Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

I'd like to add another 'quality' item to the list - those that post something solely without the intention of targeting one, or a group, of individuals. This has happened entirely too many threads and posts during the 2004 season.

I've heard an awful lot about reputation since the whole system started, and it seems that the consensus is that the system is fine. There are a few individuals that still complain - do you think the people with the most reputation are undeserving? Do you assume that since you have lower reputation points, which bring no rewards or prizes, nobody is reading your posts? I am afraid that in both cases, you are sorely mistaken.

I suggest you read this, too.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

I don't think there's anything wrong with posting speculation or an opinion, though it appears other people do, as I've gotten negative reputation for doing just that.

Speculation, though it may, at times, be inaccurate, is the basis for most ideas brought forth from ChiefDelphi. Everything starts with an idea, an uncertainty, a "What if...". If we have potentially useful, but not verified information, why not share it? Good things can certainly come of this, be it the poster being proved wrong, resulting in him or her learning a lesson, or the speculation being proven right, offering a solution to the problem or whatever the situation may be. I see no harm in offering your share of knowledge.

Posts, in my mind, should be:

• Concise and focused enough such as not to be rambling
• On-topic enough such as not to be on a tangent (though short tangents for humor or related purposes are OK, as long as they do not grow out of hand, at which point a moderator should step in)
• Not repetetive, unless that repetition serves to reinforce an uncertainty
• Clear in both spelling, coherency, and format

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

I really read through these and laughed....

btw this is probobly a perfect example of a poor post
or is it
I am making a point
I am providing clear and accurate information
and i am presenting it in a manor that (hopfully) doesnt offend or upset anyone

i dont know what makes a quality post, quality but i know that things like one word replies that involve just agreeing with someone, w/o adding to the conversation are examples of poor posts

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

Personally, I think it is good when someone makes a post (especially if the thread is someone asking for help about something, or asking a question such as this one) by bringing a different view-point in... although not always helpful, it can sometimes allow the thread-starter to get kick-started into finding the solution if people just giving simple answers aren't enough. Whether it be in the form of reading material that could help, or by going far over-and-beyond what the question is to help the person not only find the answer they're looking for... but also understand why that is the answer and/or how it works.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

It's an uncertain and opinionated question, therefore illiciting uncertain and opinionated responses. Repetition is bad, in forms of certainty, as I attempted (albeit poorly, as the case may be) in my first post. In certain situations, however, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

What is a "Quality" post?
 

This is.

:D

MrToast

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

In my opinion, a "quality" post is most of what has been said (non-repetitive, few or no errors, no incorrect info, etc.). In every post, though, you should ask yourself one question: is this post contributing to the discussion? If the answer is no, then don't post. I use it as my benchmark for every post, both when making my own posts, and reading others' posts. If you can honestly say that your post is contributing something new and valuable to the discussion, you can't go wrong.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

I honestly dont see the differnece in the "okayness" of repetition in this thread or in a thread discussing Gear ratios or wiring methods, or anything else for that matter.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

What do you mean by targeting someone/some group? As in answering a question for someone, commenting on something someone said? Maybe give me an example of a post of mine that doesn't and/or does do that.

P.S. This is not a worthless post. I think.

--EDIT--
Oh, yeah, I have no none-repetitious opinions on post quality. However, I do get what Aignam means by this being an opinion thread and repetition being more understandable. It's like a poll; you don't look at the results, see that the one you'd vote for has already got a vote, and then don't vote.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

Er, it is fine. If you think I'm complaining about it, you're reading into my comments too much (and incorrectly).

Also possibly a poor supposition, but you are partially correct; while the rep point system rewards the deserving, it also rewards the undeserving in a select few cases. Anyway, this is the point I was trying to make - the abuse of the system. I said in my previous post that I didn't take the system too seriously, so long as it didn't start to affect the quality of posts, though you appear to be ignoring that comment, instead suggesting quite the opposite. I presented an idea that rep-bait could potentially lower the overall quality of posts in very specific cases, and while I'm not going to point fingers, let me say that there's a huge case of this going on in certain parts of the Chit-Chat Forum. My point was that other people took stock in rep points too much, and that while I don't, it does result in prejudging, and thus not reading posts. Edit: remember that my original thesis was that you've made a quality post if people want to read it. I probably have enough green dots for this to not be a problem, but others aren't so lucky.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

A good post either:

Asks a question to help a team / team member

Tells about a specific event (with accurate information)

Answers the question asked, in an accurate, factual manner

Causes the readers to think about something new and challenging

Or acknowledges a person or team for something extraordinary

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

i have to say after reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, and questioning on the word "quality"-- it well, i have no idea really what quality means at times, but it's what u interpret it as and the same thing here with posting-- you have to def. though keep it a reasonable size and def. too stick with the rules of cd-- without the rules it gets too messy

enjoy writing all the great quality posts!

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

Flashback: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...t+source+bu y

I really appreciate not only that post, but all of the posts referenced there.

There are some technical threads that read as chatty conversations -- a million short posts adding snippets of information or incite here and there as the thread grows. There are other threads that spontaneously develop into a short series of well spoken people writing full treatises on the subject at hand, covering all the bases and presenting their argument in full and at one. A couple of fantastic drive train conversations from last summer come to mind as examples of the latter. I think there is a place for both, and whichever personal preference is at least part of the friction over "quality posts." I submit, however, that the biggest element of quality in my mind is a posts utility for people in the future. There are some threads out there that will still be pertinent and oft-referenced years from now, and there are others that won't make any sense when you wake up tomorrow morning.

As an example: try to do a search on this board to figure out what the internal gear ratios are for high and low gear on the Bosch drill. There are a million posts to sift through in identical conversations with uninformative titles and one line posts disseminating only one precious statistic at a time. When someone asks for the specs on a drill motor, a million people chime in with one number representing only their best recollection of its free rpm.

Support your Local Wiki.

Re: What is a "Quality" post?
 

Most of what I believe makes a good post has already been addressed in this thread so I am going to skip the bullet points on that end no matter how much joy they bring.

However I think there are more sides to the "why" we need good quality posts. Obviously bad posts can be very annoying but also we are eating up Chiefdelphi resources. "Bad posts" should not be present on Chiefdelphi in the same way that we should not have "bad logins." I think this is an issue that goes hand in hand with bad posts and one that has not been addressed yet as much. When I check the main page at this very moment I see 141 users on the board. 16 of them are spiders so there isn't much we can do about that. However the rest break down to be

1 - Announcements
16 - General Forum
1 - Rumor Mill
2 - Career
16 - Robot Showcase
5 - Technical Discussion
4 - Programming
1 - Control System
1 - Pneumatics
4 - IT
1 - Championship
1 - Regional
1 - Off Season
6 - FIRST Related Organizations
9 - Chit-Chat
1 - Televised Robotics
1 - FIRST in the news

That...unless my math is terrible...is 71 users. It is not very likely that 53 users decided to move to a new forum exactly as I hit my refresh button.

Considering the new announcement about having to limit access to the board to 300 users I think we should all start making an effort to sign off and leave the site alone when we wander away. 1/3rd of the people here wasting resources is too much. That isn't counting people who have just left Chiefdelphi running in a specific forum while running off to eat dinner. I really do not believe that a faster time before accounts are automatically logged off is the answer, especially in a league centered around Gracious Professionalism. I just think that when we are talking about using Chiefdelphi resources in a non-constructive manner we should consider all ways me might error and work to correct them all.