Whoa, what's changed?
The underlying technology behind the BSC Community has changed to serve you better. The new servers are more scalable, dedicated to our community, and we have more control over what happens here now. We've tried to move over everyone's questions, comments, and karma, but something may have been lost in the shuffle. If you're having problems, just contact us at [email protected]
What kind of questions can I ask here?
As long as your question is:
- detailed and specific
- written clearly and simply
- of interest to at least one other person somewhere
... it is welcome here. No question is too trivial or too "newbie".
Please look around to see if your question has already been asked (and maybe even answered!) before you ask. If you end up asking a question that has been asked before, that is OK and deliberately allowed. Other users will hopefully edit in links to related or similar questions to help future visitors find their way.
It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, but pretend you're on Jeopardy: phrase it in the form of a question.
What kind of questions should I not ask here?
Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!
Be nice.
Treat others with the same respect you'd want them to treat you. We're all here to learn together. Be tolerant of others who may not know everything you know. Bring your sense of humor.
Be honest.
Above all, be honest. If you see misinformation, vote it down. Insert comments indicating what, specifically, is wrong. Even better — edit and improve the information! Provide stronger, faster, superior answers of your own!
Do I have to log in or create an account?
To ask or answer questions, yes. It's easy to register and you can use your Google, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, or create an account here.
What is karma?
Karma is completely optional. Normal use of Balanced Scorecard Community — that is, asking and answering questions — does not require any karma whatsoever.
Remember, Balanced Scorecard Community is run by you! If you want to help us run the site, you'll need reputation first. Karma is a (very) rough measurement of how much the Balanced Scorecard Community community trusts you. Karma is never given, it is earned by convincing other users that you know what you're talking about.
Here's how it works: if you post a good question or helpful answer, it will be voted up by your peers: you gain 10 karma points. If you post something that's off topic or incorrect, it will be voted down: you lose 2 karma points. You can earn up to 200 karma points per day, but no more. (Note that votes for any posts marked "community wiki" do not generate karma.)
Amass enough karma points and Balanced Scorecard Community will allow you to go beyond simply asking and answering questions. At the high end of this karma spectrum there is little difference between users with high reputation and moderators. That is very much intentional. We don't run Balanced Scorecard Community. The community does.
What if I don't get a good answer?
In order to get good answers, you have to put some effort into the question. Edit your question to provide status and progress updates. Document your own continued efforts to answer your question. This will naturally bump your question and get more people interested in it.
If, after two days, you still don't have an answer you like, you can offer a bounty. Slice off a bit of your own hard-earned karma -- anywhere from 50 to 500 -- and attach it to the question as a bounty. We'll even throw in 50 karma to sweeten the deal. The bountied question will appear with a special icon in all question lists, and it will also be visible on the home page Featured tab.
Once initiated, the bounty period lasts seven days. If you mark an accepted answer, your bounty is awarded to the answerer (do note that accepted bounty answers are permanent and cannot be changed). If you do not accept an answer in seven days, the top voted answer will automatically become the accepted answer, and half your bounty will be awarded to that answer. You will always give up the amount of karma specified in the bounty, so if you start a bounty, be sure to follow up and accept the best answer!
Of course, bounty awards, like all accepted answers, are immune to the daily karma cap and community wiki mode.
Other people can edit my stuff?!
Like Wikipedia, this site is collaboratively edited. If you are not comfortable with the idea of your questions and answers being edited by other trusted users, this may not be the site for you.