[New Feature] Order thread replies by stars

Hi,

would it be able to implement an "order by stars" feature into threads? I often have to scroll through loads of point-collector answers, just to get to the proper explanation/solution.

Especially in threads about unknown phenomena this would be very useful, since nearly always the experts in the subject in question post an in-depth explanation that gets loads of stars, most of the other replies are just "OMG 100% proof", "Best footage ever" -type replies.

It's like searching the needle in the haystack, and would make the search for truth a lot easier, especially for the more sceptics folks and the ones interested in serious discussion.

Example: OP has a beautiful picture showing a cloudy sky with a perfectly circular hole in it. After loads of "This is it!!!" in post 123 someone like Phage or internos jumps in and explains the whole-punch-cloud phenomenom in-depth with all details, rewarded with loads of stars.

It would be very easy implementable (sth. along the lines instead of "SELECT [...] ORDER BY 'date';" -> "SELECT [...] ORDER BY 'stars';") and a very nice feature, especially in big-threads.


Greetings,

SiONiX

[edit on 24.2.2009 by SiONiX]

reply to post by SiONiX


Do you know how confusing that would make threads?

Threads have a flow to them, and ordering replies by star ratings would make the thread not make sense in most cases and make it extremely confusing to follow.

Stars don't always equal credibility or truth. Most often, they represent the opinion of like-minded people.




[edit on 2/24/2009 by skeptic1]

What about all of those great posts that never received any stars?

It's also a corruptible idea...

Stars, IMO, do not equal a good post.
Often it does, I'm not disputing that... but many times it is just a one liner which attacks the OP (I'm not against that) that has like 80 stars and no real relevance....

I think the system is good as i t is.

[edit on 24/2/09 by blupblup]

I think you missed my point, sry for being so unspecific.

I just would it find helpful to have a small link on top of the thread ("Order by stars"). The thread is like always (ORDER by date), only after clicking the link you can change the order of posts.

I know that many valueable posts have no stars, but to get a quick overview, it would be pretty neat (as example imagine the hole-punch thread i mentioned above).

Of course everyone can and probably will read the rest, just to get the big picture with one click (I noticed that the correct answers to many - far from all, of course - phenoma receive the most stars).

Thanks for your replies.

i find as well there are conversations that occur through post, where posters can agree ,or disagree on the topic in a dialogue of sorts.

Originally posted by skeptic1
reply to post by SiONiX

 

Stars don't always equal credibility or truth. Most often, they represent the opinion of like-minded people.

Absolutely. In forums like "politics" this would be no doubt not very useful, but for topics about unexplained phenomena you nearly always find the most in-depth explanations by the amount of stars (like internos often excellent posts that include tons of info, details, links and so on).

I think for this kind of topics it would be very useful, and because it is very easy to implement (few lines of code) the advantages by far outweight the afford, in my humble opinion.

But if you order a thread by stars then you disrupt the natural order of responses, therefore everything will be out of order. Suppose the post with the most stars says something to the effect of, "I think this is terrible idea because..."

How will you know what the terrible idea is out of context? And how then will you, yourself, form an opinion outside of the most popular response?

The only place I see this being useful would be in a forum asking for specific advice about a specific problem, sort of like ATS Answers. An idea I believe was already suggested elsewhere. Otherwise the point of ATS as I see it is to gather opinions with as little prejudice as possible to allow users to, hopefully, consider all of them in order to form a well-thought opinion for ourselves. Regardless of the popularity of a particular response.

reply to post by Hellmutt


Some of them become applauded and scarcely see a star.

To the OP:
It was a bit easier in the old days when there were WATS votes and you could read who recieved one when people would inform the poster.

The 5 star system could have worked but much like the controversy of rude and offensive comments towards video posters today, some choose to "rank down" posts with a 1 star. Despite insistence that any star was good, the policy was change to the present.

Even ATS points are not a good indicator of quality. Various contests and contributions award points. Using tags (another mostly abandoned idea) gave points at one time.

Best recommendation is read points, identify people who write well and memorize or add to your friends list. Another thing is to look at a member's profile and look at number of applauses received. But do keep in mind, not all contributions are noticed.

You can help by sending a mod a U2U stating why you feel a particular post deserves to be noticed. Sometimes they will agree if you make a clear case. Keep in mind that mods are people too, not all are as diligent as others for awarding praise.


[edit on 24-2-2009 by Ahabstar]

We thank you for sharing your ideas with the intent of making ATS a better more user friendly place. The staff and owners do appreciate member feedback and have always considered your thoughts and wishes when making changes to the board. So thank you for caring so much about this community that you created this thread.

By keeping all member suggestions in one place it allows staff and owners the ability to quickly and thoroughly access all member recommendations when considering board changes. Otherwise many suggestions will be very difficult to locate considering the size of this board.

Understanding that we would appreciate it if you would add your thoughts/recommendations to the official thread dedicated to members suggestions for board change.

ATS, BTS, What would you like to see in the future?

Thanks for your contributions and understanding. I will now close this thread for the reasons stated above.

Thanks,
ATS Staff

>>Closing