All You Need To Know About CREDITS and THE REPUTATION SYSTEM

[Makedde]

Please note: Credits are no longer used on PF. This post is outdated and about the old system:

This is for all the newbies out there who seem to become obsessed with their credits. This is the one stop shop for all you need to know about the little buggers.

Right. First of all, credits are the numbers that appear under your flags. They are basically points.

How do you earn points? Easy, by posting. Each forum will give you a certain number of credits. For example, this forum (Forum Help, Feedback) might give you 10 credits each time you make a post. Another forum, such as the Current Events forum, might give you 15 credits for each post.

When you have a post deleted, you lose the credits you earned from that post.

If a user has a negative number of credits - for example '-10' - that could mean that the user has donated his/her credits to someone, then had a number of posts deleted, which would land their points in the negative.

Now, a lot of people like to know what, exactly, can you do with these credits? Well, not much, to be honest.

You could use them to play the quizzes like a few people do. These are basically political quizzes, with a few other, random quizzes thrown in.
In order to play, you'll need a certain number of credits - probably under 100 - as each quiz requires credits to play. If you win a quiz, you gain back those credits, plus more.

You can play each quiz only once - which was a pain for me because I really wanted to cheat!

You can also donate your credits to another user. You can do this by finding the user you wish to donate to. Find one of their posts, then click the 'credit' tag under their name. It will take you to a page in which you can type in the number you wish to donate. When you make a donation, you will lose about 5% of the credits you have donated. So if you decide to donate 100 credits, you will automatically have 5% of that 100 deducted - so the user won't end up getting the entire 100 credits.

If all that seems a bit too confusing, send me a PM. I am happy to brand myself as the credit expert of this forum, and I would be happy to help you out with any questions you might have.

In the meantime, enjoy the forums!

[cenydd]

The Reputation system allows forum members to award 'reputation points', and send short private comments, to other members relating to a specific post. There's a link for it at the top of each post on the forum (the little set of scales). Members who have more posts on the forum will be awarding more 'reputation points' then newer members when they 'give a rep'. The names of those who have received the highest reputation points in the last 7 days are displayed on the 'Top Reputations' table on the forum's front page.

'Reputation' and comments can be made for any reason at all, either anonymously or 'signed' in the text box, and the table just displays who has had the most 'points' for whatever reason they were given. Because reps can be given for any reason, the table shouldn't be considered in any way as an accurate list of 'best posters', or an indication of who is making the 'best quality posts'.

The general 'FAQ' section (quoted in the following message) gives a general overview of the reputation system contained in the forum software, but the 'FAQ' information in this thread is intended to outline how it operates on Politicalforum itself. There have been lots of comments and questions about it in that past, but the nature of the system and table means that public discussion can all too easily end up becoming personal. For this reason, although more general questions can be addressed in the "Forum Help, Feedback, Etc." forum (where they may be answered by other members), it's better to address any more specific comments or questions to the staff privately (either by PM or via the 'Suggestion box').

The following message gives some more detail about the system and how it works.

[cenydd]

What is 'reputation'?

Reputation is a way of rating users depending on the quality of their posts. If the administrators have enabled reputation, then the reputation icon will be visible in posts.

Reputation may be positive, negative or neutral. Negative reputation may only be given if the administrator has enabled this. Neutral reputation is only given when the person giving reputation does not meet the criteria set by the administrator to affect someone else's reputation.

Reputation is enabled on this forum, but members can only give 'positive' reputation. The 'negative' and 'neutral' options are disabled, so if members don't want to award 'positive' reputation, then they should not award reputation at all!

There are, however, no rules governing the awarding of reputation for posts from members. It can be given for any reason, including 'quality' of post, agreement with post, to simply make a comment to a user regarding their post (that isn't related to the discussion thread), welcoming another member back after they've been away for a while, and so on.

Moderators do not monitor reputations, and are not in a position to pass judgment on whether they have been awarded 'properly' or 'for good reasons'. Since any rule on whether reputations have been awarded for posts that are 'good enough' to receive them would be impossible to enforce objectively, such rules do not exist at all. If, how, when and why members choose to use the reputation system is entirely up to them as individuals (although it should be noted that reputation comments must comply with the general forum rules, and we will address issues such as personal attacks contained within them).

How do I give reputation?

To give reputation, click on the reputation icon in the relevant post. This will reveal a form to complete with the reputation type and the reason for giving the reputation. If negative reputation is disabled then it will not be displayed in this form. You may not give reputation for the same post twice.

Hopefully this should be fairly self-explanatory! Reputation is quick and easy to give. It should be noted, though, that they are anonymous by default - the system does not show the recipient the name of the member who has awarded them reputation, although many users choose to 'sign' them in the text box. Giving reputation either 'anonymously' or 'signed' is fine.

How do I know what reputation I have received?

You can view the reputation that you have received in your User CP (User Control Panel) where it is displayed at the bottom of the User CP page. Here you will see the latest reputation that you have received and whether this is positive, negative or neutral. Your total reputation will be shown as series of reputation indicators in your posts and profile. The more positive your reputation, the more positive icons will be shown. The more negative your reputation the more negative icons will be shown.

As previously mentioned, only positive reputation is enabled, so obviously only positive reputation will be displayed.

How much reputation is given? What is reputation power?

If the administrator has enabled this, the amount of reputation that each user will give (or take away if negative) is shown in the user's posts as 'Reputation Power'. The value of the reputation power is determined by the administrator and may increase over time depending on the settings they have applied.

On this forum, reputation given by longer standing members will award more 'points' than that given by relatively new members. Between 0-49 posts a member does not have Reputation Power. After reaching 50 posts the Reputation Power is based upon the formula of (1 + posts/10000) so an additional power of "1" is added for each 10,000 posts made. The system no longer includes any 'multiplier effect' related to reputation itself, as it previously did and this is the same for all members, including advisors and moderators. This system has been reviewed and amended by the moderators following previous comments and suggestions from members, and there are no plans to readdress the subject.

What if I don't want anyone to see my reputation?

You can disable the display of your reputation by going to your User CP and selecting Edit Options. On this page you will find a check box labeled 'Show Your Reputation Level'. Un-checking this box will remove the display of your reputation and replace it with the Reputation Disabled icon. You can still give and receive reputation while your reputation display is disabled.

Again, this should be fairly self-explanatory.

What does the 'Top Reputation' table show?
We have a 'Top Reputations' table displayed on the front page of the forum. This shows which members have received the greatest amount of reputation over the last week. Of course, as previously noted, reputation can be awarded for any reason at all, so this table should not in any way be considered a definitive or accurate assessment of who are the 'best' posters on the forum! It simply shows who has received the most reputation, for any reason, and nothing more important should be read into it than that.

What if I have some questions or comments about reputation?
In the past, public discussions of the reputation system have been found to be somewhat troublesome, in that they have usually dissolved into rule violations and attacks between members (an inherent danger, because the 'Top Reputations' list mentions members by name). While past concerns about the system have been addressed by the moderators, and we are always happy to answer any questions or respond to suggestions (although there are no plans to change the reputation system at the moment), for that reason we would prefer specific questions and comments about the system to be addressed privately to the staff, either via PM or in the 'Suggestion Box' area. If any personal attacks or accusations are made publicly with regard to the reputation system, we will obviously deal with them according to the normal rules and processes governing moderation of such rule violations.