As mentioned in the December, 2006 Annoucement sticky, a User Reputation system has been enabled to reward users for informative and clearly written posts.
Once you have made at least 1 post and have at least 1 Reputation Level point, you may begin to leave reputation points for good posts by other members. You may do this up to 10 times a day. This is done by clicking the new balance/scale icon in the top right side of the banner in a post, located near the red triangle icon used to report inappropriate posts. When you click this icon to add to their Reputation Level points, you may also leave an optional comment. You may not give the same member a reputation click more than once in a row; you must leave at least 5 other users a reputation click before giving reputation to the same user again. Clicking the scale icon in one of your own posts will show you how many reputation points that specific post has generated for you.
Each time you leave a positive reputation click for another member's post, their Reputation Level increases. The amount their Reputation Level increases is based on your Reputation Power. For most members who have joined in the last year, the amount your clicks will increase another member's Reputation Level is equal to 1 point. This amount increases by 1 point up for every 2500 posts you have made, for every year you have been a registered member and for every 1000 Reputation Level points you have earned. So, a long-time member with thousands of posts and a high reputation could increase your reputation by 5, 10 or more points, each time they click a reputation icon for your posts.
As you accumulate Reputation Level Points from other users, you will notice that the square icon in the banner of your posts will add boxes and increase in size as your reputation increases over 100 points. This icon is located under your post count on the right side. If you mouse over this icon, it will also show a title related to your current Reputation Level points. New titles are gained at thresholds 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, etc. You may see your current Reputation Level points in your User CP control panel in the Edit Options link.
Any user may also Opt-Out of the User Reputation system altogether. To do this, you also go into your User CP control panel and click the Edit Options link. In the top section for Login & Privacy, you will be able to uncheck a box that says, "Show My Reputation Level", the same place where your Reputation Level points are listed. Even if you elect not to show your reputation level, you will still be able to click to add Reputation Level points to other members and you will still be able to see comments given to you by other members.
Please use discretion when leaving comments to other users. The Reputation system only allows POSITIVE points and comments from Members. Please leave praise both for posts that exhibit expertise in motor vehicle safety issues and for quality writing. Please do not give reputation clicks simply because you like someone or think they are a good poster general; the clicks are to reward members for specific posts that are particularly insightful or well-written. Please do not leave any negative comments for other users, as reputation is used only as a positive reward on Car-Seat.org. Points and comments are currently anonymous for most members, so you may not be able to see who left them to you. The exceptions are Moderators, Administrators, Benefactors and Sponsors CAN see who has left them points and comments. Comments may be made public in the future, so please be careful what comments you leave to others! Moderators and Administrators may leave both positive and negative comments, resulting in an increase or decrease in Reputation Level points.
If you have any questions on the User Reputation system, please reply to this thread. If you are left inappropriate comments or believe there is any abuse of this system, please send a Private Message to Admin. I hope members will find this to be a fun feature! If there is any abuse, a user may be restricted from using the feature or the feature may be disabled altogether. The thresholds for Reputation Power points, Level points and titles will be changed in the future as the system is fine-tuned.
Thank you!
