Changes to our 2025 forum spotlights!

Tagging some people who may be interested in this 💛

@amiablePeace77 @daydreammemories @EmmaE @MistyMagic @PoliteOcean @VerseArt @audienta @KatePersephone @Kristynsmama @EmotionsListener @SunShineAlwaysGrateful @AffyAvo @SunshineAlwaysGrateful @heathermarie95 @KristenHR @Mya000 @delightfulUnicorn38 @Soulsings @calmingcomfortero @Mya000 @bestVase7265 @Angelanj @patientShell1003 @uniqueGrace8272 @sweetnutella @amiablePeace77 @pamharley003 @Phoenixthepoised @Admirablerainbow2825 @Kristynsmama @Bearainy @KindleMissie @izzyy528 @Snor1ax @Renjik8013 @WeEarth @DarkerPlaces @RainbowRosie @Gargi07 @StarrySkies1236 @QuietMagic @CaringEzra @Izila @kabir22 @KindleMissie @GoldenRuleJG @trueconfidant123 @InsightfulPhoenix @wonderfulKermit1936 @aCalmOasis @audienta @CalmRosebud @cyanPlatypus6370 @daydreammemories @GentleHealingInitiative @HachiBee @KatePersephone @LittleEggHarbor @MistyMagic @Optimisticempath @pamharley003 @PatienceImpatiens @Phoenixthepoised @PurpleFlower40 @SilverSeastar @SparkyGizmo @Sunisshiningandsoareyou @tommy @wishfulWillow6962 @YourCaringConfidant

@tommy

Oooh such fantabulous ways to acknowledge efforts and appreciate the many people who consistently support forumland! 🥳

Rooting for everyone!🥰

@tommy I love this! Thanks for the tag. ♡ I loved seeing the 2024 stats and the tags of all the amazing people. Everything implemented here and mentioned is a great and beautiful way for people to feel recognized, appreciated, and valued. They surely deserve it! ♡ 

@tommy

Hi Tommy! 😊 ❤️

Thank you for the forum post as well as for tagging me! Wow! Just Wow! 😳 I love your new changes! This is so well thought out, highly intentional on your part to be kind to others, deliberately finding ways to give others positive affirmations, praise and trying to find a way to reward good behavior. This is one of the first things I get to see when signing onto the platform and it's the sweetest thing I have seen yet!  ❤️

The 2024 Forum Unwrapped was the same.❤️ Tossing out the stats like that and being like, I'm going to praise you, I'm going to show you that I "see you" and I'm going to call you out publicly for your efforts really stopped me in my tracks! Thank you for crunching the numbers and sharing them with us all. 

I don't know, getting a bit emotional now, but I'll say it anyway...so many of us do things just because we care (seek no recognition or reward). We do things to warm the hearts of others, to be kind, to be an uplifting presence in the life of someone else. Upvoting another's post, letting them know they are seen, valued and appreciated costs us nothing. I feel like a such a simple act sends a strong message. Some days it can feel like a warm hug to someone else. 

What goes through my mind, "See an empty heart, fill it up. All day long, you'll have good luck." 😊 Weeeeeee-weeeeeee! 😊 Just a fun Gizzie-ism that I say to myself when burning through the forums, having a bit of fun, providing compassion hearts whether it has been previously upvoted or not while reading the wonderful contributions of others. 

As the self proclaimed "compassion heart bandit" ❤️ around here, I have now been exposed in the forum area, hahaha 😊. Many times I say "I'm going to appreciate us all, whether we like it, or not"! *giggles* 🤭

Thank you for "catching" us being kind, for being good. The acknowledgement was truly unexpected and admittedly, it really did give me the warm fuzzies inside to know that you see my efforts and that you care about us all. 

Again, Thank You Tommy! I appreciate you! ❤️

*high fives* 😊 and *hugs* ❤️

@tommy

Oh fascinating

Awesome initiative to enliven even more the Forums, and reward and motivate support in the Communities.

I hope it has a great impact on tha already thriving Forums and Communities!

Congratulations and thank you for your relentless efforts to make them always better and better!

@tommy

@tommy

Very excited for this! 

@tommy I have a few thoughts on this. (in purple)

First - thanks so much for your care and attention in producing such a thorough post with exciting new challenges for the forum communities.

Thread discussion and events spotlight
Leaders and community users can continue to submit threads / discussions to showcase at the end of each month through this form. These will continue to be part of our monthly forum spotlight as it allows us to showcase the efforts of individual communities and leaders.

Awesome, I use these a lot to showcase threads and I encourage others to do the same!

Engagement challenge
Our engagement challenge has helped ensure everyone gets a reply to their post. Find out more information about this challenge here. Going forward, we will be awarding the following prizes to the top three users who reply to the most needs reply posts (remember to submit your posts on this form):

I know that there are many that (in theory) fill the 'Needs Reply challenge' when they respond to new threads in their communities by checking the NR filter every day, but they do not see that as a challenge, it is part of their role so they do not fill in any form, after all they would be filling in the form so many times instead of actually posting.
 I have always said that 'quality is more valuable than quantity' and sometimes by posting a short reply that can take the thread out of the checked filter but without giving the OP a useful response. We all need to be mindful of that and be careful to deliver the best response possible. There is a great thread here explaining about how to give a great post and Effective Reply

Top posters
Starting from our January 2025 spotlight, we will bring to you the top 3 posters for that month. This includes threads and posts made by those specific users. As a thank you, we'll reward the following: 

Is it possible to give the top 3 of listeners and the top 3 of members separately? Many listeners have roles that take their time, and so their post count may be far less than our members who might concentrate on filling their time by posting.

Same with the other categories - Upvoters too please?

Top communities

We will also post our top three communities with the most threads/posts for that month. This can be a great incentive for you to support your favourite community and aim to get on the leaderboard. Forum leaders, please do not hesitate to reach out to tommy if you'd like to know your statistics.

I wonder at this. Surely these are pretty easy to guess at a glance as some communities have such a broad topic area and so many subscribers and posters, even without leader inspiration and drive? Perhaps growth might be a measure of the work put in? Otherwise it might be the same large communities every month?

Forum Hero Awards

Love this idea coming back, thanks!

I hope all these ideas help to boost forum engagement!

Awesome! Looking forward to the results❤️

@tommy

i love these fun incentives! looking forward to celebrating everyone. thanks for keeping the forums well supported and engaged!