200 Characters for Rating a Resource?

[Mike]

I've said this elsewhere, but 250 characters is roughly 3 fairly simple sentences. Generally speaking, if you can't expand on your experience using a resource to that level, it won't give useful feedback to the author or another user. Sure, there will be exceptions but we're intentionally discouraging reviews that don't include detail. The minimum length may be tweaked over time, but we're still taking about a minimum of 2 tweets.

(For reference, the above paragraph is over 430 characters.)

 

[Luxus]

Does this mean that all existing reviews consisting of less than 250 characters will be deleted?

 

[Paul B]

No.
The new minimum limit won't be retroactively applied.

 

[ogirginc]

Generally speaking, if you can't expand on your experience using a resource to that level, it won't give useful feedback to the author or another user.

Not that it matters but I still disagree! (Sorry, if I being a pain in the...)

Let's assume there are two add-ons that serve for the same purpose but developed by different members. Add-on X has a 5 star and 'thanks' for review. On the other hand, add-on Y hasn't been reviewed at all. Which one would you choose?

I would choose the add-on X because at least someone wrote a something for it. I wouldn't worry too much, if it is a "revenge rating" or "they are my friend so I rate them at 5" or "never purchased the style but gonna rate anyway". There is no way of knowing if it is a honest review or not, because if someone really wanted to trash an add-on unfairly, there is no way stoping that person!

(Also, in my humble opinion, the best way is separating the staring and reviewing. A good example can be the App Store where you can give star/s but don't have to write a word.)

 

[Shelley]

Not that it matters but I still disagree! (Sorry, if I being a pain in the...)

Let's assume there are two add-ons that serve for the same purpose but developed by different members. Add-on X has a 5 star and 'thanks' for review. On the other hand, add-on Y hasn't been reviewed at all. Which one would you choose?

I would choose the add-on X because at least someone wrote a something for it. I wouldn't worry too much, if it is a "revenge rating" or "they are my friend so I rate them at 5" or "never purchased the style but gonna rate anyway". There is no way of knowing if it is a honest review or not, because if someone really wanted to trash an add-on unfairly, there is no way stoping that person!

(Also, in my humble opinion, the best way is separating the staring and reviewing. A good example can be the App Store where you can give star/s but don't have to write a word.)

If two add-ons are present for the scenario you described then I think some leg work may be required. A history of both authors says alot, reading the discussion side of said resource tells alot. Reading the feature list will help you decide (not the only factor granted), Demos provided by said author for said resource will tell you alot and factor in a decision. There's a hundred other factors that will tell you off the bat whether the add-on x is better for you than add-on y it's all about doing the leg work not reading a review. A review is just that, a review and just an opinion that should be taken with a grain of salt. Try before you buy is a great factor providing x-person can be bothered to do some leg work and most paid resources do provide demos.

Reviews = Don't rely on them too much it really doesn't factor in whether the resource is of higher quality than the equivalent resource for the scenario your describing. Take the facebook messenger on both android/OS app stores, tons of 1 stars, why? because people are mad about face book separating it from the main app. What does that tell you? First people are too idle to install and secondly right off the bat you know why they rated it 1 star. Just an example for a possibility of many scenarios you may encounter.

TLDR version: Take reviews with a grain of salt. #trybeforyoubuy #doyourhomework #profilecommentslikes

 

[Barbossa]

English is not my first language, not even second too!! I always find hard to put appropriate words to put together. Here, 250 words is kinda heap to me.

EDIT:
Now, what you gonna see here is, some more extra copy & paste practice.

 

[ogirginc]

English is not my first language, not even second too!! I always find hard to put appropriate words to put together. Here, 250 words is kinda heap to me.

EDIT:
Now, what you gonna see here is, some more extra copy & paste practice.

What I understand is; XF wants reviews from developers, which is understandable, rather than users like you and me. (By saying users like you and me, I mean, either members whose mother tongue is not English or who doesn't know how to code.)

 

[Mike]

What? That doesn't make any sense. We just want reviews that actually include some details of your experience, not just "good" or "thanks".

Your post right there was 240 characters itself and 2 sentences. We're not talking about a book.

 

[Lisa]

XF wants reviews from developers,

Not really sure how you managed to get to that conclusion.... can't normal users string more than 50 letters together to tell people what they think of something and you have to be some kind of developer to be able to write more than a "Great, thanks" kind of review?

 

[ogirginc]

What? That doesn't make any sense. We just want reviews that actually include some details of your experience, not just "good" or "thanks".

Your post right there was 240 characters itself and 2 sentences. We're not talking about a book.

There is difference for discussing an idea and reviewing an add-on. I can write an essay about this topic but won't be able to review because I can't write 250 without repeating myself. I can only says things like; Great add-on, thanks / Very useful, thanks mate! / Loving it and helped me a lot? etc...

Not really sure how you managed to get to that conclusion.... can't normal users string more than 50 letters together to tell people what they think of something and you have to be some kind of developer to be able to write more than a "Great, thanks" kind of review?

If you put a very high quota, it means you don't everyone to get involved. It's a really simple version of a supply & demand model...

 

[Lisa]

There is difference for discussing an idea and reviewing an add-on. I can write an essay about this topic but won't be able to review because I can't write 250 without repeating myself. I can only says things like; Great add-on, thanks / Very useful, thanks mate! / Loving it and helped me a lot? etc...


If you put a very high quota, it means you don't everyone to get involved. It's a really simple version of a supply & demand model...

250 letters is hardly a very high quota. It just means a bit of thought needs to be put into reviews.

 

[ogirginc]

250 letters is hardly a very high quota

That's a point of view from a developer. It might be not high for developers but it is high for people who are not developers or their mother tongue is not English. Also go and check the Newest Recourses. You can see the decline in the number of reviews in Newest Resources

One last thing, I don't think 250 character does lead people to leave useful reviews or maybe it leads people to leave very very very very very very very very useful reviews...

 

[Lisa]

That's a point of view from a developer.

How so - I'm not a developer. Couldn't write a line of code to save my life.

 

[ogirginc]

How so - I'm not a developer. Couldn't write a line of code to save my life.

I thought this was yours. That is why I assumed you were a developer (by the way nice modification )

 

[Lisa]

I thought this was yours. That is why I assumed you were a developer (by the way nice modification )

That's just a bit of CSS, nothing special (but thank you, all the same). Developers, to me, are people like Daniel Hood, Chris Deeming and Bob (three names off the top of my head) who release and support good quality addons.

 

[ogirginc]

That's just a bit of CSS, nothing special (but thank you, all the same). Developers, to me, are people like Daniel Hood, Chris Deeming and Bob (three names off the top of my head) who release and support good quality addons.

You see? I don't even know the difference and you expect me to write more than a 'thank you'!

 

[Lisa]

You see? I don't even know the difference and you expect me to write more than a 'thank you'!

You could write what you like about it, if you find the support adequate, whether you felt it was worth the price (if a purchased addon), if there was something missing that you expected it to do, or if it did more than you expected.

 

[Lawrence]

Your post right there was 240 characters itself and 2 sentences. We're not talking about a book.

LOL, @Mike, you still have a great sense of humour,

Seriously though, to all concerned, 250 characters is nothing; it's less than 2 tweets. If you use a format like this: Overview, Pros, Cons, Recommendation, every review will be more than 250 characters without any effort.

Sample review:

I installed this add-on yesterday, and the installation went flawlessly on my XF version 1.3.4. I was looking for an add-on that that would help my moderating team determine which member was about to go "local", and this add-on does just that.

Pros:
- no database changes, and no additional queries or template edits.
- correct 99% of the time. I'm not sure how it determines who is about to lose it, but it does.

Cons:
Tags me 99.49% of the time. Must be a bug?

Recommendation:
Every Admin needs to install this add-on, I highly recommend it, .

The above is 535 characters.

 

[ogirginc]

LOL, @Mike, you still have a great sense of humour,

Seriously though, to all concerned, 250 characters is nothing; it's less than 2 tweets. If you use a format like this: Overview, Pros, Cons, Recommendation, every review will be more than 250 characters without any effort.

Sample review:

I installed this add-on yesterday, and the installation went flawlessly on my XF version 1.3.4. I was looking for an add-on that that would help my moderating team determine which member was about to go "local", and this add-on does just that.

Pros:
- no database changes, and no additional queries or template edits.
- correct 99% of the time. I'm not sure how it determines who is about to lose it, but it does.

Cons:
Tags me 99.49% of the time. Must be a bug?

Recommendation:
Every Admin needs to install this add-on, I highly recommend it, .

The above is 535 characters.

I agree, people should do like this but they won't and the numbers of reviews will decrease...

 

[Liam W]

I don't know what to think about this change...

Mainly because I'm one of those people that rarely write reviews I prefer to just leave a star rating, but that's disabled here...

250 characters isn't much - it may take a few more seconds to think of extra things to write, but they should be useful.

So, yeah... Good choice, but may make less people review.

Incidentally, I think I'll review more from now on.

Liam