Help
This topic is locked
It's been almost a month since we launched the forum, and I feel that we've gotten it off to a great start!
One aspect of the forums that we never really explained (although some of you have figured out), is the social status system. The system is broken into three components: Ranks, Badges, and Reputation.
Reputation is pretty simple:
If someone's post was helpful, solved a problem, or was anything else that the author should be commended for, there is a small box in the bottom right hand corner of the post. You can "rep" it with the plus symbol, or, if it didn't add to the conversation or you feel as if the author should be marked down for making that post, there is the minus symbol. You can also simply not mark it up or down if you feel that's appropriate (the majority of posts will fall into that "neutral" category).
Reputation appears on a user's profile and represents the cumulative total of those points.
Ranks:
As of right now, ranks are entirely dependent on post-count and are updated automatically. The ranks (and the required post count) are listed below:
- Newbie - 0 posts
- Member - 10 posts
- Advanced Member - 30 posts
- HackMac.org Regular - 50 posts
We may be bumping the numbers up, and we're definitely open to suggestions for more rank names and post counts.
Badges:
Badges work a little differently than the automated reputation and ranks systems. Badges have to be given to you by one of the site administrators (Alex, Evan, or myself).
We're currently limiting the badges that we're giving out, and as of now, there are three types of badges:
- Staff
- Moderator
and a new badge,
- Guru
The staff and moderator badges are pretty easy to grasp, but the Guru badge will take some explaining.
Someone who has deserved the Guru badge has:
- Been extraordinarily helpful and innovative
- Written thoughtful and useful posts
- Knowledge in at least one specific area
- A minimum post count of 100
There may be some overlap in the criteria for the Guru badge, but it's just to reiterate and recognize the members who truly give back to the community in useful and exciting ways.
Remember: We are always open to suggestions and changes to the system, the addition of more badges and forums (we're hoping to open up a specific forum area for Tutorials sometime this week, as we know several of you have been asking for one), so feel free to comment below on your thoughts about the current system.
