Not to be a stick in the mud or anything, but I had a question: How much activity should we look for before voting a "yes" on an upgrade request? I know that the guidelines states "Votes are based on writing quality and overall activity." but I've been seeing votes on members who the only thing they've done is post their mandatory two reviews.

I know I held off on asking for an upgrade request because I assumed I hadn't been active enough. Is there some sort of activity level that I should be looking for, or is that some that we shouldn't look for anymore? less

There really isn't a mandatory activity level at all, but I {personally} refuse to vote for someone if they never respond to comments on their reviews at the least. To me that shows that they at least give a damn about the quality of the reviews they give less

I vote on people if they've got a decent review and seem like they're at least trying. My husband actually made a comment earlier about the Weekly Rumble. He thought it was sad to look at the number of people who have gotten upgraded to advanced and then to see the numbers of votes on the rumbles. There only seems to be a handful of participants that are very active. less

As a new person I can say that contributing to the forum can be a bit intimidating. However, I agree with Mistress Kay, if you want the upgrade, you should do at least put in the time around here. Which is why even though it is a bit intimidating, I'm doing it! It's sometimes hard to jump in, but once you do it's not so bad. At least that's what I'm telling myself... less

There really isn't a mandatory activity level at all, but I {personally} refuse to vote for someone if they never respond to comments on their reviews at the least. To me that shows that they at least give a damn about the quality of the reviews they give less

As a new person I can say that contributing to the forum can be a bit intimidating. However, I agree with Mistress Kay, if you want the upgrade, you should do at least put in the time around here. Which is why even though it is a bit intimidating, I'm doing it! It's sometimes hard to jump in, but once you do it's not so bad. At least that's what I'm telling myself... less

Not to be a stick in the mud or anything, but I had a question: How much activity should we look for before voting a "yes" on an upgrade request? I know that the guidelines states "Votes are based on writing quality and overall activity." but I've been seeing votes on members who the only thing they've done is post their mandatory two reviews.

I know I held off on asking for an upgrade request because I assumed I hadn't been active enough. Is there some sort of activity level that I should be looking for, or is that some that we shouldn't look for anymore? less

As a newly voted advanced reviewer (thanks guys!) I was wondering the same thing! I'm trying to be active in the forums, but it's difficult given the fact that I'm spending most of my time trying to put up reviews for the toys that I own. Since I'm having trouble balancing the forums and reviews, I'm trying to give the people that I'm voting on the benefit of the doubt with regards to their (potential) lack of participation.

But if a reviewer has had ::no:: participation in the forums, that participant would not get my vote.

That being said I do think that the most important quality in an advanced reviewer is the ability to write a thorough review. While being an active member is definitely important (everyone here has been so welcoming, a non-active member could be missing out on a great experience, and on great resources!), in the end, if a reviewer cannot accurately assess a product, he/she should not be an advanced reviewer regardless of his/her participation in the forums. less

Well I can say that I like it here so far. The conversations seem to be intellectual, which is a lot to say considering some sites are so daft in the community part.

@Newme, I think that's a problem with not reading all of the capabilities of the site. If I didn't read up on it, I would have no idea that you could comment on a review. I'm glad I did read that though. Seems like an important thing to know. less

As a newly voted advanced reviewer (thanks guys!) I was wondering the same thing! I'm trying to be active in the forums, but it's difficult given the fact that I'm spending most of my time trying to put up reviews for the toys that I own. Since I'm having trouble balancing the forums and reviews, I'm trying to give the people that I'm voting on the benefit of the doubt with regards to their (potential) lack of participation.

But if a reviewer has had ::no:: participation in the forums, that participant would not get my vote.

That being said I do think that the most important quality in an advanced reviewer is the ability to write a thorough review. While being an active member is definitely important (everyone here has been so welcoming, a non-active member could be missing out on a great experience, and on great resources!), in the end, if a reviewer cannot accurately assess a product, he/she should not be an advanced reviewer regardless of his/her participation in the forums. less

There is a checkbox when you write reviews to be notified via e-mail of comments on it. I recommend using this ALL the time. I'm not sure how you missed it or the ability to comment on reviews. If you look at any review, you can see the comments section toward the bottom of the page. less

Welcome and if I could add..

A lot of has have a lot of time to spend here but folks don't. EF has a lot to offer and it's easier to tell how active a person is now with the new wall feature on profiles but I'm not going to hold it against someone if they aren't super duper active. Real life, you know? It takes time. It throws us curve balls and it doesn't wait for us to post on a forum, comment on a review or whatnot. I think as long as someone is trying to write quality reviews and replies to comments, I will probably vote them in. It's nice to see something extra but if it were meant to be a requirement, then it would be. less