-14

From your comments below I think there are some points in my question that needs clarification:

  • By downvote I mean the negative rep on the question starting from (-1) that conveys that the question is of low quality and not every downvote he gets; its sufficient to notify the OP once for the first negative rep.
  • This question is not duplicate to the above two though they seem to convey the same meaning(I prefer similar than duplicate.) I am not saying :"it would be nice to notify us" I am saying :"it is crucial to notify us"; bringing each question alone may seem a suggestion for improvement while I'm talking about a solution for a problem..
  • You really seem to contradict yourselves: You don't want to bother the downvoter to write a small sentence while you expect the OP to check the reputation changes every now and then to every question in every account he has on the site just to make sure he didn't ask a low quality question!
  • You say the many notifcations will bother many users. They aren't that much; few low quality questions and you will be banned
  • Note that I ask to be notified about the low quality questions and not answers fir there is a difference:

    1. a low quality question will never be asked again(other questions will be always marked as a duplicate) while it's possible to have many similar answers to the same question.
    2. Questions are usualy fewer than answers so it won't hurt the OP to get 5 extra notifications

  • I see the same system applyed to the flags and I don't see anyone nagging about why he should write something to inform the moderator.
  • watching for the decrease in rep points isn't always helping though. Take this question as an example :I get 11 downvotes but still my rep is 12 that's +9 to me. So if I didn't really see the question I would think I did a great job. What about those who answer too many question; A '-20' wouldn't even be noticed.
I hope there is no more ambiguity in the problem I proposed. And please don't get me wrong I'm only posting for the sake of this site or else I wouldn't risk myself to get downvotes.

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33
  • what makes you think it's hidden? You can hover to see your rep changes any time. Do you want some further notification?
    – Kate Gregory
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:18
  • 2
    How is this any different to: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/209637/…
    – Flexo
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:20
  • 4
    @Flexo: I can't see that. Deleted?
    – George Duckett
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:23
  • @KateGregory Yes I want some notification like:"X question was downvoted because ...." otherwise the downvote is meaningless
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:24
  • 3
    That would require the user to provide a reason to downvote though and that is most likely not going to happen.
    – Josh Mein
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:24
  • @user689: So, you're saying every time someone downvotes you want them to type in a reason?
    – George Duckett
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:25
  • 3
    @GeorgeDuckett It's an identical (status-declined and downvoted) feature request by the same OP. Which the OP deleted as soon as Flexo linked it.
    – Mysticial
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:25
  • 2
    Just keep track of your reputation tab. And -1 here for posting duplicate on purpose.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:25
  • @Mysticial: Ahh, gottya. :)
    – George Duckett
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:25
  • 5
    Look at all the related questions to the right. This has been brought up countless times before. If you force a person to put a reason, there will be users who enter garbage. The user should not be forced to provide a reason. If they wish, they are allowed to place a comment and many users do.
    – Josh Mein
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:28
  • 5
    -1 This question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful. (Oh wait, thats in the mouseover for down vote)
    – user213963
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:41
  • 1
    I expect you to search for "notify down vote" in the MSO search before asking the question. To look at the "related questions" as they show up under the title as you ask the question. To look and read the "related questions" to the side after you ask the question and see if anything matches - and if it does, to flag or cast a close vote on it as a duplicate. None of this is about being a professional - it is about using the site to do what it is supposed to do.
    – user213963
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:56
  • 2
    @user689 Yes, I was, actually, and I would have (and did) expected people to act professionally even if they weren't actually a professional.
    – Servy
    Dec 2, 2013 at 19:08
  • 1
    @user689 how about Tell new users when they get downvoted and suggest ways to improve then? Though this comment would seem to contradict that when is sufficient for your desires.
    – user213963
    Dec 2, 2013 at 19:30
  • 3
    @LanceRoberts The problem is that the title of the post has basically nothing to do with what the user is actually asking. All of the user's comments seem to indicate that he doesn't care about the question he actually asked, but rather that what he really wants is exactly what the duplicate is asking.
    – Servy
    Dec 2, 2013 at 21:47

3 Answers 3

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6

Yes I want some notification like: "X question was downvoted because ...." otherwise the downvote is meaningless

This would work only if the user provided a reason for their downvote. Voting is completely anonymous and users aren't required to explain the reason for their downvote. Most people wouldn't bother to downvote if they were forced to explain why. The explanation is completely optional -- if someone wants to explain the reason, they are free (and encouraged) to do so.

If you want to just know which posts of yours were downvoted, then just keep track of the reputation tab instead. I don't see the need for a new notification just for downvotes.

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8
  • I don't want to know which I want to know why
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:36
  • @user689: The why is usually easy to figure out. Just look at your question / answer from a third-person's point of view and it can make you realize what's wrong with your post.
    – Amal Murali
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:42
  • Downvoting has many reasons. And sometimes it is just a really silly one. That's why it's hard to look at your question from a third person's point. Also there are many people who just downvote because they see the question already downvoted.
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:48
  • I'm not talking about a specific question
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:52
  • @user689 While you can't always, see why a question is downvoted from analyzing it, you often can, and most people don't even try; they just give up and throw up their hands without even doing simple steps like re-reading the post (ideally more than once), re-reading the questions posted to it, reading other answers, and the comments on the question or other answers. Just doing all of that will often indicate the problem. If you're really struggling to find a problem, odds are other readers are as well, and their comments will indicate they don't see what's wrong.
    – Servy
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:52
  • So you expect everyone to be perfect on SO. Yes we read and thoroughly watch for errors even before posting the question. But I'm specificaly talking about careless downvoters.
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:58
  • What about them? Honestly, I have no idea what you're trying to convey.
    – Amal Murali
    Dec 2, 2013 at 19:04
  • @AmalMurali I'm talking about careless downvoters who don't bother even tobread the question. (I edited my question to clarify this point.)
    – Mohammad
    Dec 3, 2013 at 13:53
2

is it that hard to notify us about the downvote we get

Hard to notify? If you notice that your rep changes, then you can look at your recent rep changes, and then you can see which question is downvoted. An extra notification is not necessary at all, these extra notifications would just be annoying for most people.

[Edit]

From your comment:

Yes I want some notification like:"X question was downvoted because ...." otherwise the downvote is meaningless

Then, probably you mean an anonymous reason. There is a suggestion, suggesting to allow users to leave an anonymous comment when voting, but it is declined.

Yes, the downvote is meaningless if no comment is leaved, but there's not much to do about it.
Ben Barden posted in his comment that a downvote without a comment is not meaningless at all, but that it also indicates that there is something wrong with your question.

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14
  • 3
    +1 for agreement with "these extra notifications would just be annoying for most people".
    – Ben Barden
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:28
  • Annoying? the downvote is used to imply a message:"improve your question" I'm just asking for this to be stated clearly.
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:29
  • 1
    So on this question you would have received 9 notifications. You wouldnt find that annoying?
    – Josh Mein
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:30
  • @user689: Or just automatically associate each downvote with an implication that improvement is needed, then promptly improve the question. As for Meta, a downvote primarily means that someone disagrees with your stance or proposed feature.
    – Jamal
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:31
  • 1
    @user689: Yes, annoying. Users that post much answers get probably much upvotes, but of course, they also get downvoted and these people don't want to get a downvote notification every day.
    – ProgramFOX
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:31
  • 5
    upvote cancelled for disagreement with "the downvote is meaningless if no comment is [left]. Downvotes and upvotes are an indication of the overall approval of the userbase. It's not particularly detailed, but it certainly has meaning.
    – Ben Barden
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:31
  • @user689: And as well as being annoying for the person receiving the notifications, it'd be annoying to have to type some reason every time for a downvote. Inevitably some people would just type garbage there. People who would use it could just leave a comment (albeit a non-anonymouse one).
    – George Duckett
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:33
  • @BenBarden: You're right. I've updated my answer.
    – ProgramFOX
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:35
  • So how am I supposed to improve something without knowing the problem
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:39
  • 2
    @user689: You should ask yourself "What should I do better?". Check the Stack Overflow question checklist, and after you checked all this points for your question, and if you didn't find anything wrong, then post a comment to your own question like "Why is this downvoted?", but first, check the checklist.
    – ProgramFOX
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:41
  • I tried both no reply
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:43
  • @user689: Then can you provide a link to the downvoted question please?
    – ProgramFOX
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:44
  • No no I'm not talking about a specific question(that one I understand)
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:50
  • @ProgramFOX I'm talking about the whole general problem . You can review my edited question for clarification.
    – Mohammad
    Dec 3, 2013 at 13:54
2

It would be nice if they got the AJAX to not only show when rep increases, but when it decreases.

Currently, you don't see the rep go down in the top bar until you refresh in some way.

For those naysayers who don't understand how the site works, here's a link that says the same thing.

https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/131277

And here's a picture of it on the new top bar:

Reputation Display with Circle new top bar

and one from the old top bar:

Reputation Display with Circle old top bar

Personally, I just keep hitting the 'Questions' button and that does the refreshing.

Here is the link to an answer requesting they fix this in the top bar.

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10
  • Are you talking about the top bar on Meta?
    – Amal Murali
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:54
  • 1
    @AmalMurali, no, the top bar on all the sites (old and new style) works the same way. Rep increases automatically change the rep in the top bar, rep decreases don't show until you refresh.
    – Lance Roberts
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:56
  • That's only a part of the problem I'm talking about. Thanks for understanding.
    – Mohammad
    Dec 2, 2013 at 19:07
  • 2
    Not accurate. We won't see it drop below 0 but if you got upvote you'll see +10 then downvote will cause it to become +8 - pretty visible in my opinion. (talking about the new top bar that will soon be rolled out across all sites)
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Dec 2, 2013 at 19:58
  • @ShaWizDowArd, not even what I'm talking about. Your reputation will increase in the top bar when you get an increase, but not decrease when you get a downvote. I get the feeling no one else pays attention to that number but me.
    – Lance Roberts
    Dec 2, 2013 at 21:38
  • @LanceRoberts what site?
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Dec 2, 2013 at 21:52
  • @ShaWizDowArd, it works the same on every site, new or old top bar. Guess I'll add a screenshot with a hand-drawn circle also.
    – Lance Roberts
    Dec 2, 2013 at 21:53
  • @LanceRoberts nope. In new top bar, there is a green number on top the achievements box. That number does decrease.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Dec 2, 2013 at 21:55
  • Sure wish I could downvote obviously wrong comments. I look at the number every day.
    – Lance Roberts
    Dec 2, 2013 at 21:56
  • @shaEizDowArd the problem is that the rep bar gives the total of the decreases and the increases which may not be noticed(see my edited question for clarification
    – Mohammad
    Dec 3, 2013 at 13:56

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