We notice.

I like it that when they make a change ion a thread, they almost always say so, in type we can easily see. They don't seem to sneak around. I wouldn't like it if they shifted reality without tipping us off. I like transparency.

But I also think people have a right to be anonymous. A Joe Clone is acting on behalf of all of Mudcat--and the service they perform is, I think, separate from their posting life. It's a boundary issue thing. Like the lady at the store who helps me... she is there to help, not tell me her life story. And if she is someone I happen to know, we don't tell personal biz when we meet at her workplace.

So I think saying thanks in the help dept. is best. Many of the clones seem to like to keep their identities as clones private, so knowing who did a fix is not so important. I did get some much needed help one time and did a thanks in the help section. The person who had done it said "you're welcome" in a PM, with their Mudcat name. And what I liked about that was that I knew that the person involved had a particular expertise, so when I was wondering about something that came up one time later, something that could have affected the whole forum, I was able to discuss it with him quietly without making a publicly-read help thread about it. (Don't ask.)

Thanks, from me, to all the clones, especially when I have not been able to build a clickie for one reason or another and someone has done so promptly even before I asked in the help section.

~S~