How to use Pricefx ASK

Asking questions

One of the primary goals of the Pricefx ASK system is to provide a system that will allow the user to ask questions which may need to be discovered in existing documentation. Answers to user questions are persisted in ASK and made searchable and available to the entire ASK audience.

When a user has a question, they should initially perform a search to determine if their question has already been answered. The spyglass icon in the ASK menu ( see Figure 1 ) allows the user to enter a keyword(s) for the search. The ASK system subsequently responds with all known Questions/Answers associated with that keyword.

Once a result set of existing Questions / Answers ( if any ) has been discovered, the user may click on the Question title to be directed to the full text of the associated Quest and Answer.

Assuming the user does not find an acceptable Question / Answer based on their search, they may ask a question ( see the Ask Question button in Figure 1 ). Please note that users' questions are only posted after a manual review process to ensure the question is acceptable for the ASK system. This manual review process will ensure that rules associated with asking questions are followed.

Please see the sticky question READ - how to use this website = in-house rules, which covers the basics of asking a question on ASK.

Once the user presses the Ask Question button, they are presented with a screen ( See Figure 2 ) broken into 4 ( four ) significant sections.

Before you ask a question, please be sure that you have reviewed the Sticky Question READ - how to use this website = in-house rules. This question is a concise read and covers the essentials of asking a good question.

The question’s title should be well thought out and allow a user searching ASK to identify the general nature of the question immediately. At least 6 or 7 words should be added in the Title to sufficiently describe the general issue. Just so you know, once the Title has been filled in and before you write your description, Ask will automatically offer up a list of any existing Answers found in the Ask system that seem to match the Title of the question you have asked. Please see Figure 3.

The Body of the question should provide as much detail as possible. Code snippets should be complete enough to allow an individual who wishes to help in answering to copy/paste into a test environment with minimal need for additional coding. The question should clearly state the nature of the problem and list the steps the person has already taken to resolve the issue. Where appropriate, the specific partition number and Logic name should be included. Should the problem’s nature depend on a particular structure of table or table values, point these facts out in the question and provide a reference to the required values.

Overall, when asking a question, make the act of answering the question as easy as possible for the person who may be involved in answering. The more detail you provide, the better.

The Tags section of the question refers to values that identify the question's general nature. A current list of Ask tags and their description is available as a Sticky Question in Ask. Tags provide a convenient means to search for all questions on the specific subject the Tag identifies. A minimum of 2 Tags are required for each question.

Note the Ask Question button in Figure 1. Clicking on this button gives the user a comprehensive list of all tags and a count of the number of questions associated with that tag. Clicking on the Tag name will produce a list of all the questions related to that tag.

Ask questions are associated with a Space. A Space is a virtual area within Ask associated with queries and their answers. Spaces may be named. Normally, all questions are directed to a Default Space; however, when the need arises, ASK administrators may create special Spaces to isolate a body of questions/answers from the main Default space. Contact the ASK administrator if you feel you require a special Space. Note that a registered Ask user may be more than one Space member.

Moderation

Note that all questions on the Ask platform are moderated by Ask administrators to ensure compliance with Pricefx rules associated with the platform. A question posed on Ask should be posted to the platform. The question is reviewed to ensure that the format of the question is proper and that sufficient detail exists to allow a reasonable chance of being properly answered. Should the question be edited, the Ask administrator may send the question back to the person asking for further clarification. Careful attention should be placed on the Tag(s) assigned to a question. A minimum of 2 Tags are required for each question, which should be directly relevant to the questions being asked. Remember that the more people read your question, the higher the chance of a satisfactory answer. Many people will rely on these Tags to cull the questions they review and potentially answer.