Contributor Reputation Program FAQ

This FAQ explains the Contributor Reputation Program for the SAP Community Network. Read on to find out how your contributions are rewarded in the community.

What is the Contributor Reputation Program?

Your contributions are a vital part of the SAP Community Network. To reward our most active members, we've developed the Contributor Reputation Program, which awards points to community members for each document, code sample, video, wiki contribution, eLearning contribution, discussion post, and community topic weblog authored. The same awards go for creating rich media such as videos, podcasts or eLearning content. Points may also be awarded for other types of contributions, at the discretion of Community Managers and Moderators. You can see the Build Your Reputation on SCN.

What is an Active Contributor?

As you participate and contribute on SCN, you will accumulate points over a 12-month rolling period that also counts toward lifetime points. Active Contributors are those members that are active enough on SCN to accumulate at least 250 points in the last 12 months. Active Contributors enjoy enhanced recognition on SCN with a badge that shows their current level of contribution: bronze, silver, gold or platinum.

What is a Topic Leader, and how does this differ from a Top Participant?

A Topic Leader is a member who is among the three leading contributors in a topic space on SCN, at the end of a 12-month contest period (ending in July each year). Topic Leaders receive additional recognition at events such as SAP TechEd conferences. For more information, read the Former SCN "Top Contributors" now SCN "Topic Leaders".

A Top Participant is a leading contributor in specific topic spaces, based on contribution point totals accumulated within the last 12 months. A Top Participants widget in each topic space will feature and rank the 5 top contributors. Watch this widget, as it set to refresh daily.

How are points assigned on SCN?

In most cases, a fixed, base amount of points is automatically assigned to the author for each contribution such as an article, community topic blog or eLearning video. Community members also have the opportunity to award extra points for content they feel is high-quality and useful, with mechanisms such as “likes”, "shares" and high ratings. In discussions, the original poster awards points to answers provided by the community. Space editors and moderators for areas such as wikis may also grant extra points for exceptional contributions.

How many points do I earn for my contributions?

Note that weblogs created in your own user profile (personal weblogs) do not earn any contribution nor feedback points. However, you can move your personal blogs to relevant topic spaces where they can start earning feedback points.

Point values may be modified at any time by SCN Management.

What are feedback points?

Feedback points are the easiest way for you to show approval and appreciation to the content author. When you give feedback using “Like,” “Rate,” and “Share,” additional points are awarded to the author. This applies to content community content listed above (again, personal blogs are not eligible for feedback points).

How do I know if a discussion thread has already been answered?

Threads marked as questions that remain unanswered are indicated by a question mark icon. These questions are still eligible for points.

Threads marked as questions and that have been marked as answered (and points awarded) are indicated by a blue, closed-star icon.

How do I award points in Discussions?

To award points in Discussion threads, you must first be the original poster of the question. To quickly find thread you created, go to your User Profile, and view Discussion threads in the Content tab. You will be able to click on either “Correct Answer” or “Helpful Answer” in each of the reply messages.

	10 points (limit one per thread)
	5 points (limit 15 per thread)

How do I know my current status in the Contributor Reputation Program?

The Reputation Tab, in your User Profile, indicates your current contribution status. Other SCN members can also view your status and Reputation Tab.

The Reputation Tab allows you to see your lifetime points, your points earned over the last 12 months, and your current rank in the topic spaces in which you participate (based on lifetime points). You will also be able to see your Active Contributor status and badge based on the number of points you’ve earned in the last 12 months, and your last contributions.

The Active Contributor badges are awarded as follows:

Active Contributor Bronze: 250-499 points

Active Contributor Silver: 500-1,499 points

Active Contributor Gold: 1,500-2,499 points

Active Contributor Platinum: 2,500 points and above

Once you reach a higher contribution level, you will receive an email notification, in addition to seeing a new badge in your User Profile.

I have multiple user IDs on SCN, is it possible to consolidate my IDs and my points?

[April 23, 2012: We are currently experiencing issues with consolidating user IDs and contributions. Thank you for your patience]

Yes it is possible. You need to decide which user ID you want to keep, then send an email to sapnetwork@sap.com, provide the user ID and ask for the consolidation to be done.

Your blog and discussion contributions will all be moved to your single user ID and the points will be consolidated. For the wiki, your points will be brought to your unique user ID but unfortunately, we don't have the ability to move your Wiki contributions to another user ID at this time. 

Where can I find a list of top companies participating on SCN? 

We provided a rank-list of companies participating on SCN in the past. A similar report will be provided later in 2012.