Recognizing quality members through the Xenforo platform

[Chicxulub]

Hey guys!

I've been a member here for a very long time. I'm possibly one of the oldest members still quasi-active on this forum, even if I don't really feel like I have much to contribute. Since we've switched to the XF platform however, I feel as though that may change.

The long and short of it is that I noticed the old reputation system wasn't ported over, and well, it's possible for you guys to have a much higher quality system where members nominate one another and can vote toward the issuing of awards. We implemented this program on our website way back in about 2012 on the old vBulletin software, but the switch to XF in 2015 really fleshed out the quality with the ability to set our notable members and user title ladder through the use of trophy points.

We implemented the awards program to recognize the members on the forum who may not be particularly active or have a lot of posts, but who produce quality content that deserves to be recognized. The program was a smash hit among our members.

The forum in question is monsterfishkeepers.com, with about 130,000 members.

I'll share below a like to the awards program subforum, which isn't currently active. Essentially, everything is transparent. Person A has to nominate person B, and provide evidence to support the nomination for the award. The nomination stays open for a month to allow and dissenting opinions to be presented (often people dissent simply by not supporting the nomination). Should the requirements for the award tier be met, the user get the trophy that appears by their name, and the points associated with the award.

Given that this community also has a bunch of particularly valuable members who may not be overly active, I suspect that a similar program may be effective here. I'll work with the staff on this site to help get this program off the ground if you all are interested, but I have no desire to run the program for you.

Here's a link to my awards program:

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forums/monsterfishkeepers-award-and-nomination.410/

Anyway, just wanted to fling this booger against the wall and see if it sticks. Have a nice evening!

Rob

 

[paul1598419]

This is an interesting concept. I don't know if it would be workable here or if it would catch on like it did with the fish tank hobby. I have a couple of members I would nominate if it ever did, though.

 

[CurtisOliver]

I already tried to get a awards system up and running whilst we were on vbulletin. I had to resort to making custom avatars to display the badges. The awards thread was primarily about reputation, but I did make other badges, one specifically for photographers. I’m up for this idea, and wouldn’t mind helping if others agree. Nice way of taking the system over to xenforo.

 

[Chicxulub]

I already tried to get a awards system up and running whilst we were on vbulletin. I had to resort to making custom avatars to display the badges. The awards thread was primarily about reputation, but I did make other badges, one specifically for photographers. I’m up for this idea, and wouldn’t mind helping if others agree. Nice way of taking the system over to xenforo.

The reputation/trophy points thing is a big part of what led to the awards program on my site. The member base wanted something qualitative, not quantitative; so we developed this program where to get lots of rep/trophy points you'd have to have actually accomplished something, which can be tracked to a specific event through the nominations process and a clickable link that's embedded in each award. The idea was to recognize members who may not post often or be popular, but who make huge contributions through their relatively infrequent posts.

I feel that this place would benefit strongly from such a program as well, and I hope to help if you guys like the idea.