FourDegreez - 12:42 am on Dec 7, 2005 (gmt 0)

I do post rating on my forum, and that contributes to rank. Controversies over unfair rating are inevitable, so expect that if you go that route. I've decided the pros outweight the cons, though.

Other things also contribute to rank... login regularity, age of account, use of certain functionality, etc. all feed into an internal point system.

Some experts argue hard against rank, calling it a distraction and making a "game" out of your forum. I happen to like it and think it builds community, personally. It also helps keep behavior under control, since if your account is deleted you lose your rank and start over if you try to sign up again. It's also a measure of trust, e.g. you might reward higher-rank members with additional functionality or greater ability to rate others, moderate, etc.