Contribution Points

Last edited by John Rizzo on 2009-02-02 16:19


JavaBlackBelt is free.
We introduced the concept of contribution points in late 2005, to regulate the usage of the site.

How to earn contribution points?

Contributions to JavaBlackBelt.

To earn contribution points, a registered user can:
  • add a question
    • 2 points when the question is beta (just created). 5 points for ProgTasks (not available yet)
    • 0 points when the question is frozen or deleted (2 points of creation are removed and changed to 0 points)
    • 4 points when the question is released (2 points of the beta + 2 points when released). 15 points for ProgTasks (not available yet).
  • report a problem on somebody else's question
    • 0.5 point when the problem is reported
    • 0 point if the problem is rejected (canceled)
    • 1 point (total) when the problem is fixed.
  • Make a change proposal (edit).
    • 0.5 point when the proposal is made.
    • 0 point if it's rejected
    • 1 point (minor) or 3 points (major) when the proposal is accepted, according to the importance of the proposal (realignment, 1 spell fix, lines numbering,... are minor fixes).
  • Make a move proposal (change category)
    • 0.5 point when the proposal is made.
    • 0 point if rejected
    • 1 point (total) when accepted.

Your contribution points balance may change without any action from you. For example, if people like your questions and vote positively which make your questions released, you gain points automatically.

Bonus Contribution Points

Some exams are marked with a multiply factor, to attract contribution focus.
The exam's list last column show the factor.
For example a 2.0 factor will double the contribution points on questions that you add when the 2.0 factor is active. If later, we change the factor to 1.5 for the exam, then your past question 2.0 factor is not altered (remains 2.0).

JavaBlackBelt Manual Contribution Points

You can also get contribution points for other contributions to JavaBlackBelt. If you think you should receive points for any of these things, contact javablackbelt.admin AT gmail DOT com.

Note all point values are subject to admin approval. They may be adjusted for complexity and quality.
20 points - writing exam objectives
20 points - cleaning up an out of date wiki page
20 points - reformatting exam objectives to meet new standards
10-50 points (depending on the volume of staleness) - bringing an exam up to date with YAMP (stale questions in repair zone) - can get points for moving a signficant # questions out of repair zone without moving them all
100 points - releasing an exam
misc - other things users and moderators think of - ask javablackbelt.admin AT gmail DOT com and we can add them to this list

Other Contributions.

It is also possible to earn points by contributing to projects other than JavaBlackBelt. If you are a well-known framework contributor or book author, for example, contact us and we'll give you a bunch of points.
This is our way of thanking contributions to the Java Community in general.

How to spend contribution points?

What can you do with you contribution points?
  • bid on gifts in our auction room .
  • some tests require contribution points.
Any test in the system has one of the four levels of access:
  • anonymous: these tests can be taken by non registered visitors.
  • no contribution: you just need to login.
  • small contribution: you must give a small symbolic amount of points (as 4) to take the test.
  • large contribution: you must give more points (as 50) to take the test.
Gaining a black belt requires passing many tests. Our policy is to make it possible to have a black belt with only small contributions.

Why contribution points ?

There are several reasons why we introduced this contribution points system.

Measure Activity

It is interesting to measure contributors' activity on the site.
In forums (such as Javalobby, JavaRanch, TheServerSide,...) it is usually measured by the number of posts.
We needed a more complex system, which led to contribution points.

Thank Contributors

We think that the core value of JavaBlackBelt is its content which is provided by the Community.
We'd like to thank those contributors who spend time to give content to the Community through JavaBlackBelt.
We list them on the home page, give them gifts and access to special exams (large contribution exams).

Authenticate

Requiring a small amount of contribution points to take exams is a way to authenticate the users.
If you want a karate or judo black belt, you need to spend years in a club and show your progress to the instructor. Before the black belt grade, you need to participate in inter-club activities such as competitions to impress other instructors.
Here, it's similar: we like the idea that you need to interact with us before we give you a black belt.
It also stops people from opening 5 accounts and taking a exam 4 times to identify all the possible questions, then cheat on the real exam the fifth time.
See the Cheating on JavaBlackBelt page for a longer discussion.

I work 30h/day, I've no time to contribute.

Later, it may be possible to give money instead of contribution points to take large contribution exams.
For those who work 30h/day, they may ask their boss to contribute (with money) to compensate the lack of time.
It will never be possible to "buy" knowledge points.

Contribution and Knowledge points.

There are two kinds of points in JavaBlackBelt:
  • contribution points
  • knowledge points .
They are unrelated.
You earn contribution points when you improve the question database. You can also spend your contribution points (auctions and some exams).
You earn knowledge points when you succeed an exam. You cannot spend or lose knowledge points.
For more information about exams and knowledge points, see the Track-Grade-Exam page.