You have to do as you are doing: using your brain to decide with each and every vote applied. I find that in one day, I rarely vote on different nodes for the same reason. The entire contents of a node (as a whole) need to be evaluated to come up with an honest vote. You can't just look at one element of a node and make your decision on that: if you do, your votes most likely do not reflect what the answer, question or comment deserves to receive.
Myself, I vote based on the following things, from least important to most important:
- Title: This is the tiniest matter and I have yet to downvote a node** based on its title. But I do admit to looking at the title once in a while: I'm waiting for the day when someone prepends "God you're stupid, here's how to do it:" to their title. Will it ever happen? Probably not, but I wouldn't want to upvote a node with such a title now would I? :)
- Spelling: I have never downvoted a node** because of its spelling. Yes, some of the content may be difficult to read and some may be downright annoying to read through (ie: the ones that look like a 5 year old wrote them), but you really must keep in mind that not everyone on this planet speaks/writes/types perfect English. If perlmonks were a Spanish site, I know I'd be wishing for merciful people here :) On the other hand, it seems as though some people write the least amount possible: all they are looking for is an answer, so all they post is "I need {insert some short description of a problem} to happen. Do it for me. Help.". These do often irritate me, but I have no way of knowing whether it's a lazy and demanding person or if it is someone that cannot speak better English. In these cases, I simply do not vote on the node at all: no negative vote given**.
- Formatting: This one can sometimes be difficult to handle. If someone forgets, doesn't know, or incorrectly uses tags such as <code>, <readmore>, <p>, <br />, the first thing I do is look at the source for the page. Probably around 90% of the time, the contents of the node (including code snippets) is quite readable from the source. Besides, I know that the node will be considered for an edit and the formatting will be fixed. I don't go "damn, stupid people who don't format their nodes properly", I look at the user's home node and their previous posts. If they are a new user, they shouldn't be expected to immediately know about the <code> tags, etc. Yes, it'd be nice if everyone first read the site docs before attempting to post, but that is an unrealistic request. So, if they're new, I cut them some slack. If they are level 5 (like me currently) or even level 10, I still cut them some slack and don't -- them**. Yes, by now they should know how to format their nodes, but everyone makes mistakes. Though by level 5-10, I would hope people knew the use of previewing their posts.
- Introduction: For root nodes in any section on the site, I look for a decent introduction to the problem, question, code snippet, or whatever else is being posted. In a perfect world, I'd be able to ++ or -- a node** based on the first paragraph of the node. There should be one or two paragraphs that explain the nature of the post, followed by readmore tags. Reading that/those first paragraph(s) should tell me whether or not I am interested in clicking 'Read more...' to see more. However, this is not a perfect world, and sometimes the quality of the introduction does not match that of the node content. So, while the introduction sets up my first impression of the node, it does NOT determine my vote for the node.
- Node content: This is, of course, the most important aspect of any post: if your post is completely void of content, there is nothing to read and nothing to base a vote on. Even with a great introduction, if you're setting up for absolutely nothing, well... that doesn't get you anywhere. Besides, I doubt people write up an intro to their question, answer, code or comment and stop there. :) There are several ways that I look at node content:
- If this is a root node that asks for a solution to a problem, is there any evidence that the user has even attempted to solve his/her own problem? Is there code that the user tried that for some reason or other fails to get the job done? I like to see that the person has tried something (heck, anything!) to get things going. There have been a couple of times where I've --'ed a node** because all that was said was more or less a rude 'put together something for me that does this that and the next thing'.
- If this is a reply to a node, is the answer relevant to the question? I am waiting with my -- vote** for the day that someone asks 'How do I turn taint mode on in a CGI script' and gets a response of 'Look at CGI.pm'. :}
- If it's an answer to a question, was the answer provided well thought-out or researched? I like to see replies that attempt to answer the user's question or that recommend methods in which to figure it out for themselves. Yes, 'add use strict and -w' can be helpful, but not if the user doesn't know what 'use strict' means, let alone where in a script to put it. IMO, it's nice if the reply indicates what kind of error strict or warnings might produce and what this error may indicate. I don't expect to see a full explanation as to what each and every error or warning means, but maybe an indication as to where the problem(s) lie.
- Does a pereson replying to a node look at the other replies before posting their own answer? And/or is the answer provided a carbon copy of someone else's reply? This one is a little irritating but I can't *always* make a clear judgement on this one. If I understand things correctly, the timestamps shown on posts are those of the timezone in which the user who posted the node is. So yes, it often happens that more than one person is typing in the same solution to a question at the same time, and you end up with multiple people providing the same answer to a question. This is one time where Newest Nodes comes in handy. If two replies to one question answer it in the exact same manner and appear on the Newest Nodes page together or within an hour or two of each other, I tend to not vote -- on the second one supplied. However, if a day passes between responses and the exact same answer pops up in a second reply, I get slightly irate. This shows me that either the person replying did not read through the existing replies to see if his/her answer was already posted, or they saw someone else answer it and copied their answer in hopes of gaining a few measly XP. Now, as for replies that come in later that answer the same question using __different__ mechanics, I usually ++ those. I love seeing different views as to how to attack a problem, especially when it motivates many people to try new ways of solving things.
- User's signature: This is the most important part of a post! Man, nothing irritates me more than a crappy user signature. Some of the ones out there are so crazy and useless that I -- any nodes** of the authors who think they can get away with such things! Ah okay, I lie. A signature has nothing to do with the quality of a post, so these don't even come into play with my voting 'procedures.' I am most lucky that signatures aren't quite so important, otherwise I'd be at -99999 XP! I needed to throw in some dry humor to craze things up a bit after all that typing :)
** Disclaimer: these are the general guidelines of the way I myself vote. In no way whatsoever am I hoping to change the way you vote, as everyone views things differently. Heck, I myself don't always follow the guidlines I posted above, as they sometimes just don't apply to the node in question. There are always exceptions! I doubt that any two people here vote on nodes based on the same criteria. It may not appear evident from the above, so I'll state it here: I rarely actually downvote a node: I almost always just leave the node alone, not voting in either direction. I prefer to upvote good-quality nodes over downvoting ones that "I, supreme ruler of the entire universe", deem to be bad. :)
(Finally, as for formatting, I hope the embedded lists don't make the page too wide for anyone. I need to learn of ways to stay away from <ol> and <ul>. Perhaps I need to learn how to write in paragraphs!)
C:\>shutdown -s
>> Could not shut down computer:
>> Microsoft is logged in remotely.
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