Admin Corner

The  Forum is a collaborative effort - the more people are involved, the better it gets.

The most obvious way to contribute is by posting messages - ask and answer questions. Users put more faith in answers from other users than from any other source.   So, if you've already solved another user's problem, let them know how you did it!  Chances are the person who asked will find your answer to be better than ours because you have "walked in theirs shoes."

But there's are other ways to make the forum work better for everyone as well -- use Kudos and Accepted Solutions!  Answers marked as Solutions appear first in the results of a search query. If you get an answer to a question that works for you, mark it "approved"  - other users will thank you for it.

Kudos also help the best stuff rise to the top. A Kudo is a way of giving someone a pat on the back for a great post.  It doesn't have to be an answer - good questions and interesting observations also deserve Kudos. In fact, the only criterion for giving a Kudo is that you think it's interesting!  The user who posted the message also gets credit when you give Kudos. Take a look at the Kudos leader boards on the Home Page to see who our current leaders are.

What's your favorite post? Which solutions work best for you?  Let us know!

We're having a changing of the guard.  Andrew has been our foum moderator since we launched the Community in April, 2008. He's been a big factor in our ongoing success -- helping to focus and moderate discussions and keep the gears turning. Andrew is now moving on to work with other communities -- best of luck, Andrew!

Moderators work mostly in the background, reading all the posts, moving them to a better location when needed, replying to move the converstaion forward, and just generally looking after both the community interactions and the internal housekeeping. Andy has also been a big help to me in planning the layout of boards, setting up Ask the Expert events, and introducing new features.

Andy's capable shoes will be filled by SandyD and her backup moderator, ShannonS. Both have had a lot of experience visiting, participating in, and moderating communities. If you have any questions about how the foum works or how to participate, drop a Private Message to Sandy or to  Shannon - they'll be glad to help. Also let either Sandy or Shannon - or me - know if you have a good idea for making the forum better.

Welcome, Sandy and Shannon - we look forward to hearing your voices.

Please welcome our 3,000th registered user -- "TaxLady"!!

I've been watching our population of registered users grow steadily since we launched the Forum in April, 2008, but I don't usually get to find out much about who each person really is. So, when "TaxLady" became number 3,000, I decided to take a big step... just ask! 

TaxLady (winner of the handsome personalized "3,000th-user" coffee mug at the right!) actually is what her nickname suggests. Bonnie Lewis is a tax professional operating (for now!) out of her home in Johnstown, PA. Soon she hopes to expand to an external office "...somewhere in town."  Bonnie's an "enrolled agent," which means that she can practice in front of the Internal Revenue Service. She says, "I use a K700 small postage machine which has saved me time and money over the past two years. I joined the forum to ensure that I am getting the most out of my machine." So far, she has found our forum to be, "a wealth of answers."

Welcome to the community, TaxLady!