Point system not working

Hello

It look like point system is not working in photographytalk.

I have been loging in , rating the pictures. but my points remain the same.

What could be the problem.

It could have just been a cliche in the system. I also know if you don't log in after so many days points are taking away.

I have been coming to site daily and looking for pictures and then rating them. at least last 10 day. I had more then 350 points they all gone off. Now I am left only with 3.
Here in forum they are showing 350 but in my profile it is 5

This thread is tagged for our webmaster to take a peek. I'm sure you will hear something soon.

Chotto:

Pls confirm your points. all appears well again. Thanks Chasrich for the heads-up.

Chris

Thanks for the propmpt response.

Yes now all are visible.

chotto wrote: Hello

It look like point system is not working in photographytalk.

I have been loging in , rating the pictures. but my points remain the same.

What could be the problem.

What do you get for having points? do you gain something if you reach a certain point? why do you care if you have points? I personally dont see any purpose to having them whatsoever.

Right now the points don't have meaning. Future plans call for using them in contests but they will not be retroactive. They are part of the base software.

Baydream wrote: Right now the points don't have meaning. Future plans call for using them in contests but they will not be retroactive. They are part of the base software.

Which brings me back to why people even care whether they are functioning properly, or functioning at all. its totally irrelevant. it doesnt even accurately show a level of contribution to the community as people like this with 3 posts sit there and just rate photos. why are they even wasting their time doing that? do you believe they would they rate those same photos if they did not get a "point" for doing it?

geoffellis wrote:

Baydream wrote: Right now the points don't have meaning. Future plans call for using them in contests but they will not be retroactive. They are part of the base software.

Which brings me back to why people even care whether they are functioning properly, or functioning at all. its totally irrelevant. it doesnt even accurately show a level of contribution to the community as people like this with 3 posts sit there and just rate photos. why are they even wasting their time doing that? do you believe they would they rate those same photos if they did not get a "point" for doing it?

Because the use of points is not explained early on, many people think it is an incentive to rate photos (often with a "smilie" or an irrelevant comment) or start threads.
It does generate site hits.
Most people do not read the "Read Before Posting" section.

"Points" are part of the "growing pains" of the site.

Baydream wrote: It does generate site hits.

I agree with the rest of your post... but i wanted to make a point of this...

Upside: They do create page views... which is not the same as a unique user hits. Now either one may attract advertising revenue... depends on what the advertiser is after... but in my experience the more important number is unique hits. Advertisers want lots of unique people viewing ads they paid for... not the same people viewing their ads over and over again.

Downside: Page views... especially ones involving dynamically generated pages with large images... can significantly increase the cost of operating a site. First off by the amount of bandwidth used to transfer the images... but also by the resources required by the server to handle each page view. The more people doing it, the more memory and cpu is being used. the more that is being used the slower the site will load/operate... unless you continue to upgrade.

And upgrades may be perfectly acceptable in many cases... but if the need is being artificially generated by users because of a "points" system that isnt actually used... then you are prematurely making expenditures on a venture that may not need them. of course that could be moot if PT has a ton of advertisers carrying 100% of the operational costs or a sufficiently rich benefactor

but anyways... just something to consider...

I totally agree with Geoff and John. This is my theory and it's a simple one;

People think they'll get prizes.

IMHO we could do away with the points system and the site would hardly suffer. I mean how many of the top 8 do you see posting in the forums regularly?! 2? 3 maybe?! Personally all my "points" that for some reason have me in the top points for this week have all come from forum posts.

Stealthy Ninja wrote: IMHO we could do away with the points system and the site would hardly suffer.

I find it difficult to believe that its not as simple as unchecking a button in the adminstration area... which makes me wonder why its active even. even if it isnt that simple... commenting out the point system on like 3-4 template files would not be a difficult task for anyone with any programming experience.

geoffellis wrote:

Stealthy Ninja wrote: IMHO we could do away with the points system and the site would hardly suffer.

I find it difficult to believe that its not as simple as unchecking a button in the adminstration area... which makes me wonder why its active even. even if it isnt that simple... commenting out the point system on like 3-4 template files would not be a difficult task for anyone with any programming experience.

Yes you're probably right. Well I guess that's admin's decision. But I'll add that people getting 2000+ points per week and never commenting in the forums = something wrong somewhere.

In response to all..

We run contests and give away prizes for ALL activities on the site. Plans are already in place to roll out a prize give away to the most active member on the site. The winner will be chosen based on several factors but primarily on the average number of posts and points.

I get why some people question the points system and feel that the site would hardly suffer without it but the points do add a lot of value to the site just as forum posting does. On the back end, the points system helps us track the areas of popularity on the site and what areas need improvement. On the front end, it’s all about an individual's preference; some people prefer to have a higher post count by spending more time in the forums while others prefer to rack up on points by spending more time in the galleries and/or other areas of the site.

In fairness to all members, we need both systems in place to ensure recognition of members in all areas of the community, not just the forums.