User:Daiku/Rating System

This is a proposition for a new version of Bioniclepedia’s rating system. Designed by Daiku, and to be run by the same.

What the Rating System Is
The rating system is a vehicle for congratulating users on how good they are doing. It is a way of measuring how much a user has contributed to the wiki. It is a way for Bioniclepedia to say to you “You have been doing the most good for Bioniclepedia.”

What the Rating System Is Not
The rating system is not a means of punishment. Vandals and Spammers couldn’t care less if they get a rating decrease – all that does is give them more time until they’re blocked.

The Basics of the Rating System
Each user has a rating template on their userpage. As their edit count increases, and as they participate actively in the wiki’s growth, their rating increases. If they do things that disrupt the normal wiki procedures, such as making too many userpage or talkpage edits, or making minor edits that clog up Recent Changes, they lose points. The final decision of what deserves a point change is determined by the Admin running the rating system.

How to Gain Points
There are several ways to gain an increase in rating.

Edit Count
As your edit count increases, your point rating will increase. For the ease of the Administrator, only article edits will be counted – not talk pages, category edits, template edits, etc. However, your amount of main article edits should be representative of your content edits, and this has been taken into consideration. Don’t forget that if you make a lot of tiny edits to increase your edit count, you might actually end up LOSING points! If you think you passed a threshold and it wasn’t noticed, tell the Administrator.


 * 20 Edits: +1
 * 40 Edits: +1
 * 60 Edits: +1
 * 80 Edits: +1
 * 100 Edits: +1
 * Every additional 50 Edits: +1

Weekly Points
Twice a week, the Administrator will hand out a point to whoever has done the most that week. Users who recently had a point rating will not be as likely to get a new one, so one person’s rating doesn’t skyrocket. One point will be given out on Tuesday, and one on Friday.

There are no hard-and-fast rules for who gets the point, to allow for judgment on the part of the Administrator and to account for ingenuity among users, but some things that would merit a point increase would be welcoming and helping new users, engaging in significant conversation in the Community Portal or on article Talk Pages, tagging articles for deletion, and fixing formatting and grammar on pages.

How to Lose Points
You will lose points if you are doing something that detracts from the existing content, takes up the time of other users, or clogs up Recent Changes. Again, there isn’t a comprehensive list of rules about this, but some things that might earn a decrease in rating are:

Engaging in Edit Wars. You may revert an edit that you think is unnecessary once, but don’t go back and forth – put it back to how it was originally and start a discussion on the article’s talkpage instead. If an edit war happens, both users will lose a point.

Excessive Userpage or Talkpage edits. There’s nothing wrong with asking a question or leaving a comment on somebody’s talkpage, but Bioniclepedia is an encyclopedia, not a message board. When editing your Userpage, use the Preview button before saving. Too many userpage or talkpage edits makes it harder for other users to keep track of edits.

Changing Consensus Content. Consensus means that everybody agrees on it. Consensus Content is things like Infoboxes, Navigation Templates, Article Pictures, and the Main Page. The formatting on these pages has been decided by multiple people, and if you think something needs to be changed, leave a message on the article’s talkpage.

This may seem like a hefty list, but don’t live in fear of losing all your points. With the exception of Edit Wars, you have to make a habit of an offense before you get in trouble, and you’ll usually get a warning before I take a point away.

How can you have a FAQ if you just wrote this?
These Frequently Asked Questions haven’t been asked yet, but they’re issues people have had that I’m going to address.

What if I have another question that isn’t answered?
Ask away on this page’s talkpage! I’ll gladly answer it.

What if I don’t like something about this idea?
It’s up here for peer review. I want to know what you think – go ahead and tell me.

Won’t this be a lot for one admin?
It has been intentionally designed to be able to be run by one admin. I am confident I will be able to handle it.

50 edits! That’s a lot of edits!
That’s not technically a question, but fifty edits isn’t too hard to get if you’re willing to put a little time into it. Don’t forget, Edit Count points aren’t the main way to get points – Weekly Points are.

Can’t I just change my own rating to whatever I want to?
Yes, I suppose you could, but that completely defeats the point of having a rating in the first place. Also, since I’m the only one keeping track of the points, I’ll be able to keep track of everybody’s rating quite easily in a Word document. It’s quite easy to check somebody’s rating.