Hey MUO readers! For those of you that know me, you’ll also know how much I LOVE FREE stuff. I use lots of different methods to try and find answers. Search engines, asking my group of international admin’s and finally other web resources.
My company has had a subscription to Experts Exchange for a long while now. I guess I got spoiled because when the subscription ran out and the big wigs decided it was a waste of money expendable I started looking for a new solution with just as much information online. I searched for a while until I came upon IT Knowledge Exchange. It was just what I was looking for….a free version of Experts Exchange. A user-powered tech support community. I started by looking through their database of questions and found some interesting tid-bits.
I was really impressed, there were questions of all varieties. Easy, hard and those ever-so-special questions that make you go WHAT THE F*^&??!??
People get ratings and points, so you can tell who is serious and respectable. Obviously we wouldn’t want you taking server advice from a 8 year old looking to trip you up. Users were encouraged to discuss the answers/solutions and other problems. There were flocks of people asking and answering questions and amazingly there was NO FLAMING going on. Flaming is what 1337 users do to n00bs asking retarded questions….not here though. All questions seemed to be treated with the same respect and even after the question is answered people can edit it via a wiki-like interface or add a discussion point. All great collaborative options.
Then I dove right in with a current exchange problem we were having and came across a question, answer and a discussion that resembled my problem. I tried it out on my test platform and sure enough they fixed my problem! I booked-marked the site and kept it moving. A few weeks later in my daily web-shenanigans I came across a technology blog that seemed to be hosted by the same people from IT Knowledge Exchange. So not only do these guys do the free tech support thing they give you a free place to post your IT related blog and promote your content on their network. Check out their list of blogs here.
I really dug what these guys were trying to do and I decided to lend my AtA expertise to the mix and start answering questions… I blinked a few hours later and realized I WAS HOOKED! It also doesn’t help the addiction that you get points for answering AND asking questions. I was determined to see my name up on the list of VERY active users. I had answered 10 or so questions and felt like I had accomplished something…..
My work’s inbox might argue with you but to hell with it - it was a Friday afternoon.
So to this day I participate and try to give back a little more to the IT community but on the low I find some of my answers there as well. But after all isn’t that what a good system is based on giving and taking? No boys and girls, I am not preaching but, what have you done for the IT community lately? Go go go… donate a little of your time today for the greater good that is IT!
From their sites description:
Get answers to your toughest IT related questions and give back to the community by answering a question. IT Knowledge Exchange was created to allow members to ask, answer and share information to benefit the entire IT community. Read our site FAQ
(By) Karl L. Gechlik, a super hero of the IT industry with over a decade of technology expertise under his belt. When he is not busy with his loving family or working insane hours he can be found helping the technically inept via www.askTheAdmin.com. Check out his geeky humorous antics today!
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Filed Under: Cool Websites
Tags: Q&A websites, wisdom of crowds
Finally, a good free alternative to Experts Exchange.
One thing I noticed about Experts Exchange that others may not be aware of is that even though at the top of the page, underneath each question, it says that you must sign up to view the answers, if you scroll down to the bottom you’ll see all the answers, even if you don’t have a subscription!
If you want to ask a question though, you still need to be a paying member.
@sbw07 beat me to it. You don’t need a subscription at Experts Exchange just scroll down to the bottom you can see all the comments and the solution. I have blogged about this on my site. you can also use User-agent switcher a Firefox plugin to change the user agent to Gooogle-bot that way the comments and solutions will show up right on top.
Nope, nope, nope - they have done away with this on most of their content. Give it a try and let me know. Because neither option works anymore nor the google “Cached” page I used to grab.
The user agent used to work as well - but not anymore!
Scrolling and Google cache still work for me, although you write that “on most of their content” it doesn’t work & perhaps I’m hitting the rest of their content.
Pehaps this will help. BugMeNot.com says to disable cookies for the site,then scroll down.
Wow, very nice find. I was looking for something like Experts Exchange that didn’t charge an arm and a leg.
Firefox - Greasemonkey - Userscripts.org - ExpertsExchangeFilter … works for me.
About accessing Experts Exchange for free, following tips work as well
3 Ways to Access ‘Must Sign-up to View’ Websites