Being Helpful Pays.

Since the official announcement "is reserved for program-related Q&As ONLY. All other comments and posts will be deleted", feel free to give your two cents here.

Obviously, questions about the paid posts system should be directed back to that announcement thread.

So, here are a couple of pennies from my piggy bank.

Thank you. Anything that promotes contributory activity here is welcome by me. If this only ends up bringing one well-thought-out post extra in a week (it's not a lot to ask) from anyone on the site, then that is a good step forward in itself.

Be nice. This is directed towards you, the TFL member, who I would urge to take advantage of the system but also to show it some respect. Use it as the intended impetuous to give some time and content back to the community, rather than a way to make a quick buck*.

* May not be so quick!

Concerns. Now this point may be entirely unfounded. Since there are only a couple of people clicking that "<whatever is on the reward-post button>" button, my concerns are primarily about a) missing really great posts (though, every great post is a bonus) and b) "unfair" rewards. By the last point, I mean anything from choosing not to reward someone because they've made a million great posts this week through to rewarding friends because you like them, and anything in between. Of course, feel free to announce to the community that anything like that cannot and will not happen. For the first point, perhaps the staff could get a little page showing posts that the community likes (via the "thanks" button), or force (hehe) the staff to view each and every single post ever made here?

Finally. A practical note; can you change the "awarded $0.xx" button that gets displayed in the postbit to match whatever theme is being used? At work I browse using the default vBulletin theme (the orange/green hurts my eyes on the big monitor!) and at the moment having the orange button there just looks broken.

So, folks, go and be helpful.

Originally Posted by Salathe Concerns. Now this point may be entirely unfounded. Since there are only a couple of people clicking that "<whatever is on the reward-post button>" button, my concerns are primarily about a) missing really great posts (though, every great post is a bonus) and b) "unfair" rewards. By the last point, I mean anything from choosing not to reward someone because they've made a million great posts this week through to rewarding friends because you like them, and anything in between. Of course, feel free to announce to the community that anything like that cannot and will not happen. For the first point, perhaps the staff could get a little page showing posts that the community likes (via the "thanks" button), or force (hehe) the staff to view each and every single post ever made here?

This is a legitimate concern, and one I thought about beforehand. Yes, there might certainly be posts missed from time to time. However, I personally try to always screen through every single new post. I do it at least once a day. We also have other staff members actively looking through new posts, so probability of us missing a cool post worthy of a monetary award are slim. Even if we do, as you correctly note, this program is not designed to be a significant source of income, it is merely a value added benefit of being a part of this community. The motivation of a member should be to showcase knowledge and contribute something of value, not to make a quick buck. And then it is up to us to do the best job that we can to notice and thank that member back.

I also love the fact that the system was designed to be random, manual (non-automated), as well as exclude any kind of members' involvement in the selection process. It eliminates abuse and leaves staff members in control of the situation.

The question of fairness might always be out there and unfortunately it will always always always be subjective (having a precise guide to how to value a particular post would be an absurd - we just have to use our best judgment). I also cannot think of anything at all that might introduce bias into the actual process of issuing rewards. We reward contributions, not our favorite people. There is nothing to gain by doing the opposite. Again, the objective of this program is to embrace contributions and thank members for their efforts and outstanding posts. I just would rather really focus on the positives of what this program can offer rather than not having it at all.

Originally Posted by Salathe Finally. A practical note; can you change the "awarded $0.xx" button that gets displayed in the postbit to match whatever theme is being used? At work I browse using the default vBulletin theme (the orange/green hurts my eyes on the big monitor!) and at the moment having the orange button there just looks broken.

I haven't thought of that and would probably leave it up to Gaz to see if that's possible to modify for each theme.

Originally Posted by Salathe Finally. A practical note; can you change the "awarded $0.xx" button that gets displayed in the postbit to match whatever theme is being used? At work I browse using the default vBulletin theme (the orange/green hurts my eyes on the big monitor!) and at the moment having the orange button there just looks broken.

I'll update the images as soon as I've had some time to create them for the individual skins. I've been concentrating on any bugs/errors with the product so hopefully they're all done and I can get on with the aesthetics on other skins.

Salathe (and anyone else who cares), I've updated the default theme with images now.

Thank you, kindly.