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Ratings Not Fair.

Discussion in 'General Support' started by jane marie, Mar 27, 2018.

  1. jane marie

    jane marie Well-Known Member

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    Hi Ken & Admin.

    Before the rating system was changed my rating was 4.8. After the rating system changed it went down to 3.4. I posted on the forums that I still could but became despondent :(when no-one rated me again. Just one rating at 4.5 but my overall rating has remained at 3.4.

    So it means I can hardly post on any forum now because of such a low rating. Am I such a poor quality writer that it warrants such a low rating? Perhaps I should give up writing altogether if I am so bad and go and work at trash collection instead huh? :DI've hardly been back here since the rating changed those months ago and it is such a shame because I enjoyed writing for you.

    My heart dropped when I saw the change in the rating system because forum owners don't usually bother to rate. I would write so much for you if the rating was fairer. I think I deserve a much higher rating than 3.4. It is embarrassing to only have that rating.

    peraps i shood rite like tis an i mite just get summwere yeah?
     
  2. Alexandoy

    Alexandoy Well-Known Member

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    When did ratings become fair to the writer?
     
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  3. Happyflowerlady

    Happyflowerlady Well-Known Member Moderator

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    Just because the forumula for designating ratings has changed, it does not mean that your ability to write on forums has also changed. Once you are subscribed to a forum, you can continue to write on that forum, even if the rating requirement changes.
    The old way of rating was difficult because it simply rated between 1-5, but most of the people who actually wrote content for forums were rated somewhere between 4-5, and you had to have a rating above a 3 to even cash out your points.
    The new rating system is a lot better, and each forum owner has to go through a whole process of reviewing each writer that they rate , and writers are rated on their overall abilities, and not just on the whim of a forum owner.
    Things like grammmar, interaction with other writers, postlength, whether the writer uses an avatar, and how many threads the writer starts , are all factored into each rating that is handed out now.
    Also, the subscription rating requirements have also been adjusted accordingly, so even though our overall score as a writer has probably dropped, so has the required rating to subscribe to a forum.

    There is no reason for you to take any of this personally, @jane marie , because the ratings have changed for everyone, and not just yourself.
     
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  4. jane marie

    jane marie Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for replying @Happyflowerlady I have carried on on the forums that allow me to, but I also notice that there is no chance for me to ever upgrade my rating to above what it is now. I cannot join any new forum because their ratings are too high. I have written different lengths of posts and I consider that my posts were of good quality. Even so, I've received a 4.8 rating and a 4.5 rating but it makes no difference because my overall rating is so low.
    Sorry, but the ratings have not dropped to join. The majority of them need more than 3.4. I went from a 4.8 and had the majority of choice of forums to a 3.4 and can hardly post on anything so yes, it does seem unfair.

    What dropped is the ratings and yes, I admit that I am upset about it. Perhaps the ratings should be done by the Forum Wheel admin rather than forum owners who don't say anything at all?

    It is a shame because I see that all I can do on here is only the two forums that I was originally signed up to. I think the fact that it is such a pain for forum owners to rate their writers is the reason we are hardly ever rated. I knew anyway that I would get no joy to say something. That is why I haven't bothered saying anything until now. I just hoped that something could be done to help us be able to join more forums and get more ratings.

    Yes, I am sad about this rating because writing is important to me, and this low rating tells my confidence that I should change my career. So are you saying that my post length is bad, grammar bad, I don't use avatars and I don't create threads? I used to really love it here but now when I come on I just feel hard done by and a loss of confidence.
     
  5. Happyflowerlady

    Happyflowerlady Well-Known Member Moderator

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    Forum owners are always looking for exceptional writers, @jane marie . If there is a forum that you feel that you would be a good fit for and can write knowledgeable posts, you can always message the owner of that forum and explain to them why you would like to join their forum.
    Sometimes, they will lower the rating long enough for you to subscribe when they know that you are going to be a good writer there.
    I have often done this, and sometimes, I have also offered to simply register at the forum and make a few posts so that the forum owner can judge your quality and then if he likes your post he will lower the rating requirement temporarily so that you can subscribe.

    As far as getting a better rating from a forum owner, you can also explain to them that you are trying to bring your rating up, and ask that they will tell you what improvement needs to be made to your posts in order for them to give you a higher rating. Once they tell you what they want, then faithfully do that, and you should see your rating in that forum improving, as well as the overall rating.
     
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  6. KenBrace

    KenBrace Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Hi Jane! I reviewed some of your posts and I think the 3.2 rating you received was a bit low. It has been increased to 3.8 which I feel is more accurate. The only other rating I saw seemed fairly spot on.
     
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  7. jane marie

    jane marie Well-Known Member

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    Thank you so much @Happyflowerlady I will do this. I think I'm just on a bit of a low mood lately. So thanks for the tips on how to get through it.
     
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  8. jane marie

    jane marie Well-Known Member

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    Ab Fab Ken. You are a complete darling and thank you so much. Happy Flower lady has also given me some really good tips which I'm going to follow up on. Thanks again. Have a wonderful day all of you! ;):)
     
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  9. Alexandoy

    Alexandoy Well-Known Member

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    May I butt in again? I had recently received a low rating from a forum that is not a regular forum here. When I complained, the rating waS increased but my average decreased from 3.9 it was now 3.8. I actually requested for the removal of that stinging rating and I was wondering why it was increased which was not my request. Anyway, I hope @KenBrace will remove that last rating I got so my average will be back to normal.
     
  10. DigitalGlobal

    DigitalGlobal Well-Known Member

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    The keyword is "always exceptional". forum owners know something about SEO, or they should, and writers are really not thinking about stuff like that as they just want to write. a forum topic sets the tone for indexing, so if a writer starts a thread with something like "thank-you joe" or thread, then there is zero value when it comes to indexing, much less ranking. Google scans the site as a whole, then determines what content may be useful to visitors, and ignores content that provides little to no value. This is exactly why forums are so uptight over content. If you are on an auto forum, and you are chit-chatting about cats and dogs, then Google may consider this to be irrelevant content, and Google may rank this content very low, and to the point that the forum would not get any traffic, and any traffic they do get could be irrelevant to the forum. If the forum gets traffic that is not overall related to the forum, then this will increase the sites bounce rate, and this can be very bad, as Google uses more then 200 factors in their algorithm that will determine if the site is going up or down, so if you bounce rate is too high, then this is a factor that people are not finding your site useful, thus the quick reason for bouncing off the site, and all this ties into on-topic content, rather then low quality, irrlevant content that could affect the site, so content like "thank-you" "how are you doing" does not overall help the site in anyway; googles loves content, however, google is looking for quality.

    If you are the one paying, then sure, I can see why they would be uptight, they want posters to stay on-topic, and not pollute the forum with content that Google may not be interested, so it is not just about posting content; the content should be posted in the right manner also as listed above, and it does IRK me when people signup, and expect to get paid for creating "useless" content, then they go about their day as if they had a hard day. This goes far beyond just posting, in away, you have to love what you are writing about, if not, well, forum owners can tell very quickly if you are in, or you are there to get a quick buck. It is not very hard to tell who really wants to be part of the forum, and others that are just scraping the bottom of the barrel.

    did you find the content above useful?

    If I had made a post and said something like:

    Yep, I totally agree

    Do you think google would find that statement "useful" or adding "value" to the forum?

    One quality post is far more valuable to a forum compared to 100 sub-par posts that are off-topic, irreverent, badly written, etc...
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2018
  11. Mantis

    Mantis Active Member

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    Writers don't need to care about site ranking or SEO. They just need to know how to follow the rules in the relevant section on the TFW forums listing before they sign up and write expressively with good grammar. That's really all it amounts to. If they fail to follow the rules their rating will be impacted. A change in the formula won't change this simple truth. However, every now and then admins are indeed not entirely fair about it, but I guess that's subjective. When a writer does a bad job I send them a PM to point it out. If that continues it will be reflected on their rating. My honesty hasn't always been appreciated though. I've been told I should always rate writers highly shortly after they join to encourage them to do a better job. Can't exactly see the logic, especially after having some awful writers who never seem to listen or be open to reason.

    In your case (OP), I can tell from this thread that you write well and have a personality (as opposed to a few writers I've had who sound like androids or spambots) so I feel your lower rating was probably undeserved, but of course without the full story from both sides I can't really judge the situation beyond that.
     
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  12. Kieranlewix

    Kieranlewix Well-Known Member

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    @jane marie @Alexandoy
    We all go through this as writers and as much as it may sting, it is better to move on and not lose your spirit and passion. I have received so many ratings and they all range from 4-4.4 , except one. :p When a forum owner rated me 3.4, I was very pissed but it got me thinking. I actually PMed Ken and asked for that rating to be scrapped off. He encouraged me and told me that I should just accept the rating since it had not done much damage to my average rating anyway. Now I have a 4.2 and am very happy and contented. I have realized that the easiest and best way to enjoy your writing is to pride yourself in creating quality content and following all forum rules. It's much better than harbouring all those negative feelings and always reminding yourself that a certain forum owner was unfair.:D
     
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