Recently I have been sent quite a few PMs concerning negative post ratings and their use. It seems one of the negative post rating left a little too much up to interpretation and it also appears that its close proximity to a positive rating might have been leading to some accidental negative ratings being issued.....so I have made a few changes. Here are the ratings you should be seeing now: To the left of these ratings in the same container are the current number of ratings that have been given: To see who gave the ratings click on list and you will get a pop-up: I have added some additional ratings and removed one. Here is the complete list of the current ratings: The new ratings include: "I was wondering about that too!" - Neutral "Not funny." - Neutral "Abhorrent!" - Negative "Trollin'" - Negative I have removed "Bad Form" from the ratings list. The way this rating was being interpreted did not fit the "spirit" and purpose of negative ratings. Note: This rating was hidden, not deleted. Meaning that the rating counts will remain for those that have received them in the past. These new ratings shouldn't leave much up for interpretation. Very strong word and I can probably count the number of posts I have seen that would fit this definition since I first joined this forum on one hand. Most trolls don't even take their comments to this level. Lots of trolls out there. This negative rating is the primary reason negative ratings even exist on the forum. The negative ratings allow members to self-moderate and protect the forum from trolls and trouble makers. New members and members with low post counts will have restrictions placed on their account if they get too many negative ratings. Here are the criteria for automated actions: Spoiler: Auto-placement in "Infamous" usergroup 2 Negative Ratings w/ 20 Posts or less 3 Negative Ratings w/ 30 Posts or less 4 Negative Ratings w/ 40 Posts or less 5 Negative Ratings w/ 50 Posts or less 6 Negative Ratings w/ 60 Posts or less 7 Negative Ratings w/ 70 Posts or less 8 Negative Ratings w/ 80 Posts or less 9 Negative Ratings w/ 90 Posts or less Spoiler: "Infamous" usergroup restrictions The following restrictions will be placed on anyone that has been placed in the "Infamous" usergroup. User's posts must be approved by a moderator before going public User cannot "Report" content for moderator approval. (PMs to admin/mods can be sent though.) Cannot edit/delete their own posts. Cannot use the "Anonymous" posting feature. Can only send PM to one user at a time. No signatures Cannot make profile posts. (They can only view and like profile posts.) Cannot add, rate, edit or delete media in Media Gallery Cannot view or participate in any Competitions Cannot make any Post Ratings. Cannot see who gave them a rating. (Can only see how many they have received.) Cannot create, edit, delete Showcase items Canot rate or review any Showcase Items Users in this usergroup can be identified by the gray "Infamous" banner under their avatar. If you are currently in the "Infamous" usergroup and don't want to be: make some posts that won't get you another negative rating. You will automatically be removed from the usergroup once you no longer meet the criteria to be in it. Additionally, automatic bans have been put in place for users with a high number of negative ratings. Automatic bans will currently happen if the criteria below has been met: Spoiler: Automatic ban criteria 10 Negative Ratings w/ 100 Posts or Less 20 Negative Ratings w/ 200 Posts or Less 30 Negative Ratings w/ 300 Posts or Less I didn't see a need to go any further than this with these automated rules as it is very likely that a user with this many negative ratings will have already gotten themselves banned. It is also unlikely that any established member with more than 300 posts would be posting in such a way that would get them many negative ratings. You can see the "leader board" for negative ratings at this link. (Note: I'm currently in the lead for members that are not already banned with 4.......woohoo! ) Please use these negative ratings as they were intended to be used. If you dislike or disagree with a post or don't find a joke/someone's humor funny please do not give out negative ratings; there are neutral ratings available that covers each of these. Abuse of post ratings feature could lead to "alterations" to the offending member's account permissions. Also, please understand that "neutral" ratings are just that: neutral. They have absolutely zero positive or negative effects on your account. Having people dislike, disagree or not find something you said funny is just, well, life. It happens. If you feel that you have received a negative rating in error please click the report link under your post that has the rating. Let us know why you are reporting your own post. Example: I ask that this happens because I have no way of searching posts that have a negative rating. Letting us know in this manner will provide a link to the post so that a moderator or myself can review the post rating and remove it if need be. Last side note:There is one additional post rating that is available for forum staff to use. It's called "Staff's interest piqued" and is indicated by the "Meh" () smiley. It's officially considered neutral but should be taken as "this exchange of words should probably start going in a lighter direction/everyone should calm down". You might see it, you might not.....it might stick around, it might be removed. We'll find out. Comments, questions, suggestions are always welcome.
FYI: Users with less than 25 posts will not be able to hand out negative ratings. This should give new users some time to figure out certain posting "styles" and also prevent trolls from coming in and causing a lot of headache and extra work for moderators and myself.
