Site Problems and Questions for the Moderators

[Quiscalus quiscula]

Just now, Seanbirds said:

I can’t hover on the IPad. ?

Okay, guess it does matter which device you are on. I'm always on a chromebook, so it's different. But still, when you click on it, under your background and profile picture there is 'Seanbird's Achievements' where it says '41k reputation'. What I don't like about the update is that everybody gets to see that I'm a new member.

[Seanbirds]

Just now, Quiscalus quiscula said:

What I don't like about the update is that everybody gets to see that I'm a new member.

What do you mean? That was always the case.

[Quiscalus quiscula]

Just now, Seanbirds said:

What do you mean? That was always the case.

Maybe I just didn't notice it before. But overall I think the update made the profiles look a little more sleek, although it really wasn't necessary. And you can tell who is online, even though there was already the 'viewing topic' thing before.

[Kevin]

39 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

You have both the post count and the reputation count. Post count is on the left when you hover, and reputation is in the middle.

 

36 minutes ago, Seanbirds said:

I can’t hover on the IPad. ?

If you cant hover you have to go to their profile, but who want's to have to do either? 

[Kevin]

30 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

And you can tell who is online, even though there was already the 'viewing topic' thing before.

The "last visited" of the profiles was already there too. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Kevin

[Quiscalus quiscula]

Just now, Kevin said:

 

If you cant hover you have to go to their profile, but who want's to have to do either? 

What do you mean? It's just a flick of a finger. You can see how many posts without having to hover. Bird Brain would say that 'You young uns have it too easy!' .

[Quiscalus quiscula]

1 minute ago, Kevin said:

The "last visited" of the profiles was already there too. 

Yes, I noticed.

[Kevin]

2 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

What do you mean? It's just a flick of a finger. You can see how many posts without having to hover. Bird Brain would say that 'You young uns have it too easy!' .

What I am saying is why can't it just show us everyone's reputation just like it always has? 

[Charlie Spencer]

19 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

What do you mean? It's just a flick of a finger. You can see how many posts without having to hover. Bird Brain would say that 'You young uns have it too easy!' .

@Quiscalus quiscula,  before this morning, reputation points were displayed between your avatar and the post count.

A personalized text string was also between your name and avatar.  That's what Sean is referring to as a 'rank' (there was a brief notion for everyone to assign themselves a 'ranking' - nestling, fledgling, juvenile, etc.)  Many people used it to show their location.

You didn't need to hover or cllck to see either; they were there by default, like your name and avatar.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Charlie Spencer

[aveschapinas]

I didn't notice the reputation being gone. I never pay it a bit of attention because it's meaningless. It only counts how many times people have reacted to your posts, no matter what the reaction is (like is not the same as confused) and it's just a count, not a ratio. Someone who posts 100 posts and gets 100 reactions will have the same "reputation" as someone who posts 100,000 posts and gets 100 reactions. 

To clarify the above post, I see the reputation and post counts when I hover over the person's avatar.

[Charlie Spencer]

10 minutes ago, Aveschapines said:

I never pay it a bit of attention because it's meaningless.

It also totals the counts for Likes, Thanks, and Laughs as if they were equal.  I garner far more of the last than of the first two.

I do miss the text string though.  For those members who entered their location, it was a quick way to know where they usually bird.

EDIT: it looks like that string is gone entirely.  I can't find it in my profile.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Charlie Spencer

[Seanbirds]

6 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

EDIT: it looks like that string is gone entirely.  I can't find it in my profile.

Yup. ?

[Seanbirds]

6 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

It also totals the counts for Likes, Thanks, and Laughs as if they were equal.  I garner far more of the last than of the first two.

That’s for sure! 

[Connor Cochrane]

The most annoying thing for me about the update is the blank gap between the profile picture and the number of posts where the reputation used to be. It would look much cleaner if they moved the post count right under where it says members.

[Clip]

18 hours ago, Seanbirds said:

I don’t like the update. ? The reputation count is gone, and so is the “rank” under my username!

I don't like it either. Many have shared a lot to obtain the reputation numbers. They were earned. Now it is like a teacher giving everyone a C no matter how they did on a test. Those that worked hard studied and got an actual A downgraded to a C. Those that showed but didn't study... got an F raised to an C.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Clip

[Charlie Spencer]

7 hours ago, Connor Cochrane said:

It would look much cleaner ...

This from someone whose signature is longer than my life list.  

[aveschapinas]

2 hours ago, Clip said:

I don't like it either. Many have shared a lot to obtain the reputation numbers. They were earned. Now it is like a teacher giving everyone a C no matter how they did on a test. Those that worked hard studied and got an actual A downgraded to a C. Those that showed but didn't study... got an F raised to an C.

I don't follow you here... nobody's reputation has been changed. And it still means little if anything. It's simply a total of the number of times other users have clicked on ANY of the reactions to your content. And I certainly hope nobody is posting in an effort to "earn" reputation points. I suggest that everyone ignore the reputation scores and try to participate in the forums in a way that will enhance the community. 

(By the way, I'm not trying to defend the update, which I had nothing to do with... but I see no purpose to the reputation scores except to create friction and resentment. I'd get rid of it completely if it were up to me.)

[Quiscalus quiscula]

1 hour ago, Aveschapines said:

I don't follow you here... nobody's reputation has been changed. And it still means little if anything. It's simply a total of the number of times other users have clicked on ANY of the reactions to your content. And I certainly hope nobody is posting in an effort to "earn" reputation points. I suggest that everyone ignore the reputation scores and try to participate in the forums in a way that will enhance the community. 

(By the way, I'm not trying to defend the update, which I had nothing to do with... but I see no purpose to the reputation scores except to create friction and resentment. I'd get rid of it completely if it were up to me.)

I agree. If anything, the post number would be a better indicator of how much a member has participated in the community.

[Clip]

42 minutes ago, Aveschapines said:

I don't follow you here... nobody's reputation has been changed. And it still means little if anything. It's simply a total of the number of times other users have clicked on ANY of the reactions to your content. And I certainly hope nobody is posting in an effort to "earn" reputation points. I suggest that everyone ignore the reputation scores and try to participate in the forums in a way that will enhance the community. 

(By the way, I'm not trying to defend the update, which I had nothing to do with... but I see no purpose to the reputation scores except to create friction and resentment. I'd get rid of it completely if it were up to me.)

I see no reason for the scores to cause friction or resentment. Nor do I know of any case where they did. I surely hope you haven't or I'm afraid it speaks volumes that goes back to my example.

What they show for me now is participation for one. There did not use to be any choice but the like reaction. If this was still the case the reputation would possibly mean more. If you don't want us to pay attention to reputation points why have the reactions at all? Perhaps because people like feed back on what they post. They like to see the feedback other people are getting....Not everyone will take the time to comment on a post but they will take the time to do a quick click on a reaction. Over time much more can be learned from reputation points. Any way I liked it the way it was I hope they go back to it.     

[Clip]

1 hour ago, Aveschapines said:

I don't follow you here... nobody's reputation has been changed. And it still means little if anything. It's simply a total of the number of times other users have clicked on ANY of the reactions to your content. And I certainly hope nobody is posting in an effort to "earn" reputation points. I suggest that everyone ignore the reputation scores and try to participate in the forums in a way that will enhance the community. 

(By the way, I'm not trying to defend the update, which I had nothing to do with... but I see no purpose to the reputation scores except to create friction and resentment. I'd get rid of it completely if it were up to me.)

One more thing-I see very little use of the confused reaction in both my post and others. I see the laugh reaction quite a bit but not nearly as much as just the like reaction. Which means that the reputation points do mean something.  They mean something positive for that person but it certainly doesn't mean anything negative for the person who has less especially if they haven't been on the site long.

[aveschapinas]

5 minutes ago, Clip said:

One more thing-I see very little use of the confused reaction in both my post and others. I see the laugh reaction quite a bit but not nearly as much as just the like reaction. Which means that the reputation points do mean something.  They mean something positive for that person but it certainly doesn't mean anything negative for the person who has less especially if they haven't been on the site long.

A few points (although I can see could get out of control...)

-There certainly has been friction. People complaining that other members are clicking some people's posts to reduce someone else's ranking, complaints that some members get more clicks than others because of favoritism, things like that. It hasn't come up recently but it does come up.

-I didn't design the site and I have no influence over its format. So my opinion about the reputation scores has no relationship to whether they exist or not. So asking why they are there when I don't like them - it's because I have no say!

-I didn't say the reaction clicks don't mean anything or that they should be removed. I said that in my opinion the "reputation score" doesn't mean anything and I would remove it if it were up to me. Looking at reactions to individual posts certainly has meaning and I would not want to remove that feature. Again, it's not something I can control anyway.

[Charlie Spencer]

36 minutes ago, Clip said:

If you don't want us to pay attention to reputation points why have the reactions at all?

The capability was built into the forum software by default.  They're like the sunroof on my car.  It played no role in whether I bought the car or not; it's just there.

It's the same for the site admins.  They chose the software that powers the forums.  The poorly-named 'Reputation' feature was built-in but probably wasn't a feature they explicitly looked for.  Apparently the software manufacturers (who are NOT our site admins) dropped the value from the display.  Nobody here made a choice to not show it.

I find value in them in the individual discussions.  They can indicate how many people agree with an ID, for example.  That's also where the 'Confused' one is handy.  To me, they mean more in the context of a single post or thread than as a member's 'Reputation' number.   I say that as someone who has a high 'Reputation' but knows it's built more on 'Ha-ha's in that number than 'Thanks' or 'Like'.  Providing useful information is what a rep should be built on, not being the class clown.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Charlie Spencer

[Clip]

1 hour ago, Aveschapines said:

A few points (although I can see could get out of control...)

-There certainly has been friction. People complaining that other members are clicking some people's posts to reduce someone else's ranking, complaints that some members get more clicks than others because of favoritism, things like that. It hasn't come up recently but it does come up.

-I didn't design the site and I have no influence over its format. So my opinion about the reputation scores has no relationship to whether they exist or not. So asking why they are there when I don't like them - it's because I have no say!

-I didn't say the reaction clicks don't mean anything or that they should be removed. I said that in my opinion the "reputation score" doesn't mean anything and I would remove it if it were up to me. Looking at reactions to individual posts certainly has meaning and I would not want to remove that feature. Again, it's not something I can control anyway.

Sorry to hear there has been friction.

[Clip]

1 hour ago, Charlie Spencer said:

The capability was built into the forum software by default.  They're like the sunroof on my car.  It played no role in whether I bought the car or not; it's just there.

It's the same for the site admins.  They chose the software that powers the forums.  The poorly-named 'Reputation' feature was built-in but probably wasn't a feature they explicitly looked for.  Apparently the software manufacturers (who are NOT our site admins) dropped the value from the display.  Nobody here made a choice to not show it.

I find value in them in the individual discussions.  They can indicate how many people agree with an ID, for example.  That's also where the 'Confused' one is handy.  To me, they mean more in the context of a single post or thread than as a member's 'Reputation' number.   I say that as someone who has a high 'Reputation' but knows it's built more on 'Ha-ha's in that number than 'Thanks' or 'Like'.  Providing useful information is what a rep should be built on, not being the class clown.

 

Likes and thanks are my favorite too but I also love making people laugh. Laughter is a great thing.

[Seanbirds]

1 minute ago, Clip said:

Likes and thanks are my favorite too but I also love making people laugh. Laughter is a great thing.

Indeed! Same here.