Answerbag (AB) User-Guide - Description & History
by Bill Sanders - July 05, 2008

Answerbag is a community of people helping others. Have a question? Ask it here! Know something? (Everyone knows something!) Help someone out! We're here to help you connect with others and to find and share knowledge about topics ranging from celebrity trivia and home cleaning tips to Russian name origins and particle physics. Any topic you can dream of, you can ask it here!

Information democracy

Answerbag brings trust to information on the web. Every bit of info on this site can be voted on, so trustworthy answers are promoted and the chaff is weeded out. People just like you tell if they think an answer was useful, and if most people agree, you'll see that answer is "trusted." This lets you know that it isn't just some loony like my Uncle Herb giving you his answer - it's a group of people who have come together to agree on an answer.

... Answerbag is a community. Without you, our members, this site would be useless. You are critical to our mission of helping people find the information they want and need[.]

[Source: About Answerbag New Window ]

Answerbag (AB) is a Question and Answer website that provides a social network of people willing to ask and answer questions, and discuss them. -BigDaddyBS

Answerbag is a phenomenal website that you can use to ask a question, or two answer other people's question in a fun way. -FreshApples

Answerbag is an interactive website for discussions with people based on a question and answer format, enhanced with ongoing commentary. -YARNLADY

Answerbag is a kick-ass place to ask and answer questions. -ImNotAnonymous

Answerbag is the best place to ask a question, or answer one, on the internet, no doubt about it. -Chris

Answerbag is a cut above the rest, in all your question and answer needs. -Wanbli Ohitika Sioux

Answerbag provides the opportunity to gather and share information with a vast collection of wild and crazy characters including some who might just become a permanent part of your life;) -gtravels

[A]nswerbag is a wonderful invention that will eventually contain every question and answer in the universe until humans themselves become extinct, or every question that they may have is asked and answered! -technios

Answerbag is a community of magicians dedicated to pulling boars out of empty bags. -max

Answerbag used to be a trustworthy knowledge base, but has devolved considerably due to the high nonsensical and chatty content; it could be restored to a knowledge base, still with a sense of community, if the nonsense rules were reinstituted and the meaningless chatty stuff confined to a few specific categories. (OK, it's a run-on, but you requested that we do it all in one sentence.) -Shopping Sheryl

Answerbag is an enjoyable, interactive question and answer website that, while not perfect, is a far cry better regarding handling of trolls and response of staff than any other I have found. / If I could add another sentence it would be this: "I have been to many Q & A websites and this is the only one I would recommend... look around and see for yourself." -Arisztid

Answerbag is a community Forum where we all may be looking for different things, but find what we need from one another! :) ((hugs)) -RosieGHM

Answerbag has more information and more drama than a World War II marathon on The History Channel. -Ender

Answerbag is not only the ultimate Q&A website, it is growing community of great people. / We have our problematic users and enough trolls to fill a seemingly bottomless pit, but no other website has such great staff to deal with these issues and keep the site working. I believe Answerbag has a community-feel, not just a random dispersion of uncaring people. -Zandalee

Answerbag - THE best Question and Answer formatted website ever, due to the caring staff, caring members, and simply brilliant Q's and A's! -Time Lord

Answerbag contains questions and answers that range from the asinine to the ingenious, mind numbing to thought provoking, and has opinions from every walk of life imaginable within the confines of the planet Earth. -JAMMco

Answerbag is a helpful and addicting website. -anonimouse

Answerbag is an enabler for procrastinators. -Meg

Answerbag is a widely diverse community of people from around the world who share the common desire to gain information, discuss current topics and connect through humor and social interaction. -Gideon

I would describe Answerbag as a great source for friends, information, and a whole lot more. -Kyogre-Stataen

[My highlight - Personally, I think we have a winner! -wds]

Answerbag is a compilation of human knowledge and experience. It is a universal, user-generated set of frequently-asked questions (FAQs). It is built and policed by its users, a worldwide information community, who make Answerbag an authoritative collection of questions and answers on any topic relevant today.

We welcome you to contribute your knowledge and experience so others can benefit from it. We all have different experiences and backgrounds, so everyone ends up with expertise in certain areas. Somewhere out there, someone could use your help, so why not pitch in?

The types of information you can contribute are:

• Questions & answers
• Glossary terms & definitions - each FAQ on the site has its own glossary. Users can contribute context-specific terms and their definitions

So, if you're an expert on something, - fishing, investing, croquet, or underwater basketweaving - please help someone out by contributing what you know!

[Source: Wayback Machine August, 2003 - Answerbag FAQ - What is Answerbag? New Window ]

In early 2003 I came up with the idea for Answerbag - a site that I hope will provide information and help to people around the world. I designed it for one purpose: to be an information exchange tool, with no extra bells & whistles that don't directly contribute to this goal.

I hope this site is of help to you. (Joel Downs)

[Source: Wayback Machine October, 2003 - Answerbag FAQ - Who Built this Monstrosity? New Window ]