Suggestion: Good Guys / Bad Guys

[Jumpy09]

I figure since you allow people to post that they are looking to be hired or to hire others, it may be decent to offer a place where people can post Reports / Experiences they have had with the Programmers / Coders who are offering their services on this site.  It would allow programmers / coders to build up their reputation and allow other people looking to hire feel a little bit more at ease with their selection.

 

As a Freelance Programmer, it would be nice for me to be able to build up my reputation so that potential clients could see what other people have thought of my work.  Unfortunately most the work I do is generally behind the scenes and I don't get many opportunities to add the jobs I get to a portfolio.

 

I figure you could move the Freelance Board under a new section entirely and add 2 more sections with it for Good Guys and Bad Guys to keep them a bit separated.  I know this could be potentially bad for relations between two people, and could potentially involve a lot of Moderation to ensure reviews are kept decent / professional, but I feel it may have more benefit than downsides.

 

Hope this suggestion is intriguing, and I wouldn't mind some feedback from others.

 

Kindest Regards,

Jumpy09

[fenway]

The freelance board is a convenience -- we're not going to step and decide who's opinion is correct.

 

I'd sooner dump the freelance board entirely.

 

Besides, you can always create a topic to ask.

[Jumpy09]

I appreciate feedback from a moderator, but I would like to make a minor point.

 

PHPFreaks is a place where people can come and get help along their journey to becoming a better programmer / coder / developer, and a lot of time is invested from the Moderators, the Admins, and a lot of the community itself to helping beginners on that journey.  Some people may even go to eventually turn it into a career, which you can do one of two ways.  You can either get into an entry level position for another company, or you can venture out into the Freelance area.  Getting into Freelance is a bit more difficult as you need to build up your reputation and have a really nice portfolio, but just starting out you have neither.

 

Now from a Moderator's Opinion I highly understand where you are coming from.  In the unlikely case a client posted a negative review for a job that was done correctly and efficiently, it would become a burden as the Programmer would need to enlist the assistance of a Moderator.  Most of the rest of the time the Programmer would be on their own to confer with the client to see why they were not satisfied.

 

I know the Freelance is a luxury, not a right, and I really do highly appreciate that it actually exists.  It is another method of being able to get my foot in the door for a potential Freelance Career.  I was merely just making a Suggestion to improve the Freelance section's usability, a bit of security, and a method that new Freelance Developers could work to build up their reputation as a programmer.

 

If it were to be more of a hassle implementing it, I fully understand and personally won't push the subject to attempt to make a valid point.

 

Thank you.

[fenway]

That's not really the kind of moderation we're here to do.

 

It's not that I don't agree with you, I just don't think these forums are the best place.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

The problem with both positive and negative opinions/reviews posted on the Internet, is that ANYONE (even the person being reviewed) can easily get any number of identities and become an author and write posts. I can just about guarantee that a majority of the positive reviews, posted soon after the original entry is created, are written not by someone who was a satisfied customer, but by the originator to add to his apparent reputation   Then there would be the negative reviews, either real, perceived, or made up, that result in a stream of replies between the originator and the dissatisfied customer, trying to use the forum argue a dispute in public that belongs in private between them and/or their lawyers and/or in a small claims court system.

 

Both positive and negative replies would require verification that the person making the reply was actually someone who had work done by the originator. I recommend the BBB (Better Business Bureau) for this type of thing, not a programming forum that happens to have a freelancing board.

[Adam]

You could always create a LinkedIn account and refer people to your profile for feedback from satisfied clients.