The member points no longer increments since yesterday's website change. Why?

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.  The points are still being configured but will begin accruing shortly.

Hi Bill,

I've made a few posts today and I don't think my points have been incrementing.

Thanks,

Greg

Have you started any new threads later in the day, after I updated the points automations?  Note that replies don't get any points unless they are verified answers.

Hi Bill,

I have only continued a thread that had been started before the forum upgrade, as well as posting in this one.  Has the point system changed?  Replies used to count as 10 points, and verified answers were given 20 points.  I just tried to insert an screenshot image and it isn't giving me an option to do so.  All I can do is insert a URL, even though the title says "Image/video/file".  Earlier today I was able to upload an image in the other thread I was posting to, though I remember the upload button as being a little small and inconspicuous.  

If you hover your mouse over the link where the points are listed (i.e. "Expert" and "TI__Expert" in this thread), the link is incorrect.  It lists the link of this thread.  If you right-click and choose to open the thread in another tab, it will open this thread in that tab.  But if you just left-click on it, it takes you to the correct page:

https://e2e.ti.com/support/site-support/f/site-support-forum/691964/faq-how-do-i-earn-and-understand-user-points-on-e2e

The image I wanted to insert here is the table of points listed on that page.

How do you private message someone?  The TI employee in the thread I was posting in asked me to send him a personal message.  I can't find any way to send a message to him so I made a friendship request.  But in my settings I see options to choose who can send me private messages, and "Everyone" and "Friends only" are two options.  So evidently I don't need to be a friend to send a message.  I just went to the thread where I was posting, hovered over the picture of the TI employee and chose the option "Cancel friendship request".  It asked me if I wanted to, and I said yes.  Then when I hover over the picture again, it still has a box to "Cancel friendship request".

The forum logs me out too quickly.  I don't see a way to extend the time.  Can it be lengthened?

I have had to clear all of my browser's cookies and cache a number of times today.  I thought I would only need to do it once, but I've had to do it a number of times to allow me to log in.

Thanks,

Greg

I figured out where private messaging is accessed, but the TI employee I want to contact must have their "Allow private messages from" setting set to "Friends Only", so I'll wait for him to accept my request to be friends.

Greg

As of within the last hour, points are still not accumulating. I made two posts and one reply within the last hour with no accumulation. I had to sign in both times, and just now, I cleared my history with no changes.

Hi Thomas Foxcroft,

Yes, this is a known problem that we are working to resolve.  Please standby for a fix.

Thanks

Bill

Hi Traynor,

This should not be a complicated bug. I'm curious why it's not fixed after reporting a week ago.

Thank you for your feedback.  The issue is being worked on, alongside several other issues in priority order.

Thanks

Bill

How has the debugging been going?  I haven't been posting lately.  Just checking in to see if the points are accumulating again.

Thanks,

Greg

Unfortunately the points are still not accumulating.  Please standby as it is being worked on.

Thanks

Bill

When this is fixed, will you please fulfill my request for 8,090 points?

Thanks Bill.  Looks like it worked for me on my last post.  Must be a random problem.

Thomas, you must have been pretty busy since the upgrade!

I guess points will be re-calculated when this bug is fixed finally.

Just need to calculate again to get correct values, since users can not delete they own threads.

Bill: If that's your doins, you have a colossal sense of humor! My goodness! I'm still laughing.

I guess the most gracious response would be to thank you. So thank you!

LOL! Maybe I should try that.  Bill, when this is fixed, will you please fulfill my request for 8,479 points?

I don't think points are incrementing all of the time.  I've had some posts result in an increment and some not.

I think it was just 1 post out of 5 that didn't get counted.  I'll pay close attention and report back.  Mostly just to let you know if there are issues or not.  I'm not concerned about a few posts not getting counted.

I still think re-calculate is a better solution then reponse personal requestion.

Re-calculation shouldn't be so complicated.

I cann't understand the reason of no re-calculation. It's good for both site maintainers and users.

It just happened again.  I'm not sure, but I think it might have to do with pressing "This resolved my issue" first, and then clicking "Reply".  I'll continue to look for clues, but I'm pretty sure it didn't increment again.

Nope, that isn't it.  I just tested out the idea in a different thread and the points aren't incrementing whether I press that button first or not.  And then I replied in a different thread and no increment of points.

Now they're incrementing.  Why is it thread-dependent?

I just posted in a different thread in the Site support forum, and the points won't increment.  But they seem to be incrementing here.  Trying one more time.  Sorry to all those that are getting spammed with e-mails each time I post.  But I'd like to get this issue resolved.

I've absolutely confirmed it.  Every time I post in this thread the points increment.  But they don't in the other threads.

Keelung,

I think I understand what you are suggesting.  My guess is that doing a re-calculation after every post would require too much computing time, so they just keep a running total.  I'm thinking that you're suggesting a one-time calculation that starts from the very beginning and computes everyone's totals, just to get everything squared away again.  My guess is that they would need to write such a script and it isn't worth doing.  The administrators would end up having to reply to thousands of messages from people who had points removed.  I wouldn't be surprised if people have been awarded points for various reasons other than the normal ones, and those points would likely be erased in a re-calc operation.

Greg

One other thought on why a re-calc might be a bad idea.  I know that posts and threads get moved manually, and I'm sure points have been adjusted manually once in a while.  All of that would be lost in a re-calculation.

I tried signing out and signing back in, and then posting in a different thread.  The points still didn't accumulate.  The only thing that is different about this thread is that I am not the original poster.  Maybe that is a clue.

Regards,

Greg

Hi Greg,

Yes. A one-time calculation. And It's better to just calculate threads posted in recently then add to old points before this bug fired.

Hi Keelung,

Yes, that makes sense.  But they would need to write the script and make sure nothing goes wrong.  They could end up with a lot bigger problem on their hands if they make a mistake.  I don't think the reward outweighs the risk for them.  It could cost a lot of money to fix a problem if one is created.  I bet they would credit some points to you if you were able to show you were missing some.

I just posted a reply in a different thread and the points did not increment.  I didn't click on "This resolved my issue", so that is definitely not involved.  Let's see if I can get my points here. 

Hi Dave,

Thank you for looking into it.  I'm happy to be involved in e2e, and I would do it with or without the points.  But the points add a little bit of a carrot which gives it a little bit of a challenge.  I am positive that it didn't work that way before the upgrade.  According to the following site on the e2e forum, points should be counted for every post or reply.

https://e2e.ti.com/support/site-support/f/site-support-forum/691964/faq-how-do-i-earn-and-understand-user-points-on-e2e

If you interpret the first line as being whether or not you are the original poster or not, it says you get points for the post and replies.  In the 2nd line, it says you get points for every reply.

Greg

Hi Dave,

I'm curious if your points incremented after you posted in this thread?

Thanks,

Greg

Dave,

I need to pay closer attention.  I think I got points for replying to you.  I'm replying to me in this post.

Greg

Ooops.  I need more sleep.  This is the thread where I get points!  I'm serious.  I need more sleep.

Greg, 

I can't speak for the rules prior to the upgrade, but I've confirmed that points for replies should only increment when on another users thread. I'll work on getting the FAQ on points updated to reflect this.

Regards,

Dave

Greg, 

Yes, points are incrementing for me.  400 after last.  this should put me at 410. ;-)

FYI, points will go away if the thread/reply/or verified answer is deleted/removed.  I need to add that to the FAQ as well.

Regards,

Dave

Dave,

I can't reply to you.  The Reply icon is missing from your posts.  So I am replying to myself.

The FAQ does mention losing points if a verified answer is removed.  That makes a lot of sense.

I don't agree with the decision to eliminate points for each reply in your own thread.  I would expect lower participation if that is done.

It isn't often that I post in someone else's thread.  I think most people want a reply from a TI employee since they would trust the answer more.  No offense to the other users in this forum, but that is how I feel because I don't know the other person and how qualified they are.  What is the participation rate of people joining in on other people's threads?  I wouldn't expect it to be very high.

As I get more experienced, I have fewer questions.  Therefore the number of questions will get fewer as I get older.  Therefore the chances of achieving a higher level in the forum is much less likely.

Regards,

Greg

Strange, but now your last two posts have Reply icons.  They didn't before.

Hi Greg,

Just curious if you were signed-in?  If not, you won't see any of the buttons at the bottom of the post.  Assuming you were, since you Replied to our own post. 

~Leonard  

Greg, 

Agree with Leonard.  You likely had timed out and therefore did not see the reply button.

On points..  Correct, the vast majority of replies to questions is from TI.  Threads are not typically deleted, so losing points isn't something that happens often. 

Regards,

Dave  

Hi Leonard and Dave,

No, I definitely was not timed out.  As Leonard pointed out, I was able to reply to my own post.  After posting I would have been redirected to log in if I had been logged out.  I think it was just a glitch and I wouldn't worry about it unless you hear about it again.  What I should have done at the time was refreshed the page, which I would bet money would have made it look right.  I should have taken a screen shot before, just to prove I wasn't imaging it!

I've been thinking about the forum, points, and levels a little bit.  It is impossible to come up with a system that is perfectly equitable.  My interests lie almost completely in electronics at this time, which is different than software.  I've done a lot of software, and I would expect a lot more chatter between software engineers, and they are able to help each other more easily than hardware engineers.  If an answer is given to a software question by a community member, it's a lot easier to accept that answer as being right or wrong compared to that of a hardware question.  I realize that is a very generalized statement, and it doesn't always apply.  The points system is inherently in favor of software forums because it is easy to jump into other threads and have a discussion and rack up the points.  Taking away the reply points from original posters is generally not equitable for hardware questions compared to software.  When I have jumped into someone else's thread, I've been chastised for asking a related question.  So there go the points for replying in a different thread because I'm supposed to start a new thread.  The system is not perfect and has some mutually exclusive goals.

One note about the levels.  It is a rating of involvement, not intelligence.  Someone can be a guru and not be all that bright (no offense Leonard!).  They just ask a lot of questions.  It reminds me of this Demotivator:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0535/6917/products/cluelessnessdemotivator_grande.jpeg

The true gurus are the silent ones that never need to come to the forum because they know it all.

I'd like to make sure that you understand that I'm not upset.  If we were talking right now you'd be able to tell that.  But if this was over a pitcher of beer, I'd probably be getting a little louder by this point .

Greg

I really need to qualify what I said about the true gurus.  That is definitely not always true, and in fact the best of the true gurus are the ones that know it all and come to teach others.

Thanks for your feedback, Greg.  There definitely is no ideal system.   

You're welcome Dave.  It has taken me 11 years to get about half way to the next level.  And that was with points being awarded for replies in my own threads.  The chances of me making it to the next level without those points is about zero.  I'd have to come up with about 125 questions.  As time goes on it is becoming less often that I don't understand how something works, and thus I won't be asking as many questions.

I'm really not that upset about it for myself.  I guess I am at heart an engineer because I like to fix things that appear broken.  So my thoughts are mainly to provide insight into how one user sees it, in hopes that it is more equitable for others.

Greg

I forgot to add a screenshot of what it looked like without the reply button.  Here it is:

I pressed F5 and after the refresh it appeared.

The page was automatically updated after you had made your post, and when that happened the Reply icon is not displayed.  It took another refresh to get it to display.  FWIW, I am using the Brave browser and Shields are down for this site.

Hi Dave,

I really think no one reqests an ideal system in reality.

Issue is Issue. Just fix it. Please.

Greg:

Anybody who asks a lot of questions must not be stereotyped as being ignorant. And anybody who doesn't ask any questions must not be stereotyped as being an expert. 

Bill:

From your point of view, is matter resolved?