Ideas for new User designatons

[iDig3Dprinting]

Yeah, they do end up being kind of kitsch, and risk encouraging users to post and post without worrying about how much value they are providing. That said, it'd be pretty weird seeing a forum without some sort of ranking. Some places of course try to improve on it by providing a voting or thank-you kind of tally that somewhat reflects the value of the posts that have been made.

We like the ability to plus one peoples advice, it rewards good advice rather than just number of posts. Otherwise the tantric poster is going to be top!

[Ama-fessional Molder]

They should be set more along the lines of how much posting you do rather than the titles like "engineer" and stuff.

I am not an engineer. I should not have engineer next to my name. (yet, give me a few more years)

Initially that was somewhat misleading to me, because when I see engineer next to a name I assume they can answer my question. Here though, you can have a few thousand posts of drivel if someone is careful enough to not break rules, and that title would imply that they have a clue while in fact being completely false.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

And since the last post was 199, this will bump my title to engineer in training without contributing anything at all to the forum. Though strangely this useless post winds up being on topic here in this thread. Nothing "engineer" about this.

[Barnard]

Here I am - first post and checking in on this thread! I don't always look at levels, but on a tech site like this, the relevance is (hopefully) there.

Why not go with Levels? It's kind of a gamer thing, but you could "level up" as you post.

That being said, Ama-fessional Molder made his point well with his last post.

[Eddie]

By levels, what exactly do you mean? Can you provide an example?

[Sebastian Finke]

... I myself don't personally care about them but I think certain posters do.

We won't mention names...

[Sebastian Finke]

We like the ability to plus one peoples advice, it rewards good advice rather than just number of posts. Otherwise the tantric poster is going to be top!

I second this.

[Barnard]

By levels, what exactly do you mean? Can you provide an example?

Something Like:
Level 1 - up to 50 posts (+1s would count)
Level 2 - 51-100
Level 3 - 101-150
Level 4 - 151-200
etc.

Of course you would choose how many posts are realistic or meaningful in terms of numbers. You could even raise the number required to attain a level as the levels get greater (higher).

Not a fun descripter, but nicer than "Nube, Beginner, Lowlife," whatever.

Most forums I'm on simply have the number with no ranking.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

Oh boy. Then my posts can be experience points!

[Todd-67]

We like the ability to plus one peoples advice, it rewards good advice rather than just number of posts. Otherwise the tantric poster is going to be top!

I also agree. Just because you post a lot doesn't mean you advice is relevant or even accurate. I have seen a lot of that here with high post counters.

The post counts should be removed all together and replaced by a rating system where the peers rate the replies and posts by the member. Many a newbie has been led astray or discouraged by bad advice. This applies to most forums not just this one. I have been a mod and admin on other boards on differerent topics and seen the post count wars.

I would also encorage a bio section where users will need to post a short explanation of their backround, goals, and experince level before posting on the main board. Then other members can know how to better answer thier questions.