I use a few other forums that use a "Post rating" tool that is very nice.

How it works follows:

When a user creates a post, anyone that reads the post is allowed to rate the post between 1 and 5 stars. People just being idiots, or rude, generally get 1 star, while those with very useful information get 5. Your total count is averaged and displayed under your username for all to see. The advanced tools also allow you to ignore any feedback below a certain "Star" level.

To prevent greifing, you could implement a max 1 star ratings item for those that like to 1 star everyone. The rules would need to be defined, but something like if you give three 1 star ratings in a row then you are given a 1 star rating that is added to your average. Or something like that. This would prevent people from just 1 starring everyone, all the time.

Thanks,
PDXEvo

 

We already have that rating system in play. Just check out the tabs following "Thread Tools." Some of our forums might have it enabled/deactivated.

As far as those other features are concerned, I doubt we'll ever use the rating system for other than its main purpose (which is to simply rate threads).

 

I think of the individual rating system as a nice way to identify people that write meaningful, and useful data. Ive never seen the thread rating used before, so I am unsure what to even look for. Ill have to play with the search features. Problem is, if no one uses it, then its worthless. I do a lot of software development, and almost all of the software dev forums use a by message rating system. This allows the reader to identify knowledgeable resources quickly, and search for good info from those specific users. I guess the same could be true if you were to use the EvoM Guru's for all your searches.