I appreciate a thank-you, particularly if it gives a little explanation of how the final solution turned out. I'm here to learn through contributing, if that makes sense. When I see an interesting question I do a little research, and provide an answer. Some answers are more helpful than others, but either way I learn something along the way too. If I later hear how a question was resolved, I gain a little more insight. A thank-you thrown in there is always welcome.

That being said, those times where I've been on the giving end of a thank you, I haven't seen much voting activity on such nodes. Not that I'm looking for people gushing all over a thank you with upvotes, but I sometimes am left wondering if the person I'm responding to noticed. I'm in the habit of upvoting any thank you directed at me because, in the back of my mind, it almost feels like a nod or acknowledgment in response to the appreciative node.

There are those who feel that thank yous damage the signal to noise ratio around here. There is something to be said for that. I find it annoying when I'm reading a thread and the OP has issued a thank you after each and every reply he gets. That tells me nothing. I don't learn which response helped him to solve his problem. All it does is add chafe to the thread. So this goes back to my original statement, "particularly if it gives a little explanation of how the final solution turned out." Let the OP wait and reserve the thank yous for once the thread has had a little time to mature. And at that time, one at the end is plenty.

If a person feels inclined to give an immediate token of appreciation, especially several times in the progress of a thread, use votes and the /msg box to thank people. At the end, summarize how things turned out.

Opinions expressed in this post are those of ...me... ;)

Another way is to append a statement to your original node, e.g.

Update: Thanks <all|monklist> for your suggestion. I used the following approach to solve my issue: ...

That way you can express your thanks without creating additional nodes/noise. Just be sure you don't change the rest of the original node ... otherwise some of the answers would look meaningless/confusing for future readers

Some people do seem to downvote "thank you" nodes. I'm already on record in Re^3: Thoughtless voting? as trying my best to counter that. I suppose it's the way I was brought up - always say "please" and "thank you". I think it's better if one can say something along the lines of "X worked, Y didn't because ..., Z is something to look into later, thanks to everyone who helped", because that gives a permanent record of what the best solution was for the OP. This helps not only those with the same problem but also those of us who are trying to write more useful suggestions. To return to your original question, they are certainly welcome to me.

Regards,

John Davies

I appreciate and upvote thank yous. Whether to me, or to others.

Thank you.

- tye        

Baww

I wub you guys

I agree, thank you's are very welcome. However, they are most useful when the OP points out what they learned, and what they'd like to share with anyone else who has the same problem in the future.

It can be excessive though when the OP responds to every reply. In someone wants to acknowledge every person, they should simply do that in private messages.

Yes they are.

Although,

it can get ridiculous repetitive :)

Like, say, 30 replies each saying "thank you" -- don't be afraid to summarize, its ok when public-ally addressing groups.

You can always thank each individual privately via chatterbox /msg [user name] thank for [id://901466], I appreciate it

?node_id=3989;HIT=thank;re=N;D

Found 27 nodes roughly between 2011-04-27 and 1999-10-04 (searched 100.00% of DB).

2011-04-27	Anonymous Monk	Are short "thank you" posts within discussions welcome at Perl Monks?	PMD
2010-11-27	Allasso	thank you	PMD
2010-11-06	fluffyvoidwarrior	Thanks to the Monks	PMD
2010-04-05	jedikaiti	Just thanking the Monks	PMD
2009-08-26	SilasTheMonk	Thank you perl monks	PMD
2008-12-20	agent00013	Thank You, Monks	PMD
2008-08-24	koolgirl	Proper Thank-You's	PMD
2008-04-07	Aim9b	Thank you.	PMD
2007-06-25	blazar	To thank or not to thank?	PMD
2007-02-08	defyance	Many years later, many thanks to give..	PMD
2006-04-19	punklrokk	Hello, PerlMonks, and Thanks	PMD
2005-06-27	Tanktalus	Solved? (aka "More On Thankfulness")	PMD
2005-01-06	tall_man	On Thankfulness	PMD
2004-07-12	bradcathey	Thanks for a year of enlightenment	PMD
2003-06-30	MrCromeDome	Thanks to the Perl Monks Community	PMD
2002-06-11	George_Sherston	Some way to say thankyou...	PMD
2002-02-27	vroom	Server Status/ Thank you Pair.com	PMD
2001-12-31	mkmcconn	Anniversary thanks	PMD
2001-12-28	basicdez	Thanks to all here at Perl Monks.	PMD
2001-04-09	jeffpflueger	Thanks Perl Monks!	PMD
2001-03-28	johannz	'Nodes to Consider' vs. Voting: On deleting 'Thank You' nodes	PMD
2000-11-26	princepawn	Let us give thanks for princepawn shall whine no more	PMD
2000-10-26	merlyn	My 1000th post - thank you Vroom!	PMD
2000-09-06	merlyn	Thank you!	PMD
2000-07-06	Anonymous Monk	Thank a Monks	PMD
2000-06-14	Paav	Thank you monks..	PMD
2000-06-13	Ovid	Thank you!!!	PMD

Seems pretty straightforward to me:

If it is a personal message of thanks, it should be a Personal Message to their inbox.

If it is an informative post ("Idea X worked for me, thanks!") that that happens to include thanks, that is reasonable for nodes which are the equivalent of an email "reply-all".

I often find it useful for the OP of a thread to “wrap it up” with a final closing thought ... so that the thread, when read months and years later by someone else, does remain useful to that person.

For example, it does no good at all to stumble-upon a thread which describes exactly the problem I am now having, and the thread simply ends with “I fixed it!” without re-capping how and why.   Or, it says, “Sorry!   I found the answe!” without bothering to mention where.   (Or, it gives a hyperlink to a thread that is “long-since dead, now that it’s five years later” without giving a brief synopsis of what (used to be) found there.)   It’s also problematic when the thread simply “drifts off into silence.”

When you are writing a thread to get an answer, write the thread as a resource, built to last.   Clearly state what the problem is (using <readmore> and <code> tags appropriately, please), and, when a solution is reached, briefly re-cap the matter and bring it to a close.   Try to give Gentle Reader Five Years From Now what she needs, too.   It’s perfectly social to say, “thank you!” at the close.   (“You’re welcome.™”)

If it doesn't just say "thanks", but adds content, that is great. If everyone said "thanks" it would double the number of posts!

I've sometimes sent private message with a specific thanks.

I suppose adding a P.S. to the original post is a good idea, too.

And of course, voting up the helpful node is an indication of thanks!

That makes me think it might be an interesting feature for a design of a new forum: have a button to flag thanks, adding a one-line comment. It can be appended to the post in a succinct way, without all the screen space of a whole new node, and if not public at least ack's the poster that it was read.