I hope all of you fine WA'ers will excuse my momentary rant, as I mean no harm or offense toward anyone. However, I have seen so many posts lately about how to improve one's ranking here at WA, how to get into the top 12, "why didn't my rank improve, because I posted lots of comments".... etc.

The ranking system is what it is - a way to recognize people who are actively paying it forward within the community. The algorithm is based on your contributions as a helper, creator and level of activity. Mathematically there's some logic to how it's determined what magic number is.

BUT, the whole point of a getting a good rank is that you earn it by giving of yourself unselfishly. Meaning you shouldn't be waiting for that big pat on the back for doing a good deed. There are some extremely "ambassador-worthy" members of our community here that have a lower ranking, but that doesn't make them less valuable, their opinion less credible, or the wealth of knowledge in their head less relevant than anyone else. It also doesn't mean they don't contribute when they can.

Stop paying so much attention to what number you're at. Ask yourself instead, "Did I do a good job today (this week, this month...)?", "Did I write a post or make an improvement on my site?" Did I leave a comment that helped someone, either by giving them needed info or just by making them smile? Yes? Good! Congratulations. You are an Ambassador!

I welcome anyone here to agree, disagree or give a hoot n' a holler back any which way.

Ever your friend and follower,

Marcel