Ben's Bargains

[matthew]

OK, so we have this new feature where there are thumbs up and down on the discussion page ("Was this useful?"). Maybe I'm missing it, but it seems the data don't go anywhere--you can't see if a particular user gets a lot of thumbs up/down, and you can't track a discussion based on vote counts.

I think it's interesting information, and minimally:

- Each user's profile should include their total votes up/down, if not links to pages where votes were cast (I mean votes cast by OTHER users for that user -- yes, a popularity contest)

- A modified "hotness" meter that includes up/down votes as part of whether the topic is being discussed

- Perhaps prizes for getting up votes (rather than total number of posts) -- or better yet, categories like "most helpful", "most knowledgeable", "most X-rated imagination", etc.

[Bens_Admin]

Thanks for the feedback.

The thumbs up/down count is part of the "Ben's Cred" rating, visible on a member's profile page as linked from the front page deals and discussions, not from the phpBB forum links, with a top users list displayed (and linked to a larger list) on the right side of the homepage.

Currently this count includes half the # of posts a person has made, +/- the thumbs up/down count.

Often people don't give good (or bad) posts a thumbs rating, and there is already a "Good Deal" button on all the deals listed that members can use, so it probably wouldn't serve any purpose to track discussions based on votes when there is already the hotness meter and "Most Discussed Deals" panel on the homepage.

Prizes are something being considered, along with weighting for time periods so it isn't just total # of posts or total thumbs rating. Categories might be interesting, though with the major site front page layout change these things are still trailing behind in development.

[matthew]

Ah! I wondered why the "cred" rating was so close to half the total number of posts! Is that explained on the Top Users page (I have flash and a lot of javascript turned off, so I miss things!)? Maybe you can include a brief description on the page of how it's computed.

I agree there isn't much reason to add the thumbs ratings to "Discussion" indexes, but I still suspect it's highly useful data, and to only reserve it for the Cred score (and actually, slip it in kind of transparently) makes it fairly unimportant (look at the Top list and you'll see total count swamps the thumbs' contribution).

Other than time spent formatting/coding, any reason for not including the total up/down (or a Top list for the votes) on each user's profile page? I think it offers information distinct from number of posts, and it would be neat to see it alongside.

Thanks for the quick response!

[Bens_Admin]

That is something to consider, though with any change some will like it, some won't, and some will think "too much information", liking a minimalized page for everything.

Previously we had an IE8 bug and a layout adjustment period most site change comments were focused on. Possibly with these things behind us we'll get more comments about other things including the points you mentioned.

Also, to have your comments on these things be more visible you can post them in the site new design topic here:

http://bensbargains.net/deal/introducing-the-new-site-design-at-ben-s-bargains-223571/

This topic is also linked from the homepage in blue text "share your feedback" right above the "Deals You Might've Missed" panel on the right side of the page.

[matthew]

Awesome, thanks!