Now that I have successfully spammed, derailed, and disrupted the thread about the new mods (good start, Vik) I'm attempting to contain the damage by continuing the discussion here :)

The idea, proposed in #15 of that thread is to have some kind of appreciation button for members to use to show that a post by another member was outstanding. This could help in the selection process of new mods the future.

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IMO I just think its a nice way to give people a smile when they have done a good post or said something clever. It does not have to have anything to do with rating just "its nice to be nice"

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Yes, that's true. The reason I suggested it as a rating system is because a lot of members would like more input into the way mods are selected. If the members can rate people, then they are selecting the candidates for modship, and can then vote on them.

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I'd like to see a thanks button. Not just for the mods process but to be able to see if a post has been appreciated. I know we all feel like our posts have been totally missed from time-to-time and I would also like to be able to show my appreciation.

On the other forums I experienced it on, it has worked very well. People have shown support in other posts when they don't have anything else to say or add to the thread. It says at the bottom on the post 'blah has been thanked 5 times for this post'

I don't feel a rating button would work as well because that's rating someone's post but I'm aware that The Vikster's talking about future mod selection and I feel that the thanks buttons could work just as well

With regards to future mods, can we do an aplication system and then a voting system like the general election without the lobbying cos let's face it, it's not cricket

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Fair point, Facey. A thank-you button is more appropriate. I don't mean it would lead to the person having the most automatically being made the next mod, but it could be taken into consideration.

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I love your suggestion...I'm just scared of having really pants ratings

I do remember suggesting the thanks button before but can't find it now.

Anyway, either way, I think they're both great ideas.

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Maybe it will inspire us all to write evn more clever and nice posts?

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Oh, I would never suggest a ratings button where people can rate someone negetively. There is just no point to that other than to cause upset. Sorry if this is what people thought! As you said, Facey the thank-you button is enough.

One reason I have suggested this is because I, and quite possibly other members feel that at times members are not included in decisions they are capable of making, and maybe feel untrusted. I understand that my appointment as mod is a good example, but I hope to be able to change that a bit, and to include the people who are interested in being included in more stuff around here.

I also think there are plenty of members who feel they are generally overlooked and unappreciated. This button is a way of showing them this isn't the case!

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I'm not aware that anyone here deliberately writes not-nice posts or even un-clever ones either. Posts can easily be taken the wrong way if only one side of them is seen. There are alot of posts here that spill-out from something else so you miss vital bits inbetween and at the end.

Is anyone against the propsed rating?

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Yes! Very much against it!

Especially here!

If you make something like this, please, make it only visible to the poster. So, if I'd like to thank Facey for her brilliant contribution, she will see that I gave her a 'thank you', but no one else will. And no point system should be maintained.

Otherwise it'll only lead to whining and ♥♥♥♥♥ing about how things are seen wrongly and it'll create some kind of competition. "You like my posts, I like yours" or "Oh, best not argue against that, 10 people have said a thank you to it!" -- which could lead to 'groupthink' (everybody agrees for the sake of keeping peace).

We've had enough nasty fighting in this place and I feel that this one has a risk factor.

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It's not meant to be a competition and I believe that people here won't use it as a competition. It's a Thank You button. Simple as that. Think of it as your good dead for the day.

DO you see anyone moaning when someone opens a door for a lady trying to cart a double buggy and two toddlers into the doctors surgery and she says thank you to that person?

It's the same thing really.

Sorry hun xxxx I read it the wrong way

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No I was not intimating that any one does it deliberately!! Just inspire us to be EVEN nicer.

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I've seen a kudos type system on another forum, where you can either applaude or smite a member (giving or taking a kudos point.) This is done anonymously and, on the whole, is just a bit of fun ... especially when you know the owner and he bumps up your score to 6000+ for a giggle.

If the forum software Pete uses supports this type of feature I'd say go for it

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I agree Nay in the fact that if it does happen....then the ratings should only visible to either the poster or the reciever. (prob the reciever)
I just don't want to see someone getting a rating...then everyone else following suite just because everyone else has rated on that person.
Sure most of us are smart enough not to do that...but i feel that this would happen amongst many of us.

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Is it possible we could have a vote on this? Like can we have a thanks button. I personally dont care about "ratings" but as I keep saying "it's nice to be nice"

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That's assuming that there's a rating not a thank you button though.

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In its principle this is a decent idea; a thank you without a PM -- it's a good option to have.
I've seen too many nice plans in theory being implemented blindly though, without really thinking what it could do in practice.

That's why it's probably best to keep it anonymous (also refer to Tigs' comment); I think it's the best of both worlds.
If you want the rest of the forum to know you like a post, reply to it and say "Nice post, I agree with you for these-and-those reasons" or "Nice post, but I disagree with you on these points".

Though personally I won't make use of it -- I prefer a PM, which is so much more personal. See it as the facial expression that accompanies the "thank you" you receive for opening the door for that person. If they mutter 'Thanks' with a straight face, you won't feel much better. But if their face is beaming it'll brighten your day too. A bit, at least.

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You can't always say 'nice post' though. There are threads in here that we like to keep tidy by only posting things like jokes etc.

We're all adult enough to not sit an groups and abuse it. I don't think this should really be taken in such a negative way.

I said I've seen this be used in another forum, it's a huge forum and I've never once seen it be abused.

I second MrsB's notition that it be put to vote in the end.

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Im sorry but IMO why are some of us too scared to say thank you for a nice post or clever new thread. For my part i started a new thread this morning and a couple of people started ther post with "nice thread" it made me smile cos other people liked my idea! If people had hated it then I would have had a warning no? Surely too much is being made of this? Why cant we just have a way to say thanks or good post??

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Yeah, let's vote on it.
We could always try it for a while, and if it turns out that it's not working or is causing rivalries or competition or whatever, then surely it could just be stopped?

I think 99.9% (if not 100%) of people here are mature enough not to let it cause petty arguments.


Edit:
You mean you think people would have clicked warn if they hadn't liked your post?
No. Not unless they actually had something against it.

Plus for some people who aren't so good with words it may be easier to just click something that lets the other person know you thought their posts are good. Having an additional button doesn't stop anyone PMing to say they liked the post, far from it. Also if someone does looaaaaaads of good posts, & you want to give kudos for all of them, it gets a bit tricky PMing them every time you read one of their posts.

Thank-you Tasha! Let's have some faith in people, eh?

Nay, I understand your concern, but I have envisioned this very differently to you. Let me explain my idea better. As we have the warning button here, so we can have a 'good one!' button. Pressing this button would not show up to anyone, apart from the moderating team. That way no-one gets upset when their post is not thanked, and no-one feels pressured to join in the mass 'well done' when a post is thanked a lot, if anyone would feel like that in the first place. It's just a quiet little way of people showing their appreciation rather than making a big fuss. People can still say 'nice post' as they wish, if they want to make it more public.

I have to say I don't know if this is even possible on the forum, it's just an idea, thanks for the feedback.

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I see, Vik. That's an idea I support (as I already stated)

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I'm glad you changed that.

I'd still like to show support for it being public though for all of the reasons stated above, not just by me either.

I can understand why the people who oppose it being made public are against it but we're all adults here and there are a large percentage of us who refuse to turn anything into petty little things. Saying that we will use such a system to do so is very insulting to us and I know Im not the only one who thinks so either.

I also think that it's being looked into too much here and it needs to be lightened up a bit. It's a positive thing for crying out loud!

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Not even the person that posted it?

A lot of the discussion on here most recently has looked as though it assumes the person will be able to see it. It's basically just another way of saying 'nice post,' right? But if they can't see that, they don't know if anyone appreciated their post in the first place.

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