Laurels [ Edited ]

[BN_AlexG Administrator]

What are Laurels?

Laurels are a new content rating system that lets you vote for the messages you think are the most useful or important.

When you give Laurels to a message, you are offering a thumbs-up for good content and a pat on the back to its author. Your Laurels help to boost the value of certain messages and enhance the reputation of their authors.

Giving Laurels is as easy as a single click, but the impact of Laurels ripples across the community.

• How do I give Laurels?

You can give Laurels to any posts in the community except your own. 

To give Laurels to a message and its author:

• Click the Laurels! badge on the message.  If you change your mind about the quality of the message, you can revoke your Laurels.

To revoke Laurels you've given:

• Choose Options > Revoke My Kudos from this Message.

The Laurel count is updated and the Laurels badge shows that you can now give the message Laurels again.

• How can I see who's given me Kudos?

Want to know who thinks your messages are Laurel-worthy? Your Profile page is the place to start. You can also see Laurel activity for other community members on their Profile pages.

To see who's given you Kudos:

1. Click your login name to go to your Profile page. 
   Your Profile pages shows the names of community members who gave you Laurels, the messages they Laureled, your top Laureled messages, and the Laurels you've given.
2. To see all of your recent Laurel activity in an area, click the view all link at the bottom of the list. 
   Your  Laurel Activity page shows the recent Laurels you've given or received.
3. Click the tabs to see more info about your Laurel activity.

• How can I see which messages or authors have received the most Laurels?

There are usually two Laurel leaderboards on the community's front page -- one for authors and another for messages. The author's leaderboard shows who has received the most Laurels. The message leaderboard showcases the most Laureld messages.  Links from the front-page leaderboards take you to the full leaderboard pages.

To view the Top Laureled Messages leaderboard:

• Click the view all link from the front page module.

To view the Top Laureled Authors leaderboard:

• Click the view all link from the front page module.

• How can I see who else has given Laurels to a message?

Want to know who thinks a message is good? It's easy to kind out which regular community members and community experts have given Laurels to a message. Laurels that come from community experts carry more weight -- literally -- than those that come from brand new members.

To see who's given Laurels to a message:

1. Go to the message page.
2. Click the Laurels! total.  The Who Laureled this Message page shows you all the community members who've given Laurels to the message.
3. Click the Experts tab to see Laurels given by high-ranking members of the community.  Experts are usually moderators and other users who had a Laurels weight of more than 1 when they gave the message Laurels.
4. Click the User Name or Laurels link to sort this page by the name of the user who gave Laurels or by the Laurel count.

• What is Kudos weight?

Your Kudos weight is the number of Laurels you give each time you click a Laurels!! badge. If you're new to the community, you will probably give Laurels one at a time (your Kudos weight is 1). More experienced community members might have a higher Kudos weight, so they could give two Laurels, ten Laurels, or more each time they click.

• Why can't I give Laurels to some messages?

There are a few reasons why you might not be able to give Laurels to a post.

• You've already given Laurels to this message (you can only give them once).
• You wrote the message (you can't Laurel your own messages).
• Your community manager wants you to give Laurels only to a message that starts a thread and not to replies.
• Your community manager has turned Laurels off for a message or a forum.
• Your community manager has frozen Laurels for this message. You can still see how many Laurels the message has received, but you can't Laurel it any more.

• Where did the Laurels number go?

Sometimes a message gets so many Laurels that we run out of space to show the number. When that happens you'll see a Hot Laurels symbol or icon instead of the Laurel count on the Laurel badge.