The New Forums - A little Help Please...

[+cerberus1]

I really doubt that I'm the only one here who has no clue what "upvoting", "reputation", warning points, and that heart have to do with posts on this site.

Since part of this forum section is "wondering how the site works", maybe someone can explain what each function means  (and how to get there...) on a typical post.

 - Surprised that this isn't in the Help Center (hopefully that changes...), as all who enter these forums aren't tech savvy IT/IS folks, programmers, and/or social butterflies. 

Thanks for your time.

[+NanCycle]

Yeah, I got a message about a "reputation" and I don't even know if that's good or bad.  I'm assuming that "upvoting" (no, not uprooting, stupid autocorrect) is good, a heart is good, and warning points are bad.  But who gives these out, how do I give one of them (if I even can)?

Okay, another question:  how do I preview my post before I submit it?

[+cerberus1]

1 minute ago, NanCycle said:

Yeah, I got a message about a "reputation" and I don't even know if that's good or bad.  I'm assuming that "upvoting" (no, not uprooting, stupid autocorrect) is good, a heart is good, and warning points are bad.  But who gives these out, how do I give one of them (if I even can)?

Okay, another question:  how do I preview my post before I submit it?

Exactly.  Thanks, I don't feel so bad now. 

Looked in the Help Center under Forums,  and there was a link under "Help Topics", but the link has a 2S100/6 error.

 - So wasn't able to see if that was a tutorial.

Preview  is that little book with the magnifying glass over it (far right on top , next to size).

[+Viajero Perdido]

2 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

Preview  is that little book with the magnifying glass over it (far right on top , next to size).

That needs to be a button with a word.  "Preview".  If "Size" can get its own word (and how often does that get used?) then Preview certainly deserves one.

[+Viajero Perdido]

2 hours ago, NanCycle said:

warning points are bad

I can't see yours, so I guess you can't see mine.

Bad boys, bad girls, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they admin-brick you.

[+NanCycle]

15 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

I can't see yours, so I guess you can't see mine.

Bad boys, bad girls, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they admin-brick you.

 

I can't see mine either.  So I guess I don't have any.  

 

 

24 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

That needs to be a button with a word.  "Preview".  If "Size" can get its own word (and how often does that get used?) then Preview certainly deserves one.

 

Words, words words.  We don't need no stinkin' words.  Everything is pictures nowadays.  Nobody can read words anymore anyway.  

(btw, actually I agree with you-if there was a word I wouldn't have had to ask.)

[+steben6]

So, I am assuming that the new forums format doesn't work on Internet Explorer?  I can't tell you how unhappy that makes me.  And I can't figure out how to make my avatar bigger (yes, I did read the instructions, but don't think I should have to be a computer programmer to use the site) and I can't figure out how to get my stats/quotes on the forum either.  Yep, I am pretty unhappy.  Facebook is looking better and better with every change to Geocaching.

[+steben6]

Can someone please tell me how to reply to someone else's post??

 

[+thebruce0]

8 minutes ago, steben6 said:

Can someone please tell me how to reply to someone else's post??

 

Click/tap "Quote" in the comment you want to reply to, or the [+] button next to it to start a multi-quote (posts are 'collected' with each [+] click). If you start a multiquote, in the lower right a new button will show "Quote # post(s)" which will copy the relevant comments you're quoting to the text entry field at the bottom of the page.

Compose your reply and submit.

Edited July 18, 2017 by thebruce0

[+Viajero Perdido]

At first and second glance, that "+ Quote" looks like the way to reveal quoted text.  As opposed to creating it, which I've now figured out.

[+thebruce0]

46 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

At first and second glance, that "+ Quote" looks like the way to reveal quoted text.  As opposed to creating it, which I've now figured out.

Yes, that little 'command bar' with each comment seems out of place, appearing before the user's signature, and appearing without any border or separation immediately below the comment text. It's very odd and unusual in a web forum (this is the only forum package I've seen that does this).

Perhaps that 'bar' (quote and upvote options) can be moved below the signature? That would help distinguish it as an actual function list. Or give it a border or darker background.

[+Mudfrog]

I don't do social network websites but i have a feeling this upvoting thing may be similar to a "like" that they use. I'm sure many love this kind of thing but i don't think it's something i'll ever use. If i like or agree with something that someone posted, then i'll say so in my post.

[+steben6]

4 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Click/tap "Quote" in the comment you want to reply to, or the [+] button next to it to start a multi-quote (posts are 'collected' with each [+] click). If you start a multiquote, in the lower right a new button will show "Quote # post(s)" which will copy the relevant comments you're quoting to the text entry field at the bottom of the page.

Compose your reply and submit.

Thank you.

[+NanCycle]

4 hours ago, NanCycle said:

 

Quote

I can't see mine either.  So I guess I don't have any.  

Oops.  There they are.  So I do have some.

 

 

 

 

[+GeoTrekker26]

I have managed to configure the forums to behave like the old system with one exception: the Off Topic forum has come out of hiding and is now included in my searches.  Is there a way to ignore a forum?

[+noncentric]

12 hours ago, GeoTrekker26 said:

I have managed to configure the forums to behave like the old system with one exception: the Off Topic forum has come out of hiding and is now included in my searches.  Is there a way to ignore a forum?

I found the same issue with 'Off Topic' - I wasn't able to find a way to have the Off-Topic forum not show up in the standard 'Unread Content' stream or a custom stream, besides losing PM status.

 

Instead, I further customized the custom stream that I created (see my earlier post in this thread).  After the steps in that earlier post, I selected "Content posted in areas I follow" in the 'Following' drop-down menu. Then I went to most forums and selected 'Follow' at the upper right.  There are some forums where I'm not interested in seeing the new content.  Following so many fora was a bit tedious, but I'm glad with the result.

 

Note that, when choosing to 'Follow' a forum, a pop-up box gives options for notifications and the default is to notify.

[+RufusClupea]

On 7/18/2017 at 11:36 AM, cerberus1 said:

Preview  is that little book with the magnifying glass over it (far right on top , next to size).

 

I figured that much out, but after I previewed, I wanted to go back and continue the post, but couldn't figure out how.  I tried going back one page, but wound up losing what I had composed, and had to start from scratch.  mphmumbletechnology...

[+dprovan]

10 minutes ago, RufusClupea said:

I figured that much out, but after I previewed, I wanted to go back and continue the post, but couldn't figure out how.  I tried going back one page, but wound up losing what I had composed, and had to start from scratch.  mphmumbletechnology...

It's that X in a circle that looks for all the world like you're cancelling the post. That stops "the preview" and takes you back to the edit mode.

[+GrateBear]

On 7/18/2017 at 9:28 AM, NanCycle said:

Yeah, I got a message about a "reputation" and I don't even know if that's good or bad.  I'm assuming that "upvoting" (no, not uprooting, stupid autocorrect) is good, a heart is good, and warning points are bad.  But who gives these out, how do I give one of them (if I even can)?

Okay, another question:  how do I preview my post before I submit it?

Yes, what is a "reputation"?  I couldn't find out anything about it.  The post that I for which I gained this questionable "reputation", was one where what I wrote was repeated many times in later posts.  

[+Team DEMP]

29 minutes ago, GrateBear said:

Yes, what is a "reputation"?  I couldn't find out anything about it.  The post that I for which I gained this questionable "reputation", was one where what I wrote was repeated many times in later posts.  

 

A reputation point is like getting a cache favorited. In the forums, on the bottom right of every post is an up arrow and a heart with a count. Clicking the up arrow on someone elses post is like giving them a favorite point. Their reputation increases by 1 with the heart count next to that post also going up by 1. Their total reputation points (how many times someone clicked the up arrow on a post) is on the left under their name/forum icon. 
 

That's all it is. You don't get paid more, don't save any money on your annual premium membership, but maybe you get an extra nod when going through the pearly gates.

[+noncentric]

3 hours ago, Team DEMP said:

3 hours ago, GrateBear said:

Yes, what is a "reputation"?  I couldn't find out anything about it.  The post that I for which I gained this questionable "reputation", was one where what I wrote was repeated many times in later posts.  

A reputation point is like getting a cache favorited. In the forums, on the bottom right of every post is an up arrow and a heart with a count. Clicking the up arrow on someone elses post is like giving them a favorite point. Their reputation increases by 1 with the heart count next to that post also going up by 1. Their total reputation points (how many times someone clicked the up arrow on a post) is on the left under their name/forum icon. 
 

That's all it is. You don't get paid more, don't save any money on your annual premium membership, but maybe you get an extra nod when going through the pearly gates.

In addition to what Team DEMP described, the reputation points can be considered like the "+1" posts that several have posted in the past.  Instead of, or in addition to, quoting a post with a "+1", the post that is quoted could be given a reputation point.

[+RufusClupea]

1 hour ago, noncentric said:

In addition to what Team DEMP described, the reputation points can be considered like the "+1" posts that several have posted in the past.  Instead of, or in addition to, quoting a post with a "+1", the post that is quoted could be given a reputation point.

 

IMO, that changes the definition/intent of the reputation point (I've run into these on other forums over the years).  AFAIK, putting +1 as a response to a post is tantamount to saying "Ditto" or "I agree", whereas reputation points are more like, "WOW, this is a really great post-- it has value.  One is shorthand; the other is a vote of quality.

Sure, it's subjective, and differs on myriad forums, and YMMV.

[+noncentric]

18 minutes ago, RufusClupea said:

1 hour ago, noncentric said:

In addition to what Team DEMP described, the reputation points can be considered like the "+1" posts that several have posted in the past.  Instead of, or in addition to, quoting a post with a "+1", the post that is quoted could be given a reputation point.

IMO, that changes the definition/intent of the reputation point (I've run into these on other forums over the years).  AFAIK, putting +1 as a response to a post is tantamount to saying "Ditto" or "I agree", whereas reputation points are more like, "WOW, this is a really great post-- it has value.  One is shorthand; the other is a vote of quality.

I guess I don't see the 'reputation point' as having such a high bar.  If someone is willing to "+1" a post, then why not give that post a "heart" (reputation point)?  I'm fine with forum users doing whatever they want, "+1" and/or "point" and/or nothing. Personally, I just don't see a big difference between "+1" vs a "heart".

The intranet for a company I do some work for has a message board where employees can suggest features for the company to implement. If other employees support the feature, then they 'vote' for that feature (similar to the "hearts" on this new forum) and the company higher-ups prioritize the features with more 'votes'.  However, that intranet does not associate 'votes' with the person who created the post. That is the biggest difference I see with the reputation points on this forum.

[+RufusClupea]

IMO, that renders Rep points meaningless, so why bother having them at all?

[+noncentric]

5 minutes ago, RufusClupea said:

IMO, that renders Rep points meaningless, so why bother having them at all?

Good question. Not sure why they were added or how they will be used, if at all.  Perhaps a tool to see which posts get a lot of 'hearts' was desired, and associating those hearts to the users that posted was inseparable from that capability?  I have no idea.  I don't see it as either a good or bad thing. I'm pretty ambivalent about it.

[+barefootjeff]

6 hours ago, GrateBear said:

Yes, what is a "reputation"?  I couldn't find out anything about it.  The post that I for which I gained this questionable "reputation", was one where what I wrote was repeated many times in later posts.  

Around here, if someone says "you're starting to get a reputation" it usually means you're making a nuisance of yourself. That's the meaning that immediately came to mind when I first saw the term on the new forums.

[+Team Microdot]

On 18/07/2017 at 4:28 PM, NanCycle said:

Yeah, I got a message about a "reputation" and I don't even know if that's good or bad.  I'm assuming that "upvoting" (no, not uprooting, stupid autocorrect) is good, a heart is good, and warning points are bad.  But who gives these out, how do I give one of them (if I even can)?

Okay, another question:  how do I preview my post before I submit it?

Warning points?

[+noncentric]

 

Keystone provided a summary of both reputation and warning points in another thread:

On 7/20/2017 at 0:33 PM, Keystone said:

To clarify:

Reputation Points are brand new in this version of the forum software.  A community member's reputation points are a positive indicator of their contributions to the Geocaching Forums, so the point total is displayed below the user's avatar.  Because it's a new feature, most posters will have zero or a small number of Reputation Points. 

Warning Points represent the number of formal warnings issued to a user over the years by the Forum Moderators.  Those prior warnings *did* carry over from the prior forum software.  So, if you have five warning points, that's not because of misbehavior this past week.  It could be due to forum guideline violations that occurred many years ago, and which you've long since forgotten.  The moderators do take that history into account when deciding upon appropriate discipline under the Forum Guidelines.  If a user has received several formal warnings in the past few months, the odds of a suspension of posting rights being imposed for a new violation today are higher than if there's been no formal warning issued since 2012.  (Moderators can see the details of any user's previous formal warnings.)  Nobody except you and the moderators knows how many warning points you've accrued over time.

[+Team Microdot]

1 hour ago, noncentric said:

 

Keystone provided a summary of both reputation and warning points in another thread:

 

 

Ah - thanks

 

I thought I was home free on the warning points side but then I saw this:

 

Quote

 

EDIT:  After I posted this explanation, Geocaching HQ removed the warning count from view by the user.  See Moun10Bike's post below in this thread.  No more worrying about what your warning score is, and who can see it!

 

[+Mudfrog]

6 hours ago, RufusClupea said:

IMO, that renders Rep points meaningless, so why bother having them at all?

 

Again, i don't use social networking sites but i do know they utilize "likes" and the such. Those things are popular and a lot of people enjoy using them for some reason. I don't see reputation points or hearts being good for much of anything but i have no doubt they're important to some. I guess clicking/ticking them is the "in thing" to do these days.

 

As is evident, i'm still living in the past here. I'd rather reply in my own post, using my own words, when i read something i agree with and think is helpful.

   

[+RufusClupea]

1 hour ago, Mudfrog said:

 

Again, i don't use social networking sites 

 

Me either.

 

I don't see reputation points or hearts being good for much of anything but i have no doubt they're important to some.

 

At the risk of repeating myself, "... it's subjective, .... differs on myriad forums, and YMMV."  [edited for emphasis]

 

Example: (and where I'm coming from...)  I know of several ~medical support groups that use rep points (or something similar/like them) to differentiate between posters/posts that are respected for being grounded, well-researched, helpful/useful, timeless vs. those that are popular, entertaining, ephemeral, and/or appeal to emotion rather than reason, etc.

 

How/what they'll wind up here on Geocaching.com (important/useful or unimportant/useless or something else entirely), time will tell, as will how (seriously) they're received/taken.  Personally, I'd give more weight to the intent of those who established them (or activated the feature in the software), which--unfortunately--seems a bit nebulous to me at this time.    Maybe they're not sure themselves, and are running it up the pole & see what happens(?)    The discussion I've found thus far starts here.  Another reference (that I quoted above) starts here.

 

And, of course, we're churning the waters HERE. 

 

 

 

[+thebruce0]

Rep points are to posts and posters as favourite points are to cache listings and their owners.

The points are so subjectively vague that they could be interpreted in so many ways. So read'em as you will.

[+Team DEMP]

A Facebook like is similar to this site's "rep" but there the data is being used to surface up content by my friends that might be popular. I don't see that here. 

Unless there's some obvious value that hasn't been communicated to the community, they should just hide them. Otherwise there will be a discussion like the horrible impact of DNFs on cache owners who are traumatized by an email that doesn't do anything negative. Even if they capture them for some possible future use, it doesn't mean they need to be surfaced today. 

 

The forums here are capturing the info but suppressing the Leaderboard which shows by day/week/month/year/all time those with the most points in that time period.  It's not a numbers game - it's all about quality :-D  Surprised someone hasn't called this a "side game" yet. 

[+noncentric]

2 hours ago, Mudfrog said:

As is evident, i'm still living in the past here. I'd rather reply in my own post, using my own words, when i read something i agree with and think is helpful.

I wonder if the "reputation" points were implemented so that forum lurkers could participate without having to 'expose' themselves to the forum regulars.  I've noticed that the User Insights forum threads, and even some of the Release Notes threads, will get some new posters who come to the forums to express their displeasure or appreciation for a new feature/change/etc.  I think we can all admit that sometimes those new posters don't receive the warmest of welcomes to the forums and/or have their opinions criticized.

 

Perhaps, the ability to simply "upvote" another forum post, by giving it an anonymous reputation point, is meant to encourage cachers to participate in the forums - even if just to provide positive feedback on ideas/features/etc. A newbie could 'upvote' something without revealing themselves to the forum masses. They can remain a lurker.  Since we can't 'see' who has awarded reputation points to a particular topic, then we can't criticize them for agreeing with whatever they've upvoted.  I don't know, it's a bit of a stretch. Just an idea that occurred to me.  Maybe time will reveal that there's some reasoning to utilizing the reputation point feature in this forum.  

[Rock Chalk]

Honestly, you guys have put way more thought into the reasoning for using a reputation point system than we did. We simply saw it as an easy way for people to “like” or "+1" a post without having to post a reply. 

If you like the feature, use it. If you don’t like it, ignore it. If we find no one is using it, then we maybe we’ll turn it off.

[+RufusClupea]

3 hours ago, Rock Chalk said:

Honestly, you guys have put way more thought into the reasoning for using a reputation point system than we did. We simply saw it as an easy way for people to “like” or "+1" a post without having to post a reply.

If you had come out and said that to begin with, we wouldn't have had to put any thought or discussion into it--just pointed to your intent.

Thanks for the clarification... finally.

[+thebruce0]

I for one never thought there was some underlying 'intent' to it, just that it was a relatively modern feature that came with the forum. I think some of us were just looking at how the rep points could be used, interpreted, or taken advantage of given their implementation.

Like you said Rock Chalk, you can just ignore it; as I'm pretty ambivalent towards them, that's effectively what I'm doing

[+GrateBear]

On 7/23/2017 at 7:32 PM, Team DEMP said:

 

A reputation point is like getting a cache favorited. In the forums, on the bottom right of every post is an up arrow and a heart with a count. Clicking the up arrow on someone elses post is like giving them a favorite point. Their reputation increases by 1 with the heart count next to that post also going up by 1. Their total reputation points (how many times someone clicked the up arrow on a post) is on the left under their name/forum icon. 
 

That's all it is. You don't get paid more, don't save any money on your annual premium membership, but maybe you get an extra nod when going through the pearly gates.

Ah!  Thanks.  Who knows, we may find the pearly gates is a virtual cache!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 7/24/2017 at 2:43 AM, noncentric said:

I guess I don't see the 'reputation point' as having such a high bar.  If someone is willing to "+1" a post, then why not give that post a "heart" (reputation point)?  I'm fine with forum users doing whatever they want, "+1" and/or "point" and/or nothing. Personally, I just don't see a big difference between "+1" vs a "heart".

The intranet for a company I do some work for has a message board where employees can suggest features for the company to implement. If other employees support the feature, then they 'vote' for that feature (similar to the "hearts" on this new forum) and the company higher-ups prioritize the features with more 'votes'.  However, that intranet does not associate 'votes' with the person who created the post. That is the biggest difference I see with the reputation points on this forum.

A few years ago I had a two day meeting at the HQ for a company out in California that it's known for it's search engine (among many other things).  Apparently they had "good ideas" program where employees could submit ideas an would receive some sort of benefit if their idea was selected.  Some of the ideas were printed out, framed, and displayed above the urinals in the mens bathrooms.