iTrader 101 - Facts, FAQ, and Complete Tutorial

I recently made a great post at Digital Point Forums. The post was about iTrader. Below is the exact article I posted in DP. It is one of the best I made. I posted it here too so people who visits my blog and does not know about Digital Point Forums can benefit from this article too. Check it out!

iTrader 101

“What is the meaning of this attribute ‘iTrader: (Number)’? I see this with many people. Still mine is zero. How can I increase this?”

Sounds familiar huh? I’m sure at one point, you have asked yourself a similar question and found yourself browsing several threads to find an answer (perhaps even posted an inquiry for this). There are also members here, both old and new, who still haven’t been able to fully grasp what iTrader is. Some have not even encountered it until now.

Since I consider iTrader as one of the excellent additions here in DP (especially for the regulars in the Buy/Sell/Trade section), I decided to do some research and came up with a small iTrader FAQ (to be updated as the need arises):

• What is iTrader?

iTrader is like a reputation for trading. It is an eBay Style Feedback for the Buy/Sell/Trade section in this forum that was implemented by Shawn (digitalpoint) on Jan 26, 2006.

With this tool, users can rate each other or give feedback after specific transactions held at the B/S/T section. You can also leave a negative or positive feedback for people that you have done business with.

• What does the number beside the iTrader stand for?

The number you see near the "iTrader" indicates the number of successful or completed business transactions (as a buyer, seller or both) that you have made in the B/S/T section. Consequently, the higher your iTrader is, the higher the positive transactions you have completed.

To view more information, feedback comments, and what category the user is (buyer, seller, or both), click on the number beside the user’s “iTrader”.

• How do I find out how many iTrader points I have or someone else has?

Take note that this feature only applies for the B/S/T section. Thus, people can see your iTrader rating or feedback when you post in one of the B/S/T forums and you can view a person’s iTrader there.

It also shows when looking at a user's profile. Moreover, you can manually visit a specific user's iTrader by clicking on the dot beside the username, selecting their "View Public Profile" from the dropdown menu,

and replacing the destination link in the address bar from “member.php” to “itrader.php”.

• How do I get one?

First, you should be able to participate in the B/S/T forum. Based from the FAQ, “you must have been a member for 14 days, not have an overall red reputation and have 25 total posts to post in the Buy, Sell or Trade section".

Then you need to be able to finish or complete a business transaction (as a buyer or seller). Keep in mind that a deal needs to take place because the URL of the thread has to be indicated when giving a feedback. Once this is done, you can then ask the person you dealt with for a feedback (or if that person is nice, he/she will automatically provide you with a feedback after the transaction). That person can either give you a positive or negative feedback depending on how good or bad your transaction was.

You’ll get this PM notification once someone gives you a feedback, and you can click the “on this page” link to view the rating summary.

As protocol, you generally should also give feedback to the person who gave you a rating.

• How do I give one?

Similar with getting a rating, you need to be able to finish or complete a business transaction first (as a buyer or seller) to be able to give one. Once this is done, you can then leave a positive or negative feedback to the person you dealt with by following these steps:

1) Click the iTrader number of the member you want to give feedback to.

2) On the destination page of the iTrader number, click the “Submit Feedback For XXX” (XXX stands for the username).

3) You will then see the page below. Fill up the form accordingly. Make sure that you really participated in the Deal thread URL you placed in this form. The Additional comments field is not necessary but will help the recipient to know where he/she should improve, etc.

Once you have completed this form, click on the “Submit Reply” button to send your Feedback.

4) Feedback given!

Depending on your feedback (negative or positive), you will see a number change in the Feedback Score of the user you gave rating to. The short comment you placed on the form above will also appear under the “Rating Summary” table, along with your username and your part in the business transaction (buyer or seller).

You will also see this change in the iTrader number of the user you’ve given feedback to when you view any of his/her post at the B/S/T section.

• How many times can I give or receive feedbacks in a day?

For “New Traders”, the maximum ratings you can give or receive in a day are three (3). New Traders, as defined by Shawn, are members with a score under 5.

However, once you are past the “New Traders” bracket, you can give out as many as you want. :)

• Other helpful information

You can give feedback to multiple people in the same thread you posted – provided a deal or sale was made with each person, and that person replied in that thread (not made through PM). If no business transaction occurred and you still give them feedback, it can result in a ban.

Also, to prevent a user from inflating someone else's feedback, if a user posts another feedback for the same user, only the first one is credited towards their total score.

My thread in Digital Point is now a Sticky Thread. If you want to check out other DP members' comments, feel free to visit my thread there. It's in the Suggestion & Feedback section.