I was just wondering how other monks choose whether to ++ or -- a post.

I've recently noticed some of my posts, which I thought to be pretty good (as did some other monks because, because the post ended up with a decent rep) getting --. Even posts that were replied to by the OP, saying that it solved their problem. I think if you are going to -- someone, then you should tell them why, unless it is just such a bad post that it is blatently obvious.

My personal preference on voting, is if the post is helpful to the OP(replies) or is challenging and needs some thought to answer or invites good discussion, then I will generally give a ++.

If a post is not very helpful, or just posted because they are too lazy to mess around with the code for a little while, then I generally don't vote on it.

I only -- posts that are extremely bad, and show absolutely no effort. This is rarely the case. If they are at least trying, I don't think there is really a need to down vote them. I think replying to them and telling them how they are wrong is better, in that it makes them a better programmer, therefore strengthening the PerlMonks community as a whole.

-Tom

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