Aces' Home Page | Why be an Ace? | What do the Aces do? | Aces' Code of Conduct | Volunteer to be an Ace

Here's a breakdown of what the h2g2 Aces do.

It's worth noting at the outset that being an Ace does not tie you down to any specific obligations - that would go against the whole nature of h2g2. We just hope that you like the site enough to help out in your spare time, and we don't mind how much or how little you do (though if you do nothing for ages we reserve the right to revoke the title - details can be found in the Aces' Code of Conduct).

We will never force you to do anything, we'll just ask nicely. Everything you do must be because you want to help out with the development of h2g2. There may be added incentives in the future, but for now this is strictly a voluntary scheme. If you ever think we are expecting too much, let us know, and we'll write out 'Make love, not war' 500 times on the whiteboard.

What being an Ace Entails

The Aces are the upstanding members of h2g2. They are always available to provide a polite and friendly helping hand. They greet newbies and help them get to grips with the sometimes overwhelming h2g2 experience. They try to calm down heated discussions with a few well-chosen words. They're the sort of people that you'd like to meet in real life, and they do it by embodying the values of h2g2 that we all hold dear. This is the difference between the Aces and unofficial schemes: the Aces are exemplary members of h2g2, whereas unofficial scheme members can be anything they want (as long as they don't break the terms, of course).

Please note that this doesn't mean that we're trying to dictate your online persona or what you do. We just ask that you're always friendly, helpful and so on.

The Aces' role can be summarised as follows:

• To set an example to the rest of the Community by being upstanding members of h2g2 and by embodying the core values of h2g2.

• To enthusiastically meet and greet new Researchers on h2g2, and encourage them to join the Community. We like to provide as personal a service as we can, and one of the best ways to encourage new Researchers to explore the site and to get the best from h2g2 is to greet them personally on their Personal Spaces, and to point them towards current Guide and Community activity. The New Users page can be used to find out who to greet.

• To encourage and stimulate participation in h2g2 by pointing Researchers towards things they might enjoy on h2g2.

• To offer guidance to Researchers, and to refer Researchers with questions to the Don't Panic Help Centre for the Gurus to help out.

And, finally, being an Ace is supposed to be lots of fun, and we're always open to suggestions for improving things. So do let us know what you think of the scheme...