What is bounty?
A bounty is a reputation reward you can put on a question to get it more attention for exactly one week.
When should I place a bounty?
In order to get good answers, you have to put effort into the question. Edit the question to provide status and progress updates. Document your own continued efforts to answer the question. This will naturally bump the question and get more people interested in it.
However, if after doing this, you feel a particular question still isn't getting enough attention, adding a bounty may help.
How do I place a bounty?
Place a bounty by clicking on the start a bounty button. It is found below the question's comment area.
Use the drop-down menu to adjust the amount of reputation you are willing to award then click on Start Bounty.
What happens when I place a bounty?
- The question is immediately bumped to the top of the active question list.
- The question gets placed in the home page's Bountied tab for seven days.
- The reputation you're using for the bounty is immediately and irreversibly deducted from your reputation.
- If your new reputation brings you below the requirement for any privileges, you will lose access to those privileges.
It is your responsibility to award the bounty during the seven-day period or the 24-hour grace period that follows it. You will receive several e-mail and site notifications as the bounty period draws to a close.
Which questions are eligible?
If you don't see the bounty button on a question, one or more of the following applies:
- The question has been asked in the last 48 hours. Give the community a chance to answer your question normally first.
- You already have three outstanding bounties. You can only have three open bounties at any one time. To start a bounty on this question, you must award at least one of the previous bounties first.
- The question already has a bounty. To start a second bounty on this question, you must wait for the current bounty to be awarded first.
You do not need to be the asker of the question to offer a bounty on it.
How do I award the bounty?
You can award a bounty by clicking on the respective button below the upvote/downvote interface. Note that:
- Community wiki questions are eligible for bounties.
- You can accept an answer without awarding a bounty to it.
- You can award a bounty on an answer without accepting it.
- You must wait 24 hours before awarding a bounty.
- Awarding a bounty cannot be undone.
When does a bounty expire?
Bounties expire after seven days. You will receive several notifications a few days before this happens.
If you do not award the bounty within 24 hours of the bounty period ending, half the bounty value will be automatically awarded to the top voted answer posted after the bounty start, provided it has a score of at least 2. If no new answer matches this requirement, no reputation will be awarded at all, and the reputation used on the bounty will be lost forever.
Please note that once a bounty is started, the reputation is non-refundable under any circumstances.
What badges are related to bounties?
- The bronze Promoter badge.
First bounty you offer on your own question. - The bronze Investor badge.
First bounty you offer on another person's question. - The bronze Altruist badge.
First bounty you manually award on another person's question. - The bronze Benefactor badge.
First bounty you manually award on your own question.