What are Community Points?
Community Points are awarded for performing actions which are particularly
useful to other members of the Ciao Community and other users of the
website. Included in these actions are: writing helpful reviews, writing
comments and rating other members' reviews, inviting friends to join
Ciao and earning the trust of other Ciao members. The number of Community
Points you have determines the amount of exposure you will gain on
the Ciao site: only members who have attained a certain point level
will figure as "Featured Members", and thereby gain more
publicity for their reviews.
What purpose do Community Points serve?
The number of Community Points you have earned allows you, and your
readers, to gauge how helpful your contributions to the Ciao community
have been for other members: the higher the number of points you have
earned, the more helpful your input. And the more Community Points
you have, the more weight will be lent to your review ratings.
Are Community Points a measure of the quality
of a member's reviews?
The quality of a member's reviews is one factor for which Community
Points are awarded, but it is not the only one. In fact, the majority
of a member's Community Points may have been derived from activities
entirely unrelated to review writing, such as inviting new members
to join Ciao. A better measure of the quality of a member's reviews
are the individual ratings that these have received from other members.
To get an overview of how well received a member's reviews have been
overall, please visit his/her personal member area and consult the
"Reviews" tab.
How can I earn Community Points?
You can earn Community Points for: writing reviews and comments, rating
other members' reviews, receiving reads and ratings for your own reviews
from other members, gaining another member's trust, and inviting new
members to join Ciao. The number of points awarded for each activity
varies and you can see how the points are calculated on the "Statistics"
page in your "My Ciao" area.
How can I find out the number of Community
Points I have at the moment?
Simply log in, go to your personal member area "My Ciao"
and consult your Community Points summary on the "Statistics"
tab.
What do the coloured dots mean?
The coloured dot next to your name shows the Community Level that
you have attained.
Level 1: white: 1-1000 points (1 Exceptional rating per day)
Level 2: green: 1 000-4 999 points (3 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 3: blue: 5 000-9 999 points (5 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 4: violet: 10 000-19 999 points (6 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 5: red: 20 000-49 999 points (7 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 6: orange: 50 000-99 999 points (8 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 7: bronze: 100 000-250 000 points (9 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 8: silver: 250 000-499 999 points (10 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 9: gold: 500 000-4 999 999 points (11 Exceptional ratings per day)
Level 10: black: over 5 000 000 points (12 Exceptional ratings per day)
What does "Community Point Level" mean?
Depending on the total number of points you have accumulated, you
will attain a certain Community Level, represented by a coloured dot
next to your name. Authors with a higher status are likely to become
better-known on Ciao; this system therefore gives ALL members the
opportunity to increase their recognition in the community via high-quality
participation.
What advantages does my Community Point Level
have?
A member's Community Level is a rough indicator of how experienced
a member (s)he is. Members with a high Community Level are, therefore,
more likely to have their reviews read and rated and to be invited
to join other members' Circles of Trust. You must have attained a
certain Community Level before your picture can be displayed in the
"Featured Member" box on logged in Ciao pages. This extra
exposure is good publicity for you and can lead to your reviews receiving
more reads and ratings.
Can I earn money for collecting Community Points?
No, your Community Points do not translate into money and your Community
Points balance does not have any direct relation with your monetary
earnings on Ciao. However, if you are an active member, then your
earnings are likely to increase in parallel with your Community Points
as you earn money for reads, for inviting friends, participating in
surveys etc.
Can I exchange the Community Points for anything?
It is not possible to do so at this time.
white: 1-1000 points (1 Exceptional rating per day)
green: 1 000-4 999 points (3 Exceptional ratings per day)
blue: 5 000-9 999 points (5 Exceptional ratings per day)
violet: 10 000-19 999 points (6 Exceptional ratings per day)
red: 20 000-49 999 points (7 Exceptional ratings per day)
orange: 50 000-99 999 points (8 Exceptional ratings per day)
bronze: 100 000-250 000 points (9 Exceptional ratings per day)
silver: 250 000-499 999 points (10 Exceptional ratings per day)
gold: 500 000-4 999 999 points (11 Exceptional ratings per day)
black: over 5 000 000 points (12 Exceptional ratings per day)