How does one's rank go up

Merry meet all! Please forgive me if I have placed this in the incorrect category but how does the voting on spellsofmagic.com work? This is a serious question, I'm not trying to ask to have my rank elevated, I'm just looking for some clarification. Thank you to all who comment helpful information.

P.S by rank I mean reputation.

You get a rank by what you say on forums/chatter. It doesn't matter if you say you've been studying magick for however long, it depends on what you show. But the reason you have not been ranked yet is probably because some have not voted for you (I'm not sure who can vote) or some are still making a decision.

This thread has been moved to Comments from General Info.

Reputations are assigned to members by those members who are ranked as Knowledgeable or as Adept. Generally it takes more than one such member to assign a reputation.

Criteria used to assign rankings include being active in the Forums and Chat, demonstrating a sound knowledge of magic and/or other occult subjects, behavior towards other members, etc.

It often takes time to obtain a reputation. I came to this board with some 30 years of magical training and experience yet I had no reputation for several years after that. I wasn't posting that much back then so it took awhile before anyone noticed whether I knew my stuff or not.

But be careful. I'm told it doesn't take much to get it taken away.

Elidark, you have been told wrong. If you have shown that you know what you are talking about it is very unlikely that your reputation will be taken away. Please do not spread incorrect information.

Ranking Syten Info By OthalasWind : http://www.spellsofmagic.com/read_post.html?post=402738

Here is a pinned post found in the general info part of the website describing reputations and how they are achieved to some depth. Other good places to look for indepth information on reputations are the FAQs and the SoM Surival Guide (http://www.spellsofmagic.com/coven_ritual.html?ritual=1944&coven=1)

In my own words, reputation goes up over time as you prove yourself to the community and those who are ranked knowledgeable above that you are capable, intelligent, open minded, and that you have a good head on your shoulders. Many members who have been practicing for decades and on are first ranked beginner simply because they are beginning on this website. Some people stay with that reputation if it suits who they are as a practitioner, and others continue on to be novice, knowledgeable, and adept through varying degrees of contribution, intelligence, efforts, reliability, trust, and acceptance. Spells of Magic is not only a forum and a chatroom with spells and magic articles, it's also a community. It sucks to say, but sometimes you need to prove yourself and where you stand not only as an individual, but as a practitioner.

I asked this question a while back and the answer was somewhat expected and unexpected. I personally don't care for the ranking system, though i agree with my rank, and don't think you should put too much stock in it. Anyway, from what I gathered your activity is examined site wide in terms of ranking but some don't bother to vote on rank. I was told that if you were active only in the forums your rank might not increase much as I was informed chat activity resulted in more votes towards your rank.

I can't recall the exact details on how it repoteredly works but I believe a single vote isn't enough for a rank increase as you need multiple people voting on your rank. Also, your rank can definitely be demoted/reduced based on your actions such as breaking the site rules and/or posting fictional/false information as your reputation is meant to give an impression of how knowledgeable you are, though it does appear to be a rare occurance. It's been a long time since I was told this and it may be inaccurate if only due to poor memory, though I do believe that the chat has a higher impact on your rank if only because there is a live conversation giving a credible example of the knowledge you possess. In the end there are many knowledgeable people with low rank and some less knowledgeable with high rank sometimes though typically if you have a high rank they are knowledgeable, so anyway just keep that in mind.

I know it's not supposed to be but on sites like this ranks/reputation is a popularity contest like everywhere else. Your activity does matter a lot but if a member who can vote personally knows you or likes you there's an obvious higher chance they will bother to take the time to vote on you. I'm not saying those ranked knowledgeable or above don't deserve it yet I have to assume the old phrase about having friends in higher places does have some cumulative affect. I'm not saying this is common just that it is illogical to think it doesn't occur to some extent as humans can easily be biased without realizing it.