PCFormat Forum Archive

So, as per Yster's suggestion I pose this question to the forumites:

Who would like to see a "Thanks" button implemented on this forum? If you do, state why you think it would be good. If you don't, let your opinion be heard.

Mods, can we have a poll please?


My vote is yes, my reasons:

1. In this I posted a reply thanking the op for his post after he noted the trouble he went through, this was misunderstood as sarcasm by Yster, who deleted the post. A "Thanks" button would've cleared the confusion up.

2. As I've noticed lately a couple of people have been making a effort to post interesting articles on the forum, a "Thanks" button would let them know it's appreciated without necessarily having to make a post just to thank them.

I second it - good idea.

First thing that springs to mind is the "Like" button from FB.....

I've (and many others have also) proposed the idea of a thanks button several times before.

a thanks and a like button would be awesome!!

Thanks is not the same as like. You can say thanks without liking what was read.

So it looks like 4 in favour to 0 against.

How about that poll mods?

Sorry, not putting a poll up. Just because a lot of people want it doesn't automatically make it a great idea - it's the reasons behind including it that I'm more interested in.

i do think that it is a good idea....
but have we gotten so used to the digital age and the quick ways of doing things that you don't even have time or the patience to type out "thank you"....

i don't think that it will be seen as spam or trolling if you post in a certain thread saying thank you for the article or whatever....

i like button would go a long way and the words "thank you" even longer....

Ron2K wrote:Sorry, not putting a poll up. Just because a lot of people want it doesn't automatically make it a great idea - it's the reasons behind including it that I'm more interested in.

Less unnecessary posting, easy to show support for a certain post, "thanks" could contribute to karma/rank points to distinguish helpful members...

You commented on my post Hman:) I didn't expect any thanks or sympathy. I just wanted everyone to understand that I quote a websites article. Then I have to fiddle around and only later can I edit in a link to the source of the article. So some peolple might have thought why I would quote a tiny paragraph without a link to the source of the article

But yes I agree a thanks button sounds like a good idea. Or in other forums the people are nominated for a best answer.

Not to be trolling on your post but in other forums they also have something like an Intel logo and ATI logo under their avatar meaning that's their area of knowledge. And also a ranking system, that rates your rep.

Tribble wrote:Thanks is not the same as like. You can say thanks without liking what was read.

Why on earth would you say thanks for something you don't like?

Perhaps criticism, but even that you have to "like" to some degree and thank the person handing it out.

Hman wrote:So it looks like 4 in favour to 0 against.

How about that poll mods?

Noooo....hang on. I did not say I am in favour of it.


If you word your thank you post properly, it would not be construed for spam or sarcasm.

ranking mechanisms generally devolve into silliness...

as to thanks/like buttons... meh. more silly which adds little value. sorry, but i don't see the major benefit. if you want to improve contributions and not encourage turning this into a news aggregation service replicating the content of similar, engage the OP.

that's how you express gratitude. add value. if you're too lazy to add value, how meaningful is the spamming of like/thanks buttons?

rustypup wrote: that's how you express gratitude. add value. if you're too lazy to add value, how meaningful is the spamming of like/thanks buttons?

IcePick88 presses the imaginary "Like" button.

There's no spamming involved with a thanks button, it simply states x amount of users say thanks for this post or something along the line.

At least the posters know their effort didn't go unnoticed.

BTW. I'm not talking about a reputation or ranking system, I've seen many boards where those types of systems lead to people just trying to get as much "points" as possible.

rustypup wrote:how meaningful is the spamming of like/thanks buttons?

Better than to spam a thread with: "Lol" (in case of the jokes/pics thread), "Thanks", or "Very helpful post".

thanks. that was very helpful. and now?...

it's a post. it's as deep and meaningful as a hiccup. it's longevity can be measured in minutes. why celebrate it's lack of spam content? surely "not spam" is the minimum requirement?

really.. if you're rewarding non-spam posts to discourage spam, you've lost the battle.. and common sense.. and tacked on more pointless flags to every post...

i ask again - what value would this add?

rustypup wrote: i ask again - what value would this add?

I agree. No value would be added. The system will devolve into a "Who can get the most "Thanks" rep" as I have seen on many other sites. XDA forums are one of them, soon people start to ignore/flame the person with the least amount of thank points because they "dont know what they are talking about" so it has the potential to cause more damage than good. Thats just from what I have seen and does not mean it would happen here but the potential is there for it happen. If we do implement it then it must be limited to tech threads and not in the spam areas because then whats the point?

It would let the poster of the article know that even though there are no comments, no discussion and no trolling - that the post was noted and enjoyed.

@icepick, I think - I read many things that I don't "like" but am grateful that someone brought it to my attention or presented another view point. Perhaps the difference is in the meaning of the word "like". "Like" to me implies that I agree with, or am of the same way of thinking, as the information posted. "Thanks" would mean that I am grateful that I now know about it. It is not a button I would use often - I am often not grateful for being told stuff. But as you all know - I am happy to post the odd "lol" or "wow" or "thanks - that was interesting". I do not need a button - it would just speed things up for me a bit.

And if there is a count - it would be for the post and not the person. Don't link it to the profile at all - that way no one would compete. And no one would have to know who had thanked (or liked) them (their post) <shiver>

Sometimes I appreciate "Thank you" posts from people. I then know that this person, this person and that person, at the very least, found it useful. It's almost a sense of community for me in a way.

Sometimes I don't appreciate "Thank you" posts from people because I then browse expectantly to a thread, only to find out that someone posted a thank you.

Overall, however, I really like "Thank you" posts from people. Please don't implement a "Thank you button."

A ranking system... I think it's a bit pointless here, but meh. If a ranking system is introduced, perhaps it should be based on avatar: the most gorgeous avatar wins! Right now Bladerunner is amongst the leaders.

@GDI_Lord you are a Boxy fan

Tribble wrote:it would be for the post and not the person.

and the thread moves on to the next page and the poster's life work is reduced to a howling pit of nothing? ...

i still don't get it. if you've put some thought into the post, it's appreciated. if you haven't, it isn't. there is no mystery here.

(if it's really unappreciated there will be bleating).

is this one of those "i need constant validation" things? there's a farcebook for that, (or gaggle- for the trendies...)

As I said in a earlier post, not looking for a "rep" system. The "thanks" does not have to be counted and displayed in the user's profile. Just marked underneath the post that was found useful.

I think if you are thankful for some advice given here, a few words of thanks typed out in a reply is more sincere than pushing a button and receiving bacon.

rustypup wrote:

Tribble wrote:it would be for the post and not the person.

and the thread moves on to the next page and the poster's life work is reduced to a howling pit of nothing? ...

i still don't get it. if you've put some thought into the post, it's appreciated. if you haven't, it isn't. there is no mystery here.

(if it's really unappreciated there will be bleating).

is this one of those "i need constant validation" things? there's a farcebook for that, (or gaggle- for the trendies...)

It is the bleeding in the streets and the flaying of arms that frightens me. Yes - people do need validation. Some people spend many hours finding interesting things for the rest of us to read. Granted there is the odd poster (no names mentioned) who will randomly post the odd interesting item but generally, their posts aren't worth mentioning.

Altruistically - this might spur people on to only post the interesting and useful.