Rating posts

[csco365798]

Hello,

I have been following the Netpro forum for a while now, reading posts for their excellent technical content, and appreciating the enormous effort everybody makes to explain issues, and to get problems resolved.

I understand that rating posts is supposed to be a way to quickly browse through the forums and find the right answers. I noticed, though, that some forum members explicitly ask people to rate their posts, almost regardless of the content. The idea seems to be to quickly catapult oneself to the top of the list, or maybe to use the rating system as a way to enhance one's resume. While this is, in my opinion, not only unfair to all other members (those who do not scream for points), it also makes the rating system rather unuseful, since the rating often does not make sense with regard to the content of the post. So my suggestion would be to either make it obligatory to rate all posts from everyone, or to leave it up to the original poster to rate a post. It should not be allowed to explicitly demand points.

This, of course, doesn't take away that the Netpro forum is definitely the place to be when you need quick answers from top experts !

Regards,

Jim

[csco365798]

The one and only point I am trying to make is: if the rating system should be some sort of recognition for the time and effort contributors spend on getting issues resolved, then each and every post should be rated. Many people that post questions do not know about the rating system at all, and if someone explicitly demands points for every answer, of course he or she gets them. But a strategy of manipulating users into awarding points by telling them each and every time 'rate my post' renders the entire rating system useless, and in the end, it only means: I am at the top of the list because I scream the loudest ! It has no relation with the actual contribution of that specific contributor.

[mheusinger]

Hi,

I do not think a rating system is useless because it is used every time. There is nobody forcing anyone to rate anything here. So it is - no matter what requests are made - solely up to others to rate contributions, or not to rate them at all.

Again, reminding people to rate posts is not manipulating them in any way - giving no points or 1 (unhelpful), if the post did not help is the decision of the person rating.

I do distinguish between "Rate me with 5!!!!!" - which I have never seen by the way - and a reminder to rate (nearly) all posts. The first one would be rude the second statement is useful in my opinion.

You can of course controversely discuss the very existence of a rating system. As it exists, let us use it in a way to guide people to useful answers. This is how it is meant to be used imho. It also means the person doing the rating takes some responsibility for helping all the others searching for help or answers.

Assuming the one, who is screaming loudest always gets the "5" and is not related to the helpfulness of the contribution is insulting the intelligence of the ones rating posts imho. Usually only those posts with valuable contributions will get 4 or 5 - and it is good this way.

Any rating system has (at least) two sides: the ones getting rated and the people who are rating. In most cases I know of it is meant as a feedback mechanism to point out what is good and what should/could be improoved.

It is a useful tool for that matter nevertheless requiring responsible use by both sides.

Regards, Martin

P.S.: Ask TAC people about their "bingo cards". There rating is an essential part of customer feedback afaik.

[Harold Ritter]

I strongly agree with everybody saying that all posts should be rated. This is a very to ask for all the help that people get on NetPro and is a big help for others looking for solutions to a similar issue. It is also very useful to the people answering questions to evaluate whether their contribution was helpful or not.

I see nothing wrong with reminding people to rate as it is human nature to forget.

My 2 cents ;o)

[Harold Ritter]

Sorry, the second sentence should read "This is very little to ask for all the help...".

And please don't rate my previous post ;o)

[devang_etcom]

why do not rate the post?

its good thing and the person who rate the posts i really appriciate them, why to bother about other people who do not rate the post? its upto them if they want to rate then they can no one is going to stop them... its depends on the person who post the issue...

[mmorris11]

You know what? I think that csco365798 has evoked more critical thought about NetPro ratings than would have ever emerged without his insights. And as such, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think his post deserves a 5.

-mike

[Daniel Bruhn]

Of course I've been watching this conversation with much interest. Ratings is an integral part of NetPro but by no means is it perfect. Members who respond to posts on NetPro put an enormous amount of time and effort into their work and deserve recognition. As with any community some individuals are diligent about rating responders and others aren't. I've had numerous conversations with community moderators from other companies and everyone seems to have the same problem with ratings. If anyone has suggestions on how to make the rating system work better I'm all ears.

Cheers,

Dan Bruhn

NetPro Moderator

[jackyoung]

I believe the reason to rate a post is to tell others that I find this post is helpful. When people find a thread w/ rating, then they will view it and expect to find helpful info. I am willing to rate if the post is helpful that no matter the question is rasied by me or others.

You certainly have the right to not rate any post but people also have the right to encourage people to rate the helpful post.

No rating system is perfect, it depends on how people use it. e.g. how come the starter of this post also be rated w/o contribute the knowledge related to this forum ?

I believe all of us are mature and know when and why to rate a post. Reading question and answer in Netpro is very good way to learn the experience from others. i.e. Knowledge sharing.

Hope you not too concern on this issue.

[pkhatri]

Isn't it strange that "csco365798's" posts in this thread have been rated even though he/she did not solicit ratings ? Does that not prove that posts will still be rated in any case ? :-)

I also usually ask that people rate my posts. What do I get out if it ? Nothing substantial, really. However, it does give me the satisfaction of knowing that I have been able to help someone. And if I get the satisfaction of getting a rating out of it, I don't see a problem. I very rarely post questions to the forum ... in fact, the vast majority of my posts are responses to other people's questions.

Now, one of the initial posts in this thread stated that some people do not ask for their posts to be rated, while some do, and that makes the system unfair. What is stopping these people from asking to be rated ? Surely, everyone could ask for their posts to be rated if they wanted to...

Also, before taking a swipe at people who have accumulated a large number of rating points, I suggest you take a look at their posting history. The reason some people have a large number of points is because they have made a large number of posts, for no real gain otherwise.

Paresh.

[desai.jaideep]

Hi

Until and unless we have a dedicated "rate-o-ter" to view and rate posts(like a moderator )....this is impossible.....

This reminds me of school days in which we were graded by a teacher from another school so that there is no partiality and we used to give gifts to them so that we get good marks.

I feel there is no harm in "asking for ratings" which I started doing after I didnt earned any carrots inspite of giving correct answers.

:D

JD

[gpulos]

hi all,

might as well throw in my two cents...

rating posts is a very good way to identify the good information as well as give a thank you to the poster.

it is clear asking for ratings is done for many reasons, all of which are not unreasonable or unfair in my opinion.

i see every single day, ratings to posts that did not ask for them. likewise, i see ratings for posts that did ask for them and i see no ratings for posts that definately deserve them. last but not least, i see posts that are verbally thanked with no rating given.

two things in common i see in every rated post that is a positive rate, that the information was identified as good and that thanks were given.

there is no harm in asking for ratings and i know for sure that if you post 'good information' you will get rated, ask for it or not! not all the posts will get rated but enough for you to know others appreciate your help.

keep coming to netpro for some of the best and quickest questions and answers to your problems.

POST IT.............AND THEY WILL RATE!

[csco365798]

Hello all,

IMHO, the best solution would be if nobody asks for ratings. Let the people who post questions decide for themselves if they want to rate a post or not. After all, every post has a 'Rate this post' remark anyway, which is very much visible. What is the point anyway ? I have not met a single technician who asks his or her customers to give him or her a rating for everything he or she does for the customer. This is what I find rather bizarre, and that is why I initially raised the issue. Look around in your company, how many people do you find asking customers something like 'please send an email to every person in my company and tell them how helpful I have been'. It should be voluntary.

By the way, Netpro is the absolute best forum on the Internet for getting issues resolved. So please don't get me wrong, I am a 100% fan, and I know many more !

[pkhatri]

I'm afraid I still don't agree with you here. Just as you can't force people to rate posts, how are you suggesting that we force people not to ask for ratings ?

And as for your analogy about technicians, that is clearly not a like-for-like comparison. There are no ratings associated with technicians' or engineers' work but ratings are an integral part of NetPro.

And as for your comment: "It should be voluntary", how is asking for ratings making it involuntary. Even if you ask someone to rate a post, they have absolutely no obligation to rate it.

PK

[abhishek_nandavat]

Well, I dont understand how is it bad/unfair of people to ask for their posts to be rated. Its just a friendly reminder to rate their posts, so the effort that they have been putting in to help others is acknowledged.

And of what I have observed, even if you ask each your posts to be rated, people dont rate it many times. And many times people rate the post even if it was not asked them to rate it. So it doesn't really matter if you ask to rate the post or you don't ask to rate the post. And anyway nobody can force the people to rate posts. Its at their discretion to rate the posts, but I believe that they should rate the posts if they found it helpful in anyway...

Regards,

AbhisheK

[devang_etcom]

again i would like to write:

P L E A S E R A T E T H I S P O S T

----------- ------- ------- -------

whats wrong with that?

if someone dont want to rate my post why should i care about it? i m not going to die if my post is not rated... forgot about me no one from the netpro forum going to die for rate?

but RATE is the measure of success... its setisfaction... its motivation to know more and more about technologies... its great thing to keep exper to solve issues at such nice/great forum... and yes compitetion is always there and its good thing to have such thing so everyone can try to get something which they dream....

regards

Devang