Reputation

[JonE]

nothing to do with stars, Derek... they are different!
(and I thought a +1 was worth it for open questioning for the reputation system)

[John Mason]

I see that I have 3 stars as have a lot of contributors to the forum. I don't how I have got them is there a way of finding out who has awarded them to me.

John Mason

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Stars come from the number of posts you have made/replied to John.

[Tony Press]

Russell,

I would like to 'LIKE' someones post if I appreciate the wisdom, humour etc without adding a star to their reputation.
It seems that we regard reputation stars as being reserved for consistent contributions in knowledge and helpfulness.
I don't mean to clutter up the forum with posts that contain just a thumbs up icon, but a means to encourage a poster with a cumulative total.
Dare I say it, "how it's done on social media". We would like to avoid how Bob was targeted under the present system last year.

I thought that was what the 'rate' was for- nothing to do with stars - your reputation is your number of  'likes' .

[Timothy P]

As has been said the reputation system, via the rate button on each post, is separate to the stars under your name which as R says go up with your post count. (unless you're admin), so Derek do not worry your stars are well earned. 
As for the rating system this too 'should' be a rerepresentati of how other people feel about your posts. As such it is also something which is earned by making good posts, being helpful, giving useful information, sharing wisdom, bringing interesting things to peoples attention, forum spirit etc. I'd say thinking of it as a like system is good, I can change the name on the button, to 'Like' which may promote more use.

[squeak]

Tony
  Ahh.... I see I misunderstood the star system in that it is awarded by admin.
 
Timothy
  The reputation score IS a cumulative appreciation of the forum member by the readers, and I think a 2 tier level of reader applause is      unnecessary. 
  What I was after was an immediate connection  to the individual post, so that one can gauge or give support to that without raising a      new post.

cheers guys

[Timothy P]

Sorry Russell I'd reworked my reply while you were posting. After looking into it further I had come to the same conclusion on the two tier system.
Would changing the rate button to 'like' (and removing the negative and neutral options) be a bit better?
It might spur more use as a format people know?

[JonE]

That seems a good idea.
The stars also just seem a waste of time. We can already SEE how many posts contributed and threads people have started.. and for people coming on new, it could just be a barrier to equality?

[squeak]

Timothy that would be a step in the right direction. A contributors reputation is already covered by the star system, and the awards might be  influenced by admins referring to the LIKE scores, not a bad thing.  Imagine Bob with 80 stars!
The system you propose however rates the contributor not the content of the post. It does not immediately capture the sentiment of the silent majority; and they are silent   evidently.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

To be clear....

Stars - these are accumulated automatically as users contribute to Forum as a whole, the more you contribute the more stars you will attain. This is not influenced by anything other than the frequency each individual member contributes.

Reputation - this is controlled by the Forum members. If you like (or dislike) a post you read you can individually rate that post and the person who wrote it will receive a positive (or negative) rating (the rating stays linked to the post and you can visit what was said). A rating can also be added to individual users without being linked to a specific post - this might be used if you generally find the user helpful/unhelpful etc.

Russell, if you wish to "like" a post (something that someone has written), simply rate the individual post, it will add to the person's reputation score and others can see the exact post that you liked.

If you are unhappy with a rating (or a post) you receive or that others receive/write this should be reported using the "report" button - it will only be acted upon if you use this facility. Individual posts and rating all have the facility to be reported.

Please ask more if this is not clear.