how is user level derived? (solved)

[songhuijohn]

If user level is derived by the number of post that solved a problem or provided good directions to solve the problem, then I would think this level would indicate the knowledge level of the user.
If user level is derived by the number of post, then I would think this level could be very misleading.

[xenopeek]

Rank is determined by number of posts. Rank together with the date a member joined can give you an indication of how actively they participate on the forum. It is not directly an indicator of their knowledge. You can see the ranks here viewtopic.php?f=17&t=81997#p506317. Given that table is public I don't see how ranks would be misleading.

[MintyO]

I've seen very technically apt and good advice from members with only few posts. So there's also that too.

Best way to size up the user or a post, is to read what is said and make your evaluation based on it. You can look at the numbers all you want, but the content is what matters.

[Hoser Rob]

As menioned, as with ubuntuforums you get people with less than 10 posts who are clearly expert. And some with over 1000 posts who just as clearly are clueless. And, as ever with the web, if you're a beginner how the frak are you supposed to tell?

I'd recommend askubuntu.com for properly ranked answers. I've actually got probably 95% of my useful Mint support stuff from their sites ... I mean askubuntu and ubuntuforums, not anything with ubuntu in the name. Those are usually crap blogs. Pjotr's is pretty good though.

Just don't blindly copying and pasting ubunut solutions, esp. if it doesn't say it's for the ubuntu release your mint is based on. ANd beware of ubuntu DE based stuff.

[chrisuk]

I used to argue about this on forums years ago (I'm an old man now, so don't care enough about it to argue ). Post count has no relevance whatsoever as a measure of anything except... yep, you guessed it; "how many posts made by the user". I've seen users increase their post count by asking lots of questions - others post links to someone else's advice - some post a lot in general sub-forums (chat etc) - some reply often in threads that have already been solved (so basically just chat).

The only way to tell is by checking their posts - see if they've given useful (and safe) advice in the past. IMHO of course

[songhuijohn]

I would like to propose an amendment to the algorithm for determining user level.
The following post should not be counted in determining user level:
1. The first post to a topic - this is the question and does not indicate a level of expertise
2. Addition posts to a topic by the original poster - this is usually providing addition problem information or feedback about a proposed solution and does not indicate a level of expertise.
These exception would not apply to tutorials or any other queue where appropriate.

Yes, this may take a few additional instructions in determining the user level, but IMHO would make the user level significantly more useful.

[MintBean]

I would like to propose an amendment to the algorithm for determining user level.
The following post should not be counted in determining user level:
1. The first post to a topic - this is the question and does not indicate a level of expertise
2. Addition posts to a topic by the original poster - this is usually providing addition problem information or feedback about a proposed solution and does not indicate a level of expertise.
These exception would not apply to tutorials or any other queue where appropriate.

Yes, this may take a few additional instructions in determining the user level, but IMHO would make the user level significantly more useful.

Your algorithm is making assumptions that may well be wrong. Some people start a lot of threads sharing information, not asking questions. Without some kind of voting/kudos system there's no sure fire way to improve its reliability.

Personally I would prefer the team spent their time improving the OS.