Open Designs Forum » Site Specific
Site Thoughts, Voting and Tracking
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Things to consider: We have all sorts of tracking and logging for Open Designs. We see how many people sign up, how many post, don't post, download themes, upload themes and a lot of other tracking for security reasons. There are a lot of users who just stay in the shadows and don't do anything but just watch, basically non active in my opinion. We even have people with multiple accounts, yes, we know who you are ;) Bottom line, when the time comes for a vote on the new ad system or any future voting for things OD related, we will have some things in place to make sure it's a fair vote. Something else to consider. Do we want someone who has only been on the site 1 to 2 weeks and not even posted a single comment, thread or design to have a say in the future of the site? There are a lot of users who have been registered since December 2006 who also fall into this category. What about them? Some people come to ask questions, some come to download designs, some come to just sit and watch. We must not forget the users who come because someone sent them to bitch and moan or registered a second or third account to try and sway people or votes. You don't need an account to sit and watch or even download designs but you do need an account to contribute to the forums or upload designs. Maybe some user account verification needs to be put into place and also a user audit? Just some thoughts to toss around.Posted 3 years ago #
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To add to my original post, I've seen some sites with a vesting period, where you can't do certain things in a forum until you've met certain requirements, like a certain number of posts and/or comments, a specific time period has gone by, etc. They also have it if you don't post at least X times in X days or months, your account gets suspended or you need to contact an admin about it. Does anyone have ideas on preventing or slowing down "forum trolls"? Edit: Also, Lurkers are understandable but at least once in a while pop in and make yourself known. It makes for better understanding and communication. Feel free to contact me directly if you don't want to post a comment.Posted 3 years ago #
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Sean, I don't know if this is technical possible with the voting system you plan to use or not but you could make only users who fufil one (or more criteria) eligable to vote. e.g. x (probably 1 design posted) x designs downloaded x forum posts etc. You'd then restrict voting to the 'core' of OD community. {sidenote} I know my personal contributions to the forum have been limited since the initial launch but i'm endeavouring to find a little more time to help out where I can. But i'm not trying to get myself into the voting frame this way (honest! :bigsmile:) {/sidenote} -MarkPosted 3 years ago #
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Posted By: seanDoes anyone have ideas on preventing or slowing down "forum trolls"?
I assume your looking for a solution other than a shotgun!. p.s. your second post was made while I was typing... -MarkPosted 3 years ago # -
Well, I don't post very much, because I've always been one to not post unless I have something to contribute. Or a question to ask. And let me say I resent being called a forum troll for that reason. A troll, btw, is someone who posts inflammatory comments for the purpose of causing dissension or flame wars. I've learned a lot from the designs here, and the discussions, and I'd like to thank all of you that have helped me learn. And I'm sure there are other lurkers (the correct term, sean), who come here for the same reason that I do. To learn to create better websites, and to look at and learn from the new designs.Posted 3 years ago #
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@BristolSue: I should have also added lurker to my post as well and yes I know the difference. Being on computers, BBS's and internet since I was 9 or 10 (I'm 35 now) I've been around a while, so this isn't my first rodeo. I wasn't specifically calling you or any one person a troll or lurker. There have been flames and other nasty things in the past. They were either removed or edited and the people involved were notified. Yes, OD is here for people to learn and create, however, a forum account is not needed to read or learn, so that's part of why I asked my questions... how do we account for users, members, lurkers :) or trolls that fall into certain categories? Someone who has been lurking for months and hasn't made a peep, in my opinion doesn't have much creditability for voting. If they have something to offer up, even just to say "hi, i'm a long time lurker, first time poster" is better then nothing at all. I am open to all constructive comments or suggestions.Posted 3 years ago #
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I think implementing a "X amount of posts" before things like voting in polls would be a good idea. I don't think that an "X amount of designs" would be a good idea though. There's plenty of people that come here that don't contribute designs for various reasons. For example when I joined OSWD I had no intention of contributing at all. I was there to leach off of other designers and learn everything I could from the topics, designs, etc. If I knew the Vanilla forum system (thats what it is, right?) a little better I'd offer an idea or two, but I don't really know what its capable of.Posted 3 years ago #
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This is a tough problem that you and the other admins are facing Sean. It's difficult to draw a line in the sand and say that everyone on this side should have a say, and that everyone on the other side shouldn't. I understand the reasoning behind wanting to do that, but it's extremely difficult to decide where to draw that line, while still being "fair". I, for one, don't post a whole lot on the forums, because like what BristolSue says above, I don't always have something new to contribute. 99% of the time when someone is asking a question, it's already been answered by the time that I'm reading the post. I agree that making that distinction is an important thing to do (either by how long they've been a member, or how much they contribute, or a mixture of both), but deciding where to draw the line (without offending too many people) is going to be tricky.Posted 3 years ago #
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@JeremyD: I wouldn't personally take how many designs contributed into account for removing someone. If a user uploads designs but doesn't contribute to the forum, that's fine because they are contributing to the core of the site. Something needs to be done but it's going to be tricky as pointed out by bcwood.Posted 3 years ago #
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very valid points you're making here. It doesn't make sense to have those that rarely or never contribute, voting on some "important" issues. An idea for voting: instead of basing voting privileges on downloads, maybe base it on number of posts in the forum, not a high amount. Like 1 post per week or 5 per month...something like that. Or...a combination, user must have 5 posts per month OR 2 or more designs contributed.Posted 3 years ago #
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@bcwood: Users/Members like yourself are known around the site from the previous two communities. That was another point of mine, people need to make themselves known... then it's perfectly fine to have a say in things... not just be lurking for 6 months then all of a sudden say "this is my vote".Posted 3 years ago #
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I'm with bcwood and BristolSue. Personally I've been developing and honing my design skills before submitting anything I think is worth sharing. That said, I do feel I contribute occasionally but not enough. I admit that sometimes I'll see a post and have a good technical response but either not have the time to respond or realize that I'm just too damn lazy and move on. I always come back later when I do have time and downed a few Red Bulls to respond. 99% of the time there's already been one. That's why this community is wonderful. Sean, I believe that I have a lot to contribute, and I even made a New Year's resolution back at the beginning of the year that I'd submit a good few templates to OD. Now I'm rereading my post and feel that I'm defending myself unnecessarily, but deep down I honestly feel that OD does so much for me and I do nothing in return. Having said all that, I'm going to try and become much more active on the forums and get cracking on some designs. *handshake* :rasta:Posted 3 years ago #
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Well, that's really something to think about :) I personally would make some distinctions: frequent contributors (forum or design), frequent lurkers (because they are likely to be really interested in all what's going on around here) and less-frequent lurkers (but not completely inactive), and inactive accounts (those who just posted in one thread because they had a question, for example). I don't know if it's possible to rate these kind of users, but after that you could deside to let everyone vote, but with a weight of 100% for group 1, 60% for group 2, 40% for group 3, and 10% for group 4 (well, you know this is an example, I really don't know what's fair in this). Just an idea how I'd think it's fair, while not having any idea of the possibilities :wink:Posted 3 years ago #
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@sean- I didn't really think you would. I was just kind of giving my opinion on something before it was even brought up. I tend to do that a lot. :bigsmile:
I think it needs to be based on forum posts. because the designs aren't the community (they're part of it, but they aren't the backbone of it like the forums are). the forum is. If someones out there asking questions, answering questions, giving opinions, etc. then I think they've earned the right to decide the future of the community they're part of. But if someone shows up to bitch about the ads and disappears, then they don't have the right to decide the future of a community they're not apart of.edit- realized I'm pretty much rambling and repeating everything already said. It end to do that a lot too :bigsmile: oddly enough I think this should be voted on. that way everyone; the regulars, the lurkers, the haters, the trolls, the contributors, the whatevers can all vote about what requirements there should be to keep voting.Posted 3 years ago # -
On the other hand: those who are really occupied with uploading designs, but are never seen on the forum: would they be interested in things that go on here?Posted 3 years ago #
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(saying kind of the same as JeremyD, at the same time :wink:)Posted 3 years ago #
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@Colin: You do contribute and have made yourself know around the site and community. It's all good. @soyrosa: your suggestion is something that I am already considering and with all the data we have behind the scenes tracking everything with the site, we can come up with something fair I think. Of course I'll keep people posted and discuss with the other two admins.Posted 3 years ago #
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I've always had this horrible habit of signing up on many forums and then lurking about. I can't remember exactly what prompted me to sign up here, but in that time I've been happy to share a couple of templates, ask a few questions, and add my two cents to a few posts. By far I don't have a huge interest in web design, I just enjoy doing it as a hobby for my own personal website as well as a few close friends. In the time I've been a member on this site, I've picked up a lot of great tips and cool plugins for WordPress among other things. When it comes down to how this site and community is run though, I guess I just stand back and let those who are really involved make the decisions. I'm just along for the ride :bakie:Posted 3 years ago #
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The thing that would worry me about implementing a rule like "5 forum posts a month" is that we would end up getting a lot of "me too" comments on the forums by users trying to fill their quota. I typically check the forum several times a day, but there are sometimes weeks that go by where I don't leave a comment myself. Sometimes I just don't have anything new to add to the conversation, and I don't want to feel like I have to say something, just to keep up my status on the site.Posted 3 years ago #
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@bcwood: you make valid points and again, you are known around the community and it's not expected of you or anyone to post X times a month but it shouldn't be hard to pop in once in a while. Maybe we could add in a system that sends out an email once every couple of months to validate your account. No reply and your account is on hold. If you come back after a few months and notice your account is "on hold" so to speak, you contact an admin or click the link in the email and validate your account again. Thoughts?Posted 3 years ago #
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@dannisbet: you contribute designs to the site, so you are helping support the site and community. People can learn from your designs. Keep up the great work and if you don't pop in for a while, at least people can learn from what you have already offered up to the site and community.Posted 3 years ago #
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I don't think they were using the term "troll" to refer to someone that didn't post...they already fall in the "inactive" category. However, there are some people that DO post, but post inflammatory statements rather than anything useful. I believe they are suggesting that these people be excluded from the vote as well. As for my take on it: - Obviously eliminate any duplicate accounts. - Ultimately, these ads will benefit the designers...so I'd probably weight votes from people that have accepted designs, but allow votes from others. - Also, I'd try your best to eliminate people that have only made inflammatory posts, but allow people that haven't posted at all to vote. Maybe a sliding scale: Dupe accounts & trolls: Vote*0 No posters: Vote*.5 Active with no contributions: Vote*1 Contributors: Vote*2Posted 3 years ago #
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Lol...I got a call mid post, and had to update some code on one of my sites. I started my reply about 5 minutes after BristolSue's post...sorry it doesn't tak into account anyone elses. I haven't read everything in this thread yet, but the idea to send occasional E-Mails with links to keep the account active is a good idea. Just not too often. Every month or two would probably be sufficient.Posted 3 years ago #
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Hmmm... interesting views; I am afraid I dont contribute to the designs, though i have always tried to answer questions people post, that I may have some knowledge about. I guess I do lurk in the posts sometimes to pick up ideas and though processes - but not being a web designer, I cant submit to the templates. I have been interested for a while in the OD community for a while, and was a posting member of "other" forums, but I found the quality of work, and thought processes here much better, hence I stick around. I do recruit OD's to help me out once in a while So keeping in the above in mind - what does that make me? Either
watway I am not too bothered about voting - not because I dont care, but because I dont contribute in a formal way to the designs.Posted 3 years ago # -
@Sean - sending an email after a period of inactivity could be a good idea. I'm sure there are quite a few inactive users, who may have signed up at one point to post a question, and have never come back. I wasn't referring to myself specifically in terms of users who may not comment regularly, but are active in other ways. I was just using myself to illustrate my point that I don't think having a quota on forum posts is a good idea, as it will likely prompt lots of "me too" type comments that don't add anything to the conversation, and degrade the overall quality of the forum.Posted 3 years ago #
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So far I'm thinking that sending out emails to users with multiple accounts to choose the user name they want, then removing the others is in order. Once that's done, sending out emails to all users who have been inactive for 30 days or more to confirm they are still around and/or want an account. If someone doesn't reply to the emails, the accounts get put on hold, not deleted. All posting, commenting features disabled. If they want it reactivated, they either click a link in the email or contact an admin. Thoughts?Posted 3 years ago #
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I think an average number of posts per week/month may work quite well... for example I've made a total of 676 Posts and been registered for 206 Days as of today [source] which means I have a rough average of 3 posts per day, but someone registered for only 20 days may have 100 posts, averaging 5 posts per day, and be really active and involved, so they're the kind of people that should be voting on stuff. On the other end of the scale, if someone has been registered for 300 days, and only made 10 posts... then why should they vote on important decisions? Yes, they may only be visiting and viewing the forum / downloading the designs, but are these (sorry, but for lack of a better word) freeloaders the type of people that should vote on the future on the site? Well, yes and no. Yes, because without them the site may as well be non-existant as we're here to help others and allow people to use the templates and view the forum posts / help etc. But no, because they're not directly giving anything in return to the site. It's a tough one to draw the line on who is, and who isn't, allowed a say in what happens, as we need the "freeloaders" to grow in total site reach, but we also need the active members to keep the forum and site running smoothly and frequently.Posted 3 years ago #
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Posted By: seanSo far I'm thinking that sending out emails to users with multiple accounts to choose the user name they want, then removing the others is in order.
Good Idea... I guess if people come back after a long hiatus, and cant get in (cause they forgot the username) they might set up a new account... I mentioned the above cause I am guilty of doing that sometimes... :shamed:Posted 3 years ago # -
very good idea. But maybe increase the inactive accounts period to 60 or 90 days instead? Reasons: Less e-mail sent, more leniency.Posted 3 years ago #
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Posted By: ChristopherIt's a tough one to draw the line on who is, and who isn't, allowed a say in what happens, as we need the "freeloaders" to grow in total site reach, but we also need the active members to keep the forum and site running smoothly and frequently.
IMHO template contributors to the site should definately be given voting power after all they made the effort to create something and offer it for nothing (*sigh* *jealous*)... and for the rest a ratio of membership length to post activity?Posted 3 years ago #
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