I see that in addition to the founders and moderators, there are a few EXTREMELY helpful people around the forum. I was thinking that they might be awarded special status, by nomination. For example, instead of member, they could be called 'angel' or 'guru'.
For example, take Natrushka's reply in this thread:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=137266

How many people would look at the person's previous posts or remember that they have a possible calorie issue, before replying? She always gives helpful and knowledgable answers, and I know that I personally hope that she answers in some of the threads I post.

I nominate Nat for special status.

I see the point, and have given it some thought a few months ago. Currently, there's a system to update user titles based on the number of posts. The current version of vBulletin we use has a feature called "Karma", where members can vote to give every member a vote to increase/decrease their "karma". This feature is currently disabled, as it works both ways, and may offend some members, or make some newbies nervious and shy from participating in discussion, if they think they will get negative marks for asking so called "stupid questions".

Wa'il