Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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After reading the recent post about "Why are you so stingy with your upvotes?" I realized that there are quite a few people out there who may not know how to maximize their Paleohacks.com experience.

This also includes the ever-present issue regarding repeat questions, non-questions, and other such situations that could easily be avoided.

Assuming for a moment that everyone uses proper grammar, conducts themselves maturely, and reads questions thoroughly, could some of the more experienced P-hackers out there share some of the technical secrets to making the most of this site?

Here's my contribution...

The search bar: In the upper right corner of the screen is a search bar specifically for Paleohacks.com. If you have a question, this is the place to start. For example. Today I thought I was peeing blood and then realized that I had beets in my morning smoothie. Rather than posting a question (ex. "Hack my beet pee") I did a search for "beets". Sure enough, someone had already asked a similar question (specifically about "beet poo") but the responses to that question addressed my situation (yes, beets do make your pee red.)
Voting: You can both "upvote" and "downvote" a question by clicking on the up and down arrows that appear to the left side of a question. This either adds or subtracts points from the user who asked the question, so this is a good way to reward interesting, useful, thoughtful, and otherwise beneficial answers. Your votes are also recorded, so you can use voting to tag questions that you may want to refer back to later (Just click on your user name at the top of the screen and check the "votes" tab). If you want to downvote a question, it is helpful to tell the person you are downvoting why you did so. This opens up discussions and contributes to the overall value of the site.

flag	asked Nov 11 2011 at 23:36 FED at LiveCaveman.com 19.3k●20●61

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I try to only downvote outright quackery - gallstone flushes and the sort – Paleo2.0 Nov 11 2011 at 23:43

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You mean that I've been drinking all that lemon juice and olive oil while lying in the fetal position for nothing?! ;) – FED at LiveCaveman.com Nov 12 2011 at 0:04

i am very slow because i can't figure out how to search effectively. let's say i want to search "pumpkin seeds". how do I search for ONLY posts that mention pumpkin seeds, vs. those that contain either word. do i use AND? – Renee Nov 12 2011 at 22:39

Nance · Answer 1 · 2011-11-11 23:43:13Z UTC

1) Near the top of the screen, you'll see your user name. Just to the left of your user name is an envelope. If the envelope is orange, you have a report available on your recent activities on the site. The report includes very convenient links to comments, etc.

When the envelope is white, there is no report waiting.

2) Humor is enjoyed and encouraged on this site, but no personal attacks please.

Olivia · Answer 2 · 2011-11-11 23:42:02Z UTC

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Hmm, but isn't most of this kind of stuff covered in the FAQ already? Using the search bar, upvoting, and downvoting aren't really secret technical tricks. They're basic parts of how the site functions that people would know about if they read the FAQ page.

answered Nov 11 2011 at 23:42

Olivia
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read...pfft, I'll wait for the podcast. – JayJay Nov 11 2011 at 23:53

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Based on the fact that many people explicitly said that they didn't know you could upvote in the "why so stingy" thread, and the vast profusion of repeat questions that could be quickly and easily addressed via search, I am pretty sure that most people are not reading the FAQ. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Nov 12 2011 at 0:01

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I wasn't claiming that my contribution was anything special. I was hoping that the technical secrets would come by way of people answering my question, "could some of the more experienced P-hackers out there share some of the technical secrets to making the most of this site?" – FED at LiveCaveman.com Nov 12 2011 at 0:02

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Fair enough, I didn't mean to come across like I was attacking the question or anything. – Olivia Nov 12 2011 at 18:39

No worries Olivia! I think that it would be great if everybody took the time to read through the FAQ, so I didn't think that your comment was without merit and no offense taken. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Nov 14 2011 at 3:37

Ed · Answer 3 · 2011-11-13 17:24:57Z UTC

If you downvote anonymously, Stephen-Aegis' head will explode.
If your post contains sexual references, double entendres, etc., it will get twice as many votes and pageviews as a "clean" post.
By the way, the "hot" Recent Questions tab is not specifically about sex. It has to do with voting and pageview velocity (but this is really the same as sex, as I discussed in #2).
Patrik is really a "bot" which randomly deletes user accounts. PaleoHacks is actually run by WCC Paul.
Finally, here's the PaleoHacks paradox of the day: Why do most of the questions under the "Unanswered" questions tab already have answers? Please answer as a comment to this post. WCC Paul is not eligible for this contest (see #4).

Stabby · Answer 4 · 2011-11-13 17:48:38Z UTC

Go through a user's best answers in their profile. Paleohackers are generally smart and the consensus usually means something (group hug!). If a user has received a lot of upvotes, this usually means that they have provided a quality answer and you will learn a lot by reading their most popular posts.

And of course don't neglect the others, but you're going to get bang for you buck this way.

[Meta] “How to get the most out of Paleo Hacks” or “Hacking Paleo Hacks”

4 Answers