I have 8,200 points, but I am currently not in the top 25. The last 5 are all below 7,900. Are there any suggestions or comments?

I assumed this ran off the points sytem as well, so in my opinion you should be in the top 10 sorry I'm new so I don't have any words of advice . Do you help ppl much ? I know that go's a long way at least in my book .

Perhaps it's a monthly thing?

Maybe no profile picture?

thanks, you are right. I just uploaded a profile picture; it showed up. Thanks : )

Congrats

nice work...I didn't even realize what the "top 25" was until I looked..ha!

Congrats! David buzztouchmods.com

It's sad that incredibly helpful people who regularly contribute like gbkakos (sorry mate, I know I spelled that wrong!) and MgoBlue and SteveH and many others aren't in the top 25 just because they haven't answered a few questions in a quiz, while others who contribute next to nothing are in there. Normally I wouldn't give a toss, but this statement at the top of the screen is now, imo, false and misleading: "buzztouch Top 25 These folks have helped tens of thousands of people get started making apps. In some cases their advice has helped aspiring developers earn thousands of dollars. We highly recommend following them and paying attention to their insights." I'm sure we'll have some straight talking insights from Sheri (who's close to dropping out of the top 25) if she see's this! lol!

@raveyd, unfortunately, I noticed the same thing and almost felt compelled to send a email to the bt gang about it (will do now actually). Not to say wolf that you did not get it fair, but you currently have 16 posts, and are RIGHT behind PSMDanny who has almost 400 posts AND has helped and created many plugins for the community - there's something wrong with that! (and wolf, this is not a attack to you and it is not your fault at all) David buzztouchmods.com

There are many people accumulating points in various ways, I'm sure the BT gang are well aware of teething issues. Most of the folk that have been on here for last two years know what is what. New users will also instantly see who helps and who just misdirects. Pointless (no pun intended) getting hung up over where you are in top 25. I would say though that 5 or so of the top twelve have helped folk consistently over the last 18months and deserve to be there for their input since the inception of BT. If your sole purpose of posting is to redirect, get points and just pure vanity for being in the 25 good luck to you.

I was shocked to see my name in the top 25 last week considering I mainly seek help instead of offering it and my main bit of advice to people is ask Google (or ask Mark).

Well said @MacApple David buzztouchmods.com

@MrDavid You've been around a while, you know the story.

hehe! @MacApple - "If your sole purpose of posting is to redirect, get points and just pure vanity for being in the 25 good luck to you." Totally agree. Some users ARE doing that, for just those reasons. As a result, the statement at the top of the screen is wrong, and that's my argument. It's false and misleading. "These folks have helped tens of thousands of people get started making apps" False - A handful have. "We highly recommend following them and paying attention to their insights" Misleading - Some have contributed nothing. I don't know about you Mac, or you David, I'm sure you're in the same situation, I get pm's and emails every day asking for help. I try to help them all if I can (except the ones asking me to build their app!). And I guess it must almost be a full time job for Mark! What I'm saying is, the top 25 SHOULD be made up of people trying to help, not just getting some quiz questions right or posting "thanks" to get 10 extra points!

Maybe implement some kind of user voting system or something for the top 25 that is separate from the participation points? That might be a bit fairer.

@Raveyd Hear you in the PM's, have helped folk on phone calls on weekends, given pointers and shared code. It is a shame that some of the guys, the ones you mentioned and a few others do not have a presence in that list when they have helped more than anyone, his Royal Highness Mark besides. Again though, David, Parker and Stephen are some of the smartest cats I've met in my ten 10yrs of IT work and I'm sure if they weren't busy doing all the goodness that makes us all cash and look good they'd fix it but these type of algorithms aren't easy and there are so many ifs and buts..... IF(post='Help',-10, IF(post='action_reply',+20, IF(post='redirect_externalURL',+5, ))) So much involved to make it a fair system.

Ps Thanks!

Maybe a fantasy buzztouch league? Ha!

I think we protest too much. As a former girlfriend used to tell me, "It is what it is." Buzztouch is still relatively new and will continue to develop. Points may be nice, and helping individual users is great, but the most significant help is an article that'll allow users to use Buzztouch without resorting to the Forum. The Forum is great for resolving new issues but is not (should not) designed to be the first stop. The most helpful are the ones with an article in the How-To section. But when someone reads the article and doesn't need help it will not show up in the Forum. Perhaps some like buttons for articles. Either way, I'm happy with what we have and I'm certain Buzztouch will continue to develop. Fred

Not sure what you mean by that Fred. Who do you think protests too much? You're saying the best help to give it to direct away from site and not contain help within the actual site / service forum for all to follow, search, comment and interact with? Would be interested in hearing MrDavid's thoughts on that, I know he has managed to help people on here with his mods, choosing this forum to trouble shoot as opposed to external forums with different users, sign-ons etc. Feel part of a community here, always have done and enjoy watching it grow, how-to's, knowledge base, BTU etc. nice to have a one stop shop. That said we'll always need external sources but that shouldn't halt or hinder the internal growth.

Not sure what that Fred. Who do you think protests too much? WE, as in we. David gave us Buzztouch and we ask for more and more. You're saying the best help to give it to direct away from site I specifically didn't say that. Some advice is best offsite, some pointing to articles in How-To, some a simple answer, some via private post, some by email, some by phone. To each it's own. and not contain help within the actual site / service forum for all to follow, search, comment and interact with? Some is repeative and doesn't need to be on forum. Mark does a lot one on one, then he'll write a article. Is that wrong? I believe it's not. Forum has it's nature which may or may not be appropriate for a given situation. I have my guide that points to many Forum posts. Given the Forum search features many of those post wouldn't be found by new (or even experienced) users. My Buzztouch search engine (offsite) has proven useful to many. So, offsite can be and is good. BT_mods is offsite, I'm certain iOS types are very happy with them. So, my position is the "Best Method, is no method." (Can anyone identify the quote? ) Fred

Can you direct me to your Buzztouch search engine, Fred? I'd like to have a gander at it. Thanks.

Ah-Chieve You can use complex google operators to search with sites like Stackoverflow, Buzztouch and so on. So if you typed this into Google: Eclipse site:Buzztouch.com You'll get what Google can find, only within Buzztouch about Eclipse. Handy thing to keep in mind.

www.MySkylla.com

Thanks guys. Those are both really helpful. 1,000,000 non-existent Ag-Chieve points for each of you!

Great now I can payoff that SuperBowl wager.

Something like this was first posted when BTM was released, and similarly, it was a offsite vs onsite discussion (which is where this is heading I believe) @Fred says from what I can interpret that handling user problems with articles, videos, ect is better then the forum. What should not be said is whether those are on site or off site articles. It's always best for prevention then cure (fix issues before they become issues)? I think that is what Fred is trying to say. And that's definitively a good way to think. As @MacApple said, handling problems from BT mods on this forum was the right way to go - this is THE forum users will be looking at for support, why fix what is not broken or over complicate things? This is the reason the buzz wiki makes it clear that the forum is located HERE. It is also the reason I do not have a forum tab/link. (through I need to delete some threads). The only reason offsite sites exist are to improve upon what onsite is missing (mostly the reason anyway). There are many good offsite sources like freds site, the buzzwiki or stobe's website - they all help many people. Final thoughts are what MacApple has said: "That said we'll always need external sources but that shouldn't halt or hinder the internal growth." I think we can all agree on this and move on? p.s. as for points, points system will be improved no doubt in the future. for now it is not important who shows who does the most work or helps the most - it is that we should do it regardless of points. The point system is important as it is created to encourage users to create plugins, to help others, to post and participate ect. It also helps bt-team to reward or punish users, and it allows other users to find us and receive faster and sometimes better support. There is a great use for this system, it's just not perfect yet - and that's normal. Just my two cents... David buzztouchmods.com

Maybe just drop the whole thing - no more Top 25? LOL. Kidding of course. All of you are right, all of you seem to understand the purpose. The idea(s) are countless but the ultimate goal is to show a simple list of folks that "help" move the bar forward. Posting "thanks" may not seem to help other users but it sort-of does. Posting deep insights and thoughts is very helpful. Posting URL's can also be helpful. It's easy to misunderstand who is being helped with each post. Example: "Thanks": Helps the poster stay motivated, in most cases. Example: "URL": Helps the person with the external site get traffic and helps the user sometimes. Example: "Detailed Response": Helps everyone. On and on. We think user points should be a combination of Useful posts, Submitted How To's, Number of Posts, Created Plugins, External Site support (make a site about buzztouch), and regular participation. The challenge of course is that there is not way for a user to "post" a How To, "upload" a plugin, or do other things associated with being a "top" user. We've been working on all sorts of algorithms to support the goal. We want to help folks that help our users. There are many ways we can help these super users. Traffic to their sites, development work, specialized support, etc. The hard part for us is the idea that each user has a different motive so it's hard to know the best way to help them. Bottom line, we are a few normal Joe's like the rest of the audience and we're doing what we can to build a community of like minded folks that share a common goal - making good apps. Showing a Top 25 list is one way to do that. Expect a few other ways to "show off" super users in the very near future.

Appreciate the insight David, I'm certain those algorithms are not as easy as 1-2-3 when it comes to understanding the helpfulness of a user/post. As always, ecstatically looking forward to the future the bt-gang has planned for us! David buzztouchmods.com