Feature: Reputation

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Unfortunately, it doesn't explain much about the stranger additions to the interface.

For example, there is nothing on this new "rep power" thing (though I have a feeling it's just another way for posters to seek validation and stroke their egos).

What's the little box that states I'm "off the scale"? Why are some lit up green while others are greyed out? I imagine it's a reference to number of posts by a particular poster, but I'm not sure.

I've pretty much found answers to the rest of my questions. It's just these two relatively unimportant things that make me somewhat curious.

[David Mosley]

What's the little box that states I'm "off the scale"? Why are some lit up green while others are greyed out? I imagine it's a reference to number of posts by a particular poster, but I'm not sure.

I think it indicates whether a user is online or offline. That's a common feature of the other vbulletin forums I frequent.

My assumption is that Reinart has taken a leaf out of the Second Ether, so you're either 'on the Scale' (ie Online) or 'off the Scale' (ie Offline). If I'm correct, then Green = on and Grey = off.

ETA: Ah bugger. Just checked again and nope it seems that all that ^^^^ is completely wrong. :(

Still it was a neat idea while it lasted.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Seems Redundant

I think it indicates whether a user is online or offline. That's a common feature of the other vbulletin forums I frequent.

My assumption is that Reinart has taken a leaf out of the Second Ether, so you're either 'on the Scale' (ie Online) or 'off the Scale' (ie Offline). If I'm correct, then Green = on and Grey = off.

See, that was my first inclination, but then I realized that the Online/Offline thingie is the green/grey dot next to your username. This is further verified by the fact that I'm "off the scale" even when I'm online.

Sorry. Don't mean to nitpick. I'm just naturally inquisitive.

[David Mosley]

Sorry. Don't mean to nitpick. I'm just naturally inquisitive.

NP. I also noticed my mistake as well (see edit above).

Hopefully the Fox will enlighten us one day. :)

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Clear As Mud

Ahem,

Lesen Sie das freundliche Handbuch.
http://www.multiverse.org/fora/showthread.php?t=3485

Okay, well, I give up. That link has nothing I can find about "rep power" or "off the scale" either.

Now, I know Reinart wouldn't direct me to a dead-end, so I'm going to just assume I'm too dense to find what I'm looking for among all that mumbo-jumbo. It seems more like something for the programmer than the end-user.

I've tried searching for "rep" and "rep power" and "off the scale" and "scales" and "green" and a plethora of other things. Nothing provides a satisfactory answer. If anyone can point me to the exact page in that "friendly" handbook, I'd be more than happy to click the scales and increase their "rep power" even though I have no idea what it is!

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Yup, I'm Dense

The info is there, it just takes a while to find it.

Try here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/reputation

Well done, TM. I suppose searching for the full word "reputation" would have helped, but by the time I'd done the previous searches, I was fed up. Patience is not among my virtues, I fear.

Of course, the matter is far from cleared up. The manual says, for example, that a rep power of 10 means the person is "on a distinguished road". But if you look at, say, Peasily's profile, you will see Peasily has (at this pointin time) a rep power of 0 but is, nevertheless, "on a distinguished road." This makes me think the two are not related as the manual implies or that there is a bug.

As promised, TM, I'm going to try adding to your rep power. Maybe actually testing it will help clear things up for me.

UPDATE: Well, I added to your rep, TM, but it appears nothing has happened. Everything seemed to work; I checked the appropriate box, added my comment, clicked the submit button and... nothing. Hum. I'm quickly losing interest in this shiny new feature.

[Typhoid_Mary]

UPDATE: Well, I added to your rep, TM, but it appears nothing has happened. Everything seemed to work; I checked the appropriate box, added my comment, clicked the submit button and... nothing. Hum. I'm quickly losing interest in this shiny new feature.

My rating has changed. I was "off the scale" but now I'm "an unknown quantity". Quite appropriate. It's also listed on my User CP under "Latest Reputation Received".

On the matter of testing stuff, I've just added RdF, TM and PWV to my 'Buddy' list. Not sure what fuction it has at this site (seen it used at other sites in different ways), but did anything flag up to let you guys know that I'd done it?

No. Also, the buddy list doesn't appear to serve any purpose other than identifying your buddies. Kinda pointless.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

My rating has changed. I was "off the scale" but now I'm "an unknown quantity". Quite appropriate. It's also listed on my User CP under "Latest Reputation Received".

Oddly, I also have been bumped in rep to the same "unknown quantity" level. The "Latest Reputation Received" field is there now. There is no comment listed, though, and when I click the link it takes me to my own post.

I'm starting to wonder what would happen if I tried to boost my own rep.

Say, TM, does the comment I added show up in your User CP?

No. Also, the buddy list doesn't appear to serve any purpose other than identifying your buddies. Kinda pointless.

Same here, David. No change in my profile or anything. I think the ignore list is probably the more useful of the two, that is if you're into ignoring people.

[Reinart der Fuchs]

Reputation Level

I discovered this in the User Reputation Manager:

Reputation Level Minimum Reputation Level

User is infamous around these parts -99999
User can only hope to improve -50
User has a little shameless behaviour in the past -10
User is an unknown quantity at this point 0
User is on a distinguished road 10
User will become famous soon enough 50
User has a spectacular aura about 150
User is a jewel in the rough 250
User is just really nice 350
User is a glorious beacon of light 450
User is a name known to all 550
User is a splendid one to behold 650
User has much to be proud of 1000
User has a brilliant future 1500
User has a reputation beyond repute 2000

[L'Etranger]

Guys, enlighten me without sending me to remote other sites: what is the "reputation stuff" about? By whose standards or tastes can a reputation of a person be judged? Is it only part of the software that is used and really neglectable or is this serious? Or is a fun element to characterize a member in an amiable way like "Warning: this user tends to post very lenghty answers!" or "Attention: this user is very impulsive!" or "This user will always try to draw attention to his favourite team: The Pardville Moorcox" etc?
But it is not a "tool" to curb people's behaviour is it?

[David Mosley]

Guys, enlighten me without sending me to remote other sites: what is the "reputation stuff" about?

LE, my guess is it's similiar in principal to eBay's feedback system. I have to say though that this is the first vbulletin site that I recall seeing it on, so I assume it can be turned off if necessary? Whatever its purpose is supposed to be for, I'm not sure I'd use it all that often. We didn't seem to need it at the old site and I don't recall anyone saying, 'Wouldn't it be nice if we could score each others reputations?'. I find the 'Number of Posts' score more suitable to deciding whether someone is a 'serious' poster or a 'fly-by-night' troll.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Wasted too much time on it already...

L'E, it's supposedly a way for posters to indicate when another poster has been helpful in some capacity. For example, if you answered a question I was having trouble finding an answer for, I have the option of acknowledging your help by adding to your "rep" score.

Obviously, this sort of thing has incredible potential to be abused, since you can also subtract from a person's score.

BUT, so far, nothing of any substantial value has been discovered regarding this "feature". We (Typhoid, Etive, Berry, and myself) have done some rep-powering and although it seems to go through some sort of process, scores are not changing at all. I have received three such reputation "bumps" and yet my score remains zero.

FWIW, I located the chart Berry listed above, too, but that does little to clear things up since it assumes points are added to rep whenever someone clicks the appropriate icon (in our case, the scales). However, as I stated, no points get awarded, so the above chart is moot.

I have no idea how Reinart got a rep power of 10. Seems impossible from the testing we've done.

In short, I think it's a rather silly feature, especially since it doesn't seem to do anything. And even if it did do something, that something would be to overly stimulate egos. Feh.

[David Mosley]

I have no idea how Reinart got a rep power of 10. Seems impossible from the testing we've done.

My guess (again) is that the displayed number is non-incremental. That is to say, PWV's Rep is currently at 9 or less, therefore a 0 is displayed. Note how some people with 0 are 'off the scale' while others are 'a unknown quantity' (or something), 0 refers to more than just '0'.

Berry presumably has at least 10 rep points (possibly more) so he displays a 10, though his rep may be 11, 13 or 17.

[L'Etranger]

David, thank you! Your reply is helpful and somewhat echoes my worries that I disguised in my suggested reputation tags. This thing seems to invite subjective scores. The temptation to follow personal likes and dislikes is just too big, I think, and it could become a nuissance quickly. Imagine what a lot of unnecessary work would pile up for the moderators when they get dozens of appeals to "undo" unlucky remarks! I would rather we could do without it - unless some very plausible purpose is explained to me. I certainly am not going to use this "tool", I here solemnly promise.

Ciao
L'E

[zxvasdf]

hmm... y'all disappoint the Chaos engineers in your plans to turn this forum into an austere frigidity of order!