Suggestion Box

Hi Northernwrites, thanks for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to provide the links.

Seeing that all the relevant parts are already stored on the server, I did suspect that the absence of this feature was due to design decision(s) from the powers that be - it's nice to see the concerns laid out. I recognize and respect the fact that the (official) opinion differs. In truth, the same concerns had also crossed my mind, but it seemed premature to address them then. I would like to touch on them now, if only for posterity.

RE: [Concerns mentioned in response to Suggestion 1]

1) The attachment of public reviews to an author's work:

As mentioned by SM, authors already have existing tools/options to OPT-IN/OUT. Are authors more likely to hide (attached) reviews? Perhaps reactions to 'star ratings' may serve as an appropriate model for predicting similar behaviour. Alternatively, we do without the analysis by making it into an opt-in or set-as-default feature: "Enable Aggregation of Public Reviews"

But overall, I believe the chief concern remains...

2) Other reviews may poison the well:

Although I personally believe that...


...I also recognize and share the concern that the influence may be far more insidious.

Solution? Much like "Poll(s) Results"; other reviews only show up once you've posted a review. While this barrier to entry will diminish "Merits" 1 & 2 of the suggestion, the concern is now wholly eliminated.

The default (non-review) state remains the same as it is now, however, those users wishing to participate in the discussion now have further incentive to post a review.

RE: [Suggestion 2]

I don't believe a fleshed out, star rating system for reviews is appropriate, it runs the risk of being too derivative. Next up: Reviews of reviews?

I also share the concerns regarding 'down-rating', or even "non-affirmative" ratings of reviews. Thus, in the original suggestion, I had mentioned "X people" rather than "X/N people"

This can always be taken a step further so that a user can only toggle "this was helpful" on and off, while the actual tally "X people found this helpful" is only available to the author. But again, I don't believe this feature is really warranted at the moment.

Thank you very much for your additional recommendations, it's something I have tried and (shall continue to try). Though I must confess that I have found them wanting (on some occasions).

Best,
L