well rich, i'm very much a glass half full guy, so i don't really see a whole heap of 'problems'.. just things that common sense suggests could be a little better.... and if that makes me 'sphincter retentive', so be it...
Not that this is an earth-shattering issue, but I have to agree with Daniel. Let's tell the truth, the total posts a person has matters to many. Candle has made it clear on a number of occasions over the years that this is true about his own total, where he's placed on the Most Active Members list, etc. ET implies an importance to this total in a number of ways, first by granting different "status" or sub-heading under a person's name categorized by the number of posts (less than 30, 30-99, 100-499, 500+ each has a distinct title). Also, listing the total number of posts. And finally, on the main index as we're all aware are the 15 "Most Active Members" solely categorized by total number of posts. You see those names over and over. As Daniel said, this is Elite Trader and the Chit-Chat forum was added to allow members to blow off steam, discuss whatever's on their mind, etc. but it rarely has anything to do with trading. I mean really now, a poll on what's your favorite type of water, jokes, why isn't Aphie posting any more, political discussions on Israel and the Palestinians, who is Fruity.... Candle is arguing so vehemently because he has amassed a huge number of posts on the Chit-Chat forum and he doesn't want to see them go away. Anyone who frequents that forum is aware of his continual presence, so it's understandable that he doesn't want his post total to be lessened by disallowing Chit-Chat posts. And rightly or wrongly a certain status, cachet if you will, goes with the aggregate number of posts. New members (as well as many old) make a conscious or unconscious assessment of how much credence they will give, especially to an unfamiliar member, by the number of his/her posts. In short, Chit-Chat is not about trading, is not listed on the home page, and posts should not count towards the total. And if the totals really don't matter, then they should be eliminated from each member's sub-heading, eliminated from distinguishing what "kind" of member one is, and Most Active Members should be eliminated from the main index page. Frankly, all of that would be just fine with me.
I agree with all this. However, as it says, life is not just about trading. I seriously doubt that anyone has that much to say strictly about trading. From my own experience, it seems that specific issues get covered over and over again. How many times do we see (usually in the form of a question) a post that needs no response. Because a simple use of the search function will suffice to answer the question in more ways and more immediately than a new thread almost ever could. How many original trading ideas do we find? Even the most succinct trading threads will eventually deteriorate into what needs to be moved to "chit chat". I believe the very first thread I started was the now somewhat infamous "superstition, luck and Voodo" thread. I truly meant it to belong in the trading forum. But it soon degenerated into a debate about religion and sex, and whatever, and was finally closed. As it probably should have been sooner. But my point is that there is just so much any one trader has to contribute about trading itself. We each have our own styles of trading. We each need to find what works (what is comfortable) for us as individuals. So if a guy contributes 40 good posts about trading, I think that is quite a lot. If he contributes 2000 posts about other matters.....what is currently happening in the world (which really does affect the markets more often than not, and to be informed of world events and the dissenting opinions of others is always better than to be closed off from it all), why should those posts not count? Are they less informative? Less interesting? (sometimes yes, and sometimes no....how can any of this be accurately judged without someones subjectivity coming into play?) Granted, this is a site for traders. But I would be very bored with anyone who had no opinions or input other than what works or does not work for them on any particular day as far as trading(nothing works all the time....we all know that....or should). Maybe the real solution is to not keep count of posts at all! Those of us who spend time here know what to expect from each other....or at least the more active contributors. I don't need to know how many posts Nitro has made to know he knows how to trade. He just obviously does. Aphie and Gordon Gekko make a ton of posts also. But I know I am unlikely to find any trading gems from them. Yet I also know I may learn something from their posts that in some way may help my trading in an indirect way. Daniel_M expresses himself beautifully. Never learned a thing about trading from him in a direct sense. But I would miss his posts, and be less informed if I did not read them. Are they worth less because he does not talk about how he trades? Is MrMarket a more valuable asset because he DOES talk about how spectacular his methods are? We all need to evaluate by our own standards what we read. As TM Direct just demonstrated clearly today (and others have but not with the stated objective)...running up a big number of posts is easy and meaningless. How can a post that consists of "LOL" count equally as much as a an eloquent Darkhorse essay? And so it goes. Peace, Rs7
I was initially inclined to think that the number of posts represented trading experience. I then found that one person with 2000+ posts had never even made a real trade before. Makes you go 'woah...'. Since 'Chit-chat' was probably created to shoot the bull and act as the "other", or non-trading forum, I'm fine with not having them counted. I'm in no way suggesting that 'Chit-chat' be eliminated. After all, we need a life beyond just trading, and I find the topics humorous, entertaining, and sometimes enlightening.
Yes, nice post Magna... I would have no problem with number of posts under name being eliminated and the Active Members List being removed... my problem is placing a differential value on posts in different forums, recognising that there are a huge number of debateable quality posts on non Chit Chat forums... number of posts under name is a measure of participation in the Elitetrader community... so either count ALL participation on a non-discriminatory basis OR remove number of posts under member name and remove the Active Members List in its entireity.... I would support this latter aspect of your proposal... The only way I could support the removal of a post count from the Chit Chat forum is that if this NOT applied on a retrospective basis to existing posts... this is fair because then people who value their place on the Active Member List will retain their place and will be fully aware of the new rules going forward... I have, I believe, given the best compromise in respect of my above 2 paragraphs...
My 2 cents: Number of posts shouldn't be showed under the poster's nickname. Include it only in "Member's Profile" page. With detailed statistics: how many posts and % of all were written in each section (trading, retail firms (def), journals (don), chit-chat etc.). Instead of most active member list on the Forums mainpage, create a separate page "ET Community" with rankings - # of posts total, in each section, activity (posts/day) etc. At the bottom of each post, near Quote-Edit-Kill add "Quality" option, so we can vote on post quality/value. Average posting quality can be a Member's stat along with # and frequency of posts. Member's status (Senior, Elite, Junior) should be calculated from a combination of total # of posts, # of days since registration and posts quality. For example super_ego can post #3000 from Jan2002 but since his posts quality is poor to zero, he shouldn't have Senior or Elite Member Status. PS. And who is Fruity?
Yes, I agree with Magna that number of posts should simply be eliminated altogether. I also think the names of members' status should be renamed from Junior, Senior, Elite, etc. to something more like: 0-50: New member 51-200: Here often 201-500: Needs to get out more 501+: Has no life I think this would help remind people (with a little levity) that a member's activity is only indicative of how often they post, not how knowledgeable they are. As others have said, anyone who spends any time here will determine who is knowledgable and reliable and who may not be.