How does the whole "reputation" thing work? (top, increasing)

[justanothercalifornian]

I see that some people have more or less reputation, but how do you get it or loose it? I hope I'm not a big idiot for asking

[tashina]

Under the text of every post is "[+] Rate this post positively". Also at the top right corner of the post is a set of scales which are also for increasing reputation. To the right of the scales is the red triangle. That's to report a post and I assume that hurts the reputation - though I'm not sure about that one.

If you click way up in the upper right corner of the page under your user name where it says Direct Messages, you can then on the next page click My Settings towards the upper left and it will let you know if anyone left you a comment along with your rep point.

[AustinTraveler]

Anything and everything you have ever wanted to know about this forum, reputation, etc. can be found here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/about-forum/

There is also a subforum there called FAQ.