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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by dws (Chancellor) on Jun 09, 2003 at 02:47 UTC
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I was wondering what everyone's thoughts may be concerning color-coding a person's nick to correspond with their level when posting to any of our sections, ...
Can it be done? Yes.
Is it a good idea? I think not.
Having a high-level here is no guarantee that what one writes has any more value than something submitted by someone with a lower rank. Any mechanism that suggests otherwise--as color coding would be--is misleading.
Level just means that you've accumulated a certain amount of XP, by voting or by submitting posts that other people choose to vote for, whatever their reasons. That's it. Stick around long enough, post a bit, and your level goes up. Level doesn't mean your posts are worth any more than anyone elses. Color coding would suggest otherwise, and that would be wrong.
Most of the monks I've seen who are ranked fairly high are for the most part very knowledgeable about Perl and willing to help.
And how would color coding change this?
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by thelenm (Vicar) on Jun 09, 2003 at 05:14 UTC
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I don't think people consider experience to be pointless; I think you're thinking of XP. :-) At any rate, there is a monk in the Monastery whose signature reads, "Examine what is said, not who speaks." I think this is generally a good policy, and color-coding usernames would introduce in blazing color some information that is not necessarily relevant (the poster's XP level).
Now, occasionally I will click on a username when I read something on a topic I'm unfamiliar with and I'm not sure what to think about it, just to see some of the other things that monk has posted. But mostly, both bad and good posts get appropriate responses from other monks, so even if you're unfamiliar with what's being discussed, you can get a lot from context.
I like the idea of having information about a post's author available. However, all that information is available just by clicking on the author's username. I'm not sure of the exact benefit color-coding would bring, but I think for me anyway, it might be more distracting than helpful.
-- Mike
--
just,my${.02}
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by shotgunefx (Parson) on Jun 09, 2003 at 03:00 UTC
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It might be an extreme example but TimToady the creator of Perl only has rank of monk.
-Lee
"To be civilized is to deny one's nature." | [reply] |
Re: Option to indicate user level?
by wufnik (Friar) on Jun 09, 2003 at 09:13 UTC
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i am personally terrified by this suggestion.
perlmonks,
as will undoubtedly come to light in theses yet to be written, works because of the subtleness of the way it deals with heirarchy. to classify everyone so explicitly into ubermenschen & untermenschen - is this really what is wanted? and speaking of ubermenschen, isn't this link between class and colour rather, well, 1940's-esque?
certainly the untermenschen, the most notable, most representative and humblest of whom (me) hates to be associated with ochre,
or some such poxy colour,
will not appreciate the scheme.
personalizable colour gradients will not alter this argument in the slightest.
...wufnik
-- in the world of the mules there are no rules --
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by benn (Vicar) on Jun 09, 2003 at 09:23 UTC
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Hey! Why do *I* have to be Brother Pink?
:) Ben. | [reply] |
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Because your a ....
-Lee
"To be civilized is to deny one's nature."
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by castaway (Parson) on Jun 09, 2003 at 08:51 UTC
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Hmm, no opinion one way or the other really.. I usually use fullpage chat which shows a list of users in order of rank, or my own client, or pmcb, neither of which will show the colours anyway..
Would the user settings be to enable me to see others levels, or would it be to allow others to see which level I am? (Though the second is fairly pointless..). The first sounds like it could work..
As you said, XP/Level is really only an indication of how long people have been here, and not of knowledge, authority, or anything really useful :)
C. | [reply] |
Re: Option to indicate user level?
by naChoZ (Curate) on Jun 09, 2003 at 14:02 UTC
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A possible alternative that people on either side of the fence might be agreeable towards is to have a configurable list of monks to "highlight" their posts. Then it could be configured in the personal css stylesheet. It would not be based on XP, but if you felt like entering the top 100 monks in your list, you could.
~~
naChoZ
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++naChoz. This would actually be more along the lines of what I would like to see now that everyone else has voiced their opinion against my idea. :-P
I mainly wanted to see that feature so I could quickly at a glance look for a saint's post (such as one of merlyn's, tye's, et al). I just don't know them all by name yet.
antirice
The first rule of Perl club is - use Perl
The ith rule of Perl club is - follow rule i - 1 for i > 1
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by isotope (Deacon) on Jun 09, 2003 at 16:01 UTC
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<mood time="Monday morning" sleep_deficient="true" grizzle_level="cranky">
I think that, as with any other scheme to make XP more visible, this will just move PM closer to the degenerate karma-whoring that makes /. what it is.
</mood>
My mood aside, I keep seeing relatively new members asking for ways to make XP seem more important, or obvious. Here's the lesson, simplified. XP is a general indication of experience here. It has little bearing on quality of posts. If what you seek is to know who makes good posts, hang around and read them. Get involved here and you'll eventually figure out more about each poster than a simple number could ever tell you. Part of the atmosphere of PM is the lack of condescension in most posts. Hang around here a while, get to know the other monks, and XP won't seem important anymore.
--isotope
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by tjh (Curate) on Jun 09, 2003 at 05:51 UTC
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"...the very beginning of a potential monk's career here..."
Scary thought. Do any of us actually think of our time here as a career? I'd guess antirice meant no linkage between XP, PM Level, and "career", but wow.
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by adrianh (Chancellor) on Jun 09, 2003 at 08:18 UTC
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Re: Option to indicate user level?
by Theo (Priest) on Jun 09, 2003 at 14:45 UTC
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I would not favor this plan for most of the reasons already given, but there is a further problem: finding 10 distinct colors that would work with the color schemes available via the 'user setting' of the homenode. Not to mention (which I will now do) the variations available through CSS options. But keep thinking. Don't be satisfied with the status quo.
-ted- | [reply] |
Re: Option to indicate user level?
by hossman (Prior) on Jun 09, 2003 at 17:41 UTC
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This issue has been argued at great length in the past (that's just one link, i'm sure it's come up more then just twice)
My feelings on the issue haven't changed much since then ... but the bottom line is, it will never happen. It's too contriversial -- it would change the dynamics of the community enough that a LOT of people would be very strongly opposed to it purely from a "change is scary" perspective.
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