We've decided to try a new forum modification called Synergy. The idea is to submit good threads to the system so that people on other communities like ours can read them. Once a thread is mirrored to other forums, then people across the internet vote on which they feel are best. The best threads get to the front page which causes them to be read by even more people. If you author a lot of good threads, you might become well known across forums as a "Top Author".
If you read a thread you like on Synergy, simply click on the vote link next to it. Vote totals are tallied across all forums and updated about once a minute. Keep in mind that threads aren't always ordered by votes because the Synergy algorithm takes a lot of factors into account when ranking a thread. But votes are very important, so vote!
There are a variety of thread categories that cover pretty much everything you might be interested in.
If there are categories you're NOT interested in, simply select the options link as shown below.
After selecting the options link, you'll be taken to the screen shown below. Unchecking boxes next to categories you're not interested in will stop them from showing. If you aren't interested in threads from other forums, you can hide them with a single click.
If you author a thread that gets to the front page of Synergy, then you get one point. The top authors of threads from around the internet are listed as seen below. Create great threads and become well known!
By default, Synergy shows you the most popular threads. At the top, you can change the sorting options so that you see the newest submitted threads to the system.
Enjoy!