this would be a cool addon
and i do not think anythign like this is available yet
but it would be cool to have
like a reputation system

as I understand the request, it's more focused on users rating other users by their contributions' quality, like Hamed said, as a reputation system, although it's, in fact, a trust system

so we can have members that post a lot of good comments with a high rating and other posting a only a few bad comments and having a low rating

if any member's rating fell down a given threshold the moderator/admin of the forum could ban that member, just because the whole members' community don't want that user posting in the forum

or maybe not banning but assigning a role without posting capabilities

What adult in their right mind wants to be rated. A bit too gestapo for me. It is the responsibility of the administrator and/or moderator to deal with trolls directly, and not involve the other members/users, penalizing them or moderating them, when they are not the offenders. It would be like making everyone pay for the offenses of a troll in a way. Ratings aren't going to stop a troll, but it may stop your legitimate users from posting. I personally would not allow myself to be subjected to a rating system by anyone on any kind of forum, public or otherwise. If you have identified a troll, then nip him in the bud and be done with it. I've only had to ban one person, whose objective was very clear, and that was disruption. To me, a rating system is a long way around an otherwise minor, isolated problem, rather than a direct path to the root of the problem (computer lingo). Go after the individual, not the whole group. I could go into a whole dissertation about freedoms, but I won't. Learn to read people and situations. You don't need a "system" for any of this, you just need to have a little intestinal fortitude and moxy. Please don't anyone misinterpret this post as being personal directed toward them or about them, it's not really; it's nothing more than principles stated to be applied if you so choose. Remember that someone had to give that troll membership....the responsibility and the buck should stop there.

Reducing a users' credibility down to a number for the whole community to see is ridiculous. If this extension were to exist, it should come in the form of Admins being the only ones able to see this number (or at least an option to hide the rating from users other than Admins).

By showing everyone the rating you start the popularity train; if someone has a low rating, others will also give them a low rating. Others who see users with high ratings will rate them up just because they have a high rating.

why is considered immature for a member to have different needs from an open-source forum software?

(s)he is just asking for somewhat considered useful for his/her purposes...which may not match the community interest, but it's not a reason to make such a comments

amen, well put Wanderer. I didn't want to say anything, I think I've harassed Hamed enough.

Don't worry mate, I won't kill you, however I'd love to break a bone or two!

Just kidding, you keep right on throwing those curve balls as long as you don't mind them being hit right out of the ball park!

Hey Texafina, are you running for President?

Texafina: I also realize that some of the people on this forum are very young, and just don't think of all the ramifications if a potential idea were to be instituted.

Yup, well said and I like to to point out the ramifications whilst having a little fun as well. Yes he does take the hits well (he just keeps a-comin' back for more), this serves to toughen him up for the real-world hits that are sure to come his way in the future.

yes, I have to say, even though you sometimes get on my nerves, you are good for the community, and we need constant fresh ideas like you always seem to create. If you ever submit an idea, expect it to be either flamed or hailed, but never take it personally if it's flamed.