You can now rate comments! This lets you have a say in how useful you think a comment is. This complements the star system by adding a quality indicator to comments and members...
You can now rate comments! This lets you have a say in how useful you think a comment is. This complements the star system by adding a quality indicator to comments and members...
To rate a comment, you must have earned a star by posting at least 50 comments yourself. This is only fair since it gives people a chance to rate your comments, too. It also helps curb potential abuse.
You should consider first if it is worth your time to rate a comment at all. If a comment is average or so-so, then do nothing. By definition, most comments should be average.
For those comments that stand out as being helpful, informative, useful beyond a doubt, funny as heck, or insightful, then click on the plus (+) sign at the end of the comment. This registers your rating as positive. You can rate virtually anything including news and feature stories. However, you can only rate a comment once, and you can't rate your own comments.
Comments that are highly rated will be listed on a section in the <a href=/forums.html>Hot!</a> forum or any of the summary forums. This way, the cream rises to the top. Also, highly rated comments are automatically candidates for promotion to a feature story that appears on the front page. There may also be other visual indicators on the comments themselves in the future like the star system. I'm still working on the feasibility of this.
Comments that are extremely negatively rated may cause two things to happen. One, the comment might be removed automatically without the intervention of a moderator. So in effect, you are now all moderators! Secondly, the member who posted that comment might be banned temporarily especially if it is a new member. This lets everybody help in getting rid of trolls early on. Moderators can then permaban trolls, etc.
Note that established members cannot be temporarily banned like this. If you have been here long and/or have posted many comments, then you cannot be affected by this.
By rating a comment, you indirectly rate the author of that comment. I am working on a way to display a member's rating in a fashion similar to the star system. More to come later on this topic.
A strong word of caution: this new rating system is not meant to be a popularity contest. It is for you, the members of dance.net, to have a real say in how things are run around here. The more honest you are in how you rate comments, the more the community benefits. To help ensure this, the rating system also comes with the Karma <sup>tm</sup> system built-in at no extra charge!
The karma system is a reflection of how well and how honestly you rate comments. If you constantly rate others negatively or inconsistently, you will damage your own rating. Conversely, if you rate honestly and rate well, you will give a boost to your own rating. For example, it would do well for you to positively rate comments that are clearly helpful, informative, or humorous. If you negatively rate a great comment, it can adversely impact your karma/rating. Who determines if a comment is clearly helpful? You all do.
With this new system in place, it will now be possible to identify the Member of the Week, Comment of the Week, etc. More to come later...
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As always, your feedback is welcome!
Linh
