Rank for Helpers?

[Claudiusx]

people only want to hear what makes them feel good about themselves... if that makes sense?

Yeah that's what annoys me the most.

10 of us say no this is bad. Then one newb comes and says, no its ok I've done it (with my 2 weeks of experience) and the OP says, ooh good thank you newb thats what I thought too.

Then much facepalming ensues.

-Brandon

 

[beardie]

@AllanonsWrath: We'd never be able to keep up. As it is, keeping the place clean and orderly sucks up time for the mods and I. And I don't like having large moderator teams, as I've seen too many sites that do and there always seems to end up being power-trips and abuse at the moderator level (a big threat to a site's stability, IMO). The main thing that is lacking is a reasonable scoring system. It would even be reasonable for us to handle assigning the rank, but there's no good method to keep track of who's some of the more consistent and reliable "good advice givers". One thing I also want to avoid is just having me or the moderators deciding what is and is not the best advice. As a community site, "best advice" has evolved over the years. I do think a system where the community itself somehow helps determine who are the "best helpers".

@MissT: True. OP's may not actually know which was the best advice. So, then we'd have to come back to having other members judge it, and then we come back to popularity contests. *sigh*

It's a tough problem to find a solution for. And I'm not sure there is a great answer to it.

 

[beardie]

And just FYI, I may vanish from the topic soon, for the day. I'm traveling for work (heading home... yay), and will be boarding a flight soon. So, if I just seem to stop responding, I'm not just ignoring the topic.

 

[AllanonsWrath]

And just FYI, I may vanish from the topic soon, for the day. I'm traveling for work (heading home... yay), and will be boarding a flight soon. So, if I just seem to stop responding, I'm not just ignoring the topic.

Not a problem. I just wanted to point this out and see if we might be able to come up with a solution. No solution is going to be 100% sastisfactory, but I think we might find a nice compromise somewhere.

 

[MissT]

I know the answer, make me and Brandon 'pirates' and put us in charge of deciding what is good LOL!

It is frustrating. But, as you said, Alex, there isn't really a perfect solution to the whole thing. it would be difficult for the mods to keep up with things and im sure that even those of us with more experience have differing opinions about things - although I would say, we all have a 'standard' list, when it comes to care, which we advise from.

 

[randommonks]

I think the posts count as well as the join date can help people distinguish the more experienced from the not so much. I tended to trust the experience of those members that have kept up with this board for 1+ years vs the people that joined yesterday. If a new member should choose to take the advice that they want to hear rather than the most prudent, then that's their choice, especially if they've been told many times by different people how things are recommended to be done.

Can I be a deckhand Christina?

 

[MissT]

I think the posts count as well as the join date can help people distinguish the more experienced from the not so much. I tended to trust the experience of those members that have kept up with this board for 1+ years vs the people that joined yesterday. If a new member should choose to take the advice that they want to hear rather than the most prudent, then that's their choice, especially if they've been told many times by different people how things are recommended to be done.

Can I be a deckhand Christina?

It just gets frustrating, Raynee, you know? Hehe!
Hmmm... Il have to think about that Does that mean you would help clean up the mess I leave when I'm trolling? Lol!

 

[Beardednoob]

I know I have missed most of this thread but, I did skim it lol.
If the general population just had voting rights, and the administration or moderators had the actual control of ranking each individual then there can't be a popularity contest. I think the idea is great, it would let new comers know who is here dishing out credible information. You could trust that someone with a few thousand posts has the knowledge but, perhaps they just spammed a off topic thread.

Also this can go both ways, if someone is out there just trying to "troll" then this could also be shown, you could also demote points for breaking forum policies or rules or just for being rude. This could help alleviate problems that exist in the boards today.

Just my 2 cents. :wink:

 

[AllanonsWrath]

Hrm.. Maybe a feedback function like ebay has. Users can assign positive and negative feedback?

 

[AtlasStrike]

What about 'anonymous reputation?" The corn snake forum I belong to lets you give people reputation points, the recipient can see who gave them the points and a comment if they choose to leave one, but the public only see the points accrued. BallPythons.net does a similar thing with "Thanks," although the public can see who thanked which post on that site. The only reason I like that is because it allows you to agree or second posts with good advice w/o having to quote them, or even post yourself.

 

[szubelak]

Here's my 2cents -

as a newbie myself I agree that # of posts and join date is a good indicator of knowledge. If it has been years and the person is very active it shows dedication to the cause. In addition to that you start to recognize certain names of people that are repeatedly helping. For example- Brandon has responded to several of my posts over the last year+ and he's definitely someone I trust. In addition to that I've seen him give good advice to others.

Lesley

 

[Scales]

Errr, I don't know that number of posts is necessarily a good indicator of knowledge and dedication. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has encountered people (not going to single out specific forums or members) who have a zillion posts and don't really say much of anything let alone actually contribute to whatever topic they've responded to. I'd like to think that more posts = willingness to share great knowledge, but I've been through the interwebs enough to know that's not the case.

Amy

 

[Beardednoob]

I still think something like this would be a good idea.

I have a question for Alex though, what is the downfall to this? You have said you didn't want it to become a popularity contest? Right? I am thinking what does it matter as long as that particular person is helping out, then wouldn't they already be considered "popular"? Like Amy said (who knows she may be referring to me LOL) the number of post and activity alone might not be determination enough for someone who is new to the boards.

Would it be too difficult to only allow one vote per thread per unique IP? This way people couldn't just vote up their friends or anything to that nature.

If I remember right I had brought something like this up a long time ago, more along the lines of spot lighting a thread that could be a major interest. :wink:

 

[Claudiusx]

(who knows she may be referring to me LOL)

Hahahah :lol: :laughhard:

Don't worry, its obviously me and Christina the pirates that she is refering to :laughhard:

-Brandon

 

[Scales]

:lol: No, my fellow pirates, I wasn't referring to you. It was merely a general observation.

Would it be too difficult to only allow one vote per thread per unique IP? This way people couldn't just vote up their friends or anything to that nature.

That's not a bad idea, but it seems like there'd be lots of MODs involved. I'm no programmer however, so just throw something heavy at me if I'm talking out of line.

P.S.I have a giant black and white Jolly Roger proudly flying from my front porch. Keeps the neighbor rabble at bay.