**Not sure how this would work with forum programming...
I've been on a lot of different forums for quite some time... For those who have worked as techs, or just have a significant amount of hands-on knowledge with vehicles or mechanical systems, it becomes evident who does or doesn't have experience.
A lot of people come to forums for technical discussion or to solve technical issues. For a novice, or someone who isn't experienced, it's often hard to decipher the good suggestions from the not so good ones.
So I thought it might be a good idea to institute a "Forum Tech" rating that members earn. Having the rating will help other (or new) members feel a bit more confident about your suggestions. Here's how I would think it would work:
1) Start with a few members who clearly have a mechanical background, like El Cid/ Doc/ etc. (Anyone who has experience, works as a tech, has ASE certs, etc can always request the rating).
2) As a general rule, having the "Tech Rating" gives you the responsibility to give a member "tech points" when they make a solid technical post.
3) After a member reaches a certain number of "tech points", they earn a "Tech Rating" badge (and have the same responsibility to give out "tech points")
4) The "Tech badge" listed under/near a username should link a member to a quick summary of what the badge means... obviously it should be stated clearly that the badge is in no way, shape or form counts an "official" tech for any manufacturer and that's its basically just a forum gage of a members hands on experience or technical expertise.
The Positive:
1) Members get a good sense for who the technically inclined members are... especially since the "badge" must be earned from others who have knowledge/experience. It's not based on # of posts (like I see on some forums).
2) It promotes members to make good technical posts to earn the badge.
The Negatives:
1) It could make members feel like the "must" earn the badge or be looked at as "non technical".
2) We all know that you don't have to be technically inclined to make a good suggestion... so it could potentially make a member ignore a good suggestion because that person isn't "tech rated". (But if someone makes a good post, they should get a tech thumbs up for it anyway... so maybe that won't be much of an issue?)
Figured I'd throw it out there for thoughts/discussion. Trying to come up with ways to make our site a bit different than others and keep up the technical discussions.
