Question about levels and points in the Community

Hello Zachyy

Apple has some documents which explain the current points "system" and how many you need to graduate to a new level.

Read:

Share what you know and get recognized - Participate in the Apple Support Community to earn points, level up, and get perks.

Vote in the Apple Support Community - Apple Support

These pages are taken from the more general support page called How to use the Apple Support Community.

This is quite apart from the personal reward of helping fellow users of Apple products all over the world by answering their queries and solving their problems.

Hi Zachyy,

Some points come from very old discussions. I recently got an Upvote for a reply I posted in 2013!

Yes, it's nice to receive points, but I get more joy when the OP tells me: "Thank you! That worked!"

Good to know that you are here to help.

Regards,

Ian.

Good morning, Zachyy! 👋🏼😁

If you are here to genuinely help others, then that’s fine. ☺️

I am asking you to please not copy others and pasting it as your own because it is morally wrong and make you look like you’re here chasing points to level up.

I am constantly changing my format because I want my answers to stand out.

You should strive to do the same.

One way I stand out is to italicize my punctuation marks!

Simple, yet subtle enough for me to have an edge.

I am not the first to create a graphic signature, but I never copied anyone.

Also, please never ask for points.

You will find that older posts may earn points many months after posting.

As for user tips, every single tip I have posted, I had figured out on my own.

What I am saying here is to be original • be yourself • have fun.

One feature I never do is to follow others.

If I happen to participate in a post with you, that’s a coincidence.

I am happy where I am.

If it takes me a lifetime to reach Level 10, then that’s great. 😁

If others wish to race past my high score, then I’ll cheer for them. 👏🏼

You can embed only Apple Support YouTube videos, by using the format bar below.⇣

Late to this question but here goes anyways

Points and Participated In

To truly understand the relationship between the two, we need to go back into the User's History

At one time the Awards System was based upon Solved and Helpful awards

Which was later refined to Include " Apple Recommend "

It was at that point, where I started earnestly participating in the ASC Forums in September 2019 ( Pre BC - Before COVID ) >> Humour here

Subsequently, the Award System was changed in early Nov 2023 and the " Apple Recommended " was abandoned

Yet again, a refining took place in early December 2023 where the Solved and Helpful was replaced with 1 UpVote by a logged in User garnered 1 point

Subsequently to that, In Early April 2024.

The Award System was Revised to >> 1 Upvote by a Logged In User or Using the UpVote button in a received email would award 6 Points

So, when you are I or anyone else looks at a User's Profile

Do take into account, that some very Longer Users may have passed through each and every phase of the Apple Awards System

I do encourage you to do your best to provide concise answers using your own original information and style

You can if you choose to, pick a User or Users of your choice. Quietly follow them around and Observe.

Each User has there own style and method to answer questions

Develop your own Style and Methods that seem unique to you and effective

Yes, we may have crossed swords previously

Though, I do look forwards to collaborating with you in the future

Zachyy wrote:

I have noticed some peoples points are 2x the participation, or 3x even 4x, some people even negative. Im just wondering, is there some kind of conversion, or average in the community?

And do most of these people’s come from user tips?

Doing a points:participation count calculation is not very meaningful. There have been multiple points systems so depending upon how long somebody has been participating, their counts will reflect those different systems.* I also believe that the participation count may only go back so far, so those who have really been around for a long time may in fact have even higher participation counts. Points have always been retained though.

As for user tip points, that is recent.

___

*Until a recent cap on the total upvotes generating points, for a while earlier this year I saw a few places where a few users had only ever made a single "me-too" post. It was upvoted 30 times, so their points:participation was 90:1 !

That’s not entirely true.

There were others who eventually quit volunteering who used videos and someone used animated GIFS extensively.

I don’t really care how someone answers a support question as long as it’s helpful.

I personally use it because it’s a feature that’s offered to us. 🙂‍↔️

You will also find that many times it is the other users that will upvote your post and not the OP. This is achieved by providing useful information that another poster may not have included. Simply posting the same information that has already been provided to the OP is not looked upon as contributing any additional info that will get an upvote. Although in some cases it is helpful when an OP pushes back against a correct post and there is value to a second opinion.

For example, Jeff Donald is an expert in the fields of Apple Pay and Banking questions, and in some cases I will respond to a post when others have not, but if there is a question where he has responded, I know the OP is in good hands and my 2 cents will not be much value. We are here to assist others and it is not a competition to see how many posts we can make when the information has already been provided.

Here's one of my secrets:

I don't keep notes for any of my answers.

How do I recall them?

A simple search.

Here is how you can find every possible answer you have ever posted:

site:discussions.apple.com + "Zachyy"

With this technique, I can use any Mac at any Apple Retail Store and answer support questions. 😉

Thanks for the friendly reminder, Limnos. 🙂‍↔️

As long as it’s public knowledge, according to Apple:

Level 4

1,000 Points

Get exclusive news from Apple. Earn more features in your My Subscriptions view.

That feature is awesome! 😎

This exclusive news is how we know what’s going on with the latest support articles. 🗞️

As soon as a new operating system is released, this is where I go. ⇠🙂‍↔️

Some of your questions are starting to get into Lounge level material and I don't know that we can discuss them in the open forums.

Level 4 is the last level with the blue dots.⇣

🔵

🔵 🔵

🔵

Wait, wait, wait, watch this...

If you want to find every collaboration we have ever done together, add this to your browser search:

site:discussions.apple.com + "Zachyy" + "Smilin Brian"

Now, think of all the things you can search for! 🤣

Zachyy wrote:

I see, I thought it was some kind of local thing. I didnt know people flew out for these! I hope there will be some in San Francisco where I reside though.

I only remember one in the Bay Area. There just aren’t many people at that point level in any one location. They have to try to schedule the in places where they can get enough people. There have been multiple meet-ups in NYC and London. But that was all before COVID.

You know, I wish the Community would get more attention or spotlight from Apple. Maybe a shoutout in the next keynote or event?

Don’t get your hopes up. Support is usually a negative experience. It means something went wrong. Even training events suggest the product needs training events. Apple likes to keep a focus on the positive.