This text was previously in an Announcement at the top of the Forum page, which has been deleted to make room for other good stuff, and to give the page a less cluttered look. I am posting it in this thread, which is closed and locked, so people who search will be able to find it, which can't be done with an announcement.



IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you click on the User CP block at the top of the main page, you can see how many points you have and comments made for the most recent points awarded. You cannot see the name of the person who gave you the rep points, but you can see from the color of the square whether it was positive or negative. I am posting this here because I have received PM’s from people who thought they got negative rep points, but weren’t sure, and this is a way to check whether you did really receive any negative rep points.

If the square is green, the voter checked “I approve”, giving positive rep points
If the square is red, the voter checked “I Disapprove”, giving negative rep points
If the square is gray, the voter is not yet able to award rep points. This is explained below.
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There is a line above your rep points which says "rep power".

Rep power means the number of points you give when you award a person positive rep points. If you award negative rep points, only half of the number of rep points shown is awarded.

You might say the whole point of reputation points is to spark a little friendly rivalry and stimulate interest in the forum. Some people place a lot of importance in the number of rep points they have, while others don’t really care.

The little green boxes (or red boxes, if you’ve been bad) below your name represent reputation points.

Everyone starts out with one greenie, which is worth 10 rep points. When you get 100 points, you get a second greenie. So, if you had 4 greenies, you would have 300 points plus anywhere from 1-99 additional points.

Before a user can actually award rep points, he must have 10 positive rep points as well as at least 50 posts. Even if you do not have 50 posts yet, and therefore cannot award any points, you are still encouraged to click on the appropriate box if you find a post good or bad. The writer of the post always enjoys knowing how people receive his/her submission.

After the user can vote, he will earn:
1 point for each 6 month's membership
1 point for each multiple of 500 post counts
Each 100 points that you earn will give you 1 point to give . This is the number which show as “rep power”.

Here is the breakdown for the number of greenies shown:

1 solid green: 10-99 points (everyone starts out with 10 points)
2 solid green: 100-199
3 solid: 200-299
4 solid: 300-399
5 solid: 400-499
5 solid+1 light: 500-699
5 solid+2 light: 700-899
5 solid+3 light: 900-1099
5 solid+4 light: 1100-1299
5 solid+5 light: 1300-1499
5 solid+6 light (maximum): 1500

I guess you could say the accepted etiquette is if you like a particular post then you could award rep points, but be extremely careful with negative points, which should only be awarded in extreme cases. Moderators can see who gives them points, in addition to the comments, but regular members cannot. Many comments read the same-I gave you points so give me some back, so draw your own conclusions from that.

YOU NEED TO AWARD 20 DIFFERENT MEMBERS REP POINTS TO GIVE MORE REP POINTS TO SAME PERSON