nataliec

Ok, NOT REALLY, but we've had a lot of questions posted and I've had a lot of questions PMed, so I will do my best to consolidate what I know into one little place. Here. This information is a combination of VB FAQs, information from other VB admins, and my limited knowledge.
As we learn more and get more information, I will update this to add the new findings in. Enjoy!
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What is the reputation system?

A system that allows board members to "self-regulate" themselves, based on Reputation points which they allocate to others.

How Does It Work?

Members start with 0 reputation.

You can award every post/poster with positive or negative reputation points, and provide a comment about why the reputation was given. Over time, "good" members will likely build up positive reputation while "bad" members will build up negative reputation. Good reputation is generally an indication that people appreciate the poster's contributions, agree with their posts, etc. Bad reputation is generally an indication that people disagree with the person's posts, "don't like" the person, etc.

By checking someone's reputation level against their number of posts, you can get a baseline idea of how trustworthy/reliable their information has been, whether or not their opinion has been popular, and even how many "friends" they have on the board.

Some boards make the reputation comments publically visible. I don't believe this board does. When comments are visible, you can read the reasons why others were given bad or good reputation. This can help offset the "stigma" of positive/negative rep points (e.g. when a negative reputation comment reads something like, "We have different opinions", or a positive comment reads something like, “You’re pretty!”)

How Do I Check For A Member's Reputation?

Reputation points are listed under your user CP, at the very bottom. If you see a title bar for it but no rep info, you can expand it by clicking the arrow.

How Do I Give Reputation Points?

Click on the scales icon located in the bottom left corner of the posters info field. (the bottom of the section where join date, age, posts, etc. appear). Once you lcick on the scales, you will get a pop-up allowing you to “approve” or “disapprove” of the post, and leave comments.

Can I Control How Many Reputation Points To Give?

No, you cannot.

Based on a range of criteria, like seniority, rank and reputation, some members will have a higher rep power than others. I don’t know if it’s true for LBT, but on many boards, the higher your rep power, the more reputation points you can give. (In other words, it keeps someone who just joined today and has no reputation from giving 500 negative reps in a day).

What Is Rep Power?

Rep Power is not the member’s reputation. It's an indication of how many Reputation points they can give to others, or deduct from them. If a member has a Rep Power of 3, that means he gives other members 3 Reputation points or deducts 3 Reputation points from them, everytime he comments on their post.

How Do I Get More Rep Power?

I don’t know about LBT specifically, but generally speaking there are three ways to get more Rep Power.

Seniority
The longer you stick around the forums, the more influential you become. Every 365 days, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point.

Activity
For every 1000 posts, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point.

Reputation
For every 100 points of reputation, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point.

How Many Times Can I Give / Deduct Reputation In A Day?

I don’t the answer to this for our board, it’s something set (afaik) by the admin. Often it's limited to 10.


How Often Can I Give / Deduct Reputation From The Same Member?

You can give / deduct reputation from the same member as many times as you like. In most cases (I don’t know about LBT, but this is a common practice) you have to give reputation to 10 other members before you can give to the same member again.

What are the Pros and Cons of Reputation?

This could easily be the biggest answer in the post, so I'll give short versions. Reputation doesn't really mean anything, but it can be an ego boost or blow, and it can also be used to "get back at" someone. (If you're familiar with ebay, think of the buyers who leave negative feedback, so the sellers do too - even if the seller had a good experience).

Pros: Reputation can be a way to help new users discriminate the "good" from the "bad"... e.g. avoid trolls, known troublemakers, people who spread misinformation, etc. Reputation can also let someone know when they've posted something valuable, and give a nice "pat on the back" for their effort.

Cons: Reputation is, essentially, a way of saying "I agree" or "I disagree". Because of this, people often use it to disagree with your posts in a private way, because - for whatever reason - they don't want to disagree publically. This can result in a "good" poster having negative reputation. It can also result in harsh feelings toward other members, or "pack behavior" being used to drive down someone's reputation.

Summary

To sum it all up, here is the gist of the Member Reputation System.

Default Reputation
Every member starts with a reputation level of 0.

Rep Power
It's an indication of how many Reputation points a member can give to others, or deduct from them.

Seniority
The longer you stick around the forums, the more influential you become. Every 365 days, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point.

Activity
For every 1000 posts, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point.

Reputation
For every 100 points of reputation, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point.