Post Count (it is really necessary?)

[jdsampayo]

I have a question, for what is the post count? what is the functionality of that number?

I mean, for me it only gives problems, some people only post to up his post-count and feel like gaining experience or something, I dunno.

I only wanna know, what is the good part of the post count?!
It's really necessary?

[commanderkeen]

Well, you compare it to joined date to find out some interesting data. Take Darn Penguin for example. He has an insane amount of posts but is a newcomer. Same with Troy & co. Then there is the hard core mods which go over 1000. You can tell quite a few things. If someone registered as Tvrin or Maeg!in Dubh, for example, you'd know it was fake because his postcount and joined date would be low and recent.

Hmmmm... Those uses really are useless. It is really merely a statistic, so we all know how many posts we've done. It is redundant, although I think the joined date is not so.

[nightcrawler]

some people only post to up his post-count

Physician, heal thyself!

It's just a tool one can use to judge how constructive someone's contributions are. It's easier to process than join date. It doesn't necessarily mean a high post count = high value. In all cases you have to get to know each individual... but this helps you do that.

Judge me by my post count, do you, hmm?

[Kestenvarn]

I'd agree with the removal of post count.

It is a pestilence - that it lies dormant on this forum, for the most part, doesn't change this reality.

[Vendanna]

it could be used to detect spammers if they have a high post amount on too little time you as a moderator could check then its *worth* as user, and if he only spammed offtopic forums with crap and participate in spam topics like "let's create a story together" then imho is not a worthy user that is creating a load on the forum for the heck of it.

anyway, in other forums its used to display a different "rank" under their name and trying to see the next rank could result in the aforementioned spamming.

and for the contribution/quality of a poster, I saw other forums in which they have various "bars" (mostly rpg forums) in which you have the normal post count in one bar and the "lenght" average of the post in other or something like that.

it has its uses, but that's up to the admin to have it or not.

[Kestenvarn]

it could be used to detect spammers if they have a high post amount on too little time you as a moderator

Think about this for a moment. Wouldn't the posts themselves be an indicator of that?

[jdsampayo]

Then maybe it could be wise to show the post count to the moderators only, and hide it from the user.

The problem for me is that in every post its showed the post-count, that number causes some people to think its like a rate, the higher the better. And as they know all people that read his/her posts will see the post-count, that makes them to try to up it.

Maybe the post count-must exist, but it could only be viewed in another place (the profile shows already the post-count), not show it in every post.

Or simply, if the post-count serves to identify spammers, only hide it from the owner of the account. With this, he will not try to up it cause he don't see the number, and all other users see it to identify it as a posible spammer.

But I never managed a forum, I wonder if it is easy to configure/program something like that.

[Darth Fool]

I do think that it is a useful indicator of a spammer versus some noob making a bad post. Several times I have looked at posts that I considered spam and found that they came from somebody with >50 posts, that, upon further investigation, were mostly genuine posts. If it is just a spammer, I am more likely to mod without an explanation than if it is someone who has other more on topic posts, in which case I find it good to explain the reasoning behind the mo d actions.

Still, that said, I am not particularly attached to it, nor the post count meta-posts that get started as a result.

[Woodwizzle]

It seems every forum that has a post count eventually gets a thread decrying its usefulness. I just don't get it though. Do people really post more and more just to see their count go up? Who are these people? I've never seen a thread where someone says "My post is less flame bait than yours is because my post count is higher." I agree that there is no useful reason to have a post count, but it's kinda fun and interesting.

p.s. Rock On. 690!!!

[Alks]

I don't find it useful, but on the other hand I see no reason to delete it. I don't care about people who go to bar and try to get a girl saying: "Hi, I'm so cool, I have more than 1000 posts on Wesnoth forum.".

Let it be, I still come to Wesnoth from time to time to redo all campaigns and test all new factions. It gives me a warm feeling to see Turin's(just an example) post counter hitting the sky.

[Blarumyrran]

I don't care about people who go to bar and try to get a girl saying: "Hi, I'm so cool, I have more than 1000 posts on Wesnoth forum.".

o_O you dont?

anyway. AGAINST the counter also.

[JW]

There's absolutely no reason to remove it. People wanting to boost their post-count simply to boost their post-count is a problem within the people, not with having the post-count displayed.

Every single forum on the internet displays post-count. Why should this forum be any different?

Post-count helps you recognize heavy-traffickers of the forums. Interpret that as you will.

[Thrawn]

I would like either a !!SPAM!! section with disabled post count, or for OT to have post count disabled.

Because then post count would show posts that aren't spam (as any stupid OT/spammy posts in a real section can just be deleted/moved to OT)

[turin]

I think some forum systems have the power to turn off postcount in certain areas of the forum; could we do so here?

[Kestenvarn]

Every single forum on the internet displays post-count. Why should this forum be any different?

Not really. It's simply a default most don't bother disabling for whatever reason.