Naming of member levels

[Marcia]

This thread is too old to add to, but after just having had occasion to look at it, what struck me is that a couple of the designations could possibly be improved upon.

[webmasterworld.com...]

For example:

New User: sometimes people are anxious to move up from that handle, and I can understand why - it makes it "sound" like the person is a newbie; yet they may have years of net experience and be sharp as a tack. Also, some may post drivel to move out of that by sheer numbers, just to get rid of it.

Suggestion: Instead of New User, "New Member" seems a little kinder, just indicating that the person is new here and not necessarily a "newbie". It also has more of a community feel to it and seems kind of welcoming.

Then there's "Preferred Member" which has a "preferential" ring to it and, based on personal experience, could be a misleading designation in the eyes of some who don't know that it only refers to a numerical tally.

I can't think of an alternative to "Preferred" right now, but it's something worth thinking about.

[DaveAtIFG]

alternative to "Preferred"

"Regular member," "Full member," or simply "Member" perhaps?

And while we're on the subject, "Senior member" hasn't sat too well with me recently. (The result of recent visits to fast food restaurants and being given a senior discount without asking or, worse yet, being asked! OK, maybe I AM being a bit too sensitive about this.) How 'bout "Veteran," "Veteran member," or "Seasoned member?" "Long Time Member" or "Old-Timer" sounds a little better to me. Even "Relic" might be a VERY slight improvement. :)

[vkaryl]

I'd opt for just doing away with the whole thing....

[Marcia]

>>I'd opt for just doing away with the whole thing....

I wouldn't want to see it done away with vkaryl, *particularly* when it comes to anything related to SEO. To some degree (and not insignificantly) having the levels provides a certain degree of protection for members where SEO matters are concerned - particularly for newer members, visitors and lurkers.

[bsand715]

I think you are on the right track Marcia. Myself I am not a big poster, but a big reader and their are certain names I look for to get information, your one.

If their was a quick way to find post by certain people, starting with most recent post, would be nice, also if the search box would return most recent post first would be good...IMHO.

Maybe adding an experience WebmasterWorld level rating.

Something along the lines to do with date joined?

How about a Brett says "listen to" or Brett,s round table.

WebmasterWorld pick of the day topic maybe.

[GaryK]

On one of my sites I dealt with this issue by including two dates in the left column. The first is captioned Member Since. The second is Widgeter Since. That gives the other members an idea of how long someone has been building widgets which in turn usually equates to how much experience they have and hence how much weight you can give to their advice.

[bakedjake]

Yeah, I don't like it either. "Moderator Forum 40" is so bland and doesn't properly represent my personality.

I think maybe mine should say "Man With Power to Use Big Stick" or "Big Red Button Enabled" or maybe just "Smart, Funny, Handsome" which is most accurate.

[buckworks]

"Smart, Funny, Handsome"

... with a sexy radio voice too.

I agree that "New Member" would have a nicer ring than "New User".

[oddsod]

member may not be the best choice. Female members? Yeah, OK, not offensive. Male members? Browse through the the first few references [google.co.uk] in Google UK and you'll see how often member is used to refer to parts of the male anatomy.

[ypsites]

How about something like AMEX does -- i.e., "member since ..."?

[tbear]

Me, I like being preferred...;)

Even if I have to correct my speeling;)

[mattglet]

Sorry Dave, I like my "Senior" status.

Being 24 doesn't invoke excessive sensitivity ;)

[eurotrash]

I tend to agree with vkaryl - maybe with a link to something like "view member's other posts" and let the user decide what to think of the information by that member on his/her corpus of posts.

[Marcia]

>>I agree that "New Member" would have a nicer ring than "New User".

Absolutely, not a doubt about it. It has an intonation of a person being part of something, even from the first post on.

>>Being 24 doesn't invoke excessive sensitivity

Of course not, 24 is a great age. I should know, I was 24 for 5 years.

[nzmatt]

I like the sound of "Full Member".

[pmkpmk]

The word "Senior" has different meanings in the Anglo/American area and the non-English European area.

In native English speaking parts, "senior" refers to experience. Also, "senior" can indicate that you are a team- or group leader, that you have people working for you. Of course, as in "senior citizen", there is also the connotation of age, but I guess the two meanings are 50:50, or maybe even 75:25 towards experience.

In non-English parts, especially in Germany, "senior" refers to "old age" solely. You have "senior discounts", "senior tickets", "residential homes for senior citizens". Everything with the word "senior" in it automatically goes towards "old aged person". I'm from Germany, but since we act globally my business card is in English. For quite some time the title was "Senior Marketing Manager", and I lost count of the times people told me "you don't look that old"... With the latest batch of cards I simply dropped the "senior" part of it :-)

Since "senior" seems to be the highest userlevel one can achieve here, maybe it can be changed to "long-term user" or "regular user". I personally have no preference though - "senior" is fine with me but I wouldn't mind changeing it.

But I'm 100% with Marcia that "New Member" is a nicer word.

OK, being a "young adult" (according to Marcia), I'm working on getting promoted to "Middle-aged spread" now :-)