Toymods Car Club FAQ

Reputation is a way to measure rank of users in a forum.

Rather than using the antiquated and easily abused method of ranks based on number of posts reputation allows the users of the forum to decide how valuable the input of other users is.

All users start with 10 reputation and 0 rep power. Reputation is the number of reputation points you have earned, rep power is how much a reputation vote made by you changes another users reputation. Once you have 10 posts you will have a rep power of 1, at this stage if you vote for the reputaion of someone that vote will change their reputation by 1 point. Rep power grows based on reputation, time you've been a member and number of posts.

Voting for reputation is limmited to 10 votes per day.

There is a minimum of 15 votes in between instances of voting for the same user.

These two measures are designed to stop people from just voting for mates to build up reputation without actually contributing to the forum.

If a user is found to be exploiting the reputation system they will loose a minimum of 10 reputation points, this is the rep power of an admin. If the user is found to be exploiting reputation again they are likely to have their reputation set to 0, this will happen along with the relevant change of access and rights on the forum.

Only financial members and those who are in the Privileged group are allowed to post in this section of the forum.

The main reasons for the Board deciding to set up this section in that way are as follows:
1. we are aiming to produce a more technical based forum like the old one started as
2. we are not offering a free trading post and don't want this forum treated as such
3. selling of your Toyota (including from non financial members) can be of a benefit to everyone, including the financial members

If you are wanting to have full use of the classifieds, the best suggestions we can offer are:
1. become a financial member
2. make a valuable contribution so your reputation goes up

If you have any queries, then please contact the Board.

Privileged status is bestowed upon a user once they achieve 3 milestones:
1. They have been registered on the forums for over 30 days
2. They make over 100 posts in the Tech and General sections
3. The attain a reputation of 40

Privileged users are able to:
1. Post in the Classifieds sections
2. Have an avatar

Voting for reputation is very important due to the fact that if you are not a member of the Toymods Car Club you will need to earn reputation to be able to do some things on this forum.

Users who are not members of the Toymods Car Club must get up to 40 reputation before they are permitted to post parts for sale or wanted ads. There are other restrictions in place as well for these users such as not having an avatar.

The other point is that if there is someone making a nuisance of themselves voting negatively for their reputation may put them into a group with less rights to the forum. An example of this would be someone who has been a bad seller in the for sale section may recieve enough negative votes so that they are no longer able to post for sale threads.

Below your username is your Rank.
A user's rank is determined their number of posts. A new rank is attained once the user makes the minimum number of posts for that rank as outlined by the table below:

1st year Apprentice:	5 posts
Grease Monkey:	51 posts
Backyard Mechanic:	201 posts
Domestic Engineer:	501 posts
Automotive Encyclopaedia:	801 posts
Carport Converter	1,301 posts
Conversion King:	2,001 posts
Cheif Engine Builder:	3,001 posts
Too Much Toyota:	5,001 posts

That box provides a description based on a user's reputation points if you place your mouse over it.
Reputation descriptions change as a user gains/loses reputation based on this table:

-250:	User is a labrador selling clown
-75:	User About to be on his bike
-20:	User Needs to wake up to himself
0:	User On a slippery slope
10:	User Neither here nor there
50:	User Getting there
150:	User Knows what he's talking about
250:	User Been there and done that
500:	User Listen to this one
750:	User is a name known to all
1000:	User has much to be proud of
1500:	User has a brilliant future
2000:	User has a reputation beyond repute

Once you have a rep power you can vote to change another users reputation. This should only be done for valid reasons based on forum usage not on who your mates are etc.

In order to vote you click on the balance icon in the users post, this will open a new windows where you can choose either positive or negative feedback. You can also put down a comment to tell the user what you think or why you voted the way you did.