Remove the 100 character minimum for reviews
- Thread starter sub_ubi
- Start date
I'm assuming you mean for this site, in which case, this isn't a valid suggestion for the software and I will move this to our feedback forum.
Anyone who is running XFRM can choose their own minimum limit, and 100 is what we have chosen here which has been fine tuned based on feedback over the years.
We have no plans to make any changes.
If you're unable to leave a review that sufficiently meets the 100 character minimum, it probably isn't worth leaving one, and would provide limited benefit or insight anyway.
100 characters is not a significant amount.
Anyone who is running XFRM can choose their own minimum limit, and 100 is what we have chosen here which has been fine tuned based on feedback over the years.
We have no plans to make any changes.
If you're unable to leave a review that sufficiently meets the 100 character minimum, it probably isn't worth leaving one, and would provide limited benefit or insight anyway.
100 characters is not a significant amount.
021
Well-known member
What is the motivation for this restriction?
Users are already not motivated to leave positive reviews if everything works well for them, and this limitation is even more repulsive for a person who has nothing to add, except that the add-on works as it should. In most cases, because of this limit, people simply lengthen what could be said shorter. Here is a situation example where this restriction is absolutely meaningless.
It doesn't seem like reviews like this
make more sense than the one that was deleted
Forsaken
Well-known member
You cannot claim to have fine-tuned something based on feedback while simultaneously ignoring feedback. I also know that this is not the first time this has been brought up, so it leads me to wonder where the feedback is from?
Lowering the minimum character limit to 50 would not harm the quality of reviews... Because reviews barely exist currently. Yes, they may not be a paragraph of glowing praise, but it would be one more review than currently exists. The most rated add-on for XF2 only has 54 reviews, and that is for UI.X which has been one of the most widely used styles since its release.
I know I personally do not leave reviews because honestly, I don't have 100 characters worth of things to say about most add-ons; I use them, they're good, but they're utilitarian so I honestly have very little to say. Other than negative reviews, where you're usually emotionally charged, most people are not going to put a ton of effort into reviewing resources.
The fact that users added filler to their reviews to post them shows that the limit should be rethought, at least to a small amount. That review itself, without the filler, is probably the most common length for a review.
beerForo
Well-known member
I've abandoned almost all my review drafts after not being able to put a simple review in favor of the product and support. If it asks me to put more and I have nothing more to say, I don't want to have to embellish for the sake of characters. 
Not a huge deal, but a loss for the product author.
Not a huge deal, but a loss for the product author.
JamesBrown
Well-known member
So this review wouldn’t be worth leaving?
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TPerry
Well-known member
Those "10 character" ones are exactly why it's where it's at now.
Not much use from a review that says "It's great!!!!!" other than "feel good".
Something more in the line of "Does exactly as described and was easy to install/configure" is more appropriate at a minimum.
A 100 setting is a little much... 50-75 would probably be better, and gives a decent minimal response as shown (for 50).
Forsaken
Well-known member
I wrote an example review I'd leave for a utility add-on and is literally 50 characters: "Great add-on, well supported and frequent updates.".
For one of the add-ons I've funded, or for something like Xon's bigger add-ons I'd probably write a few sentences, a paragraph or two at most. But that is also because they have very specific and needed use cases for me, rather than just filling a void.
There will likely be an uptick in low effort negative reviews, however that is what moderation is for if they're a problem. Otherwise they would leave a negative review regardless if they care enough.
