What are the beans/coffee cups/coolatas for?

[swoll1980]

At first I thought they had something to do with the post count, but noticed that people with the same number of post have different combinations of these things. Then I thought join date, but that's in consistent too. Thanks maybe? I can't figure it out. Can someone help me out with this?

[DrMelon]

I think it's based on the number of posts you make in the help section...isn't it?

[fiddledd]

AFAIK figuring it out and discussing it ends with the Admins changing it all. Which is something that irritates them.:)

[Joeb454]

It's to do with you're post count (which accumulates in the support sections).

People can change the title (i.e. "Ubuntu Green Coffee Beans") after 3,500 posts. Staff can change that at any post count.

Other than that I'm not sure when it changes. I think currently my title should be "I Ubuntu, Therefore, I Am"

[fiddledd]

Other than that I'm not sure when it changes.

And if you was sure, and told us, it would all have to change.:)

[fiddledd]

Actually mine seems to change with the weather, I had a cup there the other day, it's gone now.

[fiddler616]

It's described in the FAQs, but it's supposed to be a somewhat-random fun thing, and the admins don't like people overanalyzing it. I'm pretty sure that the 'cutoff' number of posts isn't quite consistent each time. And community café/Purple Ponies posts don't count.

[Faolan84]

The titles are based on how much you post but it's also semi-random and there looks to be some overlap between some of the titles. It's more of a fun little thing we do here than a status thing. And plus the staff can use any title so that makes things even more fun because it means you can't tell experience just by the title alone.

[Canis familiaris]

Other than that I'm not sure when it changes. I think currently my title should be "I Ubuntu, Therefore, I Am"

Ubuntu Single Malt is what I see at 13 Sep 2004 at 4PM IST.

[fiddledd]

I think too many people become obsessed with post counts, it doesn't mean anything.

I've said before that you can't really use it as a measure of anything (apart from posts :))

If someone posts 200 questions, and someone else posts 200 helpful answers, there's no difference in the post count.

So you can't use post count as any measure of experience or trustworthiness, IMO

[Canis familiaris]

Post Counts Matter because I want the 'Ubuntu Green Coffee Beans' under my username. :)

[Sef]

moved to recurring discussions.

[EdThaSlayer]

Posts mean power. Power means respect. Therefore the more posts the more respect.

[fiddledd]

Posts mean power. Power means respect. Therefore the more posts the more respect.

If that was meant to be serious (I can't see a smiley) then I think you should get out more.

[Joeb454]

Actually mine seems to change with the weather, I had a cup there the other day, it's gone now.

You'll get a permanent cup around 1,000 posts

Ubuntu Single Malt is what I see at 13 Sep 2004 at 4PM IST.

I meant if I didn't have the custom title, that's what it would be.

[fiddledd]

You'll get a permanent cup around 1,000 posts

Well I'm over 50 years old now, so it'll probably be at the same time as I qualify for my free Bus Pass.:)

[swoll1980]

I think too many people become obsessed with post counts, it doesn't mean anything.


These little cups, and things don't have anything to do with post count though I don't think. They seem to be random one week I'll have one cup, and the next I will have 5, then back to one again. It's giving me a complex. :)

[karellen]

anyway, drinking coffee was proved to be healthy :lolflag:

[Naiki Muliaina]

From the forum FAQ:

What's the deal with coffee cups/beans and the funny titles?

Beans are posts. The post/bean count can be turned off by the user if so desired.

There tends to be a close connection between geeks and coffee, so that's where the theme came from. Yes, we know not everyone likes coffee, but it's just a silly thing.

The images, their colors, and the changing icons don't have any special meaning. They simply change as time goes by. You will see (among other things) green coffee beans, roasted (brown) coffee beans, various sorts of coffee cups and mugs and so on. Like the titles, nothing specific is implied by the presence of specific images or titles (in almost all cases that is...staff, admins and banned users are some of the exceptions). These items are for fun, and are not serious. They are not a rank of any kind. They don't tell anyone how long you've been here nor how many posts you've made. The sayings and the images are a semi-random feature we have to provide a little kick. There is some structure to it, but only on the implementation side. We did this on purpose - because it was fun and whimsical.

There isn't a list of what you get, and when, because that's not the point. The reason for the secrecy was/is this: while we want to reward people who participate in these forums with titles and changing symbols we really don't want them to become some sort of gauge that people use to determine whether someone is speaking with more/less authority on a support topic. Other forums use the title/icon system that way and more power to them. However, there are people here with less than 20 posts who can code circles around much of the staff and are capable of giving amazing and useful responses to support questions...and there are some of us here with thousands of posts who might get lucky with a good and helpful reply on occasion. The fear is that people might use post count and titles/symbols as a means of judging the validity of a post's content rather than the content itself. We had a long discussion about this in the forums when they were first started and this subject has been revisited among the staff several times. Some forum members and staff wanted to eliminate the post count and title/icon system completely, some have gone the other way wanting a complete ranking system that is clear and gives honorific titles with great meaning to those with higher post counts (that particular group is in the extreme minority). The current system is a compromise that has been working pretty well for a while. With the compromise of meaningless titles/icons, post count can be hidden in UserCP. Anyway, this is why we don't publish how many posts are necessary for a change in title/icon...it's just a silly reward. The post numbers needed for title changes is something that is easy to modify so it gets modified on occasion, when the admins don't have better things occupying their time, merely to maintain the surprise factor. Bottom line: it just a trivial, whimsically amusing little thing. Don't read too much into it...it really isn't worth the slightest emotional involvement.