References QUESTIONS thread.

[MagickalMemories]

Since adam was specific about what would be allowed in the thread he opened (bugs), I thought I'd start one with questions on it.

This is for questions and (hopefully) answers on the ITL system. I can't delete OT posts, but I can delete all the text out of them.
Please, stay ON topic.

Here's the text from his post:

Any post which isn't strictly notifying a problem will be deleted (woo, great job, this is fun, etc. etc.).

ref_post.php

Bug List:
1. The reference view page is broken and displays the wrong values. Watch the score you see when you post something.
2. Countries/Regions/States are incomplete. This field really does not do much and will be eventually removed.


Wish List:
1. The notification email should be more descriptive.
2. Your score should show up in about 100 places it does not (PM, profiles, etc.).
3. Confirmation page should show what you are confirming.

Anything else?

TrademasterAdam

I have TWO questions:

1. The reference view page is broken and displays the wrong values. Watch the score you see when you post something.

How will those incorrect values affect our rating that shows up when we post? Will our incorrect or correct value show in the forums?

2. Countries/Regions/States are incomplete. This field really does not do much and will be eventually removed.

Why will it be removed? Isn't it valuable for seeing where a trader is (especially for international trades and for spotting certain scammers?

Thanks, Adam.

Eric

[vesrian]

1. The reference view page is broken and displays the wrong values. Watch the score you see when you post something.

How will those incorrect values affect our rating that shows up when we post? Will our incorrect or correct value show in the forums?

I checked a couple people who have had new refs posted. From the looks of it, the correct values are showing up in forum posts right now.

2. Countries/Regions/States are incomplete. This field really does not do much and will be eventually removed.

Why will it be removed? Isn't it valuable for seeing where a trader is (especially for international trades and for spotting certain scammers?

I agree that it's useful to have Countries/Regions/States for the reasons MM cited.

[Dakkar98]

2. Countries/Regions/States are incomplete. This field really does not do much and will be eventually removed.

Why will it be removed? Isn't it valuable for seeing where a trader is (especially for international trades and for spotting certain scammers?

Thanks, Adam.

Eric

Eric,
I think he just means that it is going to be removed from the Reference System not Bartertown.
Since the person leaving the feedback is filling it in, it is subject to being entered wrong anyway.

For example: ExampletraderX currently lives in the UK but when I did a deal he gave me the option of shipping to his mom's address in TX.
I shipped it to the UK, so I'd put UK. But, if someone else shipped to Texas they put TX, USA. Some people are lazy and leave it blank because it is not a required field.

Another example: ExampletraderY sometimes gets stuff shipped to him in college in one state for part of the year, and the rest of the year he has his stuff shipped to him at home in another state.

What would almos be better was if.
1). City, State, Country were required parts of our profiles (There could be place to list possible alternate locations (College, etc.)
2). If they populated automatically from our profile for references, or if the person posting the Reference was asked to confirm the Location they shipped to.
2b). If, in the confirmation of the City, State, Country, there were a discrepency, it would require ExampletraderX to update his profile or at least provide an explanation of why the trade went to a different location than the one he has listed, before the reference actually posted for him. It would show as "reference pending location update/confirmaton"

But all of this is for the Future (unless these things are what is causing the bugs in which case, making them prefilled from our profiles could potentially fix the issue.)

[MagickalMemories]

Eric,
I think he just means that it is going to be removed from the Reference System not Bartertown.
Since the person leaving the feedback is filling it in, it is subject to being entered wrong anyway.

Ah, but it wasn't always that way.
In the previous incarnation of the ref system, you didn't have to fill it out. If you entered the persons Username, everything else prefilled (or would that be POSTfilled? LOL) when the ref hit.

My question was based on the HOPE that the intent was to eventually get THIS ITL as close to the OLD ITL as possible. If that is the case, then City/State might not be a necessary category to FILL IN, but I'm hoping it will still be on the ITL reference page. KWIM?


Eric

[TrademasterAdam]

Here's where the ITL is going:

The fields that matter are your user name (already filled in), date (already filled in) their user name (you need to fill this in), trade type (good, neutral, bad) and comments (you need to fill this in) on the trade. This establishes who traded what and whether or not it was successful, there's really nothing else useful.

I am adding in a "reply to trade" button at the bottom of the "you're received a trade reference" where it fills in all of the fields except good/neutral/bad and comments.

You have your user data which is all tied to your username which is unique (real name, location, email, etc.). If you get 100 references, all 100 references are going to have the same real name, same location (unless you moved), same email (unless you switched email). Typing in their email for the 101st time does not add anything to the overall data we have on you and your trade. The user data needs to be put in once (and not 100 times) and through a different mechanism. In fact, their email is stored as part of their user data so I should be able to pull it from phpBB directly.

Make sense? If not, let me know. The big problem is the little bugs that are misleading. I have a trade reference of 100 if you're on phpBB, then it says 18 when you look at the references.

TrademasterAdam

[MagickalMemories]

Excellent.
Exactly what I'd hoped to hear.
Thanks, Adam.


Eric

[MaximumTaco]

I'm totally lost. Where is the page that I go to in order to leave feedback? I can't find it!

Help!
-Daniel

[MagickalMemories]

I'm totally lost. Where is the page that I go to in order to leave feedback? I can't find it!

Help!
-Daniel

At the top of the screen, right under the banner ad, there should be a series of tabs.
One says "Post a Reference."

If it's not there, then look for the answer to this question:

Which side of the screen shows the users information (Avatar, User name, location, post count, etc) in the thread? Right or left?
If they're on the left, then the problem is in the particular skin you've chosen for the board layout. You'll need to go into your Control panel and change to the other screen to leave refs (until Adam gets that bug fixed).
If they're on the right... You're a moron.
LOL
J/K.
If they're on the right, and you still can't see them, please post a screen shot that shows the tabs going across the top of the screen, right under the banner ads. It could be an isolated bug.

Hope this helps.

Eric

[MaximumTaco]

Well, that'll teach me to change settings - it was the skin. Go me!

Thanks for the help
-Daniel

I'm totally lost. Where is the page that I go to in order to leave feedback? I can't find it!

Help!
-Daniel

At the top of the screen, right under the banner ad, there should be a series of tabs.
One says "Post a Reference."

If it's not there, then look for the answer to this question:

Which side of the screen shows the users information (Avatar, User name, location, post count, etc) in the thread? Right or left?
If they're on the left, then the problem is in the particular skin you've chosen for the board layout. You'll need to go into your Control panel and change to the other screen to leave refs (until Adam gets that bug fixed).
If they're on the right... You're a moron.
LOL
J/K.
If they're on the right, and you still can't see them, please post a screen shot that shows the tabs going across the top of the screen, right under the banner ads. It could be an isolated bug.

Hope this helps.

Eric