Thread Ratings

[Ben]

I’ll just add we have also announced we will be doing official plugins and if this feature is in demand again we may introduce this as an official plugin but the reality is the vast amount of forum administrators don’t use it.

[Euan T]

If we do decide to keep thread ratings, they would definitely need a bit of work to become even remotely useful in my opinion.

For example, there's no way to know if a thread has a 5 star rating because it's only received one rating that happened to be 5 stars, or because it has 100 ratings that have al been 5 stars. A simple rating without showing how many people have submitted a rating is completely useless in my opinion.

The way I see it, there are 3 options:

• Keep the feature as is, and don't remove it.
  
• Keep the feature, and improve it in 1.10 to add things like the ability to see how many people have submitted a rating. At that point, would we then need to add other rating features like likes and reactions? At which point to we end up having too many ways to signify the quality of a thread/post?
  
• Remove the feature entirely and replace it with post likes/reactions. The point of removal is debatable - we can remove it in 1.9 in advance of 1.10, or hide it in 1.9 in advance of 1.10, or leave it as is and remove it during 1.10.
  

We can't just keep the same old features unchanged and bolt ever more features on top. Doing so doesn't just complicate our lives as developers, but it'll make navigating settings in the ACP more difficult than it needs to be.

[Ashley1]

These can't be the only options.

what about improving ratings to show the number of votes and leave it at that. If resources are a problem then leave it for a future version.

likes, reactions should be tied to the reputation system as has also been discussed in the past, because do you propose to have a rep system alongside a system for likes and reactions?

[Euan T]

These can't be the only options.

what about improving ratings to show the number of votes and leave it at that. If resources are a problem then leave it for a future version.

likes, reactions should be tied to the reputation system as has also been discussed in the past, because do you propose to have a rep system alongside a system for likes and reactions?

The options are based on the number of active developers and free time that we have. Given an endless supply of time and hundreds of developers, we could do everything. Unfortunately, we have neither.

We've already set the goals for 1.9, and improving thread ratings is not one of them. Adding more tasks to the list will just delay the release even further, which will cause even more complaints.

Likes/reactions would have to be tied into reputation, but that discussion would come at a later date (eg: after 1.9 is released and when we start working on 1.10 which would include likes/reactions). We'd need to discuss things like whether being able to give reputation that isn't attached to a post is useful or not for example.

We can please some of the people some of the time, but we will never please all of the people all of the time.

[Ashley1]

I only mentioned improvements because you listed those options. If resources are a problem my suggestion is to leave ratings as is. It's a mistake to remove them.

[Euan T]

In the post you previously quoted I explicitly listed improvements as being part of 1.10 rather than 1.9...

[Justin]

I want to point out that at this point keeping thread ratings also requires development time and resources because they have not yet been implemented in the new theme and will require reworking various templates to add them in.

[Ashley1]

I would rather wait longer for a 1.9 with ratings than a rushed 1.9 that removes ratings.

[Wires]

I want to point out that at this point keeping thread ratings also requires development time and resources because they have not yet been implemented in the new theme and will require reworking various templates to add them in.

Then at this point, even though I’ve voted no (I’d happily change my vote if an improve system will be implemented at some point), the team should go ahead and remove it in 1.9, with plans to re-implement an improved system in 1.10.

I think the problem here is that people don’t want the system removed if nothing’s going to replace it anytime soon, whether that’s a plugin or improved system. If the team can confirm and fit in an improved system in 1.10 prior to its removal, then I think a lot more people would be comfortable with it.

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I would rather wait longer for a 1.9 with ratings than a rushed 1.9 that removes ratings.

I strongly disagree. 1.9 addresses much more important issues.

[Wildcard]

I would rather wait longer for a 1.9 with ratings than a rushed 1.9 that removes ratings.

I strongly disagree. 1.9 addresses much more important issues.

Same here. People forget that some of the staff run forums too...