Questions about the new Edit Category feature?

everyone can edit the category of their own question no matter what level they are on

only Level 7 users can also edit the category of questions posted by other members

suggesting a category change in your answer is only a violation if that's the only thing you put in your answer - if you also make an attempt to answer, you can politely suggest a better category

this feature has been abused severely by many - either they are moving questions just to be bullies to someone or they are moving question they reported but failed to delete into this category, Yahoo Answers to offer them up for the regulars in here to report

those who have been caught making malicious category changes have been penalized in one of three ways: 1000 points deducted, enough points deducted to knock the user down to Level 6, or suspension

I think that Level 7 users are abusing the feature so much that it is not worth the usefulness of allowing Level 7 users to move questions but to allow all of us to move our own questions is a useful feature

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use Details to add more details to your question instead of using updates - simply click on Details in the Ask box BEFORE you hit submit - then click on Expand, which appears after you click Details to open the Ask box in a separate window where it's also bigger and easier to use:

/question/ask?act=ev

(bookmark for future use if you wish)

The Edit Category feature allows changes of the category for questions for

a) your own questions

b) if you are Level 7 for anyone else's questions

So yes as a Level 7 account you can move it to whichever category you wish, BUT there is a big bug as you suspected because it is being used for abuse

- people moving violations and bombing this category with them as they think it will get reported here and it means finding a question here sometimes is nigh impossible

- people maliciously moving another person's questions when there is nothing wrong with the category they are placed in,in the first place.

So yes there is abuse but Yahoo have also been stamping down on this abuse as well. Yahoo have been dishing out points penalties (up to 10,000 points in some cases) and emailing users not to do this and that if they carry on they will be moved down to Level 6 and ultimately suspended for abusing the function.

So it's user-beware. Move them, but do so with common sense. If it's a clear Homework Help question then you can move it, but if it's about Books & Authors specifically which can be answered within that category then you're better off leaving it there.

I think the idea itself is good. Unfortunately as with a lot of features Y! offer it is abused unfortunately, but the fact that Y! is stamping down on some of the abuse is a positive.

Only Level 7 users - or the original asker - can move the question.

The rules are to use it correctly, like everything else on the site.

Yes, it is being abused. Trolls send questions to unrelated categories to hide them; others send them to THIS category in an attempt to get them reported and removed. Dumping garbage here isn't appreciated.

If a person is caught abusing the "Edit Category" option, they get fined about 1000 points. It has happened to several users here already.

It is a nice idea, but like so much here, it doesn't work as it should, because users abuse it. The ability should be severely restricted.

You can edit category after you post,the question.