Everybody likes a challenge, so we like to throw down the gauntlet early and give you something for which to strive. Articles worthy of a staff recommendation are the perfect specimen - quality content, excellent presentation, and a post that typifies the high standard we are striving for at NowPublic. We silently do the happy dance when we read these and we'd like to be doing it non-stop so try to meet the following criteria:

• original and specific information for the searcher in a hurry
• useful tips for those in need of breaking stories and under-reported news
• fresh, detailed content rather than generic or tired overviews
• comprehensive explanations or handy references for further reading
• a witty and entertaining voice that does not rely on tired language
• content that inspires trust and confidence in the credentials
• substantiated ideas validated by reputable factual sources

Reader Recommendations

NowPublic loves a love-in and nothing says "you made my day" more than paying it forward and patting a contributor on the back by clicking the "recommend" button. When readers do this you've really spoken to them and they've gone the extra mile to let you know. Makes you walk with an extra spring in your step, doesn't it?

Member Ranking

There are plenty of activities on the site worthy of points that will boost your Member Ranking, but here are the top 5 in our opinion, as they'll earn you readers as well, and that's what it's all about.

1. Earning a Staff Recommendation
2. Posting Original Stories
3. Posting Videos
4. Posting Photos
5. Posting Comments

Down the road, we'd like to reward you for sharing NowPublic stories offsite through your social network - re-Tweet it, update your Facebook page, digg it, link to it from your blog, you get the picture. We'd also like to know if you think a story is trend-worthy (gathering traffic) and of course if you want to recruit someone for NowPublic, or for our sister site Examiner.com, we wouldn't say no :)