The program is very simple. Various activities on the site have points associated with them, and when a community member does that activity he or she will receive that many points. Specifically, here’s the current set of activities and points for each:

** by invitation only

(Q) Do I start with any points?

As many members have already made valuable contributions to the forums, we have awarded 5 points for every post you have made prior to the program’s commencement. This is the baseline number of points that you start with.

(Q) Can I lose points?

Yes. There are four situations where you can lose points. First, if one of your posts is marked as the answer but later unmarked, you will lose the 10 points. Second, if you mark a post as answered but it is later unmarked, you will lose the 1 point. Third, if you submit a reply which is then deleted, you will lose the 1 point. Finally, if you breach the Terms of Use, you will lose 50 points.

(Q) Can I find out where my points are coming from?

Yes. A new tab called "Community Recognition" has been added to your profile, and that tab shows your points total for each area where you can earn points.

(Q) Won’t some people try to manipulate the system?

A. Yes, and where we determine that is occurring we reserve the right to either deduct points or ban the account.

(Q) What does "By Invitation Only" mean in the above list?

There are some activities on the site that only a subset of members can perform. For example, there are about ten community members that have their blogs aggregated on the French front page, which is not an activity that every member will be able to do.

(Q) Will you be expanding the set of activities that points can be earned from?

Yes. Over time we expect to expand this list of activities.

(Q) Where can I see who are the experts on the site?

Visit the Hall of Fame page.

If you have a question that is not answered here, please post your question to the "Feedback on this Website" forum.