Hi all -

I've liked the mod on our site that allows those with a whole pile of posts to rate other posts as helpful or not (thumbs up / thumbs down). It's worked generally as a facebook "like" functionality to allow people to show their collective approval of a post, as viewed by those who have time and history here.

Right now, the thumbs up / thumbs down is anonymous. If you go to your own profile at this page: (can get to this via the quicklinks pulldown to "my own helpful answers")

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/profile.php?do=helpfulans

You can see the posts that were thumbed up and down, but you can't see who did it. I can toggle the view on, so the votes become public. I'm wondering if that would be an improvement. On Facebook, "likes" are certainly public, that's pretty much the point. It would likely discourage, in most cases, the negative thumbs. One quirk is that as far as I can tell, only the poster could see who liked/disliked the post; it's not public for everyone within the post. Instead of the link above, it would look like:

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=840&pictureid=11422

What do people think? Would this be a positive change, or should I leave it as is? alex.s gets special weight here, as it was his MOTM request that started this feature. Then again, the most recent thumbs down on one of my posts was also him, so that might tip the scales as well. :D

Poll added.

i was just helping you test! :P

i like the idea. especially if its not public, just visible to the op

Yes, make it known to the poster, not the public. I want people to know it's me when I go on a 10 minute down-voting rage streak

I wish we could just throw pies instead of thumbs up or down.

http://zalmanvelvel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/pie-in-the-face.jpg

:noidea: :noidea: :noidea:

And I think I saw you had found a way to remove ratings so that would fix the mistakes right? Be useful to know that thumbs down were intentional.

As funny as the random joking thumbs down have been, knowing who clicks what can discourage spiteful down voting and keep it hopefully to useful down votes.

I'm stupid. I cannot figure out how to like or dislike posts.

it's next to the thumb-up-butt button

Why shouldn't a regular participant/contributor be able to safely say they think something is great? Or totally sucks? And without the peer pressure to keep a saccharine smile?

Gee, that's great! 5 thumbs up! I really enjoyed that cat video!

I'm stupid. I cannot figure out how to like or dislike posts.

You have about 700 posts to go... :thumbup:

And I think I saw you had found a way to remove ratings so that would fix the mistakes right? Be useful to know that thumbs down were intentional.

There's no easy way to do it; I had to go into the db itself, find the record in two tables, and carefully delete just that relevant data. I was bored and wanted to see if I could do it; I don't plan on making a habit of it everywhere people misclick.

Ahh didn't realize it was a process.

Ok everyone, for future reference, JohnnyBravo has fat fingers. Ignore his downvotes, unless you really did post a lame statement, then it probably is legit.

:)

I say let the poster see the info.

I'd rather see friendly discussions than anonymous flaming any day, transparency will help.

I vote show :thumbup:

I vote show.

I completely agree! 3rd place seems about right...

This forum claims to be "the friendliest Kawasaki Ninja 300/250R site on the net". Why include a way to give negative feedback to any post? Why not just a "like" feature, or nothing. There is absolutely nothing friendly about getting a "bad" rating for your post. It also seems inequitable that only a chosen few are allowed to give the "good" or "bad" ratings. Just my $.02

This forum claims to be "the friendliest Kawasaki Ninja 300/250R site on the net". Why include a way to give negative feedback to any post? Why not just a "like" feature, or nothing. There is absolutely nothing friendly about getting a "bad" rating for your post. It also seems inequitable that only a chosen few are allowed to give the "good" or "bad" ratings. Just my $.02:whathesaid:

Heck, Why not just allow one to vote for 5 thumbs up or nothing?

Part of being friendly is being honest. Never saying bad is dishonest and unfriendly.

Part of being friendly is being honest. Never saying bad is dishonest and unfriendly.

So true. (I was being facetious in the above post).

damn my skimming, voted yes when no meant remove anonymity, but it gave me an idea for motm

damn my skimming, voted yes when no meant remove anonymity, but it gave me an idea for motm

You can already change your vote in polls

You can already change your vote in polls

it made me think of the thumbs, which you can't change

Part of being friendly is being honest. Never saying bad is dishonest and unfriendly.

I thought being friendly meant saying nothing if you don't have anything nice to say. :gossip:

It hasn't been used this way unfortunately so very hard to separate genuine negative vs joking ones.

I like having a rating system because if someone comes in and *really* makes a dangerous statement (ie run diesel in your tank, better mileage!) then the community can collectively show that it is bad advice and hopefully follow up with the correct advice. Obviously using an extreme example but i hope the point is made. Same with upvotes, certain members consistently receive thumbs up and others can see that those people tend to have a good reputation among the community.

I also like the limit because it prevents someone from joining today, making a few posts, then going through and randomly up- or down-voting threads just on their own viewpoint with no real contribution to the overall benefit of the forum. Or a new rider joining who has already set their minds on poor riding behavior or choices and when other members try telling them how dangerous they are being, it would prevent the new rider from going through those members and downvoting everything.

Just my thoughts on how I use the system. I do try to only downvote posts that are dangerous, while I upvote things I like.

I thought being friendly meant saying nothing if you don't have anything nice to say. :gossip:

I disagree, friends call each other on their bullshit. unnecessary gossip is just bullshit which the gossiper is liable to be called on for. At least that's how it is with me and my friends, I try to make sure that no one around me is scared to call me out on my bullshit just as I call them out on their bullshit. This may narrow my list of friends a bit but if you can't take being called on your bullshit chances are we wouldn't get along well in the long term anyway.

I thought being friendly meant saying nothing if you don't have anything nice to say. :gossip:

Ask a parent if that is true

NevadaWolf. If I could, I would have just voted your post as helpful.

Sirrref. I agree with you! :israel: All I am saying is that in a forum if you disagree with me then post to say so, like you did. If you make no posted reply, but vote someone's post as "bad", that seems underhanded and "poultry manure". That's all I meant. Also, I see the wisdom of NevadaWolf when it comes to voting down posts that contain really bad or incorrect advice.

This forum claims to be "the friendliest Kawasaki Ninja 300/250R site on the net". Why include a way to give negative feedback to any post? Why not just a "like" feature, or nothing. There is absolutely nothing friendly about getting a "bad" rating for your post. It also seems inequitable that only a chosen few are allowed to give the "good" or "bad" ratings. Just my $.02

Have you been on any other forum, like ever? Ninjette IS the friendliest and most civil forum I've ever been on. I've been other places and have seen MUCH crueler things than marking a post thumbs down.

Edit: I should have kept reading, I missed your response lol

Yes, I like it here. I meet other like-minded riders, share laughs, get and give advice, see what other Ninjette owners are doing to their rides and show off my bike as well. In about a month, I will actually get to meet up with a bunch of forum members in my area for a couple of days of riding!

Love live the Ninjette forum! :woot2:

Why include a way to give negative feedback to any post? Why not just a "like" feature, or nothing. There is absolutely nothing friendly about getting a "bad" rating for your post. It also seems inequitable that only a chosen few are allowed to give the "good" or "bad" ratings. Just my $.02

Edit: sorry. Too good of an opportunity not to use this meme.

Edit: sorry. Too good of an opportunity not to use this meme.

:bow::rotflmao:

I think "bad" is kind of different than "not helpful" and it can be kind of discouraging to a new member who might be somewhat self conscious to have somebody anonymously say their post is "bad." While we're changing things maybe we can change it to "a user found your post 'helpful' or 'not helpful'" instead of "good" or "bad."

In the user profile, if you click on statistics, it now does have that wording ("your posts have been helpful 90 out of 100 times"). But in that listing page:

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/profile.php?do=helpfulans

it looks like the Good and Bad are hardcoded somewhere; I can't seem to find where to adjust those phrases. In the database it is just stored as 1 & 0, so the translation is happening somewhere.

OK, I found it. How's this? :)

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=840&pictureid=11423

:rotflmao: Brilliant!

it's brilliant.

Has the tribe spoken? Make the change Alex! I need proof that alex.s is the one that keeps downvoting my posts:lolsign:

Outstanding!

I'll leave the poll open for a little longer; there's no rush.

Moronic is perfect :rotflmao:

How many posts do you need to be able to vote somebody as helpful or unhelpful? i've received a ton of solid and very helpful advice in rebuilding my engine since i joined about a month ago, that i would like to put credit where credit is due and vote the posts helpful? So what's the limit??

It a privilege that users get when they reach 1000 posts here.

I vote show! If you're on here enough, it's usually pretty easy to tell who the culprit is anyway. ;)

Yes I do fat finger now and then. Life happens

I voted no. I don't care what people think. And would not want to suddenly put people on the spot. Also it would just make people uncomfortable and they would not vote at all.

Yes I do fat finger now and then. Life happens

:grouphug: just messing.



In all seriousness, while "Moronic" is hysterical, I'm not sure its the right word to have for a thumbs down. Granted, no one word can cover all the reasons why one would down vote a post, the request to change the simple Good/Bad was made to avoid discouraging new members.

I like the helpful/not helpful (unhelpful?), Like/Dislike, Agree/Disagree or even stick with the Good/Bad. If everyone really likes the Moronic, change helpful to Genius.

just trying to be nice. :o

I voted no. I don't care what people think. And would not want to suddenly put people on the spot. Also it would just make people uncomfortable and they would not vote at all.

damn my skimming, voted yes when no meant remove anonymity, but it gave me an idea for motm


:rotflmao: I just realized something. The question at the top of the page is "Remove anonymity?" Answering that question with a No means to want to keep the anonymity, Yes to remove it.

But the poll is backwards, Yes keeps it while No removes it.

:rotflmao: I just realized something. The question at the top of the page is "Remove anonymity?" Answering that question with a No means to want to keep the anonymity, Yes to remove it.

But the poll is backwards, Yes keeps it while No removes it.

Maybe this is also a test lol. Who's actually paying attention?

In all seriousness, while "Moronic" is hysterical, I'm not sure its the right word to have for a thumbs down.

I only had that configured that way for a moment for the lulz. :)

:rotflmao: I just realized something. The question at the top of the page is "Remove anonymity?" Answering that question with a No means to want to keep the anonymity, Yes to remove it.

We take our reading comprehension very seriously here. :bounce: But I simplified the title & poll to make it easier for any sleep-deprived members. :thumbup: If anyone does need to change their vote; the "unvote" link right under the poll allows you to take care of it.

I truly believe that instead of thumbs up or down, instead of helpful or unhelpful (moronic), just answer the post with either, I really enjoyed your post or I hope you realize your a F...ing idiot with no sense of rational thinking to post such stupid F..ing post, but you're still a nice guy and we all love you.

anyway you could create a toggle option for this?

IDK? some way you can choose to vote anonymously or have your name displayed?

I don't think so. Even if it were possible, I think it would work against the transparency & fairness that people would want; to be able to vote & have votes cast.

Most people probably don't really care who up voted them, it would be to see who is down voting posts and I just think that not everyone takes down votes as lightly as they should or if someone starts seeing the same person down voting everyone of their stories about racing their R6 on the street or their story about how they are super bad ass amazaballz skilled and could go faster than that shmuck that vendetta's might emerge and take away from it all.

People may be more reluctant to down vote a post in fear of ridicule or making someone upset/ they don't want to look like an A-hole

plus it takes away the fun of up and down vote trolling :rotflmao:

I think that's the point. :)

Do people really get butthurt over down voted posts?

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-nNS84Sh/0/O/i-nNS84Sh.gif

Um, excuse me Mr. Alex.... Nice you tag there in the signature. :nono:

Go BIG or go home. lol

So much for being friendly eh? :lol:

Every once in awhile, that tag makes me chuckle. It never gets old. ;)

when does this change launch?

Now seems as good a time as any.

Enjoy! (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/profile.php?do=helpfulans)

It looks like it only shows the last 50 votes, which should be more than enough, but I'll see if I can find where that limit is.

edit: found it; it now shows the last 100 votes.

It should be obvious, but just in case, keep in mind that up until now, people who were voting thought it was anonymous. I considered wiping out all thumb votes before making this change, but I thought that would be worse than leaving them up.

I guess my hope is that the level of butt-hurtedness that some of us might feel by how past votes were cast for us, is manageable enough without taking that butt-hurtedness to a new level now that this change has been made. Going forward, I think that the voting will still be a useful feature, even if the voting behavior might change slightly now that the recipient can see more info about each thumb. If there are issues, I've provided an automated form (http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-M7GJrmX/0/O/i-M7GJrmX.jpg).

At the risk of more downvotes, looking at my list, thank you fans :bow: and :p to you rasta!

i downvoted you for the **** of it

i just looked at my list.


i am SHOCKED and AMAZED by what i see.

First person to send me a PM complaining about a down vote gets perma-ignored

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/288/697/3fa.jpg

i downvoted you for the **** of it

Yeah i was expecting that from someone.

i like the unhelpful ones that are a clear sign you caught someone with the you tag.