Ok folks, as forum communities such as The Talkingreef continue to grow lager, using methods such as post count becomes less useful to determine someone's ability to help or the value of their advice.

because of this i have enabled the reputation system.

What is the reputation system
The reputation system is designed to award reputation points to those that earn them and take them away from those that don't.
Let me explain a bit further, if someone answers your question well, you should do your part and award them reputation points for their time and effort.
If someone posts asking for more details or gives a starter answer, they should not be given points until/unless they fully answer the question or give good advice (in your opinion)
now if someone is just wasting time and space with their post (doesn't happen much here) then they should be given negative points, this is to detour from people simply "boosting there postcount."

How to give points
simple, just click http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/images/steelblue/buttons/reputation.gif image you now see on each post (under the person's avatar)
then select "Post was helpful" or "post was NOT helpful"
thats it

Please use good judgment, give positive and negative points when they are deserved, this should be used as a system to promote proper etiquette and good community building.

Determine person's reputation
To determine a persons reputation for giving good advice look under there post count
look at the number of green blocks ( http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/images/reputation/reputation_pos.gif ) the more blocks the higher the reputation

Details
Here are some of the more technical details some are interested in, I wont break down the exacts here, but basically,
- the more points you have the more you can give.
- the more posts you have the more points you can give. (this is minimal so no post boosting)
- the longer you are an active member the more points you can give
- you can not give the same person points all the time, you must spread the love.. :love:

and in closing I'd just like to add, please use this system, use it well and don't abuse it (it will be monitored). At the end it will help our community grow and be more solid.

Disabling Reputation
While in the long run i believe the reputation system (if used correctly) will help the community, I understand that some people will not like the idea. If you do not believe in this system and do not want to participate, you can do two things.
1.) do not give anyone positive or negative reputation points
2.) in your user options you can select to "hide your reputation points"

haha yeah im glad youre doing this. i am or was at the expert reefer level and i felt very uncomfortable having that level because i am a true NUB! and the just had many posts of questions!

yes, the idea is to use this instead of the titles...
i have actually opened the titles up so in your user profile you can define your own title to have it say whatever you want

Rob, can you only give points in answer to a question that you posted? Is the little green square beneath your avatar related to the reputation system?

no, you can give reputation points to anyone that gives a good answer, however its probably a good idea to keep it to your own threads or questions.

yes the green box is the reputation meter, you get more boxes at certain point levels

I'm worth the same as newcomers?:shout:

I'm worth the same as newcomers?:shout:
This sucks big time. You need to pro-rate this system in retrospect. :eek:

I'm worth the same as newcomers?:shout:
Nope, you're priceless!

Ha-ha,someone fell out to the ugly tree today didn't they.:rotfl:

Rob, since im closer to being a jedi, can i move points to my newbie clean slated friend blubber with mind control..lol

Haha, I have seen sites come completely undone by the reputation points. Not to say it's a bad thing. Some of the reptile sites I belong to had the same group of people slapping each other with good rep points till they all had the power to be able to give anyone they wanted a negative rep. Hopefully that won't be the case here.

Haha, I have seen sites come completely undone by the reputation points. Not to say it's a bad thing. Some of the reptile sites I belong to had the same group of people slapping each other with good rep points till they all had the power to be able to give anyone they wanted a negative rep. Hopefully that won't be the case here.

Just to throw in my cent, i am down with the idea in general, but i agree with PSH. If you select "Post was not helpful" does it award negative points, or just 0? From an instructional designer standpoint (Brian Plankis would be a good voice too), punishments are not often a good thing. Negative points equate to a form of punishment and, like PSH implies, they can get out of control quite quickly. Overall, the reputation system has worked well for knowledge management systems (viz. apple's help support site, "this answered my question," "this did not answer my question").

I agree that the number of posts don't really mean much (unless we are looking at your post count Rob :tongue2: ). You mentioned this when you were talking with Brian on a podcast didn't you?

Oh, and don't worry FW i am sure you will be hooked up with mucho rep soon :)

yes, i know the system is not perfect, but i figured we coudl try it out..
if the majority dont want it, i will shut it off, no harm.. my only goal is to improve the community...

maybe a poll to keep it or not.. :)

yes, the idea is to use this instead of the titles...
i have actually opened the titles up so in your user profile you can define your own title to have it say whatever you want



Maybe I missed this, but where is that option?

Don't mean to thread-jack. I don't see any harm in giving this a go. Not so much here, but on other forums, I frequently see what I consider questionable advice being given. This is a good way to know how much weight to give any particular response.

the option is under your user profile in the UserCP
go here
http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/profile.php?do=editprofile

then scroll down a bit (this is to use a custom title)

Well, I guess I'm blind, because I still don't see it. Not a big deal.

I did think this was funny though :tongue2:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/UCP.jpg

below that...

like this

This sucks big time. You need to pro-rate this system in retrospect. :eek:
and yes, sorry i missed this one...

your "giving power" is retro.. so based on your membership time and post count you may have the ability to "give" more points..

Talkingreef doesn't love me :no:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/SS.jpg

I'm going to have to agree I don't see where I have the option either

lol.. ok, guys.. thanks.. i thought it was all setup.. i will check it out in more detail tonight

I clicked on my CP today and see that I have 4 entries in my reputation. Two have blue boxes and two have green boxes. The 2 blue ones have comments and the green ones don't have any comments. Are the different colors related to the comments or something else?

*sniff* i only have one! lol
Might have to whip out the blood hounds to fetch wicked threads to answer questions, then maybe i'll have two.:mrgreen:

I don't have any blue boxes....

It's kind of fun. Nobody else can see them so it's not a competition. (you KNOW there are peeps who always turn it into one) and it kind of lets ya know if ya helped someone with a particular answer.

it kind of lets ya know if ya helped someone with a particular answer.

that is what i like about it in a nut shell. i just hope it does not get out of control.

BTW ... i cant change my user title either.

that is what i like about it in a nut shell. i just hope it does not get out of control.

BTW ... i cant change my user title either.

I don't think it can get out of control. No one can see it but you. And shoot... if it did turned into a competition somehow we would have a whole lot of great answers/posts as an end result.

well the problem is what happens that clicks form and and then you get these groups of people that just give each other points for no reason.
fortunately there are some precautions in place to prevent such things.. but they are not fool proof.

frankly i being brave turning it on, BUT i did it because i feel our community is mature enough to deal with the system like adults... :) and using it a beneficial tool

But if we can't see others "points" why does matter if someone is padding the election box.

arene't there some advantages with the more points that you have ??

arene't there some advantages with the more points that you have ??

Ah... I have no idea about that.

true, very true.

im still going to change the name to JEDI on the 3000 smacko count, so i can blow smoke up my own ass instead of a computer program..lol

Veriann, I'm going to take away points from you for liking Paris Hilton...lol

Rob, what about the blue and green boxes?

But I just saw the monkey video so you get them all back!

Veriann, I'm going to take away points from you for liking Paris Hilton...lol



nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oo:raining:

your in my ....um ...my space aren't you?

that was weird...i didn't think "your in my my space" sounded right..lol

you know my password locked me out of that thing shortly after i created it, just imagin the profanity i could cause out in cyber land..muhahaha

LOL... yup, that would be where I'd be. We had a great chuckle out of the monkey video.

BAAAA.....................

This reputation system suck big time.

Lol...............

Yeah that monkey video is hilarious. I saw it somewhere a while ago...

Rob, what about the blue and green boxes?

Here is what I found regarding the boxes:

The green, blue, and red squares in the Latest Reputation Received table on the My Profile page denote the effect of the comment on your Reputation Score. If the rater approved the post, and at the time of commenting had a positive Reputation Power, the square will be green. If the rater had no Reputation Power the square will be blue. And if the rater disapproved the post the square will be red.

Thanks Gwen. :)

Rob, what about the blue and green boxes?

Where are you seeing those, or do I just not have any reputation yet?

Where are you seeing those, or do I just not have any reputation yet?


I'm not showing any reputation comments yet....

When I click on my User CP it is the first section.

you can see your own stuff in the UserCP (http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/usercp.php)
as for what's the point?
under everyones avatar there is a green square box, the number of boxes will increase as you get more points.. indicating you have a higher or better reputation

*sniff* i only have one! lol
Might have to whip out the blood hounds to fetch wicked threads to answer questions, then maybe i'll have two.:mrgreen:

you've got several points!


but I agree with Renee.....Paris Hilton?! baaaaaaa!:eek:

I traded them for kanga poop.:huh: RB

whats with the paris hilton bashing, im not sure being my future wife she'd apprechate that none! muhahahah

yes, the idea is to use this instead of the titles...
i have actually opened the titles up so in your user profile you can define your own title to have it say whatever you want

Rob, you ever figure this out?
I'm not that insightful :tongue2: