Question

To the creators of openstudy I noticed you guys have stopped allowing people to answer questions without an account. Why? That was one of the draws that brought me here.

Answer 1

Hey WhiteDragon, as far as I know, and I'm OK with @shadowfiend correcting me, we have never allowed people to answer questions without creating an account. We want people to interact on the site!

Answer 2

Acutally when I first used the site you had the ability to ask questions as a guest without having to create a account

Answer 3

It had to have been over a year ago then because I've been here for about a year and remember having to sign in to ask and answer.

Answer 4

I'm told, by the other admins, that you used to be allowed to start answering, but you had to create an account before you could post.

Answer 5

Thanks Laura. I wasn't 100% sure because when I first signed up it was to ask not answer, and I tried posting this like 5 minutes ago (right after I posted my reply), but the stupid connection hung again.

Answer 6

@WhiteDragon The mods are technically correct, but don't be deceived. We're just a super exclusive club for VIP... uh... tutors.

Answer 7

I would still have to disagree it may have been a will back but when I asked my first question here I did not have an account nor did it make me have to create one to ask the question, I was just looking for math help and yahoo answers just wasn't cutting it maybe I'll ask shadowfiend.

Answer 8

Greetings WhiteDragon!

While I do not share either the excellent memory or lifespan of dragons, I have to regrettably inform you that your dragon memory is a little mistaken here. OpenStudy used to have a feature where you could compose your reply, but to actually post it, you had to sign up.

Our reason for this policy has been to better facilitate connections between people and dragons, maintain accountability and integrity within the community, and to reliably award reward points like medals, achievements etc.

Recently, we made some modifications so that you do not have to log in repeatedly (unless you explicitly log out). Once you do sign up, you should not have to log in again and again unless you switch computers.

That said, we are always looking at ways to make the experience simpler for our users, and have thought about letting people ask their first question without having to sign up. Could you tell me what your main concerns with the policy of having to sign up before posting and contributing. Do you not find it useful? Does it take too long or is it too difficult?

Regards,
Darthsid
Principle Dragon-Human Relationship Facilitator

Answer 9

If you had a smiley face button I would use it, you seem to be well adapted at conferring with dragons. I will accept that my dragon memory may be off, although my dragon ego has a hard time admitting it. I will say that my main concern is that you are not allowing the people to try your site getting a feel for it before registering also some people (like me) do not like making accounts (just a personal preference). The process for creating a account is not long or hard just gets in the way of what I think you goal is and that is to allow people to get help with school work and gain knowledge without going out of their way(if not I would think it would be a good goal to set for your site). I hope I am not going overboard and blowing up the situation and I thank you for your input.

Answer 10

Greetings again, Whitedragon!

Thank you for your feedback, we value it greatly. Please don't feel that you are ever going overboard by giving feedback about our site, we love talking to our users, especially dragons!

You make some excellent points, we are trying to do exactly that - getting people help as quickly as possible. As I said earlier, we have been experimenting with allowing for anonymity, at least initially. I will bring this to the attention of the mighty hamsters behind the site, and we will give it a lot more thought.

Thank you,
Darthsid
PrinciPAL Dragon-Human Facilitator

p.s. I never meant to hurt your dragon ego, I hope you decide not to burn me.

Answer 11

ROFL @darthsid

Answer 12

Your life is spared from by flames as you have redeemed yourself from the brink of your destruction :). I'm glad you agree with my points, truth be told (not to inflate those poor hamsters ego's) but this is the best site I have found out there for school work help (one of the reasons I have an account with you guys). So hopefully the site excels and does well as I would hate to see it crash and burn as I have seen others do or become payment oriented.
Well I think that's all I have to say, I await your next big addition to the site and you'll here from me if I find the addition useless or a hindrance.

Answer 13

I just have to interject that I share similar reservations that WhiteDragon has expressed in regards to registering to websites. However, one of the most attractive features regarding this issue is the sign in with Facebook feature. I love it that more websites are opting to do this and I must admit had that feature not been present, I may not have became a member of OpenStudy. Most of us for have Facebook accounts and I, for one, thank the hamsters on this and other sites for choosing to incorporate this log in method.

Answer 14

You forgot to put mighty in front of hamsters.
It is mighty hamsters just so you know.
Thanks and have a great day!

Answer 15

Yes on this site they are indeed mighty hamsters; I mean no disrespect. But the hamsters on other sites are not near so mighty. Since I was referring to ALL hamsters (this site and others) I reserved the word mighty for I feel that designation should be reserved for our hamsters alone.