rating user profiles

[richy96]

Hi all

I want to add a feature to my vb 3.7.0. /vbaCMPS based site

What I want to do is add a rating (display a number of stars) that are determined by how much of a users profile fields are filled in

So for example they get one star for filling in basic profile fields, another for filling in advanced profile fields, another for having at least one photo album....... etc

I already have a 'Verify My Profile' Page to which I am going to add a button which will check if various profile fields are filled in etc and increase the rating accordingly

I am OK with the programming side but not sure about the best approach to this

Plan A

Would i be better adding a custom (hidden) profile field which the user can not edit directly - and then running my own php from them hitting the 'verify' button to set the value of this field. Can I then use this value to display the correct number of stars on members profiles, postbits, member search results etc ? If so what sort of field should I be creating (editable, private, ???)

OR plan B

Am I better 'hijacking' the built in reputation system and modifying it to suit my needs? I don't need reputation in as much as allowing users to leave rep for other users based on forum posts so it is kinda redundant at the moment. In this case I would need a basic understanding of where the reputation score is stored (which field) and would the member be able to indirectly set their own reputation level by hitting the 'verify button' yet not be able to alter it by any other method (nor by anyone else alter it bar admins in the ACP) or are there permissions issues to consider?

TIA
rich