This is a great idea

I think that's a bit of a waste of time for most 'down votes'.

I often use the vote down option. The reasons vary, but usually its because a post is submitted against HHR rules, or a post is of particularly low quality when compared to another similar post already on HHR.

A way to decrease the entropy without doing too much work might be to split (or compliment) the vote down option into several sub-options (e.g. a flag for a dupe, a flag for breaking rules, and lastly the vote-down options).

I am with Alex, the Digg concept of choosing "Lame, Dupe, Spam, TOS Violation, Not English, Etc." when Hao Downing.

I'm in the mid-range. I read half the stories and maybe half of those I'll hao up - but only if I like them.

Other people decided to hao down just by reading the headline or the first paragraph without reading anything else.

Personally, if you hao me down, I'd like a reason.

I know there a some people who hao down a lot and maybe they don't want to always give a reason.

I had a rough patch, but it's been worked out. A hao down should be "with cause."

It's only right and fair.

But, I guess for some who hao down on everything, it would just require a bit more work.

So be it.

Heiney

I like Alex's idea of providing sub options within the vote down category. Personally I have only voted two or three entries down, mostly when they don't even make the minimal effort of being informative or when they are just duplicates.

BTW, am I the only one with problems connecting to haohaoreport?

Yes it loads slow for me with connection problems.

I disagree with the flag, because one may vote a story down because the story is lame, written poorly, they disagree with it, etc. Hao downs are just as legitimate as Hao ups IMO. (But again I was a long time Digger before finding Hao Hao Report, just I am conditioned by that community's standards)

Personally I never make Hao downs personal neither are Hao ups. It is all about the quality, accuracy, readability, and my agreement with the conclusions of the story.

Wow, don't know how I missed this conversation -- glad you guys are running with it though -- some great suggestions.

I do scratch my head sometimes at some of the 0s and -1s that aren't obviously terrible. However, IMO, I don't think a comment explanation should be required any more than a comment explanation should be required for voting something up. The vote should generally speak for itself.

What I propose:
I don't think we'll get any more complicated than up and down for the votes, as I think that takes something away from the concept -- but I like the idea of a flag option (completely separate from the vote apparatus) so HHRers can tag items as "violators" or "dups".

If a single item gets flagged by, say, two users it would then be unpublished until a moderator (ie. me) has a chance to review it.

I will also add to the guidelines page some verbiage to support/explain this (including a bit about it being good form, if not necessary, to leave a comment if you're voting something down). I'm not going to make that a requirement though, as it does raise the bar to and complicate usability.

--

As for the speed issue, is anyone still experiencing this? The server's US based, so shouldn't be a problem for any visitors there. As for us folks in China, I've not had any problems accessing the site since migrating to the new server shortly before Christmas.

Please PM me or contact me (Just tack "ryan" in front of @haohaoreport.com or use the contact form on the site) if you're having problems.

I think a flag option would be good, the means to an ends is similar (pointing out a post is less than it could/should be).

And completely with a small ToS change.

Regarding the site being down, sometimes (probably 1/20) I get a screen saying something like 'There is presently no node available to ...'. Next time it happens I'll take a screenshot. (I access the Internet from either Dallas or LA, so not a China connection problem).

I like the idea of a flag in addition to the Hao Down. Good call IMO.

No need for a screenshot -- I know the error you're talking about. nstanosheck has been helping me track it down.

Hey everyone, I've added this feature. All users designated as Hao Hao Reporters should now see a " report as violation" link under every story. If two HHReporters report a story being in violation, it is automatically unpublished (still visible directly, but not in the listings) and will await my review.

I've also updated the guidelines to reflect this change. Please let me know if anything doesn't jive.

NOTE: Remember, this is strictly for violators of the guidelines, and not a way to express your opinion about the story itself (please use your vote for that).

Thanks Ryan. Great addition. Glad we, the community, could help with our suggestions!