Woodwork Forums FAQ

Its purpose is to hopefully give users an idea of how respected, knowledgeable, helpful, gracious, etc., a person is. It is a system in which you rate your peers. It is a system that, hopefully, will make you think twice about your posts.

There is a icon of a set of scales at the bottom of the members info area (left side) of each post. Click the icon, and a window will pop up allowing you to give reputation.

The reputation system is completely optional. But, by participating in discussion in our forums you are eligible to receive positive and negative reputation points from other users.

There are quite a few limits in place to prevent minor abuse of the reputation system. Obviously there cannot be a flawless system, but these limits try to curb any intentional abuse. You must have 50 posts and 1 reputation point in order for your reputation to count on other people.

Until you meet those requirements, your reputation will show up as grey/blue dots (see below). Everybody is limited to giving out 20 reputations per day; you cannot give the same person reputation until you have given reputation to 20 other people.

This prevents friends from giving 20 reputations to the same person every day.

If you go into your User CP (linked at the top of every page) you can see a list of the past 25 reputation points you have received.

In your User CP, in the upper right, you can see what your current reputation score is.

If you click the reputation icon on your post, a window will pop up with your current score for that individual post.

If you have a VALID complaint about reputation, send a private message to [email protected] with a link to the post you feel you were given incorrect reputation on.

All complaints will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and changes to the reputation are not guaranteed.

A green dot indicates that you were given positive reputation. A red dot indicates that you were given negative reputation. A grey/blue dot indicates that the user gave you reputation, but it counted neither positive or negative.

You get awarded 1 reputation bar for every 100 points.

Here is the formula used in the code:
= intval( / 100);

And, the way it loops, it adds one to the bars, so:

50 => 1 bar
99 => 1 bar
125 => 2 bar
199 => 2 bar
359 => 4 bar

When a new user first starts out, their reputation does not count. There are a few factors that determine when their reputation should start counting. Some of those factors are the number of posts, the number of days they have been registered, and the number of reputation points that have been given to them.

No, once a reputation value has been given (negative, positive, or neutral) the point values will never change retroactively. If you give a zero-point reputation, it will remain a zero-point reputation no matter how high or low your reputation point values become.

Reputation should be given to people who post meaningful, helpful, and thoughtful posts. Any post that contributes to the thread in a positive way probably deserves positive reputation. This does not necessarily have to  mean that you agree with what was said; the point brought up may be completely opposite to what you believe, but it may be a good point nonetheless, and worthy of a pat on the back.

Giving positive reputation to someone because they are your friend and deserve to have a few more green dots next to their name isn't a good reason to give positive reputation.

Administrators give 200 points per hit and moderators 100. Administrators also have the power to give as many points as they like for any posts that warrant an extra bonus.

Negative reputation should be given if the person is posting something that detracts from the conversation. If the post is rude, inappropriate, breaks forum rules, is not gracious, etc; these are all good reasons to give negative reputation.

If you have a personal grudge against someone, it is not appropriate to give them negative reputation for no reason. Giving negative reputation because you don't agree with what was said is also inappropriate use of the reputation system. People are entitled to their own opinions, just because you don't agree doesn't mean the user was wrong or not contributing to the conversation.

Administrators give 200 points per hit and moderators 100. Administrators have the power to take away as many points as they deemed necessary for violations.

Administrators & Moderators start with 2000 reputation points - Administrators and moderators have a reputation that is beyond reproach.
All new member starts off with 250 points of positive reputation.
Every 30 days, users gain 1 point of reputation-altering power.
Every 50 posts, users gain 1 point of reputation-altering power.
For every 100 points of reputation, users gain 1 point of reputation-altering power.
A user must have 20 posts before his reputation hits count on others.
A user must have 100 points to make reputation hits won't count on others. ie: If your reputation drops below 100, any points you award to others will not count towards their reputation but will be neutral (gray/blue).
A user cannot give more than 20 reputation clicks in a 24 hour period? Administrators are exempt from this limit.
User must give 20 points of reputation to 20 different users before you can hit the same person again? Administrators are exempt from this limit.