No more green dits. Say hello to our mentors

[Bruno]

As some of you have already noticed, the green dits are gone. The reason is that we've pulled the plug on the reputation system. We started with the rep system with the idea that it could be useful, but as it turned out there were many issues. We could have fixed some of those, but in the end we chose a different approach.

We have introduced a new group on SRP, called 'Mentor'. This group will have no additional power or options. Instead, it will be a public recognition of the fact that someone is a senior member who knows his stuff, so to speak, and helps out by answering questions. There are no requirements or additional responsibilities attached.

There are lots of people deserving the mentor rank, and we will contact more and more over the next weeks, and grow the group. We started out with a small group to get things in motion. Once this is done, we will regularly add new members as time goes by.

Mentors will be recognizable by the 'Mentor' badge underneath their username. Similar badges will be issued to site staff to make mods more recognizable for new members.

We hope that this initiative will be better than the rep system, in allowing experienced people to be more visible, and to give them a public acknowledgement of their efforts in the community.

[rsrick]

Good stuff, excellent idea!

Cheers,

Rick

[jockeys]

aw, no more abusive negrepping?

[JimR]

And no more complaining about negrepping?

[Utopian]

Considering the level of his contributions, would it be possible for Glen to keep all of his dots?

[gssixgun]

HA !!! Thanks Ron for the props Brother but in all honesty the Green things never meant squat to me it is the number of Thank You's that were important to me... If I actually write something that helps somebody out and they hit the Thank You button that is what makes my day....
The Green Zits were a by product of that....Good riddance I say, I do however like the new Mentor Badges, that should really help the New Guys out if there are tons of conflicting responses to a question...

By the way if we are handing out props then you have one coming from me, in the way that you are helping the new guys by sorting out their problems with asking some quick questions before answering.... Thanks for that...

[aroliver59]

Soooooo......Why doesn't Glen have a Mentor Badge????

[gssixgun]

Soooooo......Why doesn't Glen have a Mentor Badge????

Mod Badges, are in the works, give Bruno some time.... his fingers are worn to the nub

[aroliver59]

Yeah, should've thought of that............

[Utopian]

When I was contacted about this badge stuff, I wrote an "acceptance PM." Since I think it's relevant, I'm including part of it below.

I suppose I'll accept it with reservation. I hope that having such a label indicates a willingness to help but doesn't necessarily indicate a greater level of knowledge. I guess I'm concerned about a stratification of members.

I'm a bit concerned about the concept of making some people's posts more credible than others'. I don't like the reputation system for the same reason. I think people's posts should stand on their own and even though I might be brilliant 99 times, 1 time I might be completely wrong and the forum itself should rely on others jumping on me for being a moron in this one particular post, with reputation being irrelevant.

That being said, given that you guys have decided to do this, then sure, I will participate and do my best to keep my moron post rate at 1 percent. Thank you for considering me for this.

My reason for posting this is that I hope that members will read every post with consideration of its context within a conversation. What is said is more important than who said it and if someone disagrees with someone else's post, it's a good thing, because it encourages others to jump in and participate in the dialogue. This forum is best when it is not just going along spouting the same answers to the same repeated questions; and no one is always right. I have no doubt that even Lynn and Glenn, who as far as I know had the most green dots, continue to learn new things from even the newest members of this forum. Whether moderator, mentor, or newbie, everyone's post should be given equal consideration.