To All newcomers and regular visitors:

Let talk ratings. As you may or may not know there is a rating system here at the Cisco Support Community and while this may seem trivial to some it is of great use to others. Now currently there a 5 levels (Stars) and they are as follows....

1 Star - Not Helpful

2 Stars - Somewhat helpful

3 Stars - Helpful

4 Stars - Very Helpful

5 Stars - Extremely Helpful

Now this is just my opinion but I think they should be used this way, but before I get into that I want to state a few things. Please remember this is not a site where everyone answering questions is a Cisco employee, this is a volunteer involvement and the people who take the time to answer do so on their own time and with every intention of helping and giving you the best answer they know how. Also remember the level of knowledge of people answering varies greatly and you may sometimes get an answer that is not exactly correct because the person answering did not understand the question when they thought they did or may have just made a mistake, we are all learning here, please do not slam them, lets just educate them so we all learn and get better at our craft. Now with that said here is my opinion on how the ratings should be used.

1 Star - NEVER USE...this is just a slap and if you do not find a post helpful or wrong help the person understand the mistake or make sure they understand what you are asking. NEVER USE THIS RATING. If you think you need to use this level of ratings find another Support Community....just my opinion.

2 Stars - Again I don't think this level should be used. Again I go back to there could be just a lack of understanding of what you may be asking for or the person is trying to help the best they can. Believe me I don't think anyone here is trying to lead you down the wrong path or give you bad advice on purpose.

3 Stars - I think this is a borderline rating. I used to use this when I was new to the Community but I never go below a 4 and the reason for this is I feel the person took the time to help me so if the answer was just helpful I go one more and give them a 4 for their effort.

4 Stars - This in my opinion is the lowest rating I give and I only give this and not a 5 is if it did not totally answer my question but the information was useful in finding the answer on my own and they dropped out of the conversation.

5 Stars - This is the level I give most of the time. If they helped me completely with my question or even helped me down the path and they stuck with me all the way.

Again ratings are just way to recognize the person, who on there own time, took the time to help you with a problem as best as they know how. I have to tell you when I got the little star next to my name it felt pretty good, it may not be much but when you know you have helped someone it does feel good and when they let you know that you helped it makes it worth the time. This by far is the best support community out there and I thank everyone who has helped me and also those who have rated me. I continue to learn and with all your help we all can go further.

One last thing....Please try and remember to rate peoples answers and mark any correct answers accordingly. I will admit I forget sometimes but I am going to do my best to rate going forward. Also if you read through a post and you found it helpful, don't be bashful go ahead and rate the posting as well, even if it was not your questions.

Thanks for your time in reading through this.

Mike "Burleyman" or "Cross-Over Cable Guy"