Reputation

[dmaruca]

I have some feedback to offer for reputation. I mainly only ever view and post in the Office Development section of the forum. There are only a handful of posters there that regularly answer questions. These guys really give and give and I would love to be able to give them ratings when I see good stuff, but I can't! Every time I click on them it says I must spread some reputation around.

Let me tell you I've been coming here for years and there isn't that much to spread around. I think this setting needs tweaking. In order for me to ever give rep points again, I'll have to start randomly adding reps to people in other forums that I don't read.

And so here we have a problem. Let's say anhn, koolsid, ecniv, or westconn1. These guys deserve more, but I can't give them any mods because of the 1 point that I gave them over a year or more ago. I can understand wanting to protect against abuse, but this is too draconian.

[brad jones]

Draconian is the original spread that was like 25 or something crazy. We've at least narrowed it down to something much less.

To address your point, the moderators will discuss this and determine if a change is needed.

Brad!

[dmaruca]

What is the spread now? If it's low at least I don't have a lot of random repping to do.

[MartinLiss]

I believe it's 10 and while I understand why you guys "randomly" rep people I'd like to ask you not to do that.

[techgnome]

It's 10 if I remember right... you're not the only one this happens to. I run into this problem a lot. It's frustrating... but that's also the way that it is. it would be nice to not have to spread it around so much, but it's there for a reason. All you can really do is remember who you've rep'd, and keep track of the posts you want to rep.... and when that user comes back around in your list, rep them. It's a hassle, but there's not much else that can be done with it. The alternative it to take out the rep system all together. There are pros and cons for that too.

-tg

[DeanMc]

A thanks system would be better I think as people may thank more often to more deserving posts, It would also show what post you where thanked for. But then its not the most important feature.

[brad jones]

actually, I believe a "Was this post helpful (y/n) type rating system is better where people get tallies of the yes's and no's they get overall. But while many forum packages support this type of system, there is not one in vBulletin that I'm aware of.

btw - the spread is actually 6 and has been 6 for a long, long time. If you aren't interacting with at least 6 people that give good answers, then you should spend more time wandering around the community. The spread was originally 20 or 25 and we dropped it to 10. We then further dropped it to 6. I don't see us going lower than that.

Brad!

[Shaggy Hiker]

Just for a different view: I thought the spread was five, and I rarely run into it. However, I notice that I have a tendency to rep infrequent visitors perhaps more often than the frequent folks. Somebody who drops in, posts something really useful, or spends considerable time helping somebody else, tends to draw my attention more than the regulars, though I don't leave anyone out. I don't know whether this is some subconscious desire to grow the frequent user base, or something else.

[brad jones]

Shaggy - Great post. That is how I like to see reputations used. This helps get other people interested in the forum and gets them involved and connected.


off topics -- Didn't we change the scale to text at one point that said "Rate Post" or something? Or was that at Codeguru? Regardless, it isn't that way on either forum now. I'll have to see if I can get Joe to change that since "Rate Post" is more obvious than a scale to new people .

Brad!

[techgnome]

brad - if I can add two cents to that real quick - might I suggest something else other than "Rate Post" it makes it sound like you can give it a rating 1 -5 or something. I'm not sure what other terminology there could be.

-tg

[DeanMc]

Thank Poster?

[MartinLiss]

I see nothing wrong with the current "Add to John Smith's Reputation".

[techgnome]

I guess I'm think about when it used to say "Rate this post" ... didn't know it had changed... I don't usually hover over it that long.

-tg

[brad jones]

Right - I'm talking about the text that we had put where the scale icon is -- "(Rate this post)" -- The text didn't require a person to hover over it to see. I'm not sure when it went away, but probably with the last upgrade.

Brad!

[Vectris]

How about decreasing the spread for people with higher posts?

Like every 100 or 200 posts is -1 spread, so higher posting users, hopefully the ones with better judgement, can give rep as they see fit.

Or do it the other way where people with 1,000 posts can receive rep without someone else having to spread to get to them.

[dclamp]

How about decreasing the spread for people with higher posts?

Like every 100 or 200 posts is -1 spread, so higher posting users, hopefully the ones with better judgement, can give rep as they see fit.

Or do it the other way where people with 1,000 posts can receive rep without someone else having to spread to get to them.

If they took that idea, then powerposters would get that ability, which is having 2,048+ posts.

I like the idea that was mentioned by brad, a "Was this post helpful YES/NO".

@brad: yeah, last update it used to say "(Rate this post)" next to the scale.

[FunkyDexter]

I find that the people I'm prevented from rating have usually got a collection of gems that would make Emelda Marcos jealous already. On that basis I figure they're not going to miss a point or two from me so I make do with sending them a PM that says thanks. To be honest I imagine that's probably better recieved than yet another rating anyway.

Like Shaggy, I'm probably more likely to rate someone who doesn't have a high rating already, not because the regulars are any less helpful (definitely not) but I figure it will mean more to someone who hasn't got a bunch gems already. I find I'm rarely, if ever, blocked from rating these guys.

Maybe a way of loosening up the rules without inviting abuse would be to introduce a time element. So maybe you could rate someone if you hadn't rated them in your last 6 or in the last fortnight.

[techgnome]

Funky - I like the way you think on that...

As for the time element, I think it's been tossed around before, and if I remember right, there was a problem with it. But I could be wrong.

-tg

[KiwiDexter]

Brad,

One problem with your logic, why would I want to post questions in technology forums that I don't use?

Having same problem as the thread starter, one person has thus far answered three in a row questions I had in the php forum but I can't award it. In other words this person is being penalised because no one else is answering what are simple newbie questions.

This is simply going to lead to people asking random questions, adding rep to whoever answers, just to get to the stage of giving rep to the person they want to say thanks to.

It is a very very silly system when you think about. I liked the suggest for a thanks mod, one is available as a mod to vB I believe and am aware you may not want to overload with additional stuff which has to be upgraded ... bit of a tiger's back thing there.

[techgnome]

in the php forum

That may be part of the problem right there.... you're looking for php help in a VB Forum... granted we have some people here that can cross over, but it's a small group and severely limited. If this was a PHP forum, I would expect it to swing the other way....

-tg

[KiwiDexter]

That may be part of the problem right there.... you're looking for php help in a VB Forum... granted we have some people here that can cross over, but it's a small group and severely limited. If this was a PHP forum, I would expect it to swing the other way....

-tg

TG not to be pedantic, as he proceeds to be, but would your advise be therefore to go and hunt out a php dedicated forum and not post here?

I actually will be posting in some of the .net forums in due course but my current project, which I'm doing to help out my son's school, is in php as that's what is being used.

With the help of the old tutorial and vbf's kows am pretty much getting things done, but would like to add to kows reputation.

Maybe they could replace the arbitary must give reputation to six other people with say a time delay or something?

[dclamp]

I say we get rid of the reputation system. All it does is cause problems.

[gep13]

Just my two cents worth, but I actually quite like the reputation system, and I don't think that we should get rid of it. I think Shaggy said it quite well when he said it is a good way of encouraging new users who have written a helpful post.

Gary

[RhinoBull]

I say we get rid of the reputation system. All it does is cause problems.

Bravo!

[JPnyc]

I say we get rid of the reputation system. All it does is cause problems.

Bravo!

Double Bravo Charlie Xray!!!!!!

[dclamp]

Can we make it a possibility? Possibly through a poll?

[JPnyc]

I think we've done that, haven't we? I wouldn't object to doing it again. Brad?

[Siddharth Rout]

Did someone mention my name...

@dmaruca : Thanks for the kind thought

@dclamp :

I absolutely agree with Gary. Though I don't help people for Reps but, yes, I truly appreciate them. It really brings a smile on my face... Yes it does... No matter many of us will deny it... but that is a fact...

[techgnome]

how about a "Send a Thanks" .... instead of a rep system that tracks points, just keep the part that sends a note to the recipient.... Honestly, I appreciate the "thanks" more than the points....

-tg

[RhinoBull]

... Honestly, I appreciate the "thanks" more than the points....

And so do I... Great idea, tg!

[gep13]

Hey,

I get this impression that this is a topic that has been covered at length in the past, but I am not aware of it, so forgive me when I ask this....

Aside from the ability to not be able to rep someone since you have rep'ed them recently in the past, what exactly are the problems that you see with the rep system as it stands? I really don't see any, so I must be missing something?!?!

I notice that JPync has turned off his reps, hence the black icon, rather than the green gems. Is this not an option for people who don't want to partake in the rep system, or is this only a function for moderators on the forum.

Gary

[RhinoBull]

...Is this not an option for people who don't want to partake in the rep system, or is this only a function for moderators on the forum.

At the moment it's only available to site admins (I might be wrong but I was under the impression that mods cannot turn it off).
That could be very welcome change, indeed.

[Atheist]

I say we get rid of the reputation system. All it does is cause problems.

What problems is it causing? I say if you dont like the rep system, then do not use it. It is a tough world we live in and we can not get it all, and have everything the way we ourselves want it to be.

I like the reputation system because myself I have dedicated alot of time to this forum, as have we all, and its nice to be able to "show" this..

[RhinoBull]

... and its nice to be able to "show" this..

It isn't always what you're wearing that matters, is it?

[Atheist]

It isn't always what you're wearing that matters, is it?

How do you mean?

[Shaggy Hiker]

I favor the reputation system, too. So far, I haven't heard a reason to remove it aside from "I don't like it." I do have some vague memory that the topic has come up before, but I don't feel like searching through every thread on reputations trying to find whether or not anybody has written a coherent, meaningful, argument against them, so how about one of you coherent types making the case?

There are not going to be any STRONG advantages or disadvantages to reps, and since I have asked for the argument against them, here are the advantages I see (at the moment and with little thought) FOR them:

1) They might encourage infrequent members to be more frequent, thereby gathering share, improving the resource...AND CRUSHING COMPETITORS INTO THE MUD BWAHAHAHAHA!!!....Sorry, forgot my pills this morning.

2) Gives competitive people a means to compete in a way that improves the site. Now, competition might be considered to be a negative for some people, and the case could be made that post counts are negative, but since ratings are voluntary and erratic, so the only way to meaningfully compete is to contribute more meaningful matter. That can only be positive. In other words, you can pad your post count with drivel, but you can't pad your rep count with drivel.

3) Those red beacons say SOOOOOO much. Have you gotten a question from somebody with a red gem? Have you answered it? I find one member in particular to be something like the 'Master Level' as far as questions are concerned (db knows him, and got the ultimate fail on that level). To answer one of those questions you have to be able to write more clearly, with more organization, less assumptions, etc., than you might for the average question. It's a kind of challenge, as you have to bring your A game for that answer, but you have a red beacon to warn you before you even begin. That's value.

4) I have suggested before that rep/post might be a meaningful metric. I don't feel very strongly about this, but there are some folks with pretty high rep/post ratios, and I doubt that could happen without them bringing more value with them. On the other hand, that doesn't mean anything for evaluating any particular answer. Either the answer is there and correct, or not.

[Atheist]

I agree with SH, as usual.

[dee-u]

I find that the people I'm prevented from rating have usually got a collection of gems that would make Emelda Marcos jealous already.

Its Imelda. Unless those people has more shoes (3000+) I think Imelda wouldn't be bothered at all.

[brad jones]

We've polled before. The "keep it" votes always blow away the "get rid of it" votes. We have it, we need to live with it unless something drastic changes.

Internet.com admins can turn off their reputations. Nobody else can. Only Joe does this at this point. I don't. The other Internet.com admins don't actually ever post, so it is irrelevant for them .

Brad!

[RobDog888]

I just wanted to address the "Thanks" feature suggestion. Thanks are also point centric. this will do absolutely nothing but give us a secondary "reputation" system under a different name.

Also, I say if some members dont want to partake in reps (ok I had to reply to this lol) then maybe the Admins can zero out their reps every so often instead of disabling them?