Should Profile Posts Contribute to Message Count?

[Kier]

When we started out here, posts to peoples' profiles contributed to members' overall post count and the total number of messages posted to the system as shown on the forum home page, but this was changed some time ago because of a perceived 'lower value' of profile posts.

Do you agree with this change, or do you think that profile posts should carry the same weight (ie: message count + 1) as messages in a thread?

 

[Ruven]

I don't think they should count towards your total message counter because it is not only far easier to post a message on someone's profile than a post but also I can see it being abused a lot - users tend to want to up their post count a lot and they'd go to post "Hi David" or "Hi Harry" on someone's profile whenever possible I think.

You know what would be cool... a character limit on posts for them to count as posts.
Why should a post that only contains a smiley or one word be considered much of a post at all?
It could be an option for admins of course.
Say posts that have less than 10 characters do not count in your post count.
You can as an admin make that 15 characters, or 30, or 5, whatever you like.

We already have had such limits on how few characters you have to include in order to even make a post (well on vB) or start a search... this would simply be in line with that type of thinking.

 

[Jonathan]

Actually that's a pretty cool idea Ruven, though of course it should notify the user if their post didn't count towards their total. '...' shouldn't count, nor should smilies as characters. Editing the post should also be able to rectify the post. But cool idea!

 

[Ruven]

Actually that's a pretty cool idea Ruven, though of course it should notify the user if their post didn't count towards their total. '...' shouldn't count, nor should smilies as characters. Editing the post should also be able to rectify the post. But cool idea!

Thanks.
The reason i would like such an implementation is for live event type threads.
Like when the Super Bowl or some other large sporting event is one people will make a game thread about it. And everytime something exciting happens in the game you will see a bunch of posts that simply say WTF! or WOW or YES!, etc...
Those threads are filled like 80% with that type of post it seems.

 

[The Sandman]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here and ask, if the concensus is that profile posts are considered to be so much less valuable than posts, why are they featured at all? I say, let them count as posts, and perhaps even give a trophy for the first 5 a member makes. After all, the idea is to increase interactivity and interest. Profile posts may not contain content in the same sense as posts do, but that doesn't mean they aren't valuable to the community, or that they won't increase the participation level in a more subtle way.

 

[The Sandman]

You know what would be cool... a character limit on posts for them to count as posts.
Why should a post that only contains a smiley or one word be considered much of a post at all?
It could be an option for admins of course.
Say posts that have less than 10 characters do not count in your post count.
You can as an admin make that 15 characters, or 30, or 5, whatever you like.

We already have had such limits on how few characters you have to include in order to even make a post (well on vB) or start a search... this would simply be in line with that type of thinking.

I dunno, sometimes I think I can make a better reply with a smilie or two than with [choose your limit] words.

 

[Paul B]

Word.

 

[The Sandman]

 

[TrixieTang]

I don't think profile comments should add to users' postcounts, but I wouldn't mind if they added to the board's total posts statistics since that would make getting Big-Board status so much easier.

 

[anotheralias]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here and ask, if the concensus is that profile posts are considered to be so much less valuable than posts, why are they featured at all?

Why indeed? Awhile back the idea of special user titles for people who were here in the beginning absolutely horrified people."Clique, cliiiiiique!" Well, counting/displaying/otherwise bragging about profile comments is the same difference, isn't it? What actual value is there in counting or displaying profile posts, besides letting everyone know who's popular?

 

[Forsaken]

I consider profile comments of lesser importance to post count, which I think should remain separate, but I do think there should be a bit more emphasis on profile comments as well.

 

 

[James]

I also consider profile comments lesser importance than posts, though I do believe some statistics for them could be nice.

 

[Ruven]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here and ask, if the concensus is that profile posts are considered to be so much less valuable than posts, why are they featured at all? I say, let them count as posts, and perhaps even give a trophy for the first 5 a member makes. After all, the idea is to increase interactivity and interest. Profile posts may not contain content in the same sense as posts do, but that doesn't mean they aren't valuable to the community, or that they won't increase the participation level in a more subtle way.

Yeah, what Kier/Mike seem to be going for here is to evolve the Forum experience from just a bulletin board to something more modern.
The standard bulletin board "content" is the posts and the threads.
With vB Experience you could give different values to different other things people did on the site... i think that modification kinda is going to right way in terms of what XenForo is trying to accomplish.
And thats that EVERYTHING you do while on the site is considered valuable... is considered content.
So why not replace the old tired system that puts the emphasis on just posts and instead make the main "postcount" display be something that takes into consideration all of the content that a user provides to your site?

Call it whatever you want.
Activity, Messages, Posts, Content, Production, Experience, etc...

 

[AmericanForum.com]

User title and trophy points

This is the clincher I think ... because a forum is a community and trophies are based on the benefit to everybody it should not count

... but it doesn't mean they are of lesser value.

 

[Ruven]

I dunno, sometimes I think I can make a better reply with a smilie or two than with [choose your limit] words.

True, but if we are going to evolve postcounts into something that represents more of who is and is not a more meaningful member of a community, who puts more thought behind their posts, who actually provides more lines of content for your site... wouldnt something like this help?

Default should be zero character limit of course, but it would be cool if the admin could change that to his liking.
That way you could reconcile the zeal for which people have about their postcount... with it actually meaning something.

 

[Paul M]

Another No.

 

[Jose Amaral Mota]

Profile/Conversation and anything else that maybe created in to future ( except Blog/CMS ) are not open to the community, but then they are if you really look at what xenForo has done with 'Conversation'. This is not really a yes/no, as this is not like the other script that most of us came (or still with) from. I see this as over-lapping forum content with everything else. Maybe needs to be worded differently to make it more acceptable. You can have it shown total content contribution and sub-link to each area you may have posted content. (Rip for conversation part) Like to change vote to yes, but that is not going to happen... Blah!

 

[Anthony Parsons]

I just really like, and appreciate, Kier bringing this to the public vote. Kudos mate.

 

[Saeed]

I totally agree with Anthony Parsons! Not everyone thinks of asking the community (am I hinting to someone?) what THEY want about how a forum should work.

 

[Ruone Delacroix]

They should be kept separate, IMO, but profile messages total should be displayed in the members card as well. I would like to see a total in the stats block for messages, but broken down to display forum and profile.

I wholeheartedly agree with what Lawrence said here. However, if there's real concern to have everything count, why not have the option to customize what gets counted and what doesn't?

A: It gives more customization for admins to decided on their own basis
B: That customization will make XenForo look even better because that's just one more thing that admins can tweek. 

 

[Phases]

I voted no.

With that said. I don't like traditional post counts, period - to be honest. I never have. Or, I guess let me refraise.. I don't like how communities tend to gravitate toward either:

a) members over/under valuing others just due to post count

or

b) members over valuing themselves just due to post count.

Heck, I've half seriously thought about removing PCs altogether, but I do understand, at least at this point, its what many people still use as motivation to participate.

I've long wished another system would come into place. I realize that's where the "thanks" (err, like) idea is trying to head, but I'm.. not sure that's as complete as I would like it to be.

But I do like that it's heading in the right direction.

Perhaps as it evolves (and maybe in conjunction with this trophy system I'm seeing here.. which I'm not used to nor have thought much on) it can become a much more solid way to judge someone's worth. Maybe by.. weighing thanks people give based on what the system currently thinks of THEM, removing or penalizing thanks people have (or have given) based on.. infraction systems/bans while taking their current weight into account, etc - allowing members to dislike a post up front, not just to reverse a thanks..

Maybe require a certain number of thanks, dynamically determined by the size of the community, before a post ads to a post count. Like, a super post count.

I don't know - sorry to get a little off track, but it's kinda related.