Member titles here

[LLfan]

At what point do i get to change my member title...I am not much fond of my current one and usually like to change it to correspond with my avatar.Thank you,MikeP.S. I did a search figuring someone else has asked and I came up empty handed.

[SonicDragon]

I don't think normal users can change their title.It usually changes acording to the number of posts you have.

[Guest LilBambi]

Hi LLfan,SonicDragon is correct. Titles are assigned by ranking (number of posts). When you hit the next level, it will change.My understanding is that Member Titles are only changeable by Admins and we have a large number of Members. Changing Title names would be basically a full time job all on its own. :teehee:EDIT: ranking is not a hierarchy thing here in SFNL Forums. Scot and the other Admins and Moderators do not go by ranking in judging members, nor is it even thought of by us. I don't even know how many posts I have, I just never look. It was always supposed to be a bit of fun, nothing more. Ranking in the above context simply meant 'the breaking out by number of posts' in a very broad sense. Because you have to break it somewhere. The places to break it were arbitrary because ranking was not important ... just giving the members a bit of fun was. Scot never intended the ranking pips or titles to be a serious thing.

Edited November 4, 2003 by LilBambi

[Corrine]

Is there a list of member titles associated with post count anyplace? I didn't locate anything in Help or via Search.Except for the Mods & Admins, I don't see a need for titles. It really doesn't matter if someone is a Newbie or Supreme Genius -- its just another label and we have enough of those in society! As far as I'm concerned, its not the number of posts a person has made, but the quality of the posts. Granted there's going to be silly posts here & there, or an off-topic reply. After all, there needs to be some fun mixed in with the help or all volunteers would be lost.

[GolfProRM]

When Scot came up with the different levels, he was attempting to mock the traditional member levels... As far as custom member titles, I do believe it could be done, but it's just one more thing to have to deal with, and for as busy as the admins are already, it wouldn't add enough to the board to be useful. They can be a fun touch, but this board tends to focus less on the eye candy and more on the posts

[havnblast]

Titles are a feature of forum software(not just this one) - You set them up at certain posts counts 0-50 posts = whatever 51-100 = whatever and etc... You can set the titles to anything you want and it's not a ranking system. It's more or less for fun. I have seen some forums that use the titles in hilarious way for example someone with 1500 posts may have the title "I have no life" - it's just fun and it's not to degrade any users.It's not the number of posts a person makes and wheather your giving good advice, bad advice or just having fun that is what makes a community. Just being a part of the community in any way is a welcome. Some here have more time to apply to the forum than others and some just come to read and add a short comment when they find something that really pretains to them.This forum has brought people together for all kinds of reason. Discussions are not always for help - it's nice to come to a place and be on the same wave length with others. I start talking computer stuff here and people are looking at me with blank faces, so I enjoy the community for that fact alone. I can use the word distro here and every one pretty much knows what I am talking about. I use that term here and people are just nodding their heads and agreeing. I don't care about post counts nor the title by my name or how many posts you have or your title - it's not going to stop me from enjoying my discussions with everyone.Major forum software has this built into it and your going to run into every where, it's nothing the crew here is doing differently. There is only so much you can do with this software without having a vast knowledge of php to edit one thing without breaking the whole system. Everything ties in together and it's not like it is one php file and one directory. It is made up of several directories and several files of all sorts, so editing is not easy. I have applied several modifications to IPB software and if you don't follow the directions to a T it will render you board useless.If you have a great idea for a feature in the software, the best solution is to submit it to IPB team that creates the software and if they like it they may try to apply it to their next version they release. Just be aware that they get requests everyday for something. I feel very fortunate to have this forum and to have IPB to run it.

[nlinecomputers]

Custom titles are doable. I've seen other boards running this software that allow users to do it. I don't know if that is a 3rd party mod or a feature that can be turned on or off in IPB. Arena????

[havnblast]

I've only seen it done with Mods and yes you can do it with this software, but can you imagin going in and making a special rank and than assigning it to everyone. The admins would never get a rest and keeping track of it??

[GolfProRM]

I understand what LLFan is asking because at his forum, every member has the option to choose their own custom title... It's obviously a feature of the board, but I don't think it's something that's going to be turned on here any time soon. It's one of those things that isn't really necessary for the board to function well, so at this point, it's not really needed. :)If you want to see them in action, go to LLFan's own forum at http://www.mypcclinic.com/forum(You're welcome for the shameless promotion LLfan )

[nlinecomputers]

I've only seen it done with Mods and yes you can do it with this software, but can you imagin going in and making a special rank and than assigning it to everyone.  The admins would never get a rest and keeping track of it??

It not something the admins do. It would be on your control page with the Avatar and other controls.

[havnblast]

Than we must be talking about 2 different things??

[Guest LilBambi]

Please see the edit in my earlier post for clarification on the ranking pips and titles. http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.ph...st=0#entry45859

[Jeber]

From what I'm reading here, Kelly, you're all discussing the same thing, but different board softwares handle it in different ways. Mike's board allows each member to pick a title themselves. Both the forums I frequent have the titles preset, based on the number of post counts. On both of those boards, exceptions have been made for mods and admins, but as was said above, it requires an admin to go in and do that manually. Mike, I'm curious...what do you do when a member picks a wildly inappropriate, illegal or obscene title? Is it something you can change, or do you have to have the member's co-operation?

[nlinecomputers]

Than we must be talking about 2 different things??

What I am talking about it the little title under your avatar. Yours currently is Multithreader. I'm a Topic Cop. On some boards that can be replaced by anything you want and it is setup on your my controls page. On the forums for Brighthand, a pda forum, I overrode the default and chose "Sweaty Palm" as my rank.

[Scot]

Just to clarify, the ability to for members to edit their own titles is a standard feature of IPB. By default, IPB only enables this for members who attain a very high post count (I don't recall the number, but it's a tens-of-thousands number). We have just never considered this feature or done anything with it.LilBambi has opened it up for discussion among the moderators now, and we will consider it. That may take some time. LLfan, thanks for the suggestion.-- Scot

[Amie]

Mike, I'm curious...what do you do when a member picks a wildly inappropriate, illegal or obscene title?  Is it something you can change, or do you have to have the member's co-operation?

In lieu of Mike, as a SuperModerator on MPC, I will answer your question. We have never had a member choose an inappropriate, illegal or obscene title, but if such a thing did happen, either myself, Mike or one of the other Admin could edit the member's profile accordingly, and no doubt issue an official warning.I am not completely sure how many posts our members have to make before they can pick their own title (been such a long time since I first changed mine), but think it can be done after their first post, no doubt Mike will put me right if I am wrong.We believe that MPC is first and foremost our members site, and as such like to give them as much choice as possible, including their titles, signatures and avatars etc. They are just for fun and an unecessary part of a forum I agree, but we all love them.

[Jeber]

Thanks, Amie. That answers my concern perfectly.

We believe that MPC is first and foremost our members site

I agree 100%. That's always been our attitude as well. We'll consider anything that makes the board more useful, enjoyable and functional for our members.

[LLfan]

GolfPro, you have been using Linux for too long firend as usability isn't everything. Sometimes it's fun just to play around and have a bit of fun--that's what makes a community. However, if this place is not focused on community and focused purely on posts then I completely understand this decision. It is 'more professional' not to allow these silly titles but my forum has always been about providing help in a friendly environment and we are more focused on the average joe and not cutting edge discussion so we have a lot of customization over there and all for the better IMO. But enough about my site (thanks golfpro), whatever you all decide is fine with me Admins and Mods. Just giving my 2 cents and to me if you are going to make a spoof of member titles and make it a joke you would give those who either don't get it or don't like it the option to change it. Now, I'm off to my Debian thread.

[GolfProRM]

I don't want to infer that this place is only about posts and not about community... IMO, we have a wonderful community here. I guess I came off a bit different than I intended. Maybe it's time to "Open mouth, insert foot" I was trying to voice some of the ideas I remembered from when this board first started, but then I woke up and realized this board has changed a lot since then. Shoot, we even have a devil smiley now

[havnblast]

Well I found it in the Admin panel it looks 50000 is the default setting to change title- I am curious tho - do they get to select one of the already created ones than or does a person get to make up his own?I think I was getting phpbb and IPB mixed up - I know there is a mod out there that uses the points mod that allows a person after so many points to change their title and do color effect with their name and title. I don't know if IPB has a mod like that or not. It's kind of a neat mod - points work like money and you purchase with your points extra stuff. That might be a route to take a look at if it's available for IPB

[Jeber]

points work like money

But then I'd have to discontinue my fictional and totally worthless SFNL Bonus Points... Seriously, at this point we're considering allowing this simply based on post counts. Not because any of us put a great deal of emphasis on post counts, but because it's an unbiased standard to use. Active members, who have posted X number of times, would be more interested in this feature than a person who posts once a quarter. In other words, any active member would be able to create their own title after posting X number of times. As Scot has said, it is possible to do with IPB software. Even if Scot and the mod squad agree that we want this feature, it may take a little while to get it working. Scot is extremely busy with work and home, and Arena2045 is in the middle of exams at school, so changes to the board may have to wait until someone has a free moment to make those changes. But we're listening to you folks.

[eksimba]

How about making the crossover somewhere around, oh, say, 70 posts?

[ross549]

Nah- it should be up somewhere near 400.....

[LLfan]

>>imo, pre-set titles separate newbies from frequent posters.<<I would be waery of this as it is not based on academia or some sort of IQ it is based purely on post count. One should be careful infering the two go together.>>as to personalization,there's plenty of space in one's signature to put all sorts of title or commentary witicism.one's avatar is of one's own choosing or even making.<<Of course. But to me it seems you should have total control over what your posts and profiles look like. I don't want to be called a 'Message Mogul'! To me there are 2 ways to do this, either they are professional titles (not any spoof which someone like me would not get) or have the spoof and allow the individual to change it if he does not like it.>>i'm for letting the admin(s) pick the titles based on a members obvious traits or at the least, on their post count.<<Once again, these 2 rarely coincide.--------------------------GolfPro, I didn't take it the way I think you think I did and I agree you all have a wonderful community here! If you didn't we would not even be allowed to have this dialogue. --------------------------Havnblast, I know there is one way to setup a ranking system where people can rank an individual's help by giving them a certain number of points. However, I don't think that would help in this situation. This is just my opinion and I'm known to be wrong on occasion (or on a majority if you ask my wife). I respect whatever decision you guys decide on.

[Guest LilBambi]

Just to clarify, the ability to for members to edit their own titles is a standard feature of IPB. By default, IPB only enables this for members who attain a very high post count (I don't recall the number, but it's a tens-of-thousands number). We have just never considered this feature or done anything with it.LilBambi has opened it up for discussion among the moderators now, and we will consider it. That may take some time. LLfan, thanks for the suggestion.-- Scot

I think we should just leave this as Scot has indicated.Thanks for the suggestion. Believe me it is under review.

[Corrine]

I think we should just leave this as Scot has indicated.

IMO, either leave it as Scot set it up or dump the labels all together. As has been stated, there's lots of room for individuality and personal expression. What might be fun (when someone has a chance) is to compile a list of the titles and corresponding post counts. I have a feeling that the clever people who visit this forum could really go to town with such a list -- whether through teasing or congratulating members as they move up through the ranks.

[Jeber]

I thought we used to have one handy, but now I can't find it. Of course, I'm on XP and the desktop system, which means that it must have been saved in another OS...somewhere. I'll go check the staff lounge. It won't be there, but I could use a doughnut. Then I'll go look for that list.

[Arena2045]

Posted only for reference:The last rank is a secret.

[Corrine]

Thanks, Arena.

[LLfan]

Posted only for reference:The last rank is a secret.

Can you get higher then Diety? Let me take a guess......um......how about......Pure Posting Panacea?Oh great, I have Thread Head and Topic Cop to look forward to. LilBambi, is this discussion hurting anything? If so let us know, I don't see how it is--it's mearly another discussion. I suppose it has gone from feedback to a discussion so maybe move to the water cooler?Jeber-->>I'm on XP and the desktop system,<<What is this XP you speak of? Is it some sort of new Distribution?