What is very likely:
A quick vote method that allows you to vote a 10 on images from beta pages. This uses a check icon in the image caption. See a live example here. The example does not actually "vote" right now but it does show you exactly what it would look like. Once actually implemented the check icon will stay orange to show that you have voted on that image.
Because we know some might not like it, there will be an option to enable/disable this feature from the profile.
Potential New Voting System
I am proposing the idea of swapping from a 10/10 system to a 5 star system. The reason for this is to simplify voting in the minds of the user. In the mountaineering world we rate routes based on a 1-5 system, same goes for movie ratings and other types of reviews. A 10/10 system is actually much more rare because of it's seemingly "overwhelming" number of choices. We all like choices, I know I do. But the rating system currently is not being utilized to use the full scale. One very big reason for this is because there are too many choices per vote. A very respected member of SummitPost once said "at times I find myself debating between a 8/10 or 9/10, in the end I vote a 10/10 because it's easier to do". Here is a live example of the stars on a page. Keep in mind that your vote does not actually stay due to it not being hooked up, but it does show what it could look like and has stars on hover.
If we swapped to stars, we could easily insert them into the quick vote method. I have created an example which if you hover over the images, you will see 5 stars you can hover over. This is an alternative to the check icon method. To give the people of SP what they want, we plan on having profile preferences which allows you to choose what quick voting method you can use (check icon, stars, none). Another variation to this idea is to allow half stars which would basically allow "precise voting" but still have a simple feel to it. Here is an example of half star voting.
List of Possibilities
Note: Quick vote basically means that it allows for various methods to be used to quickly vote directly from a beta page. In our examples it can be a check icon, a star, a 10/10 bar, or none.
- Change 10/10 system to a 5 Star System with quick vote.
- Stick with Current Voting method with quick vote.
- Change 10/10 system to a 5 Star System that supports half stars. Essentially it would be a 10/10 system with a simplified look of a 5 star system. Quick vote methods included.
- Stick with Current Voting method but have main vote appear on hover instead of stars (plus quick vote)
- Stick with Current Voting method but have a quick method that shows stars (4/5 equals a 8/10)
Where you Come in:
But before we change the main voting system we need to hear from the community and make sure your interests are fulfilled. My intentions are to use the best practices but at the same time I want to make sure the community gets what they want. So please voice your opinion on this. If you want to see it changed to stars, voice your support. If you don't, then mention that you want the main vote to stay the same.
FAQs
What will happen to votes if we swap to a 5 star system? Depends on if we have half stars included. If half stars are included, We could simply change 10/10's to 5 stars and 9/10's to 4.5 stars. 1/10 would be a 0.5/5 stars. But if the community was against the half star idea, we could have a 8/10 be 4/5 stars and a 9/10 be bumped up to 5/5 stars. Basically a non half star system could round a .5 star up.
What if I don't want to see a quick vote? You will be able to disable it from the profile. No problem.
I like the quick vote stars, but don't want it to effect the 10/10 system If the community is against going to a 5 star vote for the main vote, we could still have a 5 star vote for hover. As stated above it could translate a 4/5 star to a 8/10 and a 5/5 to a 10/10. Because the quick method is a choice, it won't effect anyone who doesn't want it. Unless the word "stars" concern you when editing your profile.
Credits: Bob Sihler originally proposed a method to more easily vote. I created a hover vote which was okay. Mr. Chad then came up with the idea of using a check icon to give a 10/10. After much discussion I went forward with actually coding it (display wise) as well as my method of a 5 star system. Because both methods have minor issues we could not come to a full agreement (the check icon affects captions, stars only show on hover). This is where preferences saved the day.