This is a new feature called, Best Answer, which allows the person that posted a discussion to mark a comment that they feel is the best answer to what they posted.

The comment that is marked Best Answer may appear twice - once at the top to feature it, and then again where it appeared in the conversation. People reading the full conversation will then still be able to see the comment in context to the thread.

It may not be applicable to all situations and that is alright. You do not need to use it if you post a discussion. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to our Support team through help.houzz.com!

Thx for responding. Somehow I thought it'd be Houzz would've been determining the 'Best Answer'. Glad it's not the case. Seems to me if that's for the User's benefit, then only they should see it. 'Cause I saw it for the first time today & when it's invoked, it shows the response twice on the Forum which seems dumb. I didn't appreciate its redundancy; maybe this could be re-adjusted. TIA

KarenS, NYC

The information given by Lindsey is wrong. This isn't a case where the original poster chooses which is the best answer. There seems to be some kind of logic around what is chosen as the best answer. If you look way back in history at threads that were created years ago, there is a "Best Answer" selected. The OP didn't select that. They probably aren't even around anymore.

I'm not a fan of this feature because a lot of the time, you NEED the context to understand the post. Putting the 'best answer' at the top and out of context confuses things.

It would be nice if this feature is able to be turned off so that I don't have to see it. But as it is, I've gotten used to just skipping it. It confused the hell out me at first though and I imagine all new users to the site will also feel that confusion.

And if there's only one response to the post, does it really need to be labelled as the Best Answer and repeated? The logic around how and when to choose the best answer needs to be looked into.

And even if it was something that the OP chooses as the best answer, that's not necessarily correct. Someone could post a question, some random person could supply an incorrect and even dangerous answer and the OP might believe it and choose it as the best answer and then leave and never return. Tons of people might pile onto the thread and leave corrected responses, but that single post is labelled as the 'correct' one for eternity and that's what people will see when they search the forum in years to come.

A big issue with these discussion forums is when people don't read the whole thread before responding. This feature promotes that behaviour.

Yes, Greg seems right, it's not determined by the OP, it seems to be by Houzz. Seems especially moronic when (as Greg also Mentioned) there is only one answer. So what's the point of 'Best Answer'? Perhaps if Houzz can't answer this Q, if they could pls remove the feature. Annoyingly repetitious & seems pointless.

Lindsey: Do you work for Houzz? Has Emily left the Company?

I trust you're aware that the Link you provided above for further help w/ Houzz issues just leads to a 'search the help center' feature, right? Not a direct way to contact Houzz which is sort of the inference given when suggesting where to go for more Help (as in 'if you have any other questions').

KarenS, NYC

Hi Everyone! Yes, Lindsey works for Houzz, and often pops in here to help with questions about the site. She's a great resource for getting help with your questions.

What you are seeing is a new feature and not everyone may be seeing it yet. We test new features before they are rolled out to everyone. The original poster is able to select the Best Answer. If they haven't done so, we have an algorithm that will make our best guess at what that would be, until they return and select one themselves. Your feedback on the feature is absolutely appreciated and the team working on these features is paying attention. Thank you!

If you have questions about the site and how it works, Lindsey is correct. The best thing to do is submit a support question at the site linked above. Use the search functionality or click on one of the categories listed below to get started. If you don't see your question, you are able to submit a ticket for individual help. Thanks!

Why Lindsey? Why?

Do you think Best Answer is a nice feature. It's a bad idea!

Please work on something else and remove this bad feature...Thank you!

BEST ANSWER?

No.

In writing it's called a narrative thread.

It's like posting the middle chapter of a book on page 1.

If Houzz wants a "Best Answer" then highlight the one you like the best, but keep it in the sequential order of posts.

I find the Best Answer feature annoying and distracting. It serves no useful purpose, as the OP and users may enjoy arriving at their own assessment. In matters of design and taste, there may not be a Best, only individual opinions. My vote is to nix it.

Since Two posts I've posted related to this simply Do Not Appear, I'll try again. Here, at least this thread already exists.

Emily -- here's Another new Glitch using Houzz

KarenS, NYCYesterday

I think this has to do w/ the Best Answer Option which changes the order of the posts on the thread. I'd already written a post about this annoying, seeming useless new 'Feature' which purpose only Houzz seems to appreciate &/or understand. Comments were made & tho' I asked directly for its purpose, that was never answered. I guess they still want this but now, here the latest:

extract from yesterday's Quilting Forum

"

' Ritaweeda said, " Why is the comment section above the previous posts and not below?? "

Houzz has installed some new software. On the right hand side at the top is a "thingy" where you choose how you want the posts ordered on your screen, "oldest" or "newest". The default is "newest", which makes no sense, since many of the posts are referring to the previous posts. I"m sure it has to do with selling something or the way they use 6 year old posts to hook you into another click, before figure out the subject is irrelevant because of it's age.

bkay

Like Save last Saturday at 5:43AM

KarenS, NYC

No, it's a new wrinkle, I've noticed it for the last day or 2 as well. It's driving me batty at the plant forums, 'cause it asked FIRST for you to make a Comment, following by all the posts you probably want to read BEFORE Commenting. Dumb.

They don't seem to realize it's flipped the order of the posts now.

" Emily: Houzz's insistence on fixing things which aren't broken like this is disrupting whole threads by reversing their order. You can't comment on a thread BEFORE reading its contents. Well, pardon me, of course you can, but it'd just be idiotic."

Could Houzz pls eliminate these annoying & disruptively upside down conversations? Thanks.

Bump - hoping Emily will see this.

It appears this new feature has been abandoned.

Thank you very much Houzz, I know I'm not the only one who appreciates this.

I still see it. All of these changes that they are making are pretty random as to who sees them and sometimes depends on what browser you are using. Nothing seems consistent at all. It's like every user is experiencing a different site.

Are you sure Greg you're coming in on GW & not thru Houzz? That seems to be the cure for many people.

If it helps, I'm on a laptop using Chrome, but old Windows 7.

from Haoyu Chen (seems to be a new Houzz Staffer, I can't cut & paste their handle)

I AM CUTTING & PASTING A PORTION OF THEIR RESPONSE HERE FOR ALL TO SEE ON THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE, AS THE THREAD WHERE MR/MS CHEN RESPONDED TO ME ABOUT IT IS CURRENTLY 1831 COMMENTS LONG (THREAD ENTITLED "ANOTHER HOUZZ UPDATE").

"...

Hi @KarenS, NYC, thanks for your feedback. "Best Answer" is not an ideal experience so far but it hasn't been abandoned. For now, for discussion with less than 5 answers, it wouldn't be shown. We are still working on further updates.

Also cc @tedbixby, right now there will be a "Write a comment" at the bottom (if you saw the sort option in browser). By clicking it, it will bring you to the input box on the top. Besides, the read-more option would only be shown only when the content is long enough (the threshold has been updated). Please let me know if you have any further feedback!

.."

I've just starting seeing this the last several days. HATE IT! How stupid and random!

Please get rid of it and delete it from all the posts it's currently on. It is not the least bit helpful!

Why does Houzz insist on removing the best features that made it a success at the beginning, and adding nonsensical things that even the most prolific posters tell them are useless?!?!

'Cause discussions don't make money for them so they just don't care. They would rather try these idiotic new things that no one wants. I want to snidely say invented by algorithyms (but don't know how to spell that).

There's a brand new (forgive me, but IT'S STUPID) one that seems to have debuted this week. Its called 'Original Author' & appears alongside the opening comment on a thread.

I'm guessing if they didn't mess w/ the order of the threads, they wouldn't have to point out the otherwise extremely obvious ORIGINAL AUTHOR.

I actually find the "Original Author" label helpful. I don't always pay attention to who the OP is before I start reading and scrolling down, so it's nice to know when a comment is a follow up as opposed to just another person making a comment. I still read the whole thread, but I feel like the label helps with the context of the reply as opposed to these other new features that hurts the context of replies.

And it's unobtrusive, so I don't see the harm.

Hello,

Is there ANYWAY to PLEASE "turn off" this obnoxious, juvenile, unproductive "BEST ANSWER" that Houzz considers a "feature?"

Is there any way to PLEASE see a thread that is just that...a thread? AKA a narrative thread?

I've been off Houzz for quite some time so not sure if there is an adjustment to make that perhaps everyone else knows about.

Thank you.

My brain has just learned to skip over that part of the thread. I don't even really notice it anymore. I still agree that it's a stupid feature, though.

I don't know about a phone app solution but if you're using a full featured browser with an adblocker, this rule hides the featured answer:

www.houzz.com##.hz-comments__featured-comment

Since it's only a houzz feature, you don't need a corresponding gardenweb rule.

I think it's a good feature on some sites and maybe even on some forums here. But not the conversation forums.