Judging work in progress bars...

[Max Dirks]

I actually secretly sampled a system like you guys are suggesting two years ago using a modified version of the Advanced Post Reporting System hack. The system would automatically send PMs when the status of an "issue" (in our case judgment) changed. Results were mixed. My sample judges often either forgot to update the system or too little time passed between updates (meaning they'd click "assigned" the day they completed the judgment), rendering it largely useless to players. The other downside is that it literally took over the post reporting system, meaning players couldn't report spam or inappropriate content. That doesn't mean a new system couldn't be created, it's just that I would prefer not to use the old one. I've attached a screen shot of what a player would see if looking at the system to this thread. It definitely looked cool.

Ultimately, I decided to give a variety of different judging methods with some fixed (but conservative) timeframes for judging. Giving you guys the freedom to determine the depth of review has definitely reduced pressure on our volunteer judges. Realistically though, I don't see a progress report system being particularly viable. Drum, every judge has a different process, so other judges might not update at the same things as you (I rarely re-read threads, for example). PMs are nice, but I wouldn't want to add anything that isn't automated. Argue they are easy all you want, but frankly I want judges focusing on judging rather than administrative matters. That's why I created the Head Judge position, after all. Matt, a general site counter is a cool idea, but I envision most people would submit a ton of full judgments when they saw the queue was low, ultimately resulting in a perpetual queue. Sorry guys!

[Bard]

Max if its easy, I'm probably not using it... that's a joke.

[Logan]

Pretty much anything put into place would add one additional step for judges no matter what. Either they take it on themselves to PM is one option, or they click a button once they grab or are assigned a judgement, is the other simple option. Either way, it is an additional step the judges have to take for each and every judgement.

I think so long as judgements are happening in a reasonable timeframe referenced by the varying levels of a judgement type (no judgement, basic, full, etc), then there really isn't a necessity for a judgement progress tracker. Like Dirks said, a big part of the tracking falls on the Head Judge to moderate, delegate and deal with any judgements, especially ones that lag beyond the aforementioned "reasonable timeframes" referenced in the judgement submission form.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Well at least there has been a proper, well rounded debate on the subject. Personally I do hope that the PM system is either implemented as a rule (unlikely I know) or adopted as habit, as I think it will do wonders for the member / judge relationship. On the other hand it won't ruin my life if it isn't.

I'm glad the staff got to have their say too.

[Philomel]

Here are my two cents as Head Judge.

At the current moment (especially currently with the giant back log as from Althanas Day) judgements are taking a long time to get through, as I am sure you have noticed. This is mainly down to the simple fact that a lot of our judges have other work on the site that they are doing (many are moderators in other areas). We try to get judgements done as soon as possible, on a two-week stretch once the judgement has been assigned, but this is not always possible, as I am sure you can understand.

Having a progress bar I think will put a lot of pressure on the judges themselves. Its something that will be staring them in the face and cause more stress when already there are enough things on their plate. We are working at the moment on speeding up judging in general, and getting more out, and I keep a constant eye on what is occurring and how people are doing.

The best thing, and possibly a very fine thing, would be the courtesy email. It would be fine to implement, and easy to do, with a email saying "your judgement has been assigned to/accepted by ..... who aims to have it to you by ....."

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Here are my two cents as Head Judge.

At the current moment (especially currently with the giant back log as from Althanas Day) judgements are taking a long time to get through, as I am sure you have noticed. This is mainly down to the simple fact that a lot of our judges have other work on the site that they are doing (many are moderators in other areas). We try to get judgements done as soon as possible, on a two-week stretch once the judgement has been assigned, but this is not always possible, as I am sure you can understand.

Having a progress bar I think will put a lot of pressure on the judges themselves. Its something that will be staring them in the face and cause more stress when already there are enough things on their plate. We are working at the moment on speeding up judging in general, and getting more out, and I keep a constant eye on what is occurring and how people are doing.

The best thing, and possibly a very fine thing, would be the courtesy email. It would be fine to implement, and easy to do, with a email saying "your judgement has been assigned to/accepted by ..... who aims to have it to you by ....."

So is this something that is being discussed at any level at the moment?

[Philomel]

We're currently discussing other possible changes to the site. I can't reveal anything really at the moment, but certainly I can raise it as an idea in moderator forum.

I will work on a piece and possible ideas and ways to implement this over the next couple of days and get back to you, Shin. Then I can discuss it with the admins and super mods maybe, when they have time.