Within a specific message board, your contributions may earn you a contributor's medal for that board. Medals are granted at three levels (Gold is highest, then Silver , and finally Bronze ) and are based on community response to your messages. Contributors who consistently write excellent, civil and well-argued points stand a much better chance of achieving a medal than those community members who are frequently disruptive, abusive or wander off-topic.

Medals earned on one board do not carry over to other boards. You may be a Gold contributor on one board, a Bronze on a second, and have no medal at all on a third. This is by design: medals help identify long-standing and valued contributors to a specific community.

The exact formula that determines medal-achievement will not be made public (and is subject to change) but, in general, it may be influenced by the following factors: community response to your messages (how highly others rate your messages); the amount of (quality) contributions that you make to the boards; and how often and accurately you rate others messages.

It is possible to lose a contributor medal once you've earned it. This can happen for a number of reasons: you have not been active on the board for while or you have recently received more lower Ratings for your posts. You can earn back your medal by continuing to post high quality messages on the board. It is not possible, at this time, to opt out of receiving a medal.

Note: Medals are not granted at Yahoo!'s discretion. They are an automated reflection of the community's opinion of the value of a person's contributions. Yahoo! does not endorse the statements of community members who have contributor's medals. If you feel that a community member's medal has been granted unfairly, or if you feel that someone in the community is attempting to unfairly influence your own ability to earn a medal, you can report it as abuse