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Just put up a new release of the code with a few bug fixes and new features.

Most notable is the Exalt feature (basically a 'Like' button).

Clicking the Exalt +1 link next to the post reply box will mark that you like a given thread. It will then forever appear in your list of Exalted threads. It CANNOT be removed from that list, so make sure you only Exalt threads that are very interesting for you unless you dont mind your exalted thread list being a cluttered mess. You can see your list of threads by clicking the 'My Exalted Threads' link up there next to Private Messages.

Eventually, depending on usage, I will add a 'Top Threads' link that will show the most highly rated recent threads that have been exalted, allowing easy perusal of the best dakka has to offer.

You can also Exalt individual posts. Currently there is no feedback from this given to end users, but I will be using it to gather data and then will make a nice interface to it based on usage. We are keen to avoid 'why does nobody like my stuff' whining, 'please like this' spamming, etc. so will be developing the system verrrry slowly to avoid such things. You can be more casual in your exalt usage for individual posts.

At the moment I am just using text links, but we might change to something more visually appealing if usage is high enough and I can get the time to make decent enough graphics for it.

Posting in a thread 'Exalt', 'Exalted' or anything like that is considered spam, just as 'Like' and '+1' are, so dont do it as you will be punished by the mod's red triangle of doom warning system. If you want to leave positive feedback for a good post or thread, then use more descriptive text so that you dont waste posting space with empty messages that simply echo the click of a button.

Enjoy, and hopefully we'll be able to do some cool stuff with it if usage takes off.


Also, with regard to Exalt weighting, there are:
Guests (anonymous users)
Users (logged in users)
DCMs
Moderators (all types)
Admins

Each with higher weighting than the last. I've not weighted to any other factors yet as I want to see how fair this is first, so having a higher post count, longer time on dakka, etc will not affect it for now.

Exalt! Excelsior!

Fantastic stuff - many thanks as usual Lego for all your hard work in making Dakka a nice place to be.

filbert wrote:Fantastic stuff - many thanks as usual Lego for all your hard work in making Dakka a nice place to be.

Exalted


/It started here folks, with this post.
//I can Exalt myself? Arrogant is a nasty way of saying self confident..amirightoramiright *click*

Oh boy... I can't avoid this whole liking thing nowadays no matter how much I despise such a system...

I am content with this update. A top threads section on the front page (one that refreshes every so often) sounds great.

It's always nice to get a new feature on the sites that you frequent. Thanks legoburner, and keep up the good work.

I'm not a big fan of this new feature.

The good news about it then is that you don't have to use it!

Thanks for continuing to update Dakka Dakka and make it better than ever Lego!

I like it. Well done Lego.

I clicked it on this thread, and it said thanks for exalting.. then when I came back to the post the link was back to normal. can it remember you exalted so you don't re-exalt something?

and any way to see how exalted a post is? Or am I missing it?

Really cool feature. Thanks benevolent dakka overlords!

Cool. I've been waiting for this.

Somehow, legoburner has taken the concept of a "like button" and made it even better than I ever could have hoped for.

Well played!

I'm not sure why you cannot "unexalt" a thread. This seems like a nice way of bookmarking threads I care about (other people's project logs, etc), but being unable to "unexalt" a thread doesn't make sense. Is the problem purely based on difficulty programming or is this a conscious choice?

Absolutionis wrote:I'm not sure why you cannot "unexalt" a thread. This seems like a nice way of bookmarking threads I care about (other people's project logs, etc), but being unable to "unexalt" a thread doesn't make sense. Is the problem purely based on difficulty programming or is this a conscious choice?

Until the backend support is done, and there are a "most exalted threads" list, subscribe would be a more useful function seems like. I can't wait to see where this eventually goes, though.

If you just want to bookmark something, use the Subscribe function. Exalting is for really awesome stuff, you want other people to know about.

@legoburner: I would like to know if someone exalts my threads or posts, but I understand why you're not doing that right now.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Is there a way to check what other users have exalted? I can't find it in the profiles.

I guess Exalting isn't meant to be a replacement for Subscribing, but they're rather similar. Can you not instead derive these "most exalted" statistics from subscriptions?

Exalting seems superfluous.

I really hope mods strictly enforce the rule preventing people from saying "GW prices are 2 high! Exalt if you agree!!!" that plagues Youtube.

Well, you're automatically subscribed to a thread just by posting in it.

"Exalting" seems to be a bit more of a deliberate way to say "I like this."

Absolutionis wrote:I really hope mods strictly enforce the rule preventing people from saying "GW prices are 2 high! Exalt if you agree!!!" that plagues Youtube.

Those sorts of threads would be treated as spam. If you come across threads like that, by all means report them using the mod alert button and we'll deal with them.

On the 'sunscription vs exalt' thing, they're really rather different things. You would exalt a thread because it is particularly awesome and you want to acknowledge that. Subscribing is just to make it easier for you to follow a thread that you're interested in.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Monster Rain wrote:Well, you're automatically subscribed to a thread just by posting in it.

Only if you have that set in your profile.

insaniak wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:Well, you're automatically subscribed to a thread just by posting in it.

Only if you have that set in your profile.

Heh. I think I may have to tinker with my profile a bit.

It is the default though, right? To subscribe when you post?

I believe so, yes.

No smite button?

Dice Monkey wrote:No smite button?

I was tempted to exalt that post.

Necros wrote:I clicked it on this thread, and it said thanks for exalting.. then when I came back to the post the link was back to normal. can it remember you exalted so you don't re-exalt something?

and any way to see how exalted a post is? Or am I missing it?

Click exalt again, it will complain that you have already exalted. I cant do the check automatically as it would be too big of a hit against the database for everyone who reads a thread (30 posts, 1 thread per page, per user, per view compared to 1 hit on request for like button clicking).

At the moment I do not plan to show a figure showing how exalted a post is, I want to see how much it gets used when there is no feedback. I might make generic per-user exalt counters, but intend to leave it as vague as possible for now to make sure we dont start a culture of 'exalt pls' type posts (which would need to be cleaned up using precious moderator time).

Dice Monkey, we will never have a smite button. If you dont like something, move along or report it to a mod if it is against the rules.

If we end up with a flood of meta-discussion that distracts from the more interesting bits of dakka, I'll axe the whole exalt system, but if it goes well, I'll drip feed new features onto it, making it more and more useful and interesting as time goes on. For now, it is just the list of your exalted threads (like a refined subscription list), a planned list of most popular threads of the moment, and providing silent feedback to us about the quality of individual posts which we will use to determine popularity and quality of users as a small part of the choosing-a-moderator algorithm we utilise whenever we need to find additional mods.

Already there have been 500 points of Exalt handed out across the site in the few hours it has been up, so that is an encouraging sign for now.

I predict that this will be the most exalted thread on Dakka if only for people's experimentation.

Another reason I disagree with the Exalted system is that newcomers will get confused by it. In their first thread after signing up (likely a GW-price-complain thread), they'll see this Exalt thing and click it unknowingly.

The newcomer or just plain confused Exalts will be a minority, though. They'll be drowned out in short order by the actual exalting.

Woot a new era! Thanks Lego!

Curse the exalt thread button! My muscle memory keeps pressing it when I want to go to the forum index

Oh well its a nice touch

I am with kenshin.. the location of the exalt button means I have accidentally exalted 2 threads already..

can you move the location to someplace where it is harder to click? make people WANT to exalt something?