Site Updates

[venture]

Looks interest Pete. Some nice changes!

Looks like the menu options for the post editor aren't displaying right now, but you may know that. Don't see many other bugs just yet.

Does this mean we might be able to get a poster reputation voting option activated soon?

[OKCisOK4me]

Does this mean we might be able to get a poster reputation voting option activated soon?

+1 for this option.

[MDot]

I like the idea of reputation as well.

[Jim Kyle]

+1 from here too

[Pete]

I've admin-ed on sites with the reputation function it has only led to problems.

Why do you guys want it?

[venture]

I look at it as a way to both self police ourselves but also reward those that actively contribute quality content to the site. This lets new people or guests lurking to get a decent idea quickly who some of our quality posters are. While it is pretty subjective on who is better for who, it would help encourage those that don't seem to contribute much to step up a bit. Also if a new person comes across a poster that gets under their skin, but has noticed they have many neg votes against them, they can easily identify the type of poster it is and move on.

Another option could be individual post/response votes that would essentially gray out low quality posts and also highlight high quality posts. That might be a better option around. People can down vote poor posts that are either flamebait or outright trolls and bury them from view, but also highlight the posts that are of superior quality.

[Fantastic]

Define "low quality posts." I think Pete is right, it would eventually lead to problems. Just because nobody agrees with what someone says, doesn't mean that person's opinion isn't valuable or important. It may be annoying having to read the ideas of all those Negative Nancys, but they should be allowed to express it without the negative connotations of some popularity vote... Just my opinion, and I'm sure if there was a "reputation vote," this reply would be in the negative, because I doubt you guys agree with it

[Fantastic]

I will say I do like the idea of a "like" button for posts, kind of like on Facebook. I think that would work pretty well.

[HewenttoJared]

I think the number of low-quality posters is high, so the number of low-quality voters would also be high.

[kevinpate]

Just my opinion, but of late the first sign of a not so great idea would include any phrase similar to 'like they have on Facebook'
8^)

As for a reputation switch, more potential headache than benefit (again, just my opinion.)

[Fantastic]

Just my opinion, but of late the first sign of a not so great idea would include any phrase similar to 'like they have on Facebook'
8^)

As for a reputation switch, more potential headache than benefit (again, just my opinion.)

I only mentioned the "like" button on Facebook because it's a kind of positive version of what was suggested... agree with you about the headache

[OKCisOK4me]

Hey Pete, I thought if you paid the ads wouldn't show. Is that only for the $99 pledge?

[Pete]

Hey Pete, I thought if you paid the ads wouldn't show. Is that only for the $99 pledge?

No, I never said that... I said that in addition to subscriptions I would still be adding advertising to the site.


I'm just trying out the Google ads to see if they are worthwhile. If it works out, I may try and figure out a way to block them from those that subscribe.

[Spartan]

Oh no, please no reputation button... :-D lol

[MDot]

Oh no, please no reputation button... :-D lol

Why not, Sparty? ;-)

[OKCisOK4me]

No, I never said that... I said that in addition to subscriptions I would still be adding advertising to the site.


I'm just trying out the Google ads to see if they are worthwhile. If it works out, I may try and figure out a way to block them from those that subscribe.

Oh, no, I wasn't implying that. Just wondering. Personally I don't have a problem with them. Thanks!

[venture]

Define "low quality posts." I think Pete is right, it would eventually lead to problems. Just because nobody agrees with what someone says, doesn't mean that person's opinion isn't valuable or important. It may be annoying having to read the ideas of all those Negative Nancys, but they should be allowed to express it without the negative connotations of some popularity vote... Just my opinion, and I'm sure if there was a "reputation vote," this reply would be in the negative, because I doubt you guys agree with it

It all depends on the community and how it would work out. I think we have a very strong one here, but we also have a strong showing of people that are just here to argue and cause problems. Sure there will be some kind of bias at times as far as what gets voted up and what gets neg'd, but if people start seeing their posts get buried time and time again maybe they'll do better. There are many times when specific posters draw a certain reaction due to their short, inflammatory posts and carry on that reputation. However, I've also seen those same posters start to get some level of respect when they actually type out their views/opinions instead of just going for the quick jab. So it can work both ways.

Would this reply get a neg vote? Maybe one or two, but not from me. It is contributing to the discussion with a well thought out post. It isn't a short "No shouldn't be done, stupid idea." So perhaps looking at this from that point of view you can see where I'm coming from.

Now I don't disagree with your like button idea here. There is a mod out there where each post can be "thanked" by readers. That could be an option that eases things in that direction. However, I still feel the community as a whole needs some way to hold each other accountable because we can't expect Pete and Mmm to be monitoring the forums 24/7 actioning people.

Of course if the Politics forum was reserved for only Gold/Plat level members it would probably be easier on them consider the number of high volume posters that aren't even bothering helping out with the cost of the site.

[SoonerDave]

Pete,

For what its worth, I'll vote against the reputation capability. Been on a few sports boards and those that have it really start to cause problems. I remember one board started up and the mods told everyone up front "we will NOT rate posters here," and that's when more of the details came out. Conceptually its a great idea, but in practice it causes headaches, hard feelings, gets abused, etc etc.

I surely appreciate the intent, and I'll freely admit I've never moderated any kind of site like this, but from what I can tell it introduces its own level of moderating effort that quickly outstrips its benefit. Just my $0.02.

One other note - thought I'd mention that the revisions to the editor have fixed an ongoing problem on my Android phone trying to post here. The editor would frequently lock up my phone's browser, get stuck, just plain not work. So far, since the new editor has been set up, that's stopped happening.

[White Peacock]

With the widely divergent mindsets present on this forum, especially in the Politics section, a member rating system would be an unnecessary circle jerk. Downvote those on the other side of the aisle every chance you get, upvote those with whom you agree whenever possible. It's not likely to be a genuine merit system, in the end.

[MadMonk]

I'm not a fan of the idea because it becomes a juvenile popularity contest, but why not put it to a poll to see how everyone feels.

[woodyrr]

Two forum features that, in my opinion and experience, cause more harm than good are: "membership levels" tied to post count i.e "noob" and "super poster" which encourages frivolous posting merely to increase post count. The other is a "reputation" system which I agree by its nature causes juvenile behavior even among adults and ultimately results in numbers that are not meaningful.

I do notice that as I am composing this, a little yellow box with the words "Auto - Saved" appears periodically in the lower right corner of of this entry screen. I hope that means that if I forget to copy this text before posting so that I don't lose it if I have been timed out, most of it will be retrievable. That would be a definite improvement for me. That is apparently what, in fact, happened as when I tried to preview this message, I was sent to the login screen. After logging back in, the text was still there.

[Pete]

I do notice that as I am composing this, a little yellow box with the words "Auto - Saved" appears periodically in the lower right corner of of this entry screen. I hope that means that if I forget to copy this text before posting so that I don't lose it if I have been timed out, most of it will be retrievable. That would be a definite improvement for me. That is apparently what, in fact, happened as when I tried to preview this message, I was sent to the login screen. After logging back in, the text was still there.

Yes, the auto-save feature is new and part of the latest version of vBulletin software.

[MikeLucky]

Pete, as you know, I have quite a history with message boards... and in my experience, the reputation feature will lead to problems of some kind. But, this you already know. lol. But, I do like, for instance, on Landthieves, how you can "thank" a certain post. In my mind that saves a lot of posts that are merely a quote with a "+1" following it.... now, maybe you want more posts or maybe you don't... lol. Just my observations.

[Pete]

The one thing I feel most strongly about is the need to bring more and more people into the conversation. It seems simple but it's easy to forget: forums are worthless unless you can engage discussion.

The best thing about OKCTalk is we get so much good information from so many people. We've really reached critical mass where the things discussed here do have an impact and certainly seem to draw the attention of key people.

But to newbies, a forum like this can be intimidating, as the regulars seem to know everything and you are afraid to ask a question or join in. And too often when that happens, people aren't as friendly and welcoming as they could be. And let's face it, there are so many topics here it can be hard to find what you are looking for.


So, I'm opening a new sub-forum called "Ask Anything About OKC": http://www.okctalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=168

[venture]

Pete, as you know, I have quite a history with message boards... and in my experience, the reputation feature will lead to problems of some kind. But, this you already know. lol. But, I do like, for instance, on Landthieves, how you can "thank" a certain post. In my mind that saves a lot of posts that are merely a quote with a "+1" following it.... now, maybe you want more posts or maybe you don't... lol. Just my observations.

It seems that overall we all want some sort of recognition system to highlight quality contributions. Initially I suggested one that focuses on recognizing people directly and can agree it can go wrong. So refocusing on making it about the posts directly would be better. Right now there is a voting thing, but it is for the thread and doesn't really represent he quality posts others make. If we could could see a system where each post can be liked/thanked or voted for (good/bad) that would help. Bad posts after a certain threshold would get over-shaded with gray to show their low quality and then high quality posts would get highlighted with like a light blue or another color to draw attention to it.