[RESOLVED] Poll - Username be recorded for Rep?

[Mark Gambo]

Should the Username of the person who is rep'ing a post be automatically recorded in the comments Box?

I say yes, I always put my username after each rep I give in the comments field.

[szlamany]

I agree!

[dglienna]

It is recorded, and the mods can see it. Brad decided that it's best not to do it, and isn't going to change it. I always post my name when I rate someone, but don't think it should be automatic.

[Hack]

I always post my name when I rate someone

So do I, and I think most do which is why it probably won't get changed.

[MartinLiss]

I'm not sure that names are important given that I can find out anyhow, but what I would like to see happen is that when a negative rarting is given that the person give a reason.

[RhinoBull]

Should the Username ...

No, it MUST ...

[si_the_geek]

I think Marty has a good point - the important part is the Reason, not the Who.

Rep points are there for us to say 'this person is doing a good/bad job', and to be able to see who is knowledgeable or produces useful code, according to other voters anyway! The Reason that is given (either positive or negative) is what can help us improve.

I have seen occasions where somebody has been left a negative, and they act as if the person who left it should be evicted from the forums (or worse!). Giving the rater the option for anonymity means that they can leave a message that they think you need to hear, but may react badly to.


Saying all that however, I do leave my name as well as a reason - and appreciate it when others do the same.

[iPrank]

Should the Username of the person who is rep'ing a post be automatically recorded in the comments Box?

I say yes, I always put my username after each rep I give in the comments field.

I agree 101%
(Adding names autometically will save us typing. )

[RobDog888]

If you dont leave a comment when giving reps how are they going to learn, benefit, or understand from your blank comment. I think instead of automatically posting the username it may be better to be forced to leave something in the comment field.

[iPrank]

I agree 101%
(Adding names autometically will save us typing. )

Edit: Adding names autometically will save us typing our name. (I'm too lazy.)

If you dont leave a comment when giving reps how are they going to learn, benefit, or understand from your blank comment. I think instead of automatically posting the username it may be better to be forced to leave something in the comment field.

Yes. You are right. Comment fields must be compulsary.
A little descriprion will make it easier to correct our mistakes when someone gives us negetive rep.

[Phill64]

If you dont leave a comment when giving reps how are they going to learn, benefit, or understand from your blank comment. I think instead of automatically posting the username it may be better to be forced to leave something in the comment field.

I agree with you.

Most of us do type our name in anyway, and when it comes to negative ratings some people may not want their name disclosed for fear of either social shun (people no longer helping them) or that someone will hold a grudge and negative them back if they get the chance.

If someone isn't comfortable with leaving their name, they shouldnt be forced to. But It is important that a comment is left so as you say, the person knows why someone decided their post was either geat or horrible, to guide them with future posts.

However I also think alot of people just assume their name is sent anyway and thats the reason why they didn't type it.

[RhinoBull]

[b]Edit:... Comment fields must be compulsary.
A little descriprion will make it easier to correct our mistakes when someone gives us negetive rep.

Comments are different from mandatory user name - if someone types something like "zsklfgfgfgasudfgfguirawe" would that help? You may advise to leave some more meaningfull comments but how many will follow...
Name however is saved automatically...

[brad jones]

Once again, let me state....

I currently have no intentions of displaying the names. Names will always be tracked though -- so while something isn't displayed, that doens't make it anonymous.

The concpet of forcing comments is something I'll consider. I'll talk with the moderators about this.

Brad!

[dglienna]

The key is meaningful comments, and there is no way to do that. Just like posts have to be greater then 3 characters, often, spam is included just to get around the limit. I think the comment field would be spammed just like Rhino said.

[RobDog888]

If we can get around the isue of leaving valid comments for negative reps only (which I believe we can) then I think most members will agree that its a good idea.

[penagate]

I would like to see mandatory use of the comment field but am unsure how it would be implemented... Displaying usernames is a straight option whereas I don't know about comments.

Edit: It's not hard to think of something to say, even if it's just "Thanks" or "well done". I always seem to be able to come up with a decent length sentence for reps I give.

[szlamany]

If we can get around the isue of leaving valid comments for negative reps only (which I believe we can) then I think most members will agree that its a good idea.

If a moderator looks at the comment for a negative rep and it's not valid - then the rep gets simply removed. Warn the user that posting a comment of "ASDF" will get the rep removed.

[Mark Gambo]

If a moderator looks at the comment for a negative rep and it's not valid - then the rep gets simply removed. Warn the user that posting a comment of "ASDF" will get the rep removed.

Excellent Idea!!

[Hack]

Excellent Idea!!

I agree, however, only an Admin can do that, and the Admin and site managers are not going to monitor the rep system. Therefore, it would be incumbant upon the member receiving the negative rep with no comments to PM the Admin and point it out.

[RhinoBull]

Excellent Idea!!

Yea! ... but WHO's going to "enforce" it ??? Martin along? Doubt about it.


... unless ... there will be some sort of dictionary check before saving new comments ... (also have some serious doubts about it) ...

[Mark Gambo]

Yea! ... but WHO's going to "enforce" it ??? Martin along? Doubt about it.

How many negative reps are given in a particular month? MODS any Ideas? If we are talking 10 to 20. I think that is a manageable number if it spread among the MODS. Any of the reps that are blank or have unintelligable responses would be deleted.

... unless ... there will be some sort of dictionary check before saving new comments ... (also have some serious doubts about it) ...

I think it is a good idea, but will the dictionary have entries like "W33t", "W00t" or other Urban/Programming Slang?

[MartinLiss]

During the last month a total of 1001 reps were given and of those just 31 were negative (0.3%). Of the negatives 20 had coments and 11 didn't.

BTW the tools that are available to look at reps are crude so to get those stats I had to manually scanned 51 pages of reputation comments

[Mark Gambo]

During the last month a total of 1001 reps were given and of those just 31 were negative (0.3%). Of the negatives 20 had coments and 11 didn't.

BTW the tools that are available to look at reps are crude so to get those stats I had to manually scanned 51 pages of reputation comments

I am sure someone could come up with a more efficient way of searching for the negative reps. I am assuming this data is stored in a Database of some kind?!??.

Nice Job Marty

[Phill64]

During the last month a total of 1001 reps were given and of those just 31 were negative (0.3%). Of the negatives 20 had coments and 11 didn't.

BTW the tools that are available to look at reps are crude so to get those stats I had to manually scanned 51 pages of reputation comments

Thanks for the effort of doing all that for us.
that proves it's not actually a problem, well i for one am convinced anyway

[RhinoBull]

During the last month a total of 1001 reps were given and of those just 31 were negative (0.3%). Of the negatives 20 had coments and 11 didn't.

BTW the tools that are available to look at reps are crude so to get those stats I had to manually scanned 51 pages of reputation comments

Interesting... Is it something that was done in-house or part of forum' soft package?

[MartinLiss]

Interesting... Is it something that was done in-house or part of forum' soft package?

It's part of the forum software.

[RhinoBull]

Thanks for the info.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I would oppose mandatory commenting for the reasons listed here. While it is nice in theory, any reasonably competent person would be able to avoid it. I can certainly write well-spelled nonsense with almost the same ease as I write poorly spelled nonsense (check any post).

I would expect that requiring a comment alone would prompt people who don't want to comment to write gibberish. Adding a spell checker would do a few things:

1) Kill my signature, which is initials not words.

2) Prompt people who don't want to type a comment to opt for no rep at all.

I like the rep system. While I could manage around 1, how do you manage around 2? Anybody who had nothing to say in a comment would learn very quickly not to rep anybody at all. We would be reinforcing behavior that NOBODY prefers (except possibly RhinoBull who was consistently against the rep system early on).

I prefer not having mandatory user names in the reps. Most people add something. For those who don't, it just adds to the mystery. I can't see any pattern to either number or frequency of reps, so why not leave the waters even muddier?

[RhinoBull]

... We would be reinforcing behavior that NOBODY prefers (except possibly RhinoBull who was consistently against the rep system early on). ...

That's the general idea...

Also, I am NOT the only one who dislike (speaking politically correct ) reps. I think you will be surprized to see results of some pool (if that would ever take place) although it might be pointless - I don't believe this system ever goes away so lets just forget all about any enhancements, additions, recommendations, etc, etc, etc once and for all.