First post in a thread cannot be marked as useful

Sometimes members post a solution-only thread. Or pointers to very interesting material. First posts in a thread cannot be marked as useful. For example this one: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...0/#post5362827

I think this is an unnecessary limitation. This post (and some others as well) deserve the useful flag.

jlinkels

No problemo for me jlinkels. I know what you mean by the other way though.

http://i.imgur.com/hWeA5Qg.png

I used the scales between the Penguin and user agent logo though on the L/H side of OP original post though.

But I bet you would rather have the one that comes on the r/h side instead.

I Posted similar here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rs-4175433059/

Originally Posted by rokytnji I used the scales between the Penguin and user agent logo though on the L/H side of OP original post though.

[cynism]
Oh, the scales. Yes. But I am from before the iPod and Fakebook generation. Meaning that some far-fetched symbolic icon usually doesn't mean anything to me. Text links do. If I had to learn a symbol for each function in a GUI, I'd pray to reincarnate as Chinese.
[/cynism]

Forgive my cynism, I do find your answer useful.

jlinkels

Originally Posted by jlinkels symbolic icon usually doesn't mean anything to me. Text links do.

You can click the "Rep" link on the left margin of each post which does the same thing as the scales, better?

Originally Posted by ntubski You can click the "Rep" link on the left margin of each post which does the same thing as the scales, better?

[GRUMPY]
So so. You are correct that I forgot about the Rep link. BUT... I marked your previous post as useful. When I clicked on the Rep link I got the message that I cannot give Reputation to a post twice. So marking a post a useful is the same as giving Reputation?
Back to my original post: I can add reputation to the first post in a thread, but I cannot mark the post as useful? ++
[/GRUMPY]

jlinkels

[cynism] Oh, the scales. Yes. But I am from before the iPod and Fakebook generation. Meaning that some far-fetched symbolic icon usually doesn't mean anything to me. Text links do. If I had to learn a symbol for each function in a GUI, I'd pray to reincarnate as Chinese. [/cynism] Forgive my cynism, I do find your answer useful. jlinkels

Click on my profile. I am grinning at you. I am as far from the above statement as a linux
user can get. Let alone even be a linux user.

I do get/understand your grumpy post though (back on topic). Me? I am a happy camper most of the time.
Wondering if Jerry is having fun away from the computer this weekend?

I think jlinkels is more concerned with visitors seeing a post visibly marked as useful than adding to someone's reputation. I did not know OPs could not be me marked "helpful." That does strike me as a little strange.

Originally Posted by jlinkels [GRUMPY] I marked your previous post as useful. When I clicked on the Rep link I got the message that I cannot give Reputation to a post twice. So marking a post a useful is the same as giving Reputation?

Marking as useful also adds reputation. I've found an interesting loophole: if you add reputation first, you can still mark as helpful, so effectively you CAN give reputation twice.

As far as I know, marking post as helpful gives the poster 1 point of reputation. When you click on the scales, it depends on who you are. For a newbie, it's 1 point, but if you're an old timer with a few thousand posts to your name, clicking the scales adds like 20 or so points. Or, at least, it used to work like that.

In addition to the reputation addition, the "Did you find this post helpful?" is meant to help surface the best answer and highlight it out of chronological order (which is especially beneficial for threads that have many pages of posts). In that context, it does not make sense to allow the first post to be highlighted. As noted, the reputation system itself can still be used directly on a first post.

--jeremy