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Forum "Bells & Whistles" - opinions please.

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  • Forum "Bells & Whistles" - opinions please.

    This post comes because of a few questions I've been asked recently and have been meaning to do something about for some time. This forum belongs to everyone here who uses it, so I'd like to tell you how it works, but also ask for your input in customising it a little. These are not essential things to know, but some of you may like to learn/use these options.

    User Reputation


    I've implemented a User Reputation system on this forum which has been around for quite some time now, but not really used, as no one really knows about it and I have not bothered to push it much.

    The little green dot that appears in the name bar of each post is your reputation. This can go up or down depending on what other forum members think of your posts. More dots are added as reputation goes up. Hovering the mouse over the dots will display the current reputation level.


    You will see a little picture of some scales atop each post as well, which gives you the chance to give reputation per post to the user who made it. If you like what they say and think they're being helpful, give some positive reputation to them. If you think they are being a wanker and want to give them negative, you may (but sparingly please, let's try to keep it positive here.)

    Currently the name labels assigned to each reputation level are set at the forum defaults, but I'd like to customise them a little and make them a bit more "biodiesel". I'd appreciate some suggestions from you all as to what these might be. Here are the default names for the reputations:

    -999999 "is infamous around these parts"
    -50 "can only hope to improve"
    -10 "has a little shameless behaviour in the past"
    10 "is an unknown quantity at this point"
    0 "is on a distinguished road"
    50 "will become famous soon enough"
    150 "has a spectacular aura about"
    250 "is a jewel in the rough"
    350 "is just really nice"
    450 "is a glorious beacon of light"
    550 "is a name known to all"
    650 "is a splendid one to behold"
    1000 "has much to be proud of"
    1500 "has a brilliant future"
    2000 "has a reputation beyond repute"

    These are all a little high, considering how new this forum is, so I may manually edit the reputations of some users, and/or bring the numbers down a little to more achievable levels. As for the names of reputation levels, perhaps things like 50 = "has greasy hands", 150 = "smells like cooking" etc. I'm sure that many of you out there could suggest some good ones for us.

    User Ranks


    As for the other yellow drop that appears under your name, that is simply indicating how many posts you've made. Maximum is 5 if you hit 100 (increments go 10, 15, 20, 50, 100). I may raise the bar on this one as the forum grows older/gets bigger.

    User Titles

    There are also user titles which appear under your name. Presently these are only "Junior Member" (<5 posts), "Member" (5-15 posts) and "Senior Member" (>15 posts). I'd like to also change these user titles as well to sound more "biodiesel", so any suggestions would be welcome here too.

    User Online/Offline


    This little icon will be lit green if the user is online.

    Thread Rating


    It is possible to vote on threads that you like. At the top of each thread you view, there is a menu called "Rate Thread". This gives you the chance to vote on how useful you think this thread might be to other users. If people use this system lots over time, when the forum gets large and difficult to navigate, users will be able to browse for threads that they think may be useful to them based on the opinions of other users.

    Forum Moderation & Admin

    Forum Admins and Moderators will have some abilities to manually set or override some options, as well as closing or moving threads (to keep them "on topic").
    Moderators may also choose to make threads "sticky", which means that they will always stay at the top of the list for useful posts that people will most often look for.
    Abusive or offensive posts can be reported to a moderator for removal or banning, but fortunately that has not been required here.



    Please take a moment to understand these forum tools and have a bit of a play with them. Please post any suggestions that you may have for them, as I don't want to just decide everything on my own. I know that most of these things seem like they are just window dressing, but it all helps to make the forum a bit more "well rounded". I will also make another post here soon on editing your options and profiles, email notifications on threads and editing tools (including in-built spell checker), but that's probably enough to digest for the moment.
    Robert
    Administrator
    Last edited by Robert; 3 December 2005, 04:01 PM.
    Robert.
    Site Admin.

  • #2
    Re: Forum &quot;Bells &amp; Whistles&quot; - opinions please.

    "bump"

    Still looking for some suggestions on some more appropriate names for the user reputations and titles. If no one has any ideas, I'll just get drunk one night and make up some crap, then you'll all be stuck with it for years.

    Shaun still owes me some "powered by biodiesel" stickers and when I get them I'll post them out to whoever can come up with some good suggestions here. (Wow - what a prize! Nearly as good as the viscosimeter!)
    Robert.
    Site Admin.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Forum &quot;Bells &amp; Whistles&quot; - opinions please.

      Reputation:
      -999999: As useful as 20 Litres of emulsified soap
      -50: Closet Oil Company Executive.
      0: Virgin (as in Vegetable Oil!)
      10: Just starting to Gel.
      20: Unwashed, yet settled.
      30: Blood's worth decanting.
      40: Fully trans-esterified, Maaate!
      Mazda's Secret Service motto: "Tell 'em nothing, charge 'em double".

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Forum &quot;Bells &amp; Whistles&quot; - opinions please.

        Very good Gunner - looks like I'll owe you the viscosimeter and a sticker.

        Anyone else?
        Robert.
        Site Admin.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Forum &quot;Bells &amp; Whistles&quot; - opinions please.

          Hi Robert,

          Personally I dont go much for bells and whistles, except at christmas time. SO maybe the the time is right. But I had barely noticed one of the things you mentioned before you mentioned them. So I guess I think of these forum as just a straight delayed chat site and not cared too much for the "over the top" features.

          my 2 cents worth.

          Joe
          Joe Morgan
          Brisbane Biodiesel Site Admin
          http://www.brisbanebiodiesel.com

          Searching tips using Google - SVO Dual tank systems
          SVO, Common Rail and Direct Injection - Vehicles converted to Used Cooking Oil

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Forum &quot;Bells &amp; Whistles&quot; - opinions please.

            Hi Joe, point taken, the bells and whistles are really a bit over the top, when one considers that it does its job already just by providing a place to share info. I get a bit carried away with what they do as I spend so many hours on the "back end" of the server setting them all up.
            I've still got to post up another mini tutorial on some of the more useful bits of the forum, which I think some users are still missing, but I'll do one more upgrade and possibly personalise the above a bit more first (probably over the Christmas period.)
            .
            Any other suggestions for this from anyone else? Shaun's just given me 12 of his "Powered by Biodiesel" stickers to give out (thanks Shaun), so I'll happily post them to any useful suggestions.
            Robert
            Administrator
            Last edited by Robert; 15 December 2005, 12:02 AM.
            Robert.
            Site Admin.

            Comment

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