Add a post count to user names / accounts....?

[DragonWithAGirlTattoo]

I was thinking that to see if someone is a real 'long term user of MN, you know penis beaker and penguin bollards..." we could have a post count added to user names / accounts....?

so mine would say [DragonWithAGirlTattoo (350)] or [OneOfMyOtherUserNames (350)] using my active name and counting ALL my posts, but without linking to any of my usernames

just a thought...

Is this the site you were thinking of RedRug ?

I think it's an interesting idea. Could go further and count posts on topic. So if poster A is a regular on say, gardening, their posts might carry more weight?

Much better to disallow name changes. Period.

Awful idea. People frequently use NC to get help with sensitive issues.

I am behind this idea in theory. I like the idea of a colour band or similar, though I think bronze silver and gold has potential to cause trouble (mumsnet Goldies anyone?)

Would deleted posts still form part of your total?

I've been a member for several years but don't post all that much.

On other boards I've seen post counts used as some sort of badge of honour, which I wouldn't like to see here - divisive and fosters 'Royalty' attitudes.

Length of time since joining better, imo.

I think it is important that it doesn't link user names.

Because if you have ever had one which you think might have made you identifiable, you really don't want someone to then identify all your other posts (because of same joining date or same number of posts).

And of course it does nothing to deter trolls, as there's enough evidence of long-termers becoming trolls.

And if you want to look at a user name history, there's advanced search already.

And it could have to work on the app and mobile site too.

Would*

It would deter a LOT of trolls, to be fair. Especially the school holiday crowd and the late night bishop-bashers.

But would it also deter newcomers, Maggie - or perhaps over-influence those who were faced with posts from people who were ostensibly more experienced?

I don't know for sure - but I think people need to be fairly clear about the possible positive or negative side-effects before introducing fairly significant changes.

It's true. I think newcomers tend to be a bit intimidated anyway, though.

I do like the idea of a shiny newbie avatar that goes away x weeks after registration irrespective of posting history. That would at least mean trolls have to plan ahead a bit and would actually help infrequent posters.

No, please. The thing about MN is it is different from other sites, with no. of posts, dates joined, tickers, hide functions, edit functions, etc.

I've been on boards that had those (the new poster avatar) and they seemed to work well, I agree. Maybe that would be a good starting point?

I'm not keen. I like MN the way it is.

I wasn't suggesting that the bronze, silver and gold thing is a good idea. It's perfectly obvious who the 'royalty' is on that forum. I don't think I've made it past 'bronze status' anyway!

Maybe a 'joined date' of, say, just the month and year?

If it is implemented, I like the idea of having fairly wide bands (less than 50, 50-500 etc) so that a really long term poster (say 6000+ posts could be more discreet if they name changed for a problem and it was just listed as 1000+ rather than 6158 or something more identifying.

Also, it would stop spammy "biscuit" type posts to gain post counts trying to get on the "top ten" or anything if it was capped at 1000+ being the biggest band.

I've been on boards that had those (the new poster avatar) and they seemed to work well, I agree. Maybe that would be a good starting point?

Yes, that alone would help.

I quite like the idea of bands, but putting "newbie/seasoned/old hand/granny" or whatever next to your name might be a bit naff. Just something that colours up on a scrollover to indicate which broad number of posts band you're in (exact number would destroy name-change privacy completely).

Mind you, showing number of posts deleted as well might be fun.

I like the idea of a posting band but not exactly number of posts. As someone else said, shiny newbie 0 -100 posts toe dipper 100-1000, community member 1000-5000, part of the furniture 5000+ Etc

People's reluctance to change has always interested me, Malkie. I'm not one for rushing headlong into new things for the sake of it but I have had many experiences of boards changing layouts and one characteristic of the changes always seems to be that a few weeks afterwards, people couldn't really remember what the previous version looked like.

How MNHQ have managed to persuade Tech to maintain 4 different board styles on this site is a mystery to me.

Maybe a 'joined date' of, say, just the month and year?

Or even the season and the year Fru?

I think ranges would be better so people are not easily identified after name changes. So 0-100, 200-500, 500-1000 etc. And then at a certain point it just says 5,000+ so there aren't any arguments about royalty etc. cause those are terribly dull.

I don't like the idea.

I see where you are coming from, but I think it will enforce the 'hierachy' that sometimes happens. Will someone be less trusted or their posts not answered much because they don't have much of a post count?

I just want Mumsnet to be as anonymous as possible.

The most prolific trolls play the long game - number of posts would do nothing to prevent trolling. In fact it might even add a layer of credibility to those long gamers.

I also don't like the implication that there is a value connected to the number of posts someone makes.