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I meant an option to only show useful posts from a thread. Useful being starred or most viewed/replied to.
Would that be useful? It's not as if the useful posts follow sequentially. OK so it is slightly more work the current way, you have to go back to the board menu and use the dropdown again, but not many posts are starred anyway (except when people have gone mad with the button).
Say on a 1000 post thread, and you just want the salient points.
Everytime you click on "reply" or "quote" then the server could keep track of these, to find the most popular posts, and add this to the "useful" algorithm.
In terms of programming this is fairly simple, just add an internal hits counter per post, and use a simple sql filter clause when showing the thread. A more advanced version could have a "+" expand button that unhides hidden posts below the one you want, similar to other commenting systems used around the internet.
I meant an option to only show useful posts from a thread. Useful being starred or most viewed/replied to.
Would that be useful? It's not as if the useful posts follow sequentially. OK so it is slightly more work the current way, you have to go back to the board menu and use the dropdown again, but not many posts are starred anyway (except when people have gone mad with the button).
Say on a 1000 post thread, and you just want the salient points.
Everytime you click on "reply" or "quote" then the server could keep track of these, to find the most popular posts, and add this to the "useful" algorithm.
In terms of programming this is fairly simple, just add an internal hits counter per post, and use a simple sql filter clause when showing the thread. A more advanced version could have a "+" expand button that unhides hidden posts below the one you want, similar to other commenting systems used around the internet.
Personally I think if there is a huge thread then its off topic (maybe with exception to training logs). If threads were kept on topic, most of the thread would be worth reading. Replied to doesnt mean useful neither. Could just mean contentious (BC would then have lots of "useful" posts, whats would the world be coming to ;-) )
Cheers for your thoughts everyone - a really helpful discussion.
A system that could anticipate what you'd find useful and enjoyable is the ultimate goal but for us at least it's some way off. My view, for what it's worth, is that you won't get this by counting the number of times a post has been viewed or replied to.
Views is down to the number of people online at the time and how catchy the thread title is. Plus it can be skewed by the thread starter and other folks who've posted returning to see new stuff. I remember countless posts at MH about threads that had been viewed hundreds of times yet there were no replies.
Replies can be dodgy too. You could have a thread full of banter or advice and the number of replies doesn't distinguish between the two.
Star ratings are certainly open to abuse. Yes folks can vote for their mates or rattle off random ratings without thinking, but hopefully this won't happen too much. We're planning a friends system at some point, but not just for the sake of it. It'd make stars more useful in that you can see what people you trust have rated. I think at this point stars will really do the business.
Longer term maybe we can show 'threads you may be interested in' based on what you've looked at previously, but we obviously need to take into account time, money and most importantly your privacy.
Happy to be put straight on any of this - it's just one view.
Any consideration to the number of ratings?
A thread rated 5 stars by hundreds of people must be decent?
By that logic, MacDonalds would count as haute cuisine, wouldn't it? Most popular isn't always the best.
Equally very specific "high brow" posts wouldnt be of interest to the large percentage of the demographic? If that was the case, they would be rated highly by lots of people.
Any consideration to the number of ratings?
A thread rated 5 stars by hundreds of people must be decent?
By that logic, MacDonalds would count as haute cuisine, wouldn't it? Most popular isn't always the best.
Equally very specific "high brow" posts wouldnt be of interest to the large percentage of the demographic? If that was the case, they would be rated highly by lots of people.
Well, of course, if people want to follow the crowd..... ;-)
