Difference between revisions of "Scorecard"

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'''This article needs reviewing.'''
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[[File:wot_security_scorecard.png|300px|thumb|right|Basic WOT Security Scorecard with no ratings]]
 
[[File:wot_security_scorecard.png|300px|thumb|right|Basic WOT Security Scorecard with no ratings]]
 
The scorecard contains everything you need to know about a website, domain name, or IP.
 
The scorecard contains everything you need to know about a website, domain name, or IP.
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| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Excellent
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Excellent
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_excellent.png]] = dark green
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_excellent.png]] = dark green
−
| rowspan="2" style="padding-left: 5px;" | This site has a good reputation and the community considers it a safe and pleasant experience.
+
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | This site has an excellent reputation and the community considers it a safe and pleasant experience.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Good
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Good
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_good.png]] = light green
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_good.png]] = light green
 +
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | This site has a good reputation. Sites in this category may contain adult content, mass advertising, or other advertising/adult content.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| colspan="3" style="border-bottom: 1px solid lightgray" |
 
| colspan="3" style="border-bottom: 1px solid lightgray" |
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| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Poor
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Poor
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_poor.png]] = orange
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_poor.png]] = orange
−
| rowspan="2" style="padding-left: 5px;" | This site has a poor reputation and the add-on will bring up the [[warning screen]], or [[blocking screen]], when [[settings]] are at their default values. If you choose to proceed, do so with a high amount of care and concern; you have been ''warned''.
+
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | This site has a poor reputation. Use sites in this category with caution. Avoid downloading untrusted files.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Very poor
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Very poor
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_verypoor.png]] = red
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_verypoor.png]] = red
 +
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | This site has a very poor reputation. Unless you trust the site owner, don't click links or enter personal or financial information. The add-on will bring up the [[warning screen]], or [[blocking screen]], when [[settings]] are at their default values.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| colspan="3" style="border-bottom: 1px solid lightgray" |
 
| colspan="3" style="border-bottom: 1px solid lightgray" |
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| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Unrated
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | Unrated
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_unrated.png]] = grey
 
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | [[File:16_unrated.png]] = grey
−
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | There are not enough ratings to compute a reputation for this website, as referenced by the [[Media:Wot_security_scorecard.png|example scorecard]] provided. <br />Note that the reputation rating can go back to unknown if the confidence level drops below a certain minimum threshold and therefore, it's possible for the confidence value to actually decrease.
+
| style="padding-left: 5px;" | There are not enough ratings to compute a reputation for this website, as referenced by the [[Media:Wot_security_scorecard.png|example scorecard]] provided. <blockquote>''Note'': it's possible for the confidence level to drop below a certain minimum threshold which causes the reputation to go back to an [[Unrated_scorecard|unrated]] state.</blockquote>
 
|}
 
|}
  
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The scorecard consists of several components that dynamically retrieves the information presented to you. A quick list of these components are as follows:
 
The scorecard consists of several components that dynamically retrieves the information presented to you. A quick list of these components are as follows:
 
# [[#Thumbnail|Thumbnail]]
 
# [[#Thumbnail|Thumbnail]]
−
# [[#Help view|Help view]]
 
 
# [[#Site name|Site name]]
 
# [[#Site name|Site name]]
 
# [[#Popularity|Popularity ]]
 
# [[#Popularity|Popularity ]]
−
# [[#Rank|Rank]]
 
 
# [[#Owner|Owner]]
 
# [[#Owner|Owner]]
 
# [[#Server location|Server location]]
 
# [[#Server location|Server location]]
−
# [[#Statistics|Statistics ]]
 
−
# [[#Wiki|Wiki]]
 
 
# [[#Description|Description]]
 
# [[#Description|Description]]
 
# [[#Tags|Tags]]
 
# [[#Tags|Tags]]
Line 61: Line 61:
 
# [[#The Rating Categories|The Rating Categories:]]
 
# [[#The Rating Categories|The Rating Categories:]]
 
#* [[#Trustworthiness|Trustworthiness]]
 
#* [[#Trustworthiness|Trustworthiness]]
−
#* [[#Vendor Reliability|Vendor reliability]]
 
−
#* [[#Privacy|Privacy]]
 
 
#* [[#Child Safety|Child safety]]
 
#* [[#Child Safety|Child safety]]
 
# [[#Comments|Comments:]]
 
# [[#Comments|Comments:]]
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<blockquote>''note'': some images may not be blurred even though Child Safety ratings are <span style="color:red;">poor</span>, this is because the image was [http://www.mywot.com/forum/10972-please-report-new-scorecard-bugs-here-only?comment=92008#comment-92008 manually approved] by WOT Staff</blockquote>
 
<blockquote>''note'': some images may not be blurred even though Child Safety ratings are <span style="color:red;">poor</span>, this is because the image was [http://www.mywot.com/forum/10972-please-report-new-scorecard-bugs-here-only?comment=92008#comment-92008 manually approved] by WOT Staff</blockquote>
  
−
This image is updated every 60 days. If you've changed your site design and notice a conflict, don't worry WOT will catch up in due time.
+
This image is updated every 60 days, although for less popular sites it might take longer for the image to be updated. If you've changed your site design and notice a conflict, don't worry WOT will catch up in due time.
−
 
 
−
===Help view===
 
−
[[File:wot_scorecard_help-view_EN.png|300|thumb|right|Scorecard Help view]]
 
−
Clicking on Help View, located at the upper right corner of the Scorecard, brings up an image offering some explanation to various areas of interest such as:
 
−
* Popularity
 
−
* Server location
 
−
* Compete.com statistics
 
−
* Description
 
−
* Tags
 
−
The help view also offers hints to reputation ratings as well as mentioning about the confidence indicators.
 
−
<br /><br />
 
  
 
===Site name===
 
===Site name===
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The Scorecard URL generally incorporates the site name, but in certain cases it does not.
 
The Scorecard URL generally incorporates the site name, but in certain cases it does not.
 
[http://www.mywot.com/forum/1935-twitter-profiles-get-ratings-and-scorecard Twitter profiles may be rated in WOT] and are given special names for URLs, while the site name remains for scorecard display. For example: ''twitter.com/Web_of_Trust'' scorecard's URL is:
 
[http://www.mywot.com/forum/1935-twitter-profiles-get-ratings-and-scorecard Twitter profiles may be rated in WOT] and are given special names for URLs, while the site name remains for scorecard display. For example: ''twitter.com/Web_of_Trust'' scorecard's URL is:
−
http://www.mywot.com/scorecard/_p_k5swex3pmzpvi4tvon2a.twitter.com
+
http://www.mywot.com/scorecard/_p_k5swex3pmzpvi4tvon2a.twitter.com.
−
<br /><br />
 
−
 
 
−
===Popularity===
 
−
[[File:wot_scorecard_indicator.png|125px|thumb|right|popularity indicator]]
 
−
Popularity is often confused with a site's overall monthly hit rate.
 
−
 
 
−
This is not so, the popularity icons, the "little people" that are displayed next to the Site Name are an indication of how many WOT users have visited the website.
 
−
<br /><br />
 
−
 
 
−
===Rank===
 
−
A scorecard ranking is measured by the popularity of a website as visited by WOT users.
 
−
Many sites will have an N/A (not applicable) as their rank, if your site may fall into this ranking, don't worry about it, you're part of the majority. This is merely a demographic display and an entertaining one as well. You can view the top ten highest ranked websites by visiting the [http://www.mywot.com/community Community page] or to see more, simply open up an empty scorecard URL: http://www.mywot.com/scorecard The ranking of websites is updated every 60 days. As of this writing, Google.com is ranked at number one.
 
 
<br /><br />
 
<br /><br />
  
 
===Owner===
 
===Owner===
−
The owner information is provided with a whois ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHOIS wikipedia]) courtesy link. Currently, the service of choice is with [http://whois.domaintools.com/ whois.domaintools.com]
+
The owner information is provided with a whois ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHOIS Wikipedia]) courtesy link. Currently, the service of choice is with [http://whois.domaintools.com/ whois.domaintools.com].
 
<br /><br />
 
<br /><br />
  
 
===Server location===
 
===Server location===
 
[[File:wot_scorecard_flag.png|130px|thumb|right|Server location]]
 
[[File:wot_scorecard_flag.png|130px|thumb|right|Server location]]
−
For easy visual reference, mini country flags are displayed along with the two letter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_code country code] to give you an idea of the location of the web server that the website is hosted on. The example image shows [http://www.mywot.com/scorecard/mywot.com mywot.com] which is hosted in Finland and [http://www.mywot.com/scorecard/google.com google.com] which is hosted in the United States.
+
For easy visual reference, mini country flags are displayed along with the country name to give you an idea of the location of the web server that the website is hosted on. The example image shows [http://www.mywot.com/scorecard/mywot.com mywot.com] which is hosted in Finland.
  
−
Domains sitting on multiple IP's and will display the country image when all IP's share the same country as location. When multiple IP's are referenced and are located in more than one country, the ''Global'' icon is used. [[File:Flag_global.png]] [http://www.mywot.com/forum/14732-what-means-on-the-scorecard-of-avast-com-server-location-global?comment=99514#comment-99514 Example]
+
Domains sitting on multiple IP's will display the country image when all IP's share the same country as location. When multiple IP's are referenced and are located in more than one country, the ''Global'' icon is used. [[File:Flag_global.png]] [http://www.mywot.com/forum/14732-what-means-on-the-scorecard-of-avast-com-server-location-global?comment=99514#comment-99514 Example]
 
<br /><br /><br />
 
<br /><br /><br />
−
 
−
===Statistics===
 
−
Website statistical information such as monthly visitors and graphs are provided by [http://siteanalytics.compete.com/mywot.com/ compete.com] free of charge. There is much information available by this company however, registration is required to access it.
 
−
<br /><br />
 
−
 
−
===Wiki===
 
−
The wiki links to [http://www.aboutus.org/ aboutus.org] that dynamically creates pages for websites from publicly accessible information such as meta tags and whois information. Once built, the pages &#8211; like any wiki &#8211; are available to be edited by the site owner, it's representatives, or anyone who visits the site.
 
−
<br /><br />
 
  
 
===Description===
 
===Description===
Line 148: Line 115:
  
 
===Reputation rating===
 
===Reputation rating===
−
[[File:wot_scorecard_reputation_unrated.png|290px|thumb|right|Reputation rating section, unrated example]]
+
[[File:wot_scorecard_reputation_unrated_EN.png|290px|thumb|right|Reputation rating section, unrated example]]
 
Herein lies the heart of WOT where website reputations are entered and the website is deemed to be ''safe'' or trusted, ''cautionary'', ''unsafe'' or not trustful.
 
Herein lies the heart of WOT where website reputations are entered and the website is deemed to be ''safe'' or trusted, ''cautionary'', ''unsafe'' or not trustful.
  
 
The entries made in this section should be done so in an unbiased way, offering genuinely honest ratings. Ratings are cast by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot secret ballot] assuring your anonymity and maintaining your privacy. Of course, if you decide to make a publicly viewable comment, then people may associate the chosen comment category (green or red) as to ''how'' you rated.
 
The entries made in this section should be done so in an unbiased way, offering genuinely honest ratings. Ratings are cast by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot secret ballot] assuring your anonymity and maintaining your privacy. Of course, if you decide to make a publicly viewable comment, then people may associate the chosen comment category (green or red) as to ''how'' you rated.
  
−
Those who try to abuse the rating system eventually get "caught" because their selected ratings differ from the majority of the votes cast; remember WOT is a [http://www.mywot.com/en/blog/anonymity-vs-democracy meritocracy]. For more information about how reputational trust is computed, please refer to this blog post on [http://www.mywot.com/en/blog/confidence Confidence] <small>Fri 22 Dec 2006 07:41:49 AM UTC &#8212; Sami</small>
+
Those who try to abuse the rating system eventually get "caught" because their selected ratings differ from the majority of the votes cast; remember WOT is a [http://www.mywot.com/en/blog/anonymity-vs-democracy meritocracy]. For more information about how reputational trust is computed, please refer to this blog post on [http://www.mywot.com/en/blog/confidence Confidence].
  
 
The Reputation Rating section of the website scorecard consists of four rating categories, each consisting of four elements.
 
The Reputation Rating section of the website scorecard consists of four rating categories, each consisting of four elements.
Line 166: Line 133:
 
#* Good
 
#* Good
 
#* Excellent
 
#* Excellent
−
# The ''Confidence Indicator''<br />[[File:Wot_scorecard_indicator.png]]<br />simply displays how many other WOT users voted in a likewise manner.
+
# The ''Confidence Indicator''<br />[[File:Wot_scorecard_indicator.png]]<br />Confidence tells you how reliable the rating system considers the reputation. The more small human figures there are next to the reputation, the more reliable it's considered. The add-on uses confidence values as thresholds for warnings. If the confidence is not high enough, you won't see a warning even if the reputation is poor. Also, if the confidence is very low, the site appears as [[Unrated_scorecard|unrated]] until the confidence reaches the minimum threshold.
−
#: see also: [[API#Reputation_and_confidence|API::Reputation and confidence]]  
+
#: See also:
 +
#: [[API#Reputation_and_confidence|API::Reputation and confidence]]  
 
<br />
 
<br />
  
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====Trustworthiness====
 
====Trustworthiness====
 
Can you trust this site? Would you share it with family or friends? Have you had a pleasant experience? Is it worth returning to? If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, then it is worth rating as Excellent. If you answer "no" to one of these questions, then it is worth rating Good. The lower amount of "yes" answers to these questions, the lower the rating becomes.
 
Can you trust this site? Would you share it with family or friends? Have you had a pleasant experience? Is it worth returning to? If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, then it is worth rating as Excellent. If you answer "no" to one of these questions, then it is worth rating Good. The lower amount of "yes" answers to these questions, the lower the rating becomes.
−
====Vendor Reliability====
 
−
Generally represents a site that has a product to sell and whether or not you had a positive shopping experience, as mentioned on the [http://www.mywot.com/en/support/ratings support page,] but what if there is nothing to purchase, should this be left unrated? That would depend upon what the product is that the site has to offer. It could be a free item, so there is no financial purchase. One example could be a blog, forum, or news site whose product is information; is this information factual, or it is biased, or worse is it pure fabrication? Software download sites, some mirror the author's product, some link to the authors download page, others repackage the author's product and include Adware, Spyware, or possibly Malware. Other aspects of reliability is how well the site is designed or built. Could you consider the site to be reliable if it has flaws in it's design? Would you trust making a financial transaction if the site utilizes faulty JavaScript for example? Many thing can determine how reliable the site and/or it's owner(s) are.
 
  
−
====Privacy====
 
−
Can the website be trusted with your name, address, phone number, email address, credit card information, or other [[Personally_Identifiable_Information_(PII)|Personally Identifiable Information (PII)]] Have you subscribed to a newsletter or email list and then start receiving a large amount of Spam? If you experience no abuse, then the site is worth an Excellent Rating. This is where personal experience should be used for rating purposes. Exceptions would be, for example, verifying phishing schemes or submitting Spam sites.
 
 
====Child Safety====
 
====Child Safety====
 
Is the website safe for young children? Does it consist of adult related material such as a political forum where participants are engaged in swearing? Is it a gaming site whose age group is for 15 year olds or older? What about a musician's site where the music (and lyrics) are recommended for mature audiences? Does the site contain pornographic material? Base your ratings for this category by asking yourself, "Would I allow my child to access this website?"
 
Is the website safe for young children? Does it consist of adult related material such as a political forum where participants are engaged in swearing? Is it a gaming site whose age group is for 15 year olds or older? What about a musician's site where the music (and lyrics) are recommended for mature audiences? Does the site contain pornographic material? Base your ratings for this category by asking yourself, "Would I allow my child to access this website?"
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===Comments===
 
===Comments===
 
[[File:Wot_scorecard_comment_section.png|300px|thumb|right|Scorecard comment section for site with no comments]]
 
[[File:Wot_scorecard_comment_section.png|300px|thumb|right|Scorecard comment section for site with no comments]]
−
Comments provide more information, but '''do not affect ratings'''
+
Comments provide more information, but '''do not affect ratings'''.
  
−
Currently a maximum of three (3) comments, using different comment categories, are allowed per scorecard per user, including comments made via the [[mass rating tool|mass rating tool]].
+
Currently a maximum of one comment using different categories is allowed per scorecard per user, including comments made via the [[mass rating tool|mass rating tool]].
  
−
Comments were not originally intended to exist and were included based upon user feedback in the early stages of WOT testing. For more detailed commentary concerning comments, please refer to this blog post:<br />[http://www.mywot.com/en/blog/against-textual-comments Against textual comments] <small>Mon 05 Feb 2007 07:41:02 PM UTC &#8212; Sami</small>
+
Comments were not originally intended to exist and were included based upon user feedback in the early stages of WOT testing. For more detailed commentary concerning comments, please refer to this blog post:<br />[http://www.mywot.com/en/blog/against-textual-comments Against textual comments].
−
 
 
−
====Request a comment====
 
−
[[File:Wot_scorecard_comment_request.png|200px|thumb|right|Request a comment]]
 
−
''note:'' this option is available only for website owners
 
−
 
 
−
Request a comment is displayed on the left side of the Scorecard at the top of the Comment section. It's purpose is simply to request other members of the WOT Community to offer a comment for the website. Comment requests are tagged and posted on the [http://www.mywot.com/community Community] page of WOT's main website. Clicking this option toggles your request, meaning if you click once, you're requesting a comment, click again and you remove that request. If you decide to add a comment yourself, this option disappears.
 
  
 
====Add a comment====
 
====Add a comment====
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When entering a comment for a website you are presented with two elements both of which are required to save your comment. These are the comment category and the comment text.
 
When entering a comment for a website you are presented with two elements both of which are required to save your comment. These are the comment category and the comment text.
  
−
The comment category is a drop-down menu where you decide which classification you would like your comment associated with. The current selections available are:
+
The comment category is a menu where you decide which classification you would like your comment associated with. The current selections available are:
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
 
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Good site<br />
 
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Good site<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Useful, informative<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Only for kids<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Entertaining<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_grey.png]] Online tracking<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Good customer experience<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_grey.png]] Alternative or controversial medicine<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_green.png]] Child friendly<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_grey.png]] Opinions, religion, politics<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Spam<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_grey.png]] Other<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Annoying ads or popups<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Misleading claims or unethical<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Bad customer experience<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Privacy risks<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Phishing or other scams<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Suspicious<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Malicious content, viruses<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Hate, discrimination<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Browser exploit<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Spam<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Spyware or adware<br />
+
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Potentially unwanted programs<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Ads/pop-ups<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_yellow.png]] Incidental nudity<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Malware or viruses<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Poor customer experience<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Phishing<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Scam<br />
 +
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Potentially illegal<br />
 
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Adult content<br />
 
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Adult content<br />
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Hateful or questionable content<br />
 
−
[[File:Bullet_red.png]] Ethical issues<br />
 
−
[[File:Bullet_grey.png]] Useless<br />
 
−
[[File:Bullet_grey.png]] Other<br />
 
 
</blockquote>
 
</blockquote>
  
Line 232: Line 193:
 
* Try to keep it short, but focused
 
* Try to keep it short, but focused
 
: [http://www.mywot.com/blog/167-comments-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly Comments – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly]
 
: [http://www.mywot.com/blog/167-comments-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly Comments – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly]
 +
* Tue 18 Feb 2014
 +
: Introducing the incorporation of [[hashtags]] in comments
  
 
====Comment listing====
 
====Comment listing====
−
As comments are made they appear in list form displayed as single line entries. Clicking on the comment opens it's entirety. As the author of the comment, you have the options of editing or deleting your comment.
+
As comments are made they appear in list form displayed as single line entries. Clicking on the comment opens its entirety. As the author of the comment, you have the options of editing or deleting your comment.
  
 
==Locked scorecards==
 
==Locked scorecards==
−
Scorecards are a component of the WOT website and may be locked when certain abuse is detected (through the website). When a scorecard is locked, you'll see a notification stating:
+
Scorecards are a component of the WOT website and may be locked when certain abuse is detected (through the website). When a scorecard is locked, you'll see a notification stating:<br><br>
−
{| style="width: 98%"
+
''Comment votes have been disabled for this site'' [[File:Scorecard_lock_notification.png|300px|thumb|right]]
−
|- valign="top"
+
 
−
|''WOT has detected unusual behavior on the scorecard and new ratings have been disabled.''
+
<br>
−
|
+
and/or
−
[[File:Scorecard_lock_notification.png]]
+
<br><br>
−
|}
+
''Commenting has been temporarily disabled due to unusual behavior or unwanted activity.''
  
 +
<br>
 
Though rating via the scorecard has been disabled, comments are allowed unless otherwise notified.
 
Though rating via the scorecard has been disabled, comments are allowed unless otherwise notified.
−
You may still rate domains having a locked scorecard through the add-on by using the toolbar pop-up [[Rating_window|rating window]]
+
You may still rate domains having a locked scorecard through the add-on by using the toolbar pop-up [[Rating_window|rating window]].
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
!!! STOP !!! - will continue at a later time - G7W<br />
 
−
(mention: sort options, dis/agree options, controversial, page, RSS)
 

Latest revision as of 14:42, 3 October 2016

This article needs reviewing.

Basic WOT Security Scorecard with no ratings

The scorecard contains everything you need to know about a website, domain name, or IP.

Scorecard colors

To help bridge across language barriers, colors are used for immediate identification of the overall Trustworthiness (reputation) of a website. The color range is:

Reputation Color and symbol Description
Excellent 16 excellent.png = dark green This site has an excellent reputation and the community considers it a safe and pleasant experience.
Good 16 good.png = light green This site has a good reputation. Sites in this category may contain adult content, mass advertising, or other advertising/adult content.
Unsatisfactory 16 unsatisfactory.png = yellow Cautionary advisory, unsatisfactory or mixed ratings.
Poor 16 poor.png = orange This site has a poor reputation. Use sites in this category with caution. Avoid downloading untrusted files.
Very poor 16 verypoor.png = red This site has a very poor reputation. Unless you trust the site owner, don't click links or enter personal or financial information. The add-on will bring up the warning screen, or blocking screen, when settings are at their default values.
Unrated 16 unrated.png = grey There are not enough ratings to compute a reputation for this website, as referenced by the example scorecard provided.

Note: it's possible for the confidence level to drop below a certain minimum threshold which causes the reputation to go back to an unrated state.

Though we see colors to make our testimonial easier, WOT translates these colors to numbers and with using statistical analysis to compute the individual reputation values that, when combined, generate the website's overall Trustworthiness.

Scorecard components

The scorecard consists of several components that dynamically retrieves the information presented to you. A quick list of these components are as follows:

  1. Thumbnail
  2. Site name
  3. Popularity
  4. Owner
  5. Server location
  6. Description
  7. Tags
  8. Reputation rating:
  9. The Rating Categories:
  10. Comments:
    • Add / Request
    • Comment categories
    • Comment listing
  11. Share with a friend


Thumbnail

Scorecard thumbnail with dual focus

The thumbnail is a captured image of the index page of a website. The purpose is to help visually identify the site in revue.

The image may be clear or it may be blurred depending upon the rating level of the Child Safety indicator. When there are poor to very poor ratings for child safety, the image is blurred to prevent viewing of possible pornographic material. The provided image displays both clear and blurred areas for example.

note: some images may not be blurred even though Child Safety ratings are poor, this is because the image was manually approved by WOT Staff

This image is updated every 60 days, although for less popular sites it might take longer for the image to be updated. If you've changed your site design and notice a conflict, don't worry WOT will catch up in due time.

Site name

Self-explanatory, the Site Name is the domain name or IP address of the website being rated. This also includes sub domains, for example: subdomain.example.com.

The Scorecard URL generally incorporates the site name, but in certain cases it does not. Twitter profiles may be rated in WOT and are given special names for URLs, while the site name remains for scorecard display. For example: twitter.com/Web_of_Trust scorecard's URL is: http://www.mywot.com/scorecard/_p_k5swex3pmzpvi4tvon2a.twitter.com.

Owner

The owner information is provided with a whois (Wikipedia) courtesy link. Currently, the service of choice is with whois.domaintools.com.

Server location

Server location

For easy visual reference, mini country flags are displayed along with the country name to give you an idea of the location of the web server that the website is hosted on. The example image shows mywot.com which is hosted in Finland.

Domains sitting on multiple IP's will display the country image when all IP's share the same country as location. When multiple IP's are referenced and are located in more than one country, the Global icon is used. Flag global.png Example


Description

The scorecard obtains the website's description dynamically through the information supplied by the meta tag from within the site's index page. In the event that no description meta tag exists, nothing is displayed. This information is updated every 60 days.

An example of a description meta tag: 

<meta name="description" content="WOT is a Free Internet Security addon for Firefox and IE that warns you about online scams and risky websites that try to deliver malware or send spam." />

To manually edit a site's description that displays on the site's scorecard, the site owner must be a registered user where they can submit the site into their user profile via the My Sites section. The site then requires verification, proving that you have root access (owner / administrator), after which the description may be changed, overriding the current META tag information.

Tags

Just like Description, tags are dynamically retrieved information through the value supplied to the meta tag keywords. This information is also updated every 60 days.

An example of a keyword meta tag: 

<meta name="keywords" content="spam, online scams, malware, ie addon, firefox addon, online security, free internet security, web of trust, mywot, wot" />


Reputation rating

Reputation rating section, unrated example

Herein lies the heart of WOT where website reputations are entered and the website is deemed to be safe or trusted, cautionary, unsafe or not trustful.

The entries made in this section should be done so in an unbiased way, offering genuinely honest ratings. Ratings are cast by secret ballot assuring your anonymity and maintaining your privacy. Of course, if you decide to make a publicly viewable comment, then people may associate the chosen comment category (green or red) as to how you rated.

Those who try to abuse the rating system eventually get "caught" because their selected ratings differ from the majority of the votes cast; remember WOT is a meritocracy. For more information about how reputational trust is computed, please refer to this blog post on Confidence.

The Reputation Rating section of the website scorecard consists of four rating categories, each consisting of four elements.

The Rating Elements

  1. The WOT Symbol
    16 excellent.png
    displays the current reputation from the aggregated result of all prior ratings.
    For more information, please refer to the website support section for WOT symbols
  2. The Rating Description simply identifies the category of the website's reputation that you are rating.
    This is a text label that is translated into the language that you have your preferences set to.
  3. The Rating Bar
    Wot scorecard rating bar.png
    is how you transfer your experiences with, or opinions of, the website you are rating into the WOT reputation system.
    A small white bullet   •   appears when you choose to edit and hover your mouse over any of the rating bars.
    If you have previously rated the site, the bullet is positioned at your last value upon viewing the scorecard.
    The rating bar consists of five colorized sections, each represents a group of values that determine the score for the category being rated. These five sections are textually labeled as (from left to right):
    • Very Poor
    • Poor
    • Unsatisfactory
    • Good
    • Excellent
  4. The Confidence Indicator
    Wot scorecard indicator.png
    Confidence tells you how reliable the rating system considers the reputation. The more small human figures there are next to the reputation, the more reliable it's considered. The add-on uses confidence values as thresholds for warnings. If the confidence is not high enough, you won't see a warning even if the reputation is poor. Also, if the confidence is very low, the site appears as unrated until the confidence reaches the minimum threshold.
    See also:
    API::Reputation and confidence


The Rating Categories

— officially explained on the support section of the website and consist of:

Trustworthiness

Can you trust this site? Would you share it with family or friends? Have you had a pleasant experience? Is it worth returning to? If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, then it is worth rating as Excellent. If you answer "no" to one of these questions, then it is worth rating Good. The lower amount of "yes" answers to these questions, the lower the rating becomes.

Child Safety

Is the website safe for young children? Does it consist of adult related material such as a political forum where participants are engaged in swearing? Is it a gaming site whose age group is for 15 year olds or older? What about a musician's site where the music (and lyrics) are recommended for mature audiences? Does the site contain pornographic material? Base your ratings for this category by asking yourself, "Would I allow my child to access this website?"


Comments

Scorecard comment section for site with no comments

Comments provide more information, but do not affect ratings.

Currently a maximum of one comment using different categories is allowed per scorecard per user, including comments made via the mass rating tool.

Comments were not originally intended to exist and were included based upon user feedback in the early stages of WOT testing. For more detailed commentary concerning comments, please refer to this blog post:
Against textual comments.

Add a comment

Add a comment

Add a comment is displayed on the left side of the Scorecard at the top of the Comment section. Clicking it toggles the opening or closing of the Add Comment subsection.

When entering a comment for a website you are presented with two elements both of which are required to save your comment. These are the comment category and the comment text.

The comment category is a menu where you decide which classification you would like your comment associated with. The current selections available are:

Bullet green.png Good site
Bullet green.png Only for kids
Bullet grey.png Online tracking
Bullet grey.png Alternative or controversial medicine
Bullet grey.png Opinions, religion, politics
Bullet grey.png Other
Bullet yellow.png Misleading claims or unethical
Bullet yellow.png Privacy risks
Bullet yellow.png Suspicious
Bullet yellow.png Hate, discrimination
Bullet yellow.png Spam
Bullet yellow.png Potentially unwanted programs
Bullet yellow.png Ads/pop-ups
Bullet yellow.png Incidental nudity
Bullet red.png Malware or viruses
Bullet red.png Poor customer experience
Bullet red.png Phishing
Bullet red.png Scam
Bullet red.png Potentially illegal
Bullet red.png Adult content

When writing your comments, please consider the following:

  • Be objective and truthful. Useful comments include not only whether you liked or disliked a site, service or product, but also why.
  • Differentiate between the technical safety of the site and the content
  • Support your assertions or statements
  • Try to keep it short, but focused
Comments – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
  • Tue 18 Feb 2014
Introducing the incorporation of hashtags in comments

Comment listing

As comments are made they appear in list form displayed as single line entries. Clicking on the comment opens its entirety. As the author of the comment, you have the options of editing or deleting your comment.

Locked scorecards

Scorecards are a component of the WOT website and may be locked when certain abuse is detected (through the website). When a scorecard is locked, you'll see a notification stating:

Comment votes have been disabled for this site

Scorecard lock notification.png


and/or

Commenting has been temporarily disabled due to unusual behavior or unwanted activity.


Though rating via the scorecard has been disabled, comments are allowed unless otherwise notified. You may still rate domains having a locked scorecard through the add-on by using the toolbar pop-up rating window.

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