Guidelines for reviewing First Questions/ First Answers

Guidelines for reviewing First questions/ First answers

Guidelines for reviewing First Posts

Keep in mind that the user is new to your site, so they don't know all of the ins and outs of posting a question/answer. It's critical that you offer accurate and helpful guidance.

The basic workflow is simple: if the post deserves any action (voting, flagging, editing, commenting, etc.), perform the action, and click I'm Done. If the post doesn't need any action, click No Action Needed. Finally, if you're not sure what to do with the post, please Skip it. One review from a user is enough to dismiss the task. See below for when you should take action:

Some reviewers upvote first posts in the review queue that have nothing wrong with them, even if they would not upvote that same post if they just came across it while using the site. The usual explanation is that they want to encourage the newcomers and make them feel welcome. This is a valid reason for an upvote; if you feel that way, upvote the post before clicking I'm Done.

The best thing to do with bad posts in the First Posts review queue is to improve them. The next best thing to do is to close them so they won't accumulate answers until they are improved (for questions), or flag them for deletion (for answers). Downvoting may give a signal to a new user that they aren't welcome here; you might consider leaving a comment pointing them to tips on how to fix their post. If you want to downvote a first post, ask yourself if it wouldn't be better to close it, flag it, or fix it instead.

Guidelines for reviewing First Questions/ First Answers

Keep in mind that the user is new to your site, so they don't know all of the ins and outs of posting a question/ answer. It's critical that you offer accurate and helpful guidance.

The basic workflow is simple: if the post deserves an edit (only), select Edit. If the author could benefit from some feedback, select Share feedback. If the post deserves any other action or combination of actions (voting, flagging, editing, commenting, etc.), perform the action(s), and select Other action. If the post doesn't need any action at all, click Looks OK. Finally, if you're not sure what to do with the post, please Skip it. One review from a user is enough to dismiss the task. See below for when you should take action:

Some reviewers upvote first posts in the review queue that have nothing wrong with them, even if they would not upvote that same post if they just came across it while using the site. The usual explanation is that they want to encourage the newcomers and make them feel welcome. This is a valid reason for an upvote; if you feel that way, upvote the post before submitting the review.

The best thing to do with bad posts in the First Posts review queue is to improve them. The next best thing to do is to close them so they won't accumulate answers until they are improved (for questions), or flag them for deletion (for answers). Downvoting may give a signal to a new user that they aren't welcome here; you might consider leaving a comment pointing them to tips on how to fix their post (or by selecting the Share feedback review option). If you want to downvote a first post, ask yourself if it wouldn't be better to close it, flag it, or fix it instead.

The best thing to do with bad posts in the First Posts review queue is to improve them. The next best thing to do is to close them so they won't accumulate answers until they are improved (for questions), or flag them for deletion (for answers). Downvoting may give a signal to a new user that they're aren't welcome here; you might consider leaving a comment pointing them to tips on how to fix their post. If you want to downvote a first post, ask yourself if it wouldn't be better to close it, flag it, or fix it instead.

The best thing to do with bad posts in the First Posts review queue is to improve them. The next best thing to do is to close them so they won't accumulate answers until they are improved (for questions), or flag them for deletion (for answers). Downvoting may give a signal to a new user that they aren't welcome here; you might consider leaving a comment pointing them to tips on how to fix their post. If you want to downvote a first post, ask yourself if it wouldn't be better to close it, flag it, or fix it instead.