Red Stars

[Dave Wherry]

Are these red stars by peoples names new or was I just blind before?
Are these the people that drink Heineken?

[Patrick Wallek]

The red stars by peoples names are new. The came with the "New & Improved" version of the forums.

If you go to the 'my profile' link on the left, there is a section in your profile that lets you put a check mark in the forums that you have an interest in and the forums you think you are an expert in. The red star indicates that you said in your profile that you are an 'expert' in that given area.

[Jack Burke]

Dave,

Well, I *looked* for "Heineken" as an area of expertise, but HP hasn't made that available yet. As drinking Heineken is the only area that I am expert in, I guess it will be some time before I have a red star next to my name :-( .

[Jeff Siegle]

Hi Dave-

Sadly, we do have no category for Heineken, and our intent was not to identify the top beer drinkers in the Forum.... ;-)

What we wanted to provide was a way for a user to "self-proclaim" his or her areas of expertise. We realize that points earned & quality answers are ultimately one of the best ways of assessing/trusting one's expertise in a given area. However, we wanted to enable users, when they first join the forums, to have a way for others to see that this is an area that a user feels they have some measure of experience. In truth, only time and activity will tell in the community whether that person truly is an expert.

Take as a most extreme example, Bill Hassell & Rick Jones. Are they world-renowned experts in HP-UX? Yes. Would a user who hasn't ever heard of Bill or Rick who visits the Forums for the first time be able to identify their status by looking at the Top User lists in the forums (espcially when Bill was first starting out in the Forums back in late-May)? No. So, it was our hope that this mechanism would be a way for experts who are new to the Forums to identify their areas of expertise upfront so that others might have greater assistance in assessing the value of the answers they receive.

Now we fully realize that many people might find this silly, or prefer to let their words identify their true measure of expertise. That's fine with us. We've built it as an optional mechanism for users to do with as they wish. It will never replace the hats you earn - notice those go wherever you go - the red star just shows up in the specific area that you self-proclaim. It's easy to add a little red star next to your name.... it's another thing to earn the points to prove it.

All in all, we just hope it's another way to help promote some sense of user trust and help our newly arriving experts identify their areas of strength as they begin contributing to the community.

Hope that helps-
Jeff