I would like to view answers (and answer) questions. I have years of experience in construction and HVAC, but little experience with computers.
How can I get a few reputation points to do above?
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There are quick, poor ways to get your rep up. Really all you need is a few points to be able to answer and comment. I know it wad rough early on because I could ask, then shortly after answer... but still not comment.– beastCommented May 24, 2016 at 1:10
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4You don't need reputation to either ask or answer questions (except for the few protected questions that we have, where you need 10 rep); you gain reputation by asking good questions and providing good answers. Please see diy.stackexchange.com/help/whats-reputation for more information– Niall C. ModCommented May 24, 2016 at 1:26
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2 Answers
Just start doing it. Find some questions you can answer and answer them.
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2@macston you don't need reputation to answer unprotected questions.– Tester101 ModCommented May 24, 2016 at 2:03
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1@macston you need reputation points to leave comments, which is a different mechanism than an answer. Answering most questions, especially new questions, is free. I recommend searching for "newest" which is the default if you select "questions" in the top bar. In most cases, answering a months old question is not very useful, but for some reason, they have high visibility on the site and in search engines. Commented May 24, 2016 at 3:06
A tiny fraction of the questions that seem to have drawn spammers or non-answers (usually as a result of somehow getting widely circulated, often long after they were asked) are "protected" and require something like 10 reputation on the site (ie, one answer upvote or two question upvotes.)
No rep is needed to ask a question.
No rep is needed to answer the vast majority of questions.
When you get a lot more rep, you'll be able to see deleted answers, and realize WHY those questions are "protected." When you see an old question answered by a user with rep(1) on the active page, more often than not it's flag-worthy material, sometimes quite vile, sometimes just not understanding the model.
I have only been on the site for a few years. Like everyone else, I started with rep = 1. (once you get 200, you can start at "101" on other SE sites as a "free pass" from the initial restrictions, on the basis that you understand those from the site you got 200 on...)
My first question was a good six months after my first answer, so you definitely don't have to start by asking questions.
