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Forum Poster Reputations

145K views 67 replies 29 participants last post by  evmetro 
#1 ·
Hey all...

If you're not aware, I'd like to point out that our forum permits users to "adjust reputation" for other users. This is what the "Green Square(s)" in the header of each user's posts is for. You know, the one that when you hover over it, it says something like "TX_Dj is on a distinguished road."

I'm not so sure why it uses that verbiage, but this system is in place so that when users who read a post that was helpful to them (or if it was entirely offbase and mis-informative), those users can "agree/disagree" and will alter the poster's reputation score.

As the forum grows, this will become more important to help new users determine who among us have been the most or least helpful towards other users.

You can access the reputation system by finding a post that you wish to "rank", and click this button
at the top right of that post. This will pop up a dialog box which asks you if you agree or disagree with the poster's statements, and even permits you to make a comment if you wish.

In the last few days, I've tried to ensure that I rate helpful posts to help get this ball rolling a little faster. I'd like to request others to do the same. So having said that, if you have any "favorite people" on the forum, try to dig up some of their posts that were helpful to you, so that you may contribute to their reputation with a quick "agree/disagree" vote.

I think if we all pull together and do this, it will really help everyone understand that it's not how many posts someone's made, but the content of those posts, that determines if someone is likely to be giving good information. This is especially crucial on our forum, as many of our new users have little or no background on the subject and have difficulting weeding out the good stuff from the BS. Let's all pitch in and help to improve the community. :D
 
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#2 ·
I was wondering why I got my first positive rep earlier today......:D Did you actually dig up my very first post???

I agree though, we should be using this feature more often.
 
#4 ·
Something I would like to see is the elimination of the political topics.
I would be very sorry to see that happen. Most other forums already do this, but I still like to think we can do better. Just doesn't feel right to ban something like that because I think it is a topic worth discussing, but I will admit to being a bit of a political junkie.

Can't comment on the EVDL because I've never posted there. Only heard from others about it.
 
#7 ·
That could be a solution, but from what I've seen discussions of perpetual motion, crude oil, and climate change seem to get at least as heated as politics (often one leads to another). Shurely those are not topics that should be banned.

Any topic can get heated if we let it get out of hand. I think the forum has matured enough by now to have enough long term members to step in and keep things civilized even if we are not all moderators/admins.
 
#16 ·
That could be a solution, but from what I've seen discussions of perpetual motion, crude oil, and climate change seem to get at least as heated as politics (often one leads to another). Shurely those are not topics that should be banned.

Any topic can get heated if we let it get out of hand. I think the forum has matured enough by now to have enough long term members to step in and keep things civilized even if we are not all moderators/admins.

....all I said was two cup holders were not enough. Then World War III broke out.:D
 
#9 ·
Well, that's the unfortunate thing, I guess. There does not seem to be a place that's active on this forum that the average user can investigate their own reputation points and comments others have made... But it does alter the scoring (the green squares under your post count). The scoring is done in a very technical way- users who have a higher reputation add more rep points when they give rep to another user, whereas users who have lower reputation add fewer points to the score. This somewhat prevents others from "cheating the system" because every user can only contribute so many points per day, and so many points based on their own reputation. Otherwise a dishonest user could register another account and just give themselves mega rep...

When you get a significantly positive or negative reputation adjustment from another user, it will send you a notice about the award. I'm not sure what the threshold is there.
 
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#13 ·
Well, that's the unfortunate thing, I guess. There does not seem to be a place that's active on this forum that the average user can investigate their own reputation points and comments others have made... But it does alter the scoring (the green squares under your post count). The scoring is done in a very technical way- users who have a higher reputation add more rep points when they give rep to another user, whereas users who have lower reputation add fewer points to the score. This somewhat prevents others from "cheating the system" because every user can only contribute so many points per day, and so many points based on their own reputation. Otherwise a dishonest user could register another account and just give themselves mega rep...

When you get a significantly positive or negative reputation adjustment from another user, it will send you a notice about the award. I'm not sure what the threshold is there.
Wait, I have seen comments made in each rep point on my user CP page right under the list of subscribed threads. The only difference I noticed from other forums is the user name of the rep poster is not there, but thats probably not such a bad thing. I do worry a little about what might happen with negative points on political/climate change/ or other heated topics. Hope it doesn't get too nasty.
 
#10 ·
<soapbox type="curmudgeon">

Regarding the political topics, I personally can't understand why one forum needs to be all things to all people. If I were starting a forum on electric vehicles, there would be no "off-topic" section. The only way politics would enter into the forum would be with respect to how laws of some country apply to electric vehicles.

For some reason, people seem to think that users can only be members of one forum so they must provide an area for every topic someone might want to talk about. If you want to talk politics (or food or RC jets or global warming in the abstract even, not related to EV's) then go find a forum that is dedicated to that.

I guarantee that not everyone here is interested in all the things I'm interested in, and if I posted about some of the things I post to other forums, you guys would wonder what the heck I was talking about and why I would want to talk about it.

</soapbox>
 
#12 ·
If I were starting a forum on electric vehicles, there would be no "off-topic" section.
I agree to a point. There are some topics I'd be in favor of making completely taboo. However, I think an off-topic section (with restrictions) is a good resource for us to "hang out" and get to know each other on a more personal level.

It would be like if you invited a bunch of us over to wire up some batteries. If all we do is wire up some batteries, without taking a Diet Coke or pizza/beer break, that just wouldn't be as much fun. (It'd still be fun, though. :))

Without at least a little personal interaction, instead of a community, we'd just be an information resource with no continuity, where people come only to solve an immediate problem, and then leave once the problem is solved.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I prefer more of a community.

Plus, I really enjoy the "Science vs. Made-Up-Crap" smackdown discussions! ;)
 
#11 ·
Well I thought that was the whole point of having a "chit-chat" section. We all have other interests after besides EVs all. I guess I just happen to like the members here, and don't really feel like signing up on a political blog and learning everyones quirks all over again.

The amount of traffic and discussion we have on the website is still dominated by electric car topics. I've lost count of how many are working on EV conversions at the moment.
 
#14 ·
Personally I like it as it is. It's good that there's moderators that kick people that can't stay on topic (*raises a hand*) over to chit-chat, but a forum that's all work and no play tends to get pretty BORING in my experience. You got to have an "Anything goes"-section for all those weird spin-off topics about boats, photos, kids, dogs, politics (oh no, I said it!), house, garden, work or whatever that just happens to pop up.

The only time a topic should be locked or people warned/banned is if they can't behave politely. If we can have a heated, but still friendly, political debate here (which has happened a few times already during the time I've been here) I think it's just dandy. That allows us to get to know each other better and increases the general friendly atmosphere.

However, the chit-chat could get divided into sub-categories for topics that keeps popping up now and then, like politics. :D
 
#15 ·
I'm not saying there should be no banter, I'm saying let's not try to change from diyelectriccar.com into anythingRemotelyInterestingToAnyoneWhoKindaWantsAdiyelectriccar.com.

Discussions wander, and anyone who has been on this site has read some of my posts. I'm not trying to be a hypocrite here, and if I were saying no banter then I would be exactly that.

I would like to say that most of my posts are at least not too far off the topic.
 
#19 ·
I hope we never loose that light hearted spirit:cool:
 
#21 ·
I think I just got a neutral rep point. Is that even possible? I only see positive or negative if I try and rep anyone else. Am I missing something?

Is this what happens when some one posts conflicting reps or something?

So much to learn.....:confused:
 
#22 ·
OK its been a week and I've got to ask,

Has anyone got a negative rep yet?:D
 
#23 ·
I have a few now. haha

Lexus, you are 100 percent right. We all have the God Given right to the freedom of speech. I hate Obama and I think he is a gay drug addict, but I also think Bush has the oil hose up his rear end. McCain, I like because he is a Veteran and knows what it takes to make a Nation Safe. McCain is Prolife and Obama is ProDeath. McCain is Christian and knows the difference between the New and Old Testaments without getting them mixed up. Obama doesn't know what he believes from the Bible, he just read it and now get confused easy about which is right and wrong. Just some factors that make my vote clear for McCain.

Lexus, I will bring the Brandy and steaks (no msg, additives or preservatives) for that BBQ too. :)
 
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#24 ·
Hey, the rep icon is messed up now. I clicked on it to give Lexus a good rep and all I got was a notice that I need to spread more to give him a rep again. I didn't even get to click on good, bad or other kind of rep. Gosh, I hope that went through as a good rep Lexus, if not, I am sorry the rep was messed up.

So now, I want everyone to give Lexus a good rep. :)
 
#25 ·
Basically- this is how it works... more of less...

If you don't have "enough rep" or have given "too much rep" recently, you will still get to leave a rep, but it will show as "neutral" regardless of which way you wished to swing the rep points.

I.E. if you have 1 rep point, you might be able to give as much as 1 rep point (pos/neg), but if you gave a rep recently, it may come out as neutral. However, if you have 50 rep points, you might be able to give more rep points each time, and give more rep in general before your rep awards start posting as "neutral".

Like I was trying to explain earlier, this prevents someone who "hates you" from finding all your posts and putting a neg rep on them, and/or signing up extra accounts to give out reputation.

I'm not saying be sparing with the rep awards- if you see something you agree or disagree with, please do click the rep button if you feel strongly enough about it. We really can't get everyone's rep up until everyone starts participating more, regardless of if it hits as a +/-/neutral.

And yeah, David... I've got negative reps on a few. One member went out of his way to dig up a 2-3 month old post he disagreed with to leave me a negative rep. :confused:

But- that's what it's there for! If you feel strongly enough about it, drop a rep, whether it's +/-. It's nothing important, and nobody should get bent out of shape if someone gives them a negative rep on something... but once we're really "rolling" with the whole rep thing, it will be an advantage especially to new users.

The reasons why I started this thread in the first place was:
1) There were only 2 users on the forum who had more than "one green block" of rep.
2) Forum users tend to believe that post counts matter, in as much as the legitimacy of the information contained within a user's post.

In the first case, the rep system was mostly useless because nobody really was giving anyone any reps. In the second case, this is tragic, because on so many other forums, I've seen (new users especially) take advice from someone with a high post count and treat it as if it were gospel, not bothering to do any research of their own to confirm or deny the advice, and in some cases they were injured or lost money from following the advice.

As with anything, take anything you read on the internet with a grain of salt and do your own research to back it up.
 
#26 ·
And yeah, David... I've got negative reps on a few. One member went out of his way to dig up a 2-3 month old post he disagreed with to leave me a negative rep. :confused:
LMAO!! thats funny because I got the same thing. I wonder if its the same guy.:rolleyes:

Thanks for the explanation of the rep system, I got a few guys that repped me for the battery testing thread around the same time. That probably explains the "grey" bar.

I never could bring myself to give a negative rep on this or any other forum though. Just a wussy I guess.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Interesting. I have had 10 rep points since I started. haha

2 bad reps points so far..one was from a very extremely old post that ghottdi blasted me for about Fosh, so I changed the post to make him feel better. haha

Other than that, can we make new accounts and give ourselves more rep points?? haha

Need a thread how to hack our rep. Or not..j/k haha

By the way, that is kind of crazy not able to give rep points at a certain point, because how is anyone going to give rep points when they get stuck in the neutral zone on a good post?? So what happens when everyone is in the black hole of neutral reps? haha
 
#28 ·
The crazy thing is that there isn't much information on exactly how it works... most of what I've said so far is either based on watching the way it's working here, or how I've seen it work elsewhere.

I would have to speculate that you can only give so many reps in a given time, I.E. if you gave two reps today, you could probably give more reps tomorrow without being neutral... but I don't know that for sure. It definitely seems to depend on how many rep points you have... i.e. those who have more rep points can award more rep points...

but those who have no rep points can't give any rep points (hence why I said you can't register another user and give yourself rep from them).

It'll take time for it to "build up"... but the only way it can build is if we use it.
 
#34 ·
Thanks for the explanation, that's really helpful. I wonder if its possible to change the weird names. Apparently I am a glorious beacon of light, I didn't realise I was so pretentious :p
 
#35 ·
I've always ignored the "rep" system on any forum. I've gotten good information from people with "bad" reps and bad information from people with "good" reps. Sometimes people try and change their behavior in search of rep power. Better to believe in what you post and speak the truth as you know it. I don't know what my rep is and I don't really care.
 
#36 ·
That's fine, and relatively accurate. My big point on the reps is that many (not all, not most) forum users either believe that their large post count makes them an expert, or conversely a new user who doesn't know Member A from Member B mistakes a large post count to indicate that someone knows what they're talking about more than another person... And rep helps to fill in the blanks.

Ultimately it's the content of the messages, regardless of rep and post count, etc, and the responsibility of the person receiving information to double-check the advice received against several sources... but I'd like to think that on this forum it would be easy for the users to help identify other knowledgeable and helpful users for the benefit of newbies.

After all, gas prices will surge again, and along with it, interest in this forum. :)
 
#38 ·
Those are proportional to how many posts you have made. I think they max out at 50 posts.
 
#41 ·
I want to know how a spammer, in this particular instance user "car_diagnostics" (maybe just "car diagnostics"... it's already fading from my memory in a mere few seconds.. :rolleyes: ) with 3 spammy posts can get the little green "on a distinguished road" square. It makes my single green square feel so... dirty.
 
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