Mod points - active moderation
As a convention, many users here use a '+1' or '-1' to indicate agreement/disagreement with another reply. Taken to extremes, +veryLargeNumber or +infinity.
I believe a useful enhancement would be an active mod system using points. Something similar to slashdot.
- A registered user sets a threshold for visibility or a "all posts viewable option"
- Registered users get n number of mod points to use in a time interval (day, week, month ?)
- They can "mod up" or "mod down" any post (only once) until thier threshold is exceeded.
- "Useful moderation" (exact algorythm escapes me) get mod point bonus
- Maybe red star users get a few extra.
Posts then need to meet the visibility threshold for a user to view. I don't know what you would do for guest access, I suspect you would want that to be a default threshold so that the trash posts aren't visible.