Path: news.mathworks.com!not-for-mail
From: "Carlos Adrian Vargas Aguilera" <nubeobscura@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Subject: Re: Doubt on usefulness of the FEX
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:57:02 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: Universidad de Guadalajara
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Well, as I see MATLAB Central still don't reviews deeptly the submisions and comments on the FileExchange (money perhaps) but many user are willing to do so, besides Central is willing to improve and make changes on the site, then, in my opinion, Central should include voluntiers-REVIEWERS on it.

For example, following John's idea. From an author:
- number of files on the FileExchange
- rating
- mean files rating (important!)
- number of comments/ratings on other files
- number of tags in other files
- activity in the Newsreader
- besides of invitation from a current "reviewer"
internally (in order to keep this all anonymously) Central may rate all of us and, if somebody gets highly rated, AUTOMATICALLY (!) an invitation e-mail to be a reviewer is sent to him. 

If accepted, then AUTOMATICALLY (!!) when he signs-in on MATLAB Central he will be able to see and extra link on its FileExchange page that send him to a spacial site where he will be able to:

A) Rate AUTHORS by its ID as:
1. spam (eliminates all its files, comments, post, and cannot log-in, of course) .
2. approved as MATLAB programmer (just an idea, jeje), which may be seen as a special tag on the FileExchange-authors, not only when an user make a click on its name link.
3. reviewer-candidate (automatically sends invitation with/without some extra annonymous comments from the reviewer)
NOTE: Maybe  2 or 3 reviewer will be needed in this in order to do the task.

B) Rate SUBMITIONS by its ID as:
1. bad (automatically send a warning of delection to the author if not updated "soon" with/without some extra annonymous comments from the reviewer)
2. reviewer's-pick (automatically adds some kind of EXCELENT tag in the file so any user may be able to see it not only once he click on it (as the Pick's of the week), but directly on the FileExchange-Files)
NOTE: Maybe a single reviewer will be needed in this in order to do the task.

C) See all other approved reviewers (which MUST be kept in anonimity to all other homo-sapiens) to share ideas.

If the reviewer do not report activity "for a while" AUTOMATICALLY (!!!) he receives a warning e-mail of a sonner or later expulsion (?) from the big list if he continues so (or maybe he is programming with HE :( ).

Then, leaving behind the web work, I don't think this increase the work for the MATLAB Central employees, but I do think this will improve our interest on the FileExchange and on our MATLAB programming skills which (as I see from MLINT) is a MathWorks goal (By the way, why not include an english dictionary for the comments?, that would be nice ;) ).

NOTE: this is only to clean a bit the FileExchange, not to make a super programer to every one of the authors, thats why, on the B) part should NOT appear a 1-5 star extra reviewer-rating!!! The existing one is enough, and if an user does not updates his (low-rated) but (not-spam and not-pick file), this should NOT be a reason to be deleted.

Well, this only an idea, what do you think?

Carlos Vargas