ATS Member groups idea .... what do you think?

I've been thinking recently. We have the points system and the applause counter which in themselves show how many posts/responses you have recieved and the applause shows how well you put your point across etc.... but these are no real reflection of your competance in a subject area.

i know we have the subject matter experts and CM's but there isnt anywhere to search for an expert to interact with or any way to gauge another members knowledge in a particular area.

Wouldnt it be good if we had a grading system, maybe a graphical icon (like the ones used on the forums) with some kind of indicator of competance

(hope the site owners dont mind, i used an image from the site to mock up this idea)

I created a couple of simple mock images to show what i mean.



or



just something simple thats all.

What i was thinking was that this kind of indicator could appear in the members avatar area next to the points listing and also if a ranking page showing the top x members in a selected subject area. This would stimulate interaction between members so that like minded members could work together to deny ignorance. Maybe creating member
investigation groups which you could join, again to deny ignorance. Lets face it we are all hear for a common goal, we want some kind of disclosure and while a site like this is great at spreading the word among individuals im sure that if we worked in groups we could make greater advances and spread the word of ATS even further than it has
been already

I personally like the idea of member investigation groups which you can join, maybe some kind of separate pages on ATS (assigned to a particual group) which have subjects to be researched, documents / web links found etc... Maybe some kind of applicaition form which a member
has to fill in (and justify the need for the group) to get a member investigation group created (which could be rejected if the mods etc.. think that the group already exists)

if member group had a (modest) limited amount of web space allocated for simple pages related to the group and a place to record data.

what does everyone else think of this ! would good to hear your thoughts.

This is the message I get from your links:

Webhost4life Application Firewall Alert


Your request triggered an alert! If you feel that you have received this page in error, please contact the administrator of this web site.

Any explanation?

reply to post by 44soulslayer


I got the exact same message. LOL

Same message hear.. What does it mean?

sorry about that .... forgot to switch off the security on my hosting site ... images should be available now ... sorry about that one !


if your still having problems let me know and i will post them else where.

Thet work for me me, but unfortunately they don't make too much sense.

I'm not being funny, but what does the 3x and the series of xxxx's mean?

Peace,

MSP.

reply to post by more_serotonin_pls


You really didnt understand the opening post did you ... the x3 *** notation was to denote the current level of knowledge of that individual ... these would have to be assigned by a mod or something !

reply to post by scepticsRus


so would there be a standardised test for this lil icon? Something that moderators (who are already buisy as all (beep) doing other stuff on the site) would have to grade and or administer?

I mean what if someone knows some things about several points of interest?

Would they get a string of different little icons in their mini profile? Would one have to use the points they earned to pay for the test?

like 1000 points to pay to take a test to get the icon in some certan subject matter? The better they do on the test the more x's they have beside the icon?

Would FSME be in charge of grading the tests?

yep thats the basic idea, a set of those kind of icons which you can earn.... make the tests multiple choice which you pay for out of your ats points and they can be automatically graded by the server no one would need to interact with the test except you. a number of grading sites use a known time limit for the tests and each question has a set time period, the longer you spend on the question the lower your final mark for that question etc.....

If you have some kind of grading system you could group like minded individuals together into research groups who can concentrate on a single topic. This, i think, would provide a greater knowledge base for FACTS on the subjects and would develop everyones skills at singling out the gems from the trash and would help us move forward in our quest to deny ignornace.

Just think. You find something interesting on the net or elsewhere, you come to ATS and you can search for and find a research group (of our members) who can put their collective knowledge to good use.

how about this; you find a research group here on ATS, you approach them with the info that you have found, you can the either pass the info on to them to digest or request to be a member of the group (admittance decided by the group admins) this could also help get rid of trolls.


I admit, these ideas do seem like a lot of work but i think that in the end it would benefit us all.

Originally posted by scepticsRus
Wouldnt it be good if we had a grading system,

No.

This isn't school. This isn't work. This is a free discussion board.
'Grading' would just make people have to give up their own thought
process and own ideas in order to blend in with whatever the thought
process of the graders are.

Group think = bad idea.

Sorry.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Didnt say that the idea would suit everybody, but for those that are interested in doing this kinda work it would be a good way to achieve a result.

The grading system would be your choice ..... participate or dont .... but it would give people the ability to find someone who could advise them ... guide them and help them get results ....