows Live Windows Live is a discontinued brand name for a set of web services and software products developed by Microsoft as part of its software-as-a-service platform. Chief components under the brand name included web services (all of which were exposed ...

-branded service. On 29 April 2008, QnA was rebranded as part of the Live Search family, named ''Live Search QnA'', as part of Microsoft's effort to separate its

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

(then Live Search) developments from the Windows Live services family. On 18 February 2009, the QnA team officially announced that Live Search QnA would soon be rebranded as part of the

family of services, focusing on content and community. On 13 March 2009, ''MSN QnA'' Beta version was officially released. On 11 May 2009, the QnA team officially announced the closure of the QnA service, to take place on May 21st.

References

External links

MSN QnAMSN QnA BlogMSN QnA Boards
{{MSN services MSN Knowledge markets