[Gram123]

The Distinguished Member tag conjures a certain image, especially on a Tech Support site - newbies and window-shoppers would be forgiven for thinking that Distinguished members are the best people (after the Mods) to go to for tech advice.

But with a bit of dedication to Random, Distinguished status can be gained without much participation in other forums. I think this will lead to a rash of people who gain Distinguished through recreational banter.

I am guilty of wasting much time in Random and I'm sure half of my post count was garnered in that forum, so I'm not bringing this up to get at any of the Random Regulars (I love those crazy kids). I just think that it gives the wrong impression.

I was thinking of some sort of analysis of the posts made by each individual, so that the number of posts required to gain Distinguished was tiered to reflect the time they spend in Random, but this may be unworkable and would probably dissapoint a number of people.

Probably a fairer proposal would be to have new status titles based on the forum people spent most time in - so you'd have Distinguished in Hardware, or Distinguished in Random etc.

Alternatively, and preferably, I think it would be good to have post counts or percentages by forum for each member. Even if it was just a 'top three' it would at least give an impression of where people spend their time and therefore what they're most likely to be knowledgeable about.

So I'd have something like:
- Random 50%
- Buisness Apps 30%
- All Other Software 12%
- Others 8%

It could even be done with a little graph if you wanted to get technical.

So what do others feel about this proposal? I personally think it would be both useful and interesting to see where we all spend our time.
I'm sure Oscar51 would like it!

[oscar51]

Yep, kind of a little bar chart in each member's profile. We could sort of wear it like a badge, our personal TSG posting insignia, like the Star Trekies badge. Then we could hit it with our hand and automatically log on to TSG. I think it would be fun, but we are playing with Random fire here, Gram123. Watch out...

[RandyG]

It's sort of what I was trying to egt across in the other thread where I mentioned different labels depending on where you posted 2. Keeping the same sort of labels would make me something Senior (or distinguished, I don't know how much Random stuff I have posted) Tech member and Senior Random member.

It would probably be an easier hack of the post count to keep it simple as to whether you have posted in Community Vs all other Forums, leaving just 2 titles or percentages.

I like the idea, and I believe you put it forth much more tactfully then I did, although we basically said the same thing.

[marie500]

I'm called a Senior Member...but my posts have been "earned" strictly by asking all of you for help! I must be your only Senior Member who does nothing but ask questions!

[Gram123]

I never saw your thread Randy, but I'm happy to let you share the credit for the idea!

What made me think of it was the PMs and e-mails that are from people desperately searching for quick help. Say I pop into the Hardware forum and reply to someone's thread (which I seldomly do), and someone else sees the reponse, they might think "Aaah, Gram knows about Hardware" and contact me directly. But if I have a little chart or per-forum-percentage or forum-specific titles (as per Randy's suggestion), then it would be clearer that I'm probably not the man for the job.

Moreover, it would highlight the areas of skill that go to make a person 'Distinguished'. Obviously, we all see the same names hanging around in particular forums, but we're here all the time.
That said, I'd still like to see which forums other people frequent.

And really, it shouldn't be a case of playing with Random fire - people come here for many reasons, and if someone spends all their time in Random, then so be it, fair enough to 'em, it makes no odds. As I showed with my made-up little example, probably half of my posts are in Random - but from it others would be able to see that if I'm not hanging around in Random, then I'm probably in Business Apps. If someone sees me in Random, they might say - "hey Gram, I've posted a q in Bus.Apps - have you got any ideas?" and I'm (a little) more likely to say yes than to Johnny Hardware up there.

I think it would be cool.

Cheers
Gram

[Gram123]

Marie500 - I wouldn't worry about that!
The vast majority of people that come here are in the same boat - not many techie geniuses come along thinking "At last! Somewhere to offer my wealth of knowledge!"

The majority of people who come here have questions to ask, and the majority of people who stick around have a number of additional questions!!

I started off the same as you, and now, probably 20% of my posts are still questions. It's the only way you learn anything!

I'm sure you'll pass on some of what you've learned as time goes on.
I find that a lot of my responses to qs are either the result of a quick Google search, or the same piece of good advice I've been given and passed on repeatedly.

In fact, I might change my sig to say "Make backups first. Use an AV. Use a Firewall. Use AdAware. Visit Pacman's Portal. Try Google. And no, your toolbars haven't disappeared for good!"


Gram

[AcaCandy]

What would we do with Mulder

[RandyG]

oh, that just opens up too big a can of worms, miss Candy!!

[TechGuy]

I don't have the time or ability to do anything as fancy as I'd like, but I *can* choose to have posts in a particular forum (i.e. Random) not count towards the post count... Which I think would be a great thing, except that some people would be upset, especially with so many with big post counts from it...

[oscar51]

I think this thread is going to be real interesting, but unfortunately I will be away from my keyboard for a few days and won't be able to participate in it. Will check back as soon as I can to see what's developed.

[RandyG]

I'd say that until we get the knowhow or time from our landlord, that we keep it the way it is. When Mike gets some more time, or if someone know thst hack needed, then we get something done.

Just my 2 euro cents worth!!

[angelize56]

Hi: Couldn't it be as simple as anyone posting say 75% of their posts in random be called <b>Distinguished Random Member</b> and the true techies be <b>Distinguished Tech Support Members</b>? A matter of just adding a word or two. Take care. angel

Randy: Mulder bashing again baby????

[RandyG]

I believe the hack that Mike is referring to not having time or know-how is to be able to differentiate between the 2.

[GreenIs]

I think what Techguy said is a good idea, "choose to have posts in a particular forum (i.e. Random) not count towards the post count". I for one wouldn't care if my 1000 odd went to 5 or whatever. For me this site is about enjoyment and learning and not about status. I also think it would be great to know who has the know-how on a particular subject so, as Gram said, we don't get emails or pm's we are unable to help with. I myself have been guilty of asking someone I thought "knew" something about a certain program or hardware in a pm only to find out they too were a novice. BUT then it also comes down to: does a person volunteering to help, with the know-how, wish to have that sort of information given about him/her, because it could put more on their plate then they would like to have.

[pyritechips]

Hello all!

An alternate point of view: For those of us that consider the entire issue of post counts as trivial- continue to ignore them! For those of you that think posts are given too much attention, and that to have many posts meaningless, I offer a solution first practiced by the gentle old soul that stirred up the pot in the first place: anybody bothered by their inflated post count can merely start a new account! Become JoeBlow-v1.2 or something! Personnaly, when I hit 1,999 posts and it's time to be recycled/re-incarnated. I want to come back as pyritechips-v2.0 beta!

~Jim