Shiny new ranks are live

Originally Posted by GrumbleDook

Since the site now covers more than just education it only makes sense that the staff remove the 'edu' bit from the badges.

I've only just noticed that the main logo now says "The IT Professionals' lifeline" without the word "education"...

Does that mean we're just geeks now and not edugeeks?

Originally Posted by ZeroHour

I am thinking we will rework the requirements for Supporter status since we dont really plan to reintroduce donations at this stage.
I will have a think about criteria for it tonight.

The trouble with using a badge to indicate a members contribution to the site, as suggested above, is that users' contribution is already indicated by rep and the rep bar.
Perhaps it worth considering a) making the future criteria related to something above and beyond post count (as that doesn't really measure valuable contributions) and rep
b) Leaving it as it is as the supporters badge is historical and might not make sense to add other members to it for different criteria.

Originally Posted by sparkeh

The trouble with using a badge to indicate a members contribution to the site, as suggested above, is that users' contribution is already indicated by rep and the rep bar.

and more worryingly, rep is decided by the community at large, whereas badge rank is decided by mods/admins alone.

Originally Posted by sparkeh

The trouble with using a badge to indicate a members contribution to the site, as suggested above, is that users' contribution is already indicated by rep and the rep bar.
Perhaps it worth considering a) making the future criteria related to something above and beyond post count (as that doesn't really measure valuable contributions) and rep
b) Leaving it as it is as the supporters badge is historical and might not make sense to add other members to it for different criteria.

Originally Posted by powdarrmonkey

and more worryingly, rep is decided by the community at large, whereas badge rank is decided by mods/admins alone.

I agree

Originally Posted by elsiegee40

I've got the Supporter badge, but TBH if you're not careful you're making it do the same thing as rep. It would probably be better to remove it. Yes I made cash donations to edugeek in the past, but it's not relevant now. I'm a member like everyone else.

Originally Posted by powdarrmonkey

and more worryingly, rep is decided by the community at large, whereas badge rank is decided by mods/admins alone.

I don't see that as an issue at all. It is DB's site, so he can determine things how he wants.

Regarding the supporter badge - I feel it should reflect those who have supported the site in some way other than posting. So time, funds, equipment etc... With that being at any time, not just those of us who donated money at some point. Changing it more radically than that kinda devalues it.

Originally Posted by localzuk

I don't see that as an issue at all. It is DB's site, so he can determine things how he wants.

Some people work very hard for a good reputation (and vice versa) and they deserve to have it reflected. Admins themselves have said they don't have time to review every post, so the two concerns I have are:
- recognising good and poor posts and showing some indicator of them, for everyone to see;
- having a more granular system than just a few badges, which show very blocky statuses;
- insulating reputation against favouritism and, hypothetically, corruption.

The present rep system addresses these concerns very effectively.


edit: that's three concerns, I acknowledge

Originally Posted by powdarrmonkey

Some people work very hard for a good reputation (and vice versa) and they deserve to have it reflected. Admins themselves have said they don't have time to review every post, so the two concerns I have are:
- recognising good and poor posts and showing some indicator of them, for everyone to see;
- having a more granular system than just a few badges, which show very blocky statuses;
- insulating reputation against favouritism and, hypothetically, corruption.

The present rep system addresses these concerns very effectively.


edit: that's three concerns, I acknowledge

Yes, which is why the banners should not be linked to rep at all. Status' should be purely based on DB determined roles - Admin, God, Mod, Projects etc... and the supporter badge for those that help out but aren't in one of the blocks that have their own badge.

Rep should stay as rep.

Originally Posted by localzuk

Yes, which is why the banners should not be linked to rep at all. Status' should be purely based on DB determined roles - Admin, God, Mod, Projects etc... and the supporter badge for those that help out but aren't in one of the blocks that have their own badge.

Rep should stay as rep.

wasn't that my point?

For me, supporters are the people who have done something different or extra. It may have been cash, it may have been time on the Wiki, it may have been time on the stand at BETT or helping to get things set up at conferences, it could be people running projects, etc. The old badges of EduBett, etc have gone but generically they are supporters in my book. It could be that DB, the Admins and the Mods award them on who they think has gone above and beyond (outside of Rep ... because Rep does what it says on the tin) or they could offer 3 awards for it every 6 months and people can make nominations for it.

Some other places I frequent do monthly awards, some use it to identify those with extra privileges (increased PM / inbox, special email addresses, access to beta sections, etc) and some are based on completing certain task (your mission today ....)

My response was based on your comments about rep - thinking you didn't like that the badges were determined by the admins/boss rather than by the community.

The rest was more general comments aimed at the others who want to link badges to standing.

Originally Posted by GrumbleDook

For me, supporters are the people who have done something different or extra. It may have been cash, it may have been time on the Wiki, it may have been time on the stand at BETT or helping to get things set up at conferences, it could be people running projects, etc. The old badges of EduBett, etc have gone but generically they are supporters in my book. It could be that DB, the Admins and the Mods award them on who they think has gone above and beyond (outside of Rep ... because Rep does what it says on the tin) or they could offer 3 awards for it every 6 months and people can make nominations for it.

Some other places I frequent do monthly awards, some use it to identify those with extra privileges (increased PM / inbox, special email addresses, access to beta sections, etc) and some are based on completing certain task (your mission today ....)

Fair enough. I hadn't thought of it like that

Yay! More elitism and cliques!

I'm split on this, if you have "ranks" then accept it on a site or don't use it, but I do feel if you have "ranks" then it does cause friction. They are good to have say Edugeek Staff, Supplier and Member, you then know where peple are coming from.

Regarding the images they're nice graphics though and do fit in well. Good job!

Originally Posted by theeldergeek

Now there's a thought - the more rep you get, the more stripes on your badge, or stars, like in McDonalds...

To a maximum amount of stripes otherwise geoff's badge would just be a multitude of coloured stripes and you wouldn't see his name unless the stripes represented binary or something lol

Originally Posted by theeldergeek

Now there's a thought - the more rep you get, the more stripes on your badge, or stars, like in McDonalds...

Hmm something that visually increases as your rep goes up...something like a 'reputation bar'...
Wait a minute...

Originally Posted by tom_newton

Now.. i just need to be able to click the "SmoothWall" bit, and get a list of all my colleagues: nile_c, robf, robot, ipballe, daniel_barron, gav, datalas... who else... I think claire & sean are on here, but don't know their usernames... and the MD is on, but he's lurking (hi George!).

ahem, SueAinley ...???

Originally Posted by vikpaw

ahem, SueAinley ...???

Oops! I forgot about poor ol' Sue! She never posts anyway, the social-networking-phobic numpty

I don't like the "God" badge. I suggest that the label be made more compatible with the beliefs of those who follow a monotheistic faith eg. Christianity, Islam, Judaism

Something like "Superhuman" would be better I think. Or maybe an edugeek knighthood/peerage, "Earl" or "Lord".

Originally Posted by Batman

I don't like the "God" badge. I suggest that the label be made more compatible with the beliefs of those who follow a monotheistic faith eg. Christianity, Islam, Judaism

Something like "Superhuman" would be better I think. Or maybe an edugeek knighthood/peerage, "Earl" or "Lord".

Hmm. Do you also have a problem with Windows' God Mode, given that God him/her/itself is (probably) not actually using it?