fellow monks,

in reading some of todays (am i allowed to say so? 8)) new nodes i constantly had to remember myself to don't first look at the username because i know this influences my voting decision - and very likely other's monks, too.

but then, there was a flashing light shining above my head that told me: how about an option in the user settings to show the username if and only if a value-vote has been casted to that node? this does not introduce any conflicts with the current system, since when you don't want this to happen, then just turn it off.

another viable way i could imagine is to assign the username links with a specific class so that one can say: these links should be black on black - this would suffice (for me, at least). currently, this is not possible since there is no special class assigned, and i want to actually see some other links sometimes, too ;-)

the last approach seems to fit it much better, i think. perhaps there is just too much trouble 'bout this ...

kabel in the hope to not have taken up old bullsh*t

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: voting again - hide user names
by particle (Vicar) on Jun 11, 2003 at 20:27 UTC

    try adding .attribution { display:none; } to the On-Site CSS Markup section of your user settings

    ~Particle *accelerates*

    NOTE: this will not affect replies, only the root node (for now.)

    Update: i have submitted a patch to add the 'attribution' class to node replies as well.

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Re: voting again - hide user names
by naChoZ (Curate) on Jun 11, 2003 at 18:33 UTC
    IMHO I think it would fairly useless. The vast majority of posters, especially experienced ones, use a sig.

    ~~
    naChoZ

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      this is only correct if the signatures are hardcoded into the node's content. this is a fact that i am missing, i admit.

      but, still, for the future nodes it could eventually be arranged so that signatures don't give a hint to the usernames. the voting topic itself is a current one, because one puts votes mainly on newly created nodes.
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        For better or worse, sigs *are* part of the node.

        --
        I'm not belgian but I play one on TV.

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Re: voting again - hide user names
by VSarkiss (Monsignor) on Jun 11, 2003 at 18:37 UTC

    It's an interesting idea. BTW, the top "by kabel" link on the page is in a <span class="attribution">, so you may be able to do something with that.

    But you yourself gave a great example of why it's pretty much impossible in the general case:

    kabel in the hope to not have taken up old bullsh*t
    Hmm, I wonder who wrote that. ;-)

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Re: voting again - hide user names
by perrin (Chancellor) on Jun 11, 2003 at 22:19 UTC
    But if you did that, how would I be able to quickly find all of your nodes and downvote them over some petty conflict? This could really get in the way!

    In seriousness, I like to know who wrote the nodes I'm looking at. I rarely vote, but I definitely trust advice from some people more than others.

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      I agree with perrin, while I listen to everyones advice, certain people, such as merlyn, Ovid, the two I first learned Perl from, I have a tendency to listen to more, also I just like knowing :). The only other time I use people's names is when voting, ie if I have one vote left and it's between a Saint and a Scribe, I'll vote for the Scribe (the Saint has enough experience and a few actually tell you to vote for someone else). That said I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea for those who wanted, as long as you could change it in User Preference.

      Updated: added last sentence

      "Pain is weakness leaving the body, I find myself in pain everyday" -me

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        each monk has his own rules for how to vote (or not.) the site, as currently presented, does not make room for kabel's rules. others might wish to have similar functionality.

        the change i have proposed extends the current 'attribution' class to reply nodes as well as root nodes. this change affects the HTML markup only. it is up to each monk to choose whether and how to display attributions in their custom stylesheet.

        i see little reason not to grant this simple request to kabel. that said, i am merely the pmdevil who coded it... the gods are here to make it so.

        ~Particle *accelerates*

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Re: voting again - hide user names
by belg4mit (Prior) on Jun 11, 2003 at 21:13 UTC
    It's an interesting idea, although as proposed it does add a lot of work for the database. Another issue to consider is that many monkth browse via Newest Nodes, although I'm sure bivnn etc. could easily be modified to hide usernames.

    --
    I'm not belgian but I play one on TV.

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      err, sorry, i don't get your point.

      the signature is stored inside a user's profile. when posting a node, it just must be postpended. so, the signature could be put into a html div tag with another class associated. because of the fact - which was clarified by you - that a signature is part of a node, there should not be any code broken.

      i am lacking html design experience here, but if a div tag does not change the presentation of the markup by any browser (and i strongly think so, since div is merely a block element), nobody would even notice that something has changed.

      as the rep of the root node gets up and down, i suggest there are some who dislikes it.
      i am interessted in why some downvote it, for another reason naChoZ gave.
[reply]

        A signature is simply text that is entered in the posting textarea before you begin typing in the contents of a node. The signature can be editted for each node if one so desired to do so. So when you submit a node with a signature, the script does not know where the signature begins. It could be made so that adding a signature in User Settings would automatically wrap that text in a <div> tag, but I vote against that.

        Besides, what's the point behind wanting to hide who wrote a post? Wouldn't that just make us an anonymous community? What happens after I spend all my votes? I'm not allowed to view the authors of the posts I didn't vote on? While it may be true for some monks that knowing who the author is makes a difference on their vote, taking names away wouldn't help. There are times when I don't even look at the signature or the author's name and I know who wrote it. With time, you get to know the way certain people write :)

        [ Signature removed to conceal my secret identity ;) ]

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