Stars

[wossname]

I'm getting really annoyed by people who go around randomly giving 1 or 2 star thread ratings and then NOT replying with the reason why!

I'm not talking about Chitchat here but rather in the serious forums. If someone has criticisms they should actually voice them instead of giving 1 or 2 stars and going away again.

I think 1 or 2 star ratings should have a mandatory comments box that forces people to justify their critical rating. Its ok if people put an "ok" (3 stars) or 4 or 5 stars rating and don't justify it, because its acknowledgement that that the thread topic is acceptable or even good or very good.

There's nothing worse than spending quite a while on a tutorial thread just for some anonymous **** to basically say "you suck". If it does suck then at least say why so we can fix it for next time.

Something needs to be done about this. I'm really angry about it if you can't tell.

Either disable the stars or make people justify their negative criticisms. As it stands I have reservations about posting any more tutorials on VBF.

This happens on all the tech forums and it must be having a detrimental effect on people's willingness to help people out.



Grrrrr

[crptcblade]

This happens on all the tech forums and it must be having a detrimental effect on people's willingness to help people out.

Somehow I doubt that most others take the star ratings as seriously as you seem to be.

[NotLKH]

Re:

As it stands I have reservations about posting any more tutorials on VBF

Where would I find such tutorials?

• Curious about what's been starred negatively
• I'd like to read your tutorials

Furthur, if there isn't a tutorials forum, or tutorials subforum for some forum areas, then perhaps there could be?

[MartinLiss]

Tutorials, but we are considering puttting one under each major language.

[penagate]

wossname's badly-rated () tutorial can be found in the Linux Development section.

[NotLKH]

WossName,

I agree.

Especially with tutorials, if your thread is being rated, then comments would be constructive criticism, guiding you to correct the problems, or encouraging you to keep up the good work.

And, since more employers are searching on employee's web interactions, explanations would give them some sense of perspective on the validity of such ratings.

If someone is abusing the ratings knowingly, giving people bad marks, then it would become apparent by the kind of comments they leave behind.

And...

If someone wasn't observant enough to notice that 2 stars is NOT a good thing, then a positive comment would also tell everyone that he thought 2 gold stars was a positive rating.


Perhaps the stars should be doubled.
Gold Stars > 0: good to incredibly magnificent.
No Stars: Just an average thread
Gray Stars > 0: Not so good to incredibly terrible.

[brad jones]

I would not take the rating seriously for the first week or two that an article is up in a new forum area. Give it time to average out. If it is still 2 stars in two weeks, then maybe there is something about the article drawing the rating (such as being a C/C++ article on a forum with mostly VB people) -- something that isn't really bad.

I'd give it a week or so. If it is still two stars, then it is time to ask what people found lacking in the article - if anything.

[RhinoBull]

If you ask me - stars just like post counts and/or reps are really irrelevant.
What is relevant is the content of your post.
So if you are confident about what you poted then you shouldn't be worrying about any stars at all.
But as always there is someone that will dislike what you said - no matter what...

[brad jones]

But as always there is someone that will dislike what you said - no matter what...

Ironically, I've made the comment that "If we were to hand out free money to every member of VBForums, there would likely be people who would complain that we gave them free money." As such, I agree with RhinoBull's comment above as well as with his post.

Brad!
(and no, we will not be handing out free money )

[dclamp]

(and no, we will not be handing out free money )

I think that would be a great incentive though i would post more

[crptcblade]

Ironically, I've made the comment that "If we were to hand out free money to every member of VBForums, there would likely be people who would complain that we gave them free money."

I would simply complain that I wasn't given enough. But then, there is really only one way to find out.

[dclamp]

robdogg would get the most...

[MartinLiss]

No Chit Chat please.

[techgnome]

So, what about removing it all together? If no one is really using the rating system (I know I don't).... and it is being abused by those few who do.... then why bother?

-tg

[dclamp]

So, what about removing it all together? If no one is really using the rating system (I know I don't).... and it is being abused by those few who do.... then why bother?

-tg

i agree. i dont ever look at the ratings... Did they come with vbull or were they added as a hack to vbf?

[penagate]

They are a vBulletin standard feature.

[brad jones]

and it is being abused by those few who do.... then why bother?

Did we established that it is being abused? A low rating on a tutorial, does not necessarily indicate that the ratings are being abused. Rather, it only indicates one or more people's average rating toward the tutorial. If the tutorial is good, then the average should go up quickly.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I have never noticed the stars before. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that I have never rated a thread. From reading through this one, it looks like most people do not rate threads. Perhaps we could get some opinions from those rare individuals who actually use this system: For what reasons do you rate, and what criteria do you base your ratings on?

Also, not talking about reps here (I do a fair amount of that), just thread ratings.

[brad jones]

In my opinion....

Normal ratings don't make as much sense for threads, versus other types of content. Where they make more sense is on other types of content such as tutorials, reviews, and utilities.

[dclamp]

In my opinion....

Normal ratings don't make as much sense for threads, versus other types of content. Where they make more sense is on other types of content such as tutorials, reviews, and utilities.

i agree

[timeshifter]

I think the thread ratings are relatively pointless, simply because it's hard to rate the entire content of a thread. There's no telling how good or bad it may end up, but it may hit all sides of the field before it settles down. I think being able to rep people is a good idea, and if someone sees a tutorial by someone that is well repped, then it should make sense that it's at least a decent tutorial. If it's not, then there's really no other way than to comment on it to get it improved.

Just the penny of my thoughts.

[Harsh Gupta]

Ratings could be useful only when the people are forced to leave a comment, alongwith the username, as to why is it good or bad!! Just like rating a single post.

Otherwise, noobs are just noobs!!

[RobDog888]

Ratings are for the entire thread such as the caption denotes - "Rate Thread".
The only place I have seen them being abused s in CC.

Wossname, you have 4 ratings on your tutorial now perhaps due to the exposure from this thread. Dont get me wrong as I did rate it with a too. I'm just pointing out that its like Brad posted, just too early to be thinking "things" as it hasnt even been a week since you posted it.

Note: You can not see if a thread or post has been "well repped" and this is where ratings differ from reps in usefulness.

[Valleysboy1978]

Perhaps it would be useful if each star-rating vote was identified. That way the author of the tutorial could ask why this user believed the tutorial deserved that rating. It would also help other users identify if the stars were justified or if they were just malicious towards the author