Hi,
Is there any mechanism for marking a thread as [SOLVED]?
I’ve had people ask me if this is possible a couple of times now, but couldn’t find a definitive answer.
If there isn’t any possibility of doing this, would this be a useful feature to have?
How hard would it be to implement?
There is no mechanism it’s up to the OP to respond with a “thank you, problem solved”, etc. There also can be many different quality answers to some questions. The poster completes the cycle by indicating (s)he had solved the problem and acknowledged politely the assistance (s)he received. 
My thinking was only that when I’m trying to solve a problem and come across a long forum thread via Google, I’m more likely to read it if it is marked [SOLVED], as I know it has been brought to some kind of conclusion and not left hanging.
Maybe it’s just personal preference.
Thanks.
The title can be altered by mods if needed, but it can be a tricky area to determine if something is truly solved or not. Often times, you’ll see answers that the OP was happy with, but then someone else will step in and point out the flaws / shortcomings of the current answers and suggest something better. So on balance, it’s probably safer to leave a question open in case something better might be offered.
A case in point:
Solved here: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?920460-Javascript-Calculations-not-working-in-IE8-and-below-Pleeeeease-Help&p=5247112#post_5246487
Improved here: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?920460-Javascript-Calculations-not-working-in-IE8-and-below-Pleeeeease-Help&p=5247112#post_5247103
Say no more
<cheeky>Or maybe leave the thread open, in case there are better answers.</cheeky> 
Harumph!!
I’ve never been so insulted … etc etc
Seriously though, that’s a good point.
Maybe marking the thread as [SOLVED] would discourage others from contributing.
I never thought about it like that.
I still think there should be some kind of way of saying thanks to people that have helped you though …
I agree, and there’s an ongoing debate about how best to do it. For the moment, we have to be satisfied with the end of year awards (see my signature)—an imperfect system but better than nothing.
Do you know if there is a thread accompanying the debate which I could follow?
Who would be responsible for the decision to implement such a system?
For the most part, it’s been discussed amongst staff at this stage.
Oh, ok.
Well thanks for the info.
It did come up recently in some user feedback, and reignited the issue, but it’s hard for people to agree on the best solution. From time to time there’s a request for rep points, but they have been dismissed because they are to easy to game (certainly my experience from other forums). Others would like some kind of upvote system, such as on Stack Overflow, but to me at least, that makes threads too confusing. I prefer to follow the discussion as it happened and decide for myself. Then there are suggestions for some kind of Like/thumbs up button, but again, that seems too easy to game to me. There are also some forum add-ons (or at least one) that can be used as a kind of thankyou system. Then there’s the suggestion of a private button that you could hit once for a member in a calendar year, which would count as a vote towards the end of year awards. But the downside is that the thanks is not public then. All the same, I still don’t see the problem with just saying thanks within a thread if someone has helped you.
Oh, right.
I appear to have participated in that discussion and forgotten about it 
I kind of like the idea of votes counting towards the end of year awards, as essentially you want something that will motivate people who like to contribute, but which is not easily gameable.
Oh well, let’s see what happens.
That’s my preference, too. Most people who are helped here throughout the year are not around at the end of the year when voting happens, so it’s harder to establish who has really been helpful during the year.
So, just out of curiosity, who would have to make the decision to implement such a feature or not?
Ultimately it’s up to the forum admin (perhaps in consultation with the greater SP HQ), of course, but not without with general agreement from the community (or at least those on staff). The aim of the forums is to meet the needs of members, so if it really appears that it would benefit us all, and is feasible from a technical/economic viewpoint, there’s no reason it shouldn’t happen. We just need to work out what’s actually needed. Things have been suggested over time, but there hasn’t been a passionate push for anything in particular so far. It does feel like we are building towards something, though.