what is that rating for??

U said that the number in the star is the rating given by other users. how can they rate me and on wat basis do they rate me and can rate other user if i can how do i do that??

Ok, off to the lower right hand side of every response or comment there are three buttons...one is a +, one is a -, and the third is a ! ...those are the rating buttons. Everyone has their own opinions on how they should be used but this is how I rate people: if it is a quality post, well thought out, descriptive, answers the question, is on topic or is helpful, I'll give it a + (positive). If the response is poorly written (and I don't mean poor English), off topic, shows the user answered based on title only without actually reading the discussion or is a violation, I will rate it with a - (negative). The ! button is for reporting a post to mylot administration. That happens when a post is abusive or any of the violations listed in the "Don't's section" of the guidelines. Any discussion I report also gets a negative Now here's the thing...some people with give a negative rating just because they disagree with what the poster is saying. My opinion is that this is a discussion forum and we are supposed to share and accept opposing opinions sometimes. If a person can give me a quality response without being abusive or argumentative, I will give it a positive even if I totally disagree with what they are saying. I hope that explained well enough but again feel free to ask me to clear anything up.