Suggestion for a "rating" system

I was just thinking about how a newcomer to this forum would actually know who is experienced and who is not as a forum join date is really no way to tell. This came to mind.

Is it possible to develop some sort of snake/man(woman) hour rating system. It wouldn't be exact but close and perhaps helpful. It could work like this....

Person A has 1 snake for 6 months.....1 snake x .5 years = rating of .5

Person B has 5 snakes for 2 years....5 snakes x 2 years = rating of 10

Person C has 10 snakes for 10 years...rating of 100

Person D has 100 snakes for 5 years.....rating of 500

This would acknowledge that even with less years of experience if you handle a much larger collection you will have a more varied experience therefore more likely to have faced something a newcomer is questioning on.

I would be a rating of 2 using that system.

I currently have 4 snakes but have only had some for a short time so average experience 1/2 year....

4 snakes x .5 years = rating 2

Then as my collection grows and my experience grows in a year say:

6 snakes x 1.5 year = rating 9

Therefore easily seeing that in the following year and with 2 more snakes, I've likely faced more challenges and learned something worth passing on.

I don't know how workable this is but thought I'd suggest it.


~~Joanna~~

If it's something that's manageable, then I think it's a wonderful idea! Definitely a good tool for someone new to know who actually has hands on experience and how much of it they do have!

Oh I forgot the "policing" part of my idea.

As the Admins and Mods surely don't have time to do the math for this system or police it I would suggest this.

Each person does their own calcuation and posts it in some consistent form. If a person does not post their rating within a pre-set reasonable time after joining the forum, does not keep it up-to-date on say a twice a year basis, or "fudges" their rating level by exaggerating their years or collection size....they get one warning and then get turfed or temporarily have their posting rights suspended until such time as they comply.

If a person is responsible enough to keep snakes, I think they should be expected to be responsible enough to honestly rate themselves and maintain their rating. It should not take more than 5 minutes at join and 5 mins twice per year to tend to your rating.


~~Joanna~~

I like it!

I think you'll still be hard pressed not to have some users come aboard, faking their experience. It's not like we can actually verify their knowledge. It's a great idea but i don't know how well it would work in practice. And as you know just because an owner has had said 2 snakes for 1 year, doesn't mean those snakes didn't have 3 RIs, and is missing an eye from neglect. It's hard to quantify experience but that's just my opinion. :)

Very good point Christie. I had thought about that a bit. No rating system could ever really reflect experience properly or ensure someone isn't lying their face off (though if they post enough, it would become glaringly apparent).

I think as long as a sticky or warning was posted with the rating information that this rating is an honor system ONLY, that it is just provided as a tool to assist forum members in judging the validity of another member's posts and that in the end one must be sensible in deciding if any advice given is valid.


~~Jo~~

WOuld be a nightmare to implement in practicve though in theory a great idea = please note everyone can always use the reputation system to add/remove points froma given user if it is thought they are dispensing bad advice, getting too flirtsy, acting like a spaz, using incomprehensible "interweb grammerz" etc. The labels for those ("xx is welcome around here" etc could be adapted fairly easily to something a little less generic and more herp oriented. It is there just not employed very often (same with the thread rating tools - feel free to rate posts/threads).

Just a logistical $.02 :D

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

getting too flirtsy

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sorry. :( :twisted: ... LOL

-adam

ROFL Adam!

Hahah - ah swunny hunny ;)
"Ah do declare wherevah would you get the idea that referred to you, ah say ah say"

(sorry my Foghorn Leghorn has suffered from long disuse)

Seriously I was just rattling stuff off - been a bit swamped over here this morning!

I was just going for the cheap laugh!! ... Glad it worked! ;)

Me flirty? GET OUT!! :P

;)

-adam

Adam?....flirty??....Adam Wysocki????...say it's not sooooooooooo


Geesh Adam first it was "screams like a school girl", then it was "giddy"...now I have to add "flirty" to your descriptives! hehehehehehehe

:P


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Geesh Adam first it was "screams like a school girl", then it was "giddy"...now I have to add "flirty" to your descriptives! hehehehehehehe

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What can I say? ... I love the ladies! ;) :love:

-adam

That rating system does seem abit complicated....

Remember to use the Rep Point system that is already in place.....give positive point to people who make good posts and negative points to people that make bad posts...the more people that participate in the Rep Point system...the easier it will be to see whos opinion is respected on this site and whos is not really helpful....

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

Remember to use the Rep Point system that is already in place.....give positive point to people who make good posts and negative points to people that make bad posts...the more people that participate in the Rep Point system...the easier it will be to see whos opinion is respected on this site and whos is not really helpful....

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This is the intention of this system. Thanks for explaining it Daniel.

Well the only problem I have with the rating system (and personally I think it's fine as well) is that when I checked it says I'm welcome around here, Adam's welcome around here, etc. I'd certainly think someone like Adam or Kara or Joe deserves a lot more respect than I do for their cumulative years of experience.

The idea of a rating system may not be a viable one. I just remember when I was very, very new here and had no clue who you all were or who to listen to (thank goodness most of what you all posted was in basic agreement).

Is there part of the rating system I'm not understanding maybe?


~~Jo~~

Well mayhaps - it was not severly altered from the vbulletin default.

When first implemented we wanted to see reaction to it - see if had potential abuse etc. Honestly the jist at that point was more geared toward identifying problematic users than stellar ones.

Let me look into setting up additional ++ tiers (visual/descriptive) for users with a significant number of rep points. Bottom lin ehowever is this works only as well as people invest interest and effort into using it since folks have a finite amount of points to give or detract.

All rating systems are prone to shortcomings and flaws, mgt overhead, abuse (to a degree) et al. A perfectly functioning system may most benefit the newest users who "dont know who to trust" more than those who are on the boards more frequently. THe rep system has in fact bee dropped by several boards (non-herp) I've been monitoring as sort of litmus tests citing that they became in effect "popularity contests".



All feedback and sugestions are supremely appreciated and considered so plpease dont take any of this thread of dismissive, lol.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I'd certainly think someone like Adam or Kara or Joe deserves a lot more respect than I do for their cumulative years of experience.

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I gotta disagree with ya there Jo. I don't think that just because I have a lot of snakes that I (or anyone else) deserves "respect". Sure I've got a lot of opinions, but you know how the old saying goes. :P

Mostly I'm full of doo doo. :D

I think that some of the problem with the reputation system is the way it makes you "spread around" reputation points. If you give someone points, there seems to be some number of other people that you must give points to before you can go back and give points to the original person. I don't know if we have a large enough group of regular posters to meet the requirment of the "spread around number" for lack of the technical term. That group of regular posters is further limited because many of them are mods/admins that aren't allowed to receive rep points (or can receive them, but they don't count).

For example if I want to give Kara rep points for a post, I can do so. In the same day I read another post of hers and want to give her more points and the system tells me that "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to KLG again."

sidebar: ... LMAO at "giving it to KLG again" ... :love: ... sorry K, couldn't help it!!

ok, where was I ... so what do I do? ... I have to "find" other posts to give reputation to in order to give Kara more kudos for her awesome posts! ... What a pain in the a$$! ... I really do understand the point of "spreading it around", but it makes the system a little cumbersome for a small user base of regular active posters like ourselves.

Even though I've had some problems with the reputation system in the past, I'm really a fan of it. I think if it was used more actively by everyone, it would start to have more meaning.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I gotta disagree with ya there Jo. I don't think that just because I have a lot of snakes that I (or anyone else) deserves "respect". Sure I've got a lot of opinions, but you know how the old saying goes. :P

Mostly I'm full of doo doo. :D

I think that some of the problem with the reputation system is the way it makes you "spread around" reputation points. If you give someone points, there seems to be some number of other people that you must give points to before you can go back and give points to the original person. I don't know if we have a large enough group of regular posters to meet the requirment of the "spread around number" for lack of the technical term. That group of regular posters is further limited because many of them are mods/admins that aren't allowed to receive rep points (or can receive them, but they don't count).

For example if I want to give Kara rep points for a post, I can do so. In the same day I read another post of hers and want to give her more points and the system tells me that "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to KLG again."

sidebar: ... LMAO at "giving it to KLG again" ... :love: ... sorry K, couldn't help it!!

ok, where was I ... so what do I do? ... I have to "find" other posts to give reputation to in order to give Kara more kudos for her awesome posts! ... What a pain in the a$$! ... I really do understand the point of "spreading it around", but it makes the system a little cumbersome for a small user base of regular active posters like ourselves.

Even though I've had some problems with the reputation system in the past, I'm really a fan of it. I think if it was used more actively by everyone, it would start to have more meaning.

-adam

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You are outta control my good man! Where is that negative reputation system when you need it!! :)

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Originally Posted by jglass38

You are outta control my good man!

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I know, it ROCKS doesn't it???? :D:D:D:D:D :twisted:

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I know, it ROCKS doesn't it???? :D:D:D:D:D :twisted:

-adam

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Bro, I am being tame still! I don't want to scare everyone away with my twisted, politically incorrect and downright offensive comments. I like to break them out at family dinners though for the shock value

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Bro, I am being tame still! I don't want to scare everyone away with my twisted, politically incorrect and downright offensive comments. I like to break them out at family dinners though for the shock value

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Yeah, if you're not at the Daytona expo next year, we're coming to get you!! :twisted: ... I've got your address!! :P

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Yeah, if you're not at the Daytona expo next year, we're coming to get you!! :twisted: ... I've got your address!! :P

-adam

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Dude, you know i'll be there! I don't know what happened this year. I'll be there in all my offensive glory and i'll leave the wife home :)

We'll be actively tweaking some of these settings during the next week or two - just very minor changes as there is a daunting constellation of options.

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

We'll be actively tweaking some of these settings during the next week or two - just very minor changes as there is a daunting constellation of options.

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Please be gentle with the tweaking, I'm sensitive (see, there I go). Adam really does bring out the worst in people!

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Adam really does bring out the worst in people!

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muhahahahaha ... :devilish:

-adam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Bro, I am being tame still! I don't want to scare everyone away with my twisted, politically incorrect and downright offensive comments. I like to break them out at family dinners though for the shock value

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Toning it down huh? Well I know Adam does too, even if it occassionally he lets it slip. :shh: I think it would be kinda scarey if Adam let loose. :eek: Now we need to keep our collective eye on you too Jamie? :evileye: Of course who am I to talk. I very much enjoy the flirty banter and twisted threads when they arise. :oops: I just haven't been able to help myself, but believe it or not I try to behave myself for the most part! :imslow:

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

Toning it down huh? Well I know Adam does too, even if it occassionally he lets it slip. :shh: I think it would be kinda scarey if Adam let loose. :eek: Now we need to keep our collective eye on you too Jamie? :evileye: Of course who am I to talk. I very much enjoy the flirty banter and twisted threads when they arise. :oops: I just haven't been able to help myself, but believe it or not I try to behave myself for the most part! :imslow:

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I have a huge ego so it'll be my pleasure to be watched by you! Wait, what?

Anyway..Yes, I tend to be offensive and no I won't tone it down! :)

Now tigerlily, please try to be a good SUPERmoderator and don't indulge our stupidity!

Who, where? There's a moderator? Oh ok that's me right?! I forgot let me go get my ruler! :devilish:

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

Who, where? There's a moderator? Oh ok that's me right?! I forgot let me go get my ruler! :devilish:

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Its about to get out of control in here...

Behave

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

Behave

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I'd like to point out that I stepped away when I noticed the other kids getting frisky. :D

-adam

:neener:

No molestarlos!

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

Behave

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Who, me!?! I'm innocent!

He who denied it supplied it . . . ;)


You KNOW i am kidding, right?

Geez, you guys are incorrigible. Adam, you are making the mods misbehave!

um from the quiet guy in the corner here i think that this system could work but instead of the people rating themselves at first the mods should do it like if u have been a member for x amount of time on this forum then u get a rating and then from then on u upkeep it urself


what do u think?

As a newbie, if worth anything, I feel a rating system would help. I do need help that I can't always get locally about a pet that I love VERY much. It would be a comfort to know who I'm talking to and getting advice from but I know it seems to all come down to a very complicated honor based system. I've got my own unrelated board so I can appreciate how hard it would be to implement. OK. So that's really no help at all but I appreciate and support what is the sentiment of this thread...

THe logistics of going through the collection of 1300+ people to get that set up though - just querying and harvesting that information is way too daunting. Unfortunately none of us gets do do this full time nor for pay - we have to squeeze it into our schedules, snag slivers of time at work and hope our home lives allow us to get on in the evenings.

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if u have been a member for x amount of time on this forum then u get a rating and then from then on u upkeep it urself

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I know its hardly the most helpful or accurate feature but we do at least have JOIN DATE off the sides of the post. Even then you could have someone phenomenally knoweldgable just sign up today and that ought not invalidate their experience - other side of the coin you could have someone who has been around a while and has yet to dispense helpful or accurate advice.

I too REALLY appreciate the sentiment, the support AND most of all the suggestions - never seem t0o get enough of those.

You guys do truly rock.

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

THe logistics of going through the collection of 1300+ people to get that set up though - just querying and harvesting that information is way too daunting. Unfortunately none of us gets do do this full time nor for pay - we have to squeeze it into our schedules, snag slivers of time at work and hope our home lives allow us to get on in the evenings.



I know its hardly the most helpful or accurate feature but we do at least have JOIN DATE off the sides of the post. Even then you could have someone phenomenally knoweldgable just sign up today and that ought not invalidate their experience - other side of the coin you could have someone who has been around a while and has yet to dispense helpful or accurate advice.

I too REALLY appreciate the sentiment, the support AND most of all the suggestions - never seem t0o get enough of those.

You guys do truly rock.

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Ya know Smulkin, I'd gladly volunteer to go through and give each and every user a rating free of charge! :twisted: :devilish: .... muhahahahahahaha!!

Anything that I can do to help! :P

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Ya know Smulkin, I'd gladly volunteer to go through and give each and every user a rating free of charge! :twisted: :devilish: .... muhahahahahahaha!!

Anything that I can do to help! :P

-adam

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Butt kisser!

I for one will NOT volunteer! I am selfish! :)

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Butt kisser!

I for one will NOT volunteer! I am selfish! :)

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Oh, I've got a special rating already picked out for you!! :P

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Oh, I've got a special rating already picked out for you!! :P

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Extra special? Little buddy?

hey! lets keep it above the belt i want this to be a nice clean fight!!!;)

That's a scary idea, Adam.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

That's a scary idea, Adam.

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Glad someone saw my twisted sense of humor screaming for attention! :P

-adam

personally I think ratings *could* turn a good thing bad. As said there is no real way to determine someone's knowledge, especially based on the number of animals they keep or have kept and how long. A person could have 15 snakes but not keep them in good conditions...or another person could have 1 snake for 15yrs (theoretically speaking) and still only have enough knowledge to realize that it needs to be kept "warm" and given something to eat periodically. I personally don't care for a reputation system myself either. Using myself as an example: I recently allowed myself to sucked into a debate that can be very touchy for reptile keepers. I explained some views and oppinions which where taken completely the wrong way, arguments broke out, and because I was "newer" member on that forum I was kinda ganged up on and berrated with negative rep points. Not that it is something I care about but there are those who would have the mindset that these "points" are actually worth something and would literally fight for them. In the same situation...I gave a bad rep to someone for personally attacking me...the individual came back to the thread stated what i had done publicly and instantly had his/her "friends" from the forum "refilling" his rep points to cancel mine out. It's all just a game in my eyes and *could* take away from the general friendlyness of a forum when people start trying to compete so they can look better than the next person. In the forums I have run over the years I have gone so far as to hide post count to prevent anyone from feeling they are better or have more pull over someone who has less posts, I have also found this will sometimes bring out lurkers to participate more as they don't feel like they are any less important than a person who has say 10,000 posts.

Sorry for the long blab, and this may just be a worst case scenario but something to think about.