Question

Two paths to achieve the same rank

  • 11 February 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 60 views

Hi everyone! :)

 

I have a specific use case and would love to hear ideas about things that could be done to address it properly. There are two ways to achieve one specific rank: post 2 comments OR post one topic. Therefore, we created 2 "duplicated" ranks, but with 2 different rules. We also set up an automatic private message to tell the users about their rank (when they get there).

 

And this is the issue: oftentimes, users reach the "same rank" twice, because they posted one topic AND comment twice in other topics. Then, they'll receive the same private message twice.

 

If we simply remove one DM, this would "solve" the issue of the duplicated DMs. However, if a user achieves that specific rule (that the DM was removed), s/he would never get a message from us about the rank (which is not ideal). Does anyone have an idea of how to solve this puzzle? Thank you thank you! =) 


4 replies

Userlevel 1
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Hi @Mariana 

Ranks only ever climb up, and they use the path of least resistance. They will skip however many ranks between where they are now and where they can go. Ranks can’t do “OR” conditions.

For instance:

Top of ranks (most valuable behavior)

Rank 1: 2 topics

Rank 2: 1 topic and 1 comment (Will not move to Rank 1 until another topic has been posted)

Rank 3: 1 topic (Will stay here until they either post another topic OR a comment)

Rank 4: 2 comments (Will stay here until they post 1 topic (Rank 3) or 2 topics (Rank 1)

Rank 5: 1 comment (Will skip to rank 2 when the user start 1 topic, or to rank 4 when they post 1 more comment)

Bottom of ranks (least valuable behavior)

If you want to branch out your ranking system to various ladders of participation, you’re in for a good head scratcher as it can’t really be done without gating each rank ladder with a custom role.

Beware that as your community grows, that kind of granular ranking system is going to be a PITA to manage. 

I hope this helps a bit :)

 

 

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Oh, a way to add some resistance is also to use the “age” modifier, that way you can add some friction and resistance to how quickly users move up.

Bear in mind that they will -still- skip ranks whenever they can. 

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Hi @Mariana 

Ranks only ever climb up, and they use the path of least resistance. They will skip however many ranks between where they are now and where they can go. Ranks can’t do “OR” conditions.

For instance:

Top of ranks (most valuable behavior)

Rank 1: 2 topics

Rank 2: 1 topic and 1 comment (Will not move to Rank 1 until another topic has been posted)

Rank 3: 1 topic (Will stay here until they either post another topic OR a comment)

Rank 4: 2 comments (Will stay here until they post 1 topic (Rank 3) or 2 topics (Rank 1)

Rank 5: 1 comment (Will skip to rank 2 when the user start 1 topic, or to rank 4 when they post 1 more comment)

Bottom of ranks (least valuable behavior)

If you want to branch out your ranking system to various ladders of participation, you’re in for a good head scratcher as it can’t really be done without gating each rank ladder with a custom role.

Beware that as your community grows, that kind of granular ranking system is going to be a PITA to manage. 

I hope this helps a bit :)

 

 

 

Hi @Ditte , these two ranks (corresponding to level 2) were set up like this by default on the InSided platform. Do you recommend we remove the branching?

Adding a screenshot for reference, the rank in question is Exploring the Land (we've only modified the title, not the values. 

 

 

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Hi @Gabolino 

My suggestion would be to swap them around. It sounds weird, but it’s easier to post two replies than it is to post one topic :) 

I think you will find that if you add a rank of 1 post, your “just touched” will branch out a bit. Also there’s quite a skip up to 10 posts from 2, consider adding in a rank or two between them.

This could be a simple starter system, and where the vast majority of your users will be hanging out:

Rank name Replies (Easy) Topics (Tough) Age (Controller) note
Rank 1 1 3   Very few users will reach this.
Rank 2   2 86400 gated by age (24h) so users don’t move too quickly
Rank 3   1 0 This is the starter rank for topic starters
Rank 4 3   129600 gated by age (36h) so users don’t move too quickly
Rank 5 2   86400 gated by age (24h) so users don’t move too quickly
Rank 6 1   0 This is the starter rank for replies

 

Beyond this point, you can start adding likes and answers to your upper ranks to start segmenting your quality contributors.

Depending on what kind of community you have, you will likely see users clumping in the 1 topic or 1 reply ranks.

I hope this helps :)

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