As has been pointed out in this thread, these are being tried out to see if they add value to the site and are useful. So far the "helpful" option is deemed better than the thumb option. At some point, one (or neither) will be kept.

I paraphrased your sarcasm "Yea another pathetic feature, I wondered why I had stayed away from the forums.", but thanks for playing.

1 members found this post helpful.

I agree that the "helpful" feature is better, but I'm still curious: If the blue thumb is removed, will the "thanks" count also disappear, or will it be incorporated into the 'yes' option for "helpful"?

Not that it matters; again, just curious.

Cheers

Good question - my answer is "I don't know". That said, if the option to give thanks is removed, I think it is logical to assume that the "total thanks" would also be removed - particularly as it would become something not available to newer members and could create a separate class of member: thanked versus non-thanked.

2 members found this post helpful.

Wouldn't be great because msot forums use the traditional thanks system.

True. I thought it might get tied to the 'yes' answer on the "helpful" option, but the more I look at it, the more I think it should be removed, as well. It tends to create a negative illusion when you see a Mod with over 17k posts and only 100 'Thanks'. [Even my average is better than yours! ]

Cheers

Yeah, it does tend to get a bit skewed.. Luckily, I don't have an over-powered ego or I'd have to start sockpuppeting to get my total up!

FWIW like i said before i find the thumbs up much more useful.
The helpful post has the plus that the user can be pointed to the post other people found more helpful right away.
But since most topics dont discuss only one subject thats entirely subjective eg. for a person pointed to the thread from some search engine, or even the forum search and IMO its not as useful as it sounds. Furthermore most topics are not that long.
On the other hand thanking people for their replies gives em an additional reason to make helpful posts while staying on topic.

Just out of curiosity XavierP and DragonSlayer48DX, did you notice my suggestion http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post3813433 or has it just no merits?

I like the idea. However, and this goes back to several years of discussing ways to indicate useful posts, it is entirely reliant on members making the extra effort. The 2 current "one click" solutions get around that because it is easy and relatively effortless for members to use and it makes the explanation of why it was useful entirely optional. Relying on members to even make a short "thank you <member>, your solution worked" post has always been largely fruitless, hence the need to put in place a solution that takes the heavy lifting out of it.

If someone clicks the link, we have a success. If someone follows up with a post detailing why it worked (or not), an even greater success. But it has always been hard to implement something that the majority of responders will use properly. As an aside, the 5 star rating option has been around for longer than I have and that is sorely underused.

As with any solution, these all rely on human beings to do their thing!

So yes, good idea, but I think it would not be used correctly.

Pity. I habitually come back to describe any success and incidentally say thank you but I can follow your reasoning. Ah well...

I think XavierP pretty much said it all. The only thing I'd like to add is that the Blue Thumb is also very much underused already. CIP, I'm sure you have posted far more than 8 replies that deserved recognition since it was implemented.

It was fun at first to see a "Thanked" count in one's profile, but just like a kid with a new toy at Christmas, the excitement is over; It's time to play with the box.

Cheers

It is a shame that there isn't a better way of tracking usefulness/helpfulness. Unfortunately, we have always people who post and never say thanks in any form. In fact, the people who post back to say that a solution worked are often noticeable because they are such a relatively small group. It's not something we can fix on the site, all we can do is to make it easier for members to do it.

I think that 95% of the reason the thank system isn't used is that the thumb graphic is not descriptive of what it is for and doesn't even really look like a thumb (until after you are told that is what it is). At first I wasn't sure if it was a wine bottle or a jar of honey. I certainly didn't realize it was a thumb until someone told me. I also don't think I would have figured out what it was for at all if it hadn't been for my mouse pointer randomly landing on it for a few seconds and the tool-tip saying "Thanks" popped up. In my opinion, it needs to have the same look and feel as the "Post Reply", "Tags", "Report" and "Quote" buttons. I mean, imagine if those buttons only had the icon part displayed. Would you be able to figure out what they meant? How many reports do you think you would get about inappropriate use of the forums if all that was sitting there was a circle with the line through it? Or how many replies do you think you would get if you just had the two pages w/ the thumb tack instead of the words "Post Reply". That icon sticks out like a sore thumb (pun intended) on the page as it doesn't follow the rest of the icons' theme.

Just two more pennies for the hat,

Forrest

1 members found this post helpful.

Yup- Just like someone else so poetically stated, "You can't fix laziness with technology".

forrestt~ I'd like to think you're right, and for certain, it is a bit obscure. Maybe, just maybe, it would get used a little more if it were labeled. However, the five-star rating system is clearly marked "Rate Thread", and as XavierP said earlier, it's sorely underused, as well.

The only 'perfect' solution is for the Mods to read and rate every post.

Cheers

DragonSlayer48DX, I've been on this site since March of 2004, and I had no clue what you were talking about until you just mentioned it and I went searching. I will agree that ive-star rating system is marked. I will not agree that it is "clearly" marked. It has a visual tendency to blend into the top of the first post. It would sort of be like having a forest green road sign in the middle of the woods pointing to your house. Yeah, it's there, and if you look right at it, you see it. But it tends to blend into that portion of the page your mind deems not worthy of noticing.

Forrest