Titles or "ranks" for individuals or groups

[John-B]

I've added titles known as "ranks" with images which appear on the left under a username. Most are for users reaching a certain number of posts but some are personalised for individuals. If you don't like them or want a rank image changed, please let me know.

If you want a personalised rank image, include it in a post so I can use it.

Alternatively you can add your own avatar in User Control Panel / profile / edit avatar. It should be maximum 100 x 100px.

However, if you automatically earn a Rank image for a reaching a number of posts and also have an avatar, you will see both. If you want only your avatar to show, email me because I will have to copy your avatar image and make it a personalised Rank image and then delete your avatar from your profile so that only the avatar image shows as the Rank image. I can't stop a Rank image showing when someone has reached a certain number of posts except by doing it like this.

You can see the latest list by clicking "Members" in the menu above, then click on the "Rank" column heading.

[John-B]

I'm wondering what members think about the rank images, individually they may be a bit of fun but when looking at a list of posts sometimes you see several posts with a rank image and perhaps they are a bit too obvious and "in your face". If I make them smaller their detail doesn't show very well.

Are they considered trivial? The alternatives are to have no images or to have rather boring stars say one, two or three stars for different numbers of posts. I don't want to trivialise the forum but on the other hand I don't want it to be too plain and uninteresting. Is this forum supposed to be ultra-professional and boring or can we make it amusing as well as helpful?

I may consider changing the rank images from time to time but haven't decided on alternatives.

[classiclife]

Hello John,

Speaking on a purely personal basis, I think the rank images clash against the users avatar where one is shown; I'm not certain it brings anything extra. It may be the case that you are considering using a rank image where a personal avatar is not in situ ??

Titles / ranks is fine and adds a little something to acknowledge a Forum users input.

For me, simple is efficient and if folk are contributing to the Forum and others benefit then that is a good job well done. The Forum certainly looks professional and presents very well indeed, compared to many out there.

As I said, purely my own stance on your enquiry.

Regards.

Richard.

[Vortex O'Plinth]

I agree with Richard. However in addition to a 'ranking' acknowledging a contributors input, many car forums include a 'Like' addendum to posts and this I think would be a useful addition. A large proportion of posts are asking for advice and usually provoke a response. It would be helpful to the responder to know if his or her advice was useful. The OP clicking on a 'Like' button would at least provide acknowledgement that the reply had been read and possibly found useful. The Like quotient would also provide a measure of the quality of a posters input rather than just the quantity.

[John-B]

A "Like" button has been discussed before, but with this standard software there isn't an approved add-on. Last time I looked at the extensions being developed by individuals the like button was being developed but stalled. I found this comment in 2017 "no, there are no plans to have a like/dislike system in 3.3 at this time, unless someone does the work and sends a pull request. Extensions more than cover the need right now". I know of one phpBB forum where the founder coded his own Like button https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=25395 but it's very complicated and I dread copying it or the hassle of putting it back in every software update. There would be copyright issues.

Using a like button isn't very obvious to other users that you have liked something, except for the total number of likes someone has got, so another post thanking someone or stating that you like a reply is more personal and obvious.

As far as the rank images are concerned, I can copy your avatar and use it as your personal rank image and then delete your profile avatar. I'll do that soon. It has to be done on an individual basis as a Rank image automatically shows if you have reached a threshold number of posts, unless the rank as a whole (description and image) is deleted for you which means you lose your status!

[Sydsmith]

I like the idea of a rank and image to match but it would no change my use of the forum if it were not done.

Whilst appreciating one has to remember to do so, I do think it only common politeness and quite rude not to respond when some one gives you advice after a question. A simple, "thanks that worked", is better than not responding to a post.

My record was less than 20 minutes after asking the question I had the answer too my question, what a huge help that was too.

[John-B]

Regarding avatar and Rank image both showing, I can't stop the Rank image showing unless I create a special Rank and image for that member and that means that it stays the same regardless of how many posts he makes. It has to be a new Rank title as leaving the old Rank title will always bring up the standard image.
I've changed Vortex O'Plinth's Rank which gives him his own image as the Rank Title and deleted his avatar so that only one image shows and he has a special Rank title which won't change with the number of posts. It's a fudge but gets rid of one image and leaves a Rank title.
Ditto for classilife. Your dog looks like an Airedale; my grandfather had one and it was tetchy with me; I was only very young at the time.

In a nutshell,
if Ranks are enabled, everyone gets a rank title (which may be based on number of posts or a special unchanging title),
if a rank has an image, everyone with that rank gets the same image,
if someone has an avatar, both avatar and rank image will show,
if I create a special rank for a person, it can have his avatar as the rank image and the profile avatar can be deleted. The rank description and rank image (his avatar) will be fixed and not varying with number of posts,
if I create a special rank and special rank image and he has an avatar, both images will show unless I do the above.
What I can't do is have a standard rank based on number of posts applicable to a person and a different image for one person achieving that rank, so I can't apply a standard rank to someone and change the rank image just for him and then delete his avatar.

The two choices for someone who doesn't want both an avatar and a Rank image to show are:
1. No Rank at all, ie no rank description or image, just the profile avatar;
2. Have a fixed Rank description and fixed Rank image (which would be their Avatar image), and avatar in profile deleted.

[Brian-H]

Almost every forum that I have ever joined (not just car or bike forums) has a core of a few members (as percent relative to the total number).

I've just looked at the Members list and sorted it by the POSTS column (descending), and currently only 23 of the current 943 members have more than the 350 threshold (thus this forum has a core of about 2.4 percent).

I noted that by POSTS criterion I currently rank 40th, then noted that sorted by JOINED date (descending i.e. most recent first) I appear at 106th position. In my profile, my current average = 0.49 posts per day.

On another forum, last time I was active there, I ranked 4th in number of posts (over 7,000), top in number of likes (over 1,000), and an average of greater than 3 posts per day.

My point is that, I don't (and never did) see the relevance of this ranking stuff, as the number of posts is not really a guide to anything about the person's abilities or qualities, other than the amount of time they've spent typing into a virtual fiefdom

[John-B]

My point is that, I don't (and never did) see the relevance of this ranking stuff, as the number of posts is not really a guide to anything about the person's abilities or qualities, other than the amount of time they've spent typing into a virtual fiefdom

That's very true, and partly why I asked whether it's all too trivial for this forum.

However, people who reply frequently usually do have some qualities and usually are helpful, although that's not guaranteed. Ranks give those people some recognition of their contribution to the forum.

Other forums sometimes have rather boring ranks like General going down the ranks to private or Boss, assistant, slave and so on. I thought I'd make ranks a bit more interesting but if there's a large number of people objecting, I'll remove ranking.

[Brian-H]

^ I for one am not objecting especially as you've clearly put some effort into it.

But I do think that number-of-posts alone is not necessarily a significant metric as it depends on how long someone has been on the forum. I'm in a couple of Facebook Groups and the advantage of a Facebook Group is that there are no metrics and so the Group tends to be much more friendly, much more like being at a meeting in the real world (the major disadvantage of a Facebook Group is that there's no structure, threads are often too short, and useful threads are difficult to find after a few weeks have gone by - just like any meeting in the real world I guess).