Changes to the Comments Feature

[devil84]

DBR has a comments feature, available for each post. It's there so that when you see posts that are especially better or worse than average, rather than saying "POTW" or "+1" (or telling someone where to put their opinion) which can detract from the readability of the thread, you can leave a private comment for the original poster. There is an icon, http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1586&d=1280692918 (+/- in the Mobile style), in the lower left part of each post for this. When you float your mouse over it, you'll see "What do you think of this post?" To view comments you've received on your posts, scroll to the top of any page on the forums and click on the Settings button.

These comments have been anonymous. Within a few days of turning on this feature, the community quickly decided that comments should be signed with your username, so we added this instruction to the commenting form. Of course, few people really want to own up to negative comments, so there have been a number of unsigned, offensive comments.

We have decided that it is time for all comments to be signed. As of Tuesday, 1/15/13, all comments will automatically show the username of the person leaving the comment. Any comments left prior to Tuesday will remain anonymous (if they were left under the condition of anonymity, that should be respected). Please be sure that comments you leave would be something you would say face-to-face; this rule is a good practice in any form of communication, whether digital or not.

All board rules apply to comments (and any forms of communication through the boards) in addition to public posts. If you receive an inappropriate comment, please don't hesitate to contact a moderator. The best way to do this is to report the post that drew the comment with the whistle icon, http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1587&d=1280693039, and including the text of the comment.

We hope you enjoy the new implementation of the comments feature.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

A tip of the hat to the mods for taking this step. The reminder to keep comments (and posts for that matter) as if engaged in a face to face conversation is much appreciated as well.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

devildeac will love this! So do I. :cool:

[pamtar]

Well done.

I don't mind a negative comment, in fact I welcome them. However, it's a kinda hard to defend yourself when somebody tears you a new one and you have no clue who it is.

[Newton_14]

Great decision. Big thanks and props to devil84 and -jk for the work it took to get the feature added in. Well done guys!

[Greg_Newton]

Awesome, thanks. While the old honor system was nice in theory, it basically held everyone accountable except the few bad apples who liked to take anonymous drive-byes, which could be pretty frustrating.

Huge, non-anonymous "approve" from me!

[TruBlu]

Thanks.

When I first started posting, I left a number of positive comments . . . without signing them. Just assumed that all comments automatically would have the user name assigned. I only learned that there could be anonymous comments left when I heard it being discussed in some threads.

FWIW, I have never felt the need to leave a negative comment to anyone. Most posts that need to be criticized are amply criticized in the threads. :)

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Well done DBR, much appreciated.

[Indoor66]

A needed and welcome change. Many have been requesting this feature. Thansk to DBR.

[Edouble]

Meh. I don't care too much. I only discovered that there are comments on my page a few weeks back. I knew some of the people on this board when I was in school and really couldn't care less what they think of my comments, if they don't want to write back directly on the thread.

I much preferred the old methodology, where you got a Blue Devil's name next to your handle on # of posts of note. That was a lot of fun.

[moonpie23]

this is a great move for the board.....thank you mods...

[Lord Ash]

Man... so now Wheat will KNOW it is me constantly zapping him?

Darn.




Good stuff.

[uh_no]

Are there any safe vehicles for my pitchforks? I feel that since negative comments will go down, all we can expect is pitchfork inflation!

does anyone know what the going rate of pitchforks on the gold market is?

[OldPhiKap]

So, is it okay to post "+1" on this thread? I am conflicted.

Great change, thanks for those who put in the effort to bring it about.

[tommy]

I've been hoping you guys would do this for awhile now. Great modification by the moderators!

[ricks68]

Thanks guys. Great upgrade.

ricks

[killerleft]

Great job! I'm sure not all of the negatives were like the examples above, but you guys did us all a favor here. Thanks!

It appears the more childish negative comments were still more civil than much of the tripe at InsideCarolina:).

[uh_no]

Just one day left to get your overly negative comments in!

[whereinthehellami]

Are there any safe vehicles for my pitchforks? I feel that since negative comments will go down, all we can expect is pitchfork inflation!

does anyone know what the going rate of pitchforks on the gold market is?

I don't know about vehicles but I work out at least 7 days a week strengthening my core so that I can tote all my pitchforks around.

I'd also be interested in knowing what the going rate for pitchforks is!

[hudlow]

I've never been worried about comments left by those who were so insecure that they didn't sign them...

[Kimist]

I've never been worried about comments left by those who were so insecure that they didn't sign them...

I was already aware we all could receive + or - awards for any of our posts, and I always thought an "ambush" by someone with an attitude/bad day could apparently simply offset some meaningful kudos that a DBR reader may wish to bestow.

So today I decided to check out my own awards for prior DBR services rendered (I did not know about the "settings" option).

I found some positive comments - thank you to those who made them!

And then I also found an anonymous "worthless post" and an anonymous "awfully melodramatic" in the list.

EXCELLENT move by the DBR folks. We don't need people here who attack others (sometimes for truly petty reasons) and then hide behind the cloak of the internet wall.

Keep up the good work. This is one of the few sports boards I avidly follow because of its overall civil nature, and I do feel things will get even better now!

k

[ChillinDuke]

Well done DBR, much appreciated.

Ha! Pretty funny.

Also, great addition! Thanks, DBR.

- Chillin

[-jk]

Let's not look back but forward. Or as K would say, next play.

Thanks,

-jk

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Ha! Pretty funny.

Also, great addition! Thanks, DBR.

- Chillin

Some of my anonymous "friends" comments over the years were pretty funny too...I sometimes feel so special around here :)

[CameronBornAndBred]

Very much appreciated, thanks for the changes.

[slower]

Some of my anonymous "friends" comments over the years were pretty funny too...I sometimes feel so special around here :)

Come now. ALL Tarheel fans are "special." ;)

[rsvman]

Are there any safe vehicles for my pitchforks? I feel that since negative comments will go down, all we can expect is pitchfork inflation!

does anyone know what the going rate of pitchforks on the gold market is?

I'm certain that I'm just incredibly dense, but can somebody explain the pitchfork situation to me? I've been on this board for about six years (mostly reading and only occasionally posting) and I have no clue what they are nor do I understand why some people have boatloads and others only one or two.

Thanks in advance.

[Bob Green]

I'm certain that I'm just incredibly dense, but can somebody explain the pitchfork situation to me? I've been on this board for about six years (mostly reading and only occasionally posting) and I have no clue what they are nor do I understand why some people have boatloads and others only one or two.

Thanks in advance.

The comments/pitchforks system is explained here:

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?21913-Welcome-to-DBR!-(Please-read-at-least-once)

If you click on the Settings tab, at the top right side of the page, you can see comments folks have left about your posts.

[rsvman]

Thanks, Bob.

[BlueDevilinNYC]

The comments/pitchforks system is explained here:

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?21913-Welcome-to-DBR!-(Please-read-at-least-once)

If you click on the Settings tab, at the top right side of the page, you can see comments folks have left about your posts.

I made the mistake of checking, only to see I've never had a comment on any of my posts. That's a bummer. :(

[BigWayne]

I made the mistake of checking, only to see I've never had a comment on any of my posts. That's a bummer. :(

I had a few, but never knew that feature existed. At least I only had one negative one.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I made the mistake of checking, only to see I've never had a comment on any of my posts. That's a bummer. :(

Check again! When you get up to 100 points, you'll get your second Zpork! :cool:

[devildeac]

Well done. I'm sure this required quite a bit of work so a sincere thank you for your efforts and this new feature.

[Lunchab1es]

The comments/pitchforks system is explained here:

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?21913-Welcome-to-DBR!-(Please-read-at-least-once)

If you click on the Settings tab, at the top right side of the page, you can see comments folks have left about your posts.

Add me to the folks who never knew of this feature! Thanks!

Mine were mostly very nice and polite, but I was disappointed to see one individual use it as an opportunity to be rude in response to a post of mine. I never understand being rude to someone (particularly anonymously), but mostly it caught me off guard; the level of discourse on this forum is much more civilized and courteous than other boards, and it was a sad reminder that no matter how great 95% of the fans are here, there will always be a jerk lurking about!

So I am in full support of this... Great work.

[killerleft]

Check again! When you get up to 100 points, you'll get your second Zpork! :cool:

Hey! Did you tell him the price of another poz was 1 corned beef on rye from Carnegie's Deli?

[BlueDevilinNYC]

Hey! Did you tell him the price of another poz was 1 corned beef on rye from Carnegie's Deli?

One of those sandwiches could feed this whole forum for lunch! Maybe one corned beef on rye per Zpork!

[moonpie23]

in other news regarding the forum......there is a new auto filter in place.

The word "heels" seems to be the only word that can follow the word "tar".......:confused:


ha...

[Lord Ash]

Hm... I just happened to check my comments, but the latest one didn't have any name attached to it that I saw. Is the name just at the end of the comment, or somewhere else?

Thanks!

[Bob Green]

Hm... I just happened to check my comments, but the latest one didn't have any name attached to it that I saw. Is the name just at the end of the comment, or somewhere else?

Thanks!

Look all the way to the right underneath the date & time.

[-jk]

We're ironing out a wrinkle. It may be a little later today before they consistently show up. (Mods still see them for laundry purposes.)

thanks for your patience.

-jk

[jamesfrommaiden]

DBR has a comments feature, available for each post. It's there so that when you see posts that are especially better or worse than average, rather than saying "POTW" or "+1" (or telling someone where to put their opinion) which can detract from the readability of the thread, you can leave a private comment for the original poster. There is an icon, http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1586&d=1280692918 (+/- in the Mobile style), in the lower left part of each post for this. When you float your mouse over it, you'll see "What do you think of this post?" To view comments you've received on your posts, scroll to the top of any page on the forums and click on the Settings button.

These comments have been anonymous. Within a few days of turning on this feature, the community quickly decided that comments should be signed with your username, so we added this instruction to the commenting form. Of course, few people really want to own up to negative comments, so there have been a number of unsigned, offensive comments.

We have decided that it is time for all comments to be signed. As of Tuesday, 1/15/13, all comments will automatically show the username of the person leaving the comment. Any comments left prior to Tuesday will remain anonymous (if they were left under the condition of anonymity, that should be respected). Please be sure that comments you leave would be something you would say face-to-face; this rule is a good practice in any form of communication, whether digital or not.

All board rules apply to comments (and any forms of communication through the boards) in addition to public posts. If you receive an inappropriate comment, please don't hesitate to contact a moderator. The best way to do this is to report the post that drew the comment with the whistle icon, http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1587&d=1280693039, and including the text of the comment.

We hope you enjoy the new implementation of the comments feature.

Thank you for implementing this. If you have to hide your identity to say something then you should not say it at all.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Hey! Did you tell him the price of another poz was 1 corned beef on rye from Carnegie's Deli?

Pastrami, not corned beef! :cool: A Woody Allen (corned beef and pastrami combo, about 10" high) will get you a repeat Zpork when the system will let me! ;)

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Ha! It also tells you which moderator gave you infraction points! All of mine are old and expired, of course! :rolleyes:

[BigWayne]

We're ironing out a wrinkle. It may be a little later today before they consistently show up. (Mods still see them for laundry purposes.)

thanks for your patience.

-jk
Interesting that it looks like comments from before that had no username are showing up with the username now. Also, some of the old comments went away. Guess maybe that is the wrinkle.

[-jk]

Ha! It also tells you which moderator gave you infraction points! All of mine are old and expired, of course! :rolleyes:

Not sure what you mean - all infractions have a mod name on them.

-jk

[roywhite]

Sorry if this was already discussed....do we even need to sign our comments now?

[devil84]

Sorry if this was already discussed....do we even need to sign our comments now?

Sorry, it wasn't explicitly made clear. No, you don't have to sign comments anymore. The names should show up under the date/time on the right.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Not sure what you mean - all infractions have a mod name on them.

-jk

They do now, but I think in the olden days they didn't. I got one zap a couple or three years ago and I didn't know which mod had done it. Don't think it's one of the one's that is still listed. You do know that if you get suspended, the suspendee can't read the PM the mod sends explaining the what/why until the suspension is over, don't you? You can't sign in, so you can't receive or read the PMs.

[-jk]

They do now, but I think in the olden days they didn't. I got one zap a couple or three years ago and I didn't know which mod had done it. Don't think it's one of the one's that is still listed. You do know that if you get suspended, the suspendee can't read the PM the mod sends explaining the what/why until the suspension is over, don't you? You can't sign in, so you can't receive or read the PMs.

Yes, but if you're email is current, by default you get a copy of any PM emailed to you.

-jk

[TruBlu]

Yes, but if you're email is current, by default you get a copy of any PM emailed to you.

-jk

Good thing you ended the anonymous negative comment. An anonymous member of the "Grammar Police" might nail you for this!

[-jk]

Good thing you ended the anonymous negative comment. An anonymous member of the "Grammar Police" might nail you for this!

What I get for rephrasing without reproofing. Alas.

-jk

[Dev11]

I always dig when people flame me and say productive things like "Who cares?"

Thanks, those anonymous people.

Seriously though, thanks to the mods for adding the feature. I don't know that I've ever sent a flame, so nothing to hide behind here!

[weezie]

I always dig when people flame me and say productive things like "Who cares?"
Thanks, those anonymous people.


Ah yes, pithy and constructive. Is it ok if I laugh at that? Not at you Dev11, never that. :D

[DevilWearsPrada]

Thanks to DBR for adding this much needed feature.

I know that took a lot of time and effort and thank you for making an additional feature!!!!

[DukieInKansas]

I always dig when people flame me and say productive things like "Who cares?"

Thanks, those anonymous people.

Seriously though, thanks to the mods for adding the feature. I don't know that I've ever sent a flame, so nothing to hide behind here!

And if you knew who had sent it, you could have responded to them: "Apparently, you do since you took the time to comment.".

A big thank you to the powers that be for getting this feature added. Now, I just need to break the habit of signing my comments.

[Lord Ash]

Okay, here is a question for a moderator... I was just looking at my comments, and saw one from [another user]. Not only is it neither green nor red, but the comment does not seemed to be about anything I posted, and clicking it leads to a post of a different member in a thread I've never posted in. Some sort of bug?

[sagegrouse]

Okay, here is a question for a moderator... I was just looking at my comments, and saw one from DevilWearsPrada. Not only is it neither green nor red, but the comment does not seemed to be about anything I posted, and clicking it leads to a post of a different member in a thread I've never posted in. Some sort of bug?

I admire your aplomb and apparent lack of paranoia. Most folks, receiving a comment to a message they didn't post, would be checking every closet and looking under the bed.

sagegrouse

[devil84]

Okay, here is a question for a moderator... I was just looking at my comments, and saw one from [another user]. Not only is it neither green nor red, but the comment does not seemed to be about anything I posted, and clicking it leads to a post of a different member in a thread I've never posted in. Some sort of bug?

Hmmm...some interesting behavior you've reported.

First, the neither green nor red comments. If green or red is displaying, that's the default that comes with the board, so something isn't working properly. You should see a pitchfork or a flame. That's one issue. Hopefully that is resolved? (If not, PM me a link to the page, please!).

Next is the "neither" positive or negative. There is an algorithm that calculates the number of pitchfork points you can add or deduct (deduction is always a small fraction of what you can add). This algorithm is intentionally complex to prevent people from gaming the system. In a number of cases, a user cannot affect another's pitchfork points. This could be because they haven't met a minimum threshold for number of posts to ensure they are truly a part of the community, it could be that their own reputation is too low based on the comments they have received, or a number of other reasons.

Lastly, the link should take you to the proper post. I've spelunked through the database and have noted that the comment in question does lead to a proper post of yours. Is it working now? If not, PM me the resulting link.

Thanks for calling this behavior to our attention! It helps us make sure things are working correctly.

[Lord Ash]

Hmmm...some interesting behavior you've reported.

First, the neither green nor red comments. If green or red is displaying, that's the default that comes with the board, so something isn't working properly. You should see a pitchfork or a flame. That's one issue. Hopefully that is resolved? (If not, PM me a link to the page, please!).

Next is the "neither" positive or negative. There is an algorithm that calculates the number of pitchfork points you can add or deduct (deduction is always a small fraction of what you can add). This algorithm is intentionally complex to prevent people from gaming the system. In a number of cases, a user cannot affect another's pitchfork points. This could be because they haven't met a minimum threshold for number of posts to ensure they are truly a part of the community, it could be that their own reputation is too low based on the comments they have received, or a number of other reasons.

Lastly, the link should take you to the proper post. I've spelunked through the database and have noted that the comment in question does lead to a proper post of yours. Is it working now? If not, PM me the resulting link.

Thanks for calling this behavior to our attention! It helps us make sure things are working correctly.

Hi Devil!

Okay, first part... when I look at the comments I see a blank "card" that resembles the old red or green card system (like used in the section which shows my infractions) but without color. I don't get a pitchfork or flame, as with usual comments. I suppose it is related to that the person who left the comment doesn't have enough "credit" to raise or lower my pitchfork count? It is [poster name] who left it, who I know posts a lot, but is also a one pitchfork person... so maybe thats it. I just hadn't seen that since the switch to pitchforks and flames.

I tried the link again and yes, now it works! (Sorry, I DID post in that thread, I had missed that.) Before it was taking me to a post two above my own, with my post not showing up on-screen. Not sure why... maybe there was something going on with my page size or something that was forcing the screen up or down... but it seems to work now.

Thanks much!

[devil84]

Hi Devil!

Okay, first part... when I look at the comments I see a blank "card" that resembles the old red or green card system (like used in the section which shows my infractions) but without color. I don't get a pitchfork or flame, as with usual comments. I suppose it is related to that the person who left the comment doesn't have enough "credit" to raise or lower my pitchfork count? It is [poster name] who left it, who I know posts a lot, but is also a one pitchfork person... so maybe thats it. I just hadn't seen that since the switch to pitchforks and flames.

I tried the link again and yes, now it works! (Sorry, I DID post in that thread, I had missed that.) Before it was taking me to a post two above my own, with my post not showing up on-screen. Not sure why... maybe there was something going on with my page size or something that was forcing the screen up or down... but it seems to work now.

Thanks much!

Yes, if the poster doesn't have enough "credit" to raise/lower your count, you get a blank card (gray box). One pitchfork people, for a variety of reasons, not have enough "credit" to affect one's count. And you are right on the poster name, too (I edited it out to protect the poster's privacy).

On clicking the link, I think you're right that there could be an issue with page layout where sometimes it doesn't precisely snap your post to the top of the page. Especially annoying when one forgets they posted in the thread (hey, it happens!). :o