I have asked the tech folks to make some changes on the website–nothing dramatic, but you may see some experimenting going on over the course of the next few days (or week).
Some minor changes are on items like ‘1st call date’ in the individual security database. Currently I can put in a date or ‘anytime’, but I don’t have the ability to put ‘never’–so we’ll fix that. Again on the individual security pages I am adding Fitch and Egan-Jones ratings (guess Egan Jones is going to be with us for a while so might as well add it).
Also I am adding a ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ button to the commenting area. Some have asked for this–we’ll see what it looks like when Cory pushes it live in the next day or so. Obviously if it sucks badly we can disable it–but I am thinking it is something that will work.
I have waited to case my “vote” and here it is:
Lose the Dislike button. No good purpose served and asks for trouble.
The Like button is OK but I’d rather rather see some kind of counter that folks could click to indicate they read it (and presumably found some value in the post).
Does anyone read what gets posted in Canadian discussion? I know there are 3 regular readers (greg, cb and YT) but is that it? Would be nice to know if there are others. Readers may not want to post a reply but clicking a button is something even a lazy sod can do.
Tim; Interestingly enough while I’ve had a few run ins with 3 or 4 of your buddies as of late I actually have defended a couple of them. Now having said that Iam NOT a fan of the DISLIKE button due to the fact you have no idea as to WHY and also it could just be that they are carrying grudges from old run ins. I know some of them are your friends but in all honesty when I first came on the site I thought we were here to help & inform each other of ideas. Maybe not true for a few. Anyway I find the Dislike button a way to just keep folks from making any further posts. Thank You for a nice site regarding new issues of preferreds.
Yeah, a simple ‘recommend’ button ala IV would be nice. Highly recommended posts is how I sort thru hundreds of posts/day on their popular boards. You can always state disagreement in a direct reply.
Anonymous ‘dislikes’ without comments just seems like bad manners at a minimum.
JMO
Interesting that it seems someone is pressing dislike on so many posts as a way to protest the new feature? I guess one has time when they are retired. 😉
I also think “Dislike” in particular will stir up political and other divisive issues and is best dropped. As for a “Like” button, I think that expression has been damaged by Facebook and other social media. How about a single button, “Useful” or some similar non-stir-the-juices term, that helps guide the users to the posts that are most worth their time.
As always, thanks for all you do to make this the best investment site on the internet.
Thanks cws for your input.
I was one of those who asked for a +1 button.
Use case: I am grateful to someone for their comment, or agree with a comment, and I don’t want to litter the thread with a ‘way to go’ or ‘thanks’ message.
That said, I agree with the suggestion to remove thumbs-down if possible.
In fact thinking about it now, if I had the choice of
a) having the +1 button (getting my wish, in other words) and living with the -1 button or
b) doing away with both buttons (losing the +1 but not having to live with -1’s),
I guess I’d reluctantly choose b).
Thanks for the not Bur
I wanted to echo Bur’s reason and say that having read a number of forums for many years now, I think the discussion benefits from both the positive and negative rating feature for posts.
For good comments, it can be easier and less cluttering of the discussion to just agree / Like a comment that makes a good point or gives a good answer, rather than reply to say “I agree”, “+1”, or something. Similarly, if someone posts inaccurate information, it can be a good way to signal that to the reading community by giving a Dislike to it (and possibly Liking whoever responds with a good answer explaining why).
Yes, these can be abused and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but I do find them helpful currently on other investment and finance forums, and expect they will be likewise here. If someone wants to go around Disliking every post with their 15 accounts, at some point they’re just another spammer to ban, but I think we have a better community than that so hopefully it won’t be a problem.
If you disagree, feel free to hit that new shiny Dislike button 🙂
I’ve benefited from this site often. I fail to see the benefit of like/dislike. Take it what it is and move on.
Someone who offers solid advice, facts, and ideas can be upvoted so all of us can take notice of the post. I think that can be valuable.
The downfall might be a clique of people who upvote each other and sway others with poor advice, opinion instead of facts, and bad ideas. A noob might make some decisions based on that.
I like the idea of like and dislike. I want to know when something is also controversial. 10 likes and 10 dislikes will do just that!
I also agree with others. I want an easy way to agree without having to post below them with nothing really to add. I don’t tend to dislike just because I disagree. I would just ignore it.
Thanks for your input keith
I’ve never given a thumbs up or down on FactlessBook, not sure I want to start here. I’d only use Like, if at all.
In general, anonymous is not good.
It is odd how we don’t have an account here and have to add our username and email to every post. I would have thought by hovering our mouse over the like or dislike button would tell us who did what. Allowing for more transparency. But without an account that is difficult to implement.
This will work when the site is small but if it grows one day it won’t scale.
I just disliked a comment that dislikes the fact that there are now Like and Dislike buttons. So I think it is working.
Bill
One thing I find myself doing is trying to click on the number of comments beside the post title to go to the comments.
It would be nice if it actually took you there. Sometimes you have read the article and just want to go look and get up to date on the discussion. That would be a simple change.
Thanks for all the hard work, Tim.
Tim, since it is difficult to scroll back and find a single post due to the current search function, is there a way to be able to store/save posts? Or can the like button be used as a search tool, to go back and see what comments I marked? Thanks for all you do.
furcal—don’t know, but Cory who is working on these changes is reading this thread so maybe she will get some input to me.
Tim- Great job with keeping this site going. One thing I would want added is to be notified when someone replies to a comment I made or the string to help the discussion continue. Prob harder to do then it seems to me. Thanks again.
SDMarc–I’ll put that on the list. I checked and there is no ability by WordPress to do this–it CAN be accomplished with an add in. Once we get through my current list of changes I will start on a new batch.
I would appreciate having a button at the top of the screen if one wants to start a new comment instead of having to scroll down to the very bottom.
Thanks for your consideration. I love the site.
David P–we have had questions like this before–don’t remember the answer I got on it. I’ll check.
seems like the like/dislike option is in direct contradiction to the
goal of keeping this site non-political.
Heron250–thanks for your input–we will change it if necessary.
Maybe a like button is okay but I’m not a fan of the dislike button. Just seems unfriendly and unnecessary. If you don’t have something nice to say, keep it to yourself.
Heron,
Was there an explanation as to what this feature does to enhance the content or what problem it solves for visitors to the site? Seems like a popularity contest feature somewhat similarly utilized on the SI site with how they do ‘recommendations’.
A4I–the reason is because many folks have asked for it over the years so it is being tried out–if it works fine, if not I’ll tweak it.
Yeah, I agree. I am on other non investment sites with a like / dislike button. It becomes a joke and a way that tries to shame / discourage people from presenting opposite opinions
If you are going to have anything, you really want just a recommend or like button alone
That said, since it doesn’t show up in my rss feed reader, it won’t matter me but not really a good idea IMO
Thanks Maverick
As is, this is a great site. So, please don’t fix things that aren’t broken.
I’m against “like/dislike”. Too much potential for controversy and back and forth squabbling. Now, the comments are all pretty constructive and non-belligerent.
We’ll see what happens Ron and adjust as necessary. Maybe that means we remove the dislike button and leave the like. Thanks for you input.
One of the great things about participating here is the generally non-combative atmosphere of the gang. I like the addition of a LIKE button but hope a DISLIKE button doesn’t change the ambiance.
Agree. Good comment!
Thanks for the input 2wr—we’ll see what happens and adjust as necessary.
can a poster add multiple ratings on the same comment?
Don’t know–give it a try and see what happens
very good. not possible.
Thanks Heron250–good to know.
Nope, just 1. It toggles back and forth.
Someone disliked your comment, 2WR? That’s a good example of unnecessary feedback that could chill the constructive atmosphere here.
Do I have an old version or something? I am not seeing any like/dislike anywhere.
Mark–might have to ‘clear your cache’.
Landlord–as I mentioned we can tweak as necessary–so thanks for the input.
Hi Tim,
1. FWIW – I can’t see the buttons at all. I am OK with it, but thought Cory might want to know. I am using firefox, but I keep my security settings pretty tight (I think a fair number of users on these boards do – some of us are quite paranoid or have experience with software…)
2. If the buttons end up getting “reworked”, I quite like the “recommended” button on siliconinvestor.com . Kind of a “like” without a “dislike”. But, I realize this isn’t a democracy and I don’t get to vote – so I am happy with whatever you choose to do.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this bold experiment goes. Thank you for all you do.
Maybe Dislike can be changed to Disagree. Sounds less personal and more geared toward comments about investing. Of course the better response is to write your alternate viewpoint.
MartinG–I was kind of thinking the same. Will let it run a day and decide–it is tweakable.