firstly I would like to say that if anyone still does not understand how the system works please read the newsletter in the announcements section and dont PM me about it as I cant tell you more than what is in there already.
Secondly, I was waiting for this thread to arrive
Not in a negative way but to be honest it was bound to come up so I am glad it has as it means the rep system is being used.
My view on the rep system is that it is a good tool for seeing who is contributing on the site. Now if you are a member and have more than 10 rep points I think you are doing well as someone has noticed something you did and have given you positive feedback.
On a weekly basis I go through the reputation that has been awarded to make sure it is all valid and there is none of the friend repping a friend and vice versa going on, to date this has not happened and pretty much all rep has been valid.
I have encouraged all of our staff from day one to rep as much as possible for any positive members on the site as I think it is very important and I would imagine a lot of you have received positive rep from me with a comment whenever I have come across something you added to the site that was useful.
Reputation versus post count? Well reputation wins hands down for me. Post count has been a huge issue on here for a long time with some members spamming to increase their post count, I would say get a life where that is concerned but would disagree with Alexs' comment regarding "get a life" for asking for rep. You see some people get a kick out of helping people and getting recognition and to be honest if their assistance is good and they give you a little reminder to rep them then I dont see the harm so long as they deserve it.
There has been requests to allow us see who is leaving rep for who etc and this can be turned on but at this point I am reluctant to do so as with the staff keeping an eye on the rep logs you really have nothing to worry about and I feel most members would prefer to keep their repping habbits to themselves.
To give you an insight into someones rep you can have a look at the previous 5 I have received. The reason I find this interesting is because it is pretty much how all of the almost 300 rep points I have received have come in... from posts I made with no intention of getting rep points but someone out there reading them and deciding they would like to approve. Oh and before anyone says anything I am fully aware that staff are probably more likely to get rep from some members - so here we go
1- Rep from a staff member who thought an idea I put in the staff forum recently was good
2 - rep for an idea I had on tracking down a member who has gone missing
3- rep for advice I gave via PM and comments I made in a particular thread
4- rep for posting pics of my wheels for a member that asked for them
5- rep for advising a member on a part they were looking for
It is probably worth mentioning that I usually try to PM people who leave rep just to say thanks for the feedback. I got negative rep and did the same, sent a PM saying something along the lines of "thank you for your feedback, I take onboard all feedback both positive and negative and would like to thank you for taking the time to send it to me" ... the reply I got from the member in question was "TWAT" ... unfortunately you get some members who dont understand the system and who just want to be idiots so if you see any of that stuff going on just let me know and I can deal with it.
Thanks for the feedback keep it coming,
D