To be honest, I wouldn't search for too far. Even if people have no idea what this option means, they'd soon find out, and then they'd just know. So choose something as inobstrusive as possible.

"+=0" just looks and distracting to weird to me. I'd go for a plain and simple "0", and put it in the middle of the options, like this:

¤ --

¤ 0

¤ ++

Putting on my usability hat, and taking off my geek one, I think this looks okay:

   -- O  O  O ++
[download]

Center is neutral, left is decrement, right is increment. The fact that it's a pre-decrement and a post-increment will only annoy the fussbudgets.

People who don't see announcements eventually have to notice and adapt. I miss announcements all the time.

I think something like

( ) ++     ( ) --     ( ) += 0     ( ) no vote

I'm leaning toward +/- and making the "abstain" be like voting both ++ and -- on the node. That is, it requires two of your votes but doesn't give anyone any XP.

We should also change "+=0" to something less ambiguous like "no vote".

That is, it requires two of your votes but doesn't give anyone any XP.

Why? That would restrict its usefulness and discourage people from using it. Why would Mr. Noo B. Monk waste two votes for no XP when he could waste one vote and perhaps get XP by voting randomly on the node? In order from most to least preferred, I think it should not cost votes, it should be the same as a regular vote, or it should be the same as a regular vote without the chance for XP.

We should also change "+=0" to something less ambiguous like "no vote".

I very much agree with that.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

Why would Mr. Noo B. Monk waste two votes for no XP

I don't expect them to. Funnilly enough, I found the original node in this thread to be a pretty bad justification for an "abstain" option. In the scenario given, I would suggest the new member vote every reply up in thanks to the people who made the effort to reply and/or sort replies by reputation. I see very little value in an abstain option for that case.

I think you are missing a vital point. Abstaining from voting doesn't do the Monastery any good. So I have no desire to *encourage* it. I see value in allowing it.

In order from most to least preferred, I think it should not cost votes

Ooh, yuck! Then we'll just have lots of people mass-abstaining then wishing they could vote when they see how things stand. We'll have much less useful voting in general and less input into the rating system, which I feel would make it less useful than it is.

it should be the same as a regular vote

No, you don't get XP for it because it doesn't help the Monastery.

or it should be the same as a regular vote without the chance for XP

That might be acceptable. But I don't want to jump right to that just yet. It is just such an easy cop-out for higher monks to spend a vote (most of us don't spend all of ours most days after we get up here) just to see the rep of a node. I worry that even with it costing a vote with no chance of XP gain, that it will still become the easy choice and become way too common and discourage monks from taking time to consider nodes and decide which ones most deserve the up-vote (or however they choose to cast their votes).

Despite the frequent whining threads about what is wrong with the XP system, I find great value in it. It hooks new members in and gets them to contribute, even want to "belong". It discourages certain undesirable behaviors. It gets people thinking about the value of what they contribute. And it is valuable in calculating the value of a node in many contexts. And for it to perform these vital services, we need to keep people contributing to the system. Making it too easy to opt-out of the process is not a good idea.

After writing about it, I'm not sure costing two votes is enough of a discouragement. But it does make for a nice label ("+/-"). (:

                - tye

it's probably the #1 request for changes to the site.

Makeshifts last the longest.

I kind of wish +=0 wasn't already taken... (I think undef would have been a better choice for that.)

I think I'd vote for "==" as once suggested by Flexx.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";