Some questions have a best answer only once the room knows something about you. "Which is the best route to visit Bora Bora?" depends on where you start and when you travel. The room answers anyway, then asks for the missing piece, and the apps make that question easy to answer.
A full answer first
A general question, such as a trip, a purchase, a choice between options or how something works, gets a full answer rather than a line. It opens with the direct answer, then covers how the realistic options differ (in a small table when there are several), the specifics you would act on, such as times, costs, limits and names, and what to watch out for. Short headings or a table appear only when the answer has that structure. A yes or no question still gets a sentence, and a one-line fix still gets two.
The question card
When the best answer depends on something only you know, the answer ends with one short question. That question also appears in a card above the reply box, on the web, the Mac and the iPhone.
- Send. Type your reply in the card and press Send. Your message goes to the room with the question quoted at its top, so the room knows exactly what you are answering.
- Skip. This puts the card away for that answer. It does not come back when you reopen the discussion.
- The main box. Typing in the main reply box instead works as usual. The card is a shortcut, never a gate.
The card only picks up a question at the very end of the answer that is addressed to you. A rhetorical question, a question inside code or a quote, and a long paragraph are left alone.
Turning it off
Turn the card off under Show the answer's question above the reply box, in the room's settings on any app. The setting is shared by your account, and the question then stays only at the end of the answer.