Can you tell me how the red line on thread profiles gets computed? Thanks.

 

1000 posts is full.

i rather prefer the old way... but too many n00bs kept asking questions..

 

so does that mean it should explode when you get to over 6000? If so, i think mine is screwed up. then again, that should be expected with me.

 

1k is nothing. I dont even post nearly as much as a lot of people and i have over 3k. No doubt it should be atlast 5k for a full line - either you have no posts or some line

 

The idea of the 'red line' is to give folks an idea of one's "n00b status" rather than to show how many posts one has.

Anyone with a thousand posts is no longer a n00b, and can be expected to know the ropes pretty well, and can be expected to have a fairly well understood, uh, "reputation."

Someone with fewer than 50 posts has a line that is just starting - they are essentially still a n00b and not even a full member. The haven't established a "reputation" yet with others, and in fact aren't even allowed to post in the Off Topic Cafe or to start topics in the classifieds.

Once a person reaches 50 posts, they become an "SL Member," and the line advances from new member to old hand as they interact with others. After a thousand posts, exactly how many no longer really makes that much difference: Anyone with a full red line is "established" here, and probably known by many.

(If one is really concerned about the total number of posts a person has, that information is readily available, but for actual everyday purposes, once a person is over 1000 they have established themselves.)

(I don't even know how many posts I have: It doesn't matter to me. I'm still just me whether I have 1000 or 10,000.)

Tom

 

I am saying the same thing and I pretty much never look at my posts ...but I do not think 1k posts is enough to say someone isnt new to the forum. I think it should go by the amount of posts people post per day. That will show if someone is ontop of their game ..... you can post 1000 posts in 1 year and then nothing in two year. That person lost 2 years of info ...they are back to being a noob.
.

 

While that is probably true, jwaggz82, there really isn't one number or one indicator that can show how much 'on top of their game' a member is, it more depends on the reputation they've earned in the community. The "1000 post line" at least gives some indication of what the chances are for that earned reputation to be a reasonably reliable one.

We all know that there are frivolous, flaky, foolish, phony, or fraudulent folks who can run up tremendous post counts in a short time while never really saying much of anything. They usually post mostly about themselves, the absolute center of their universe. They can have a very high 'posts per day' rate, but if it is mostly noise...

On the other hand there are some serious, sentient, solemn, nearly silent ScionLife citizens who may not post a some huge rate, but when they do post it is definitely worth reading.

The vast majority of posting pundits fall somewhere between those two extremes, and over time, and an adequate number of posts to judge by, establish a reputation for themselves, the quality of their posts, and the reliability of their information.

Some of those folks often appear as the last post in many topics, because they had the complete and cognizant answer.

With something like 30,000 members here, I certainly don't know most of them, so when one of them says something that I need to judge the quality of, I'll take a quick look at their red line. If the line is super short I might be a little bit leery of trusting without further validation (also a reason folks can't start topics in the classifieds until they have a bit of a track record). If they have a full line, I know they've made enough posts to establish their reputation, their reliability, and their responsibility.

Often one can tell just by the way their peers in the topic treat them and their information - the people they interact with all the time get to know them. If one needs to check a little further, looking at the compendium of their recent posts can show what sort of source they are.

Some folks here are mostly serious, some mostly social, some mostly silly, and some mostly just here to argue with anyone about anything. Each of them, over the period of a thousand posts, have shown what sort of creature they are.

(Even that, though, doesn't always work: there are always surprises.)

As to myself, I welcome folks to check out the average and/or overall quality of my post content. It isn't composed of just repeatedly saying "Hi, where is everyone" or a gazillion null-content posts just to hear the echo of my words. Some are pure fun, some are super serious, most actually add to a discussion, and aren't just noise.

This isn't AOL where "Me, too!!!" is a quality post.

A thousand post red line is a place to start. It isn't the end point.

Tom

 

Ok - I think you have made valid points. For the future maybe think about a color symbol instead of a line. That might distinguish people easier and clearer. I know ebay had a good setup where a certain color star means something and when you drag over it it states the limit that person has reached to get such a rating. Just my .02

Feel free to close this thread. I wanted to bring up the point; you answered with a lot of feedback. I thank you and keep up the good work. I will be on this forum for years to come. I am adding more to my car so there is no thought about leaving.

 

OK, Justin. Hope this helped a bit to explain some of the reasoning. One thing the boss didn't want to do with the line was to encourage useless races to see who could have the longest line (most posts), as those sorts of things are totally non-productive. By topping out at 1000 posts no one is goaded into making more posts just to make their line longer. (The "old" line topped out at 10K, IIRC.)

Actually, it has been a battle at times even keeping the total post counts visible, since some folks always think that 1000 useless posts is somehow "better" than 10 valuable posts, and constantly strive to have the highest number even if they say nothing intelligent or just make a series one word posts in a row to pump up their count.

Take care,