That's a straw man, unless you inadvertently overlooked my statement just a few posts above yours:
To repeat: The unmodified off-the-shelf plug-in is a non-starter. We need a path to a forum-specific reader feedback before turning anything on. Since I'm the instigator of this discussion I'm pretty sure the rest of TalkBoard isn't going to ramrod a site-wide version through over my objection.
Is IB working on modification of the "plug-in" for FT even before TB has voted on whatever it is that TB may end up voting on with regard to this entertaining popularity contest feature for FT? Is TB voting or going to be voting on specific plug-in modifications which it wants IB to make? Will that be part of the same motion or an after-thought motion?
Who knows the answers to the above questions? I would think that having some of these questions answered would make for more informed voting opportunities if these answers came well before a TB vote related to this topic hits.
If this is about a trial to get the most knowledge about how this may work, then what is wrong with maximizing data points and letting the trial be site-wide? Why should any forum on FT be excluded from the feature being enabled even post-re-trial, if the feature is so liked/helpful?