The Ask Amma™ feature of Ammas.com allows users to enter natural language queries on a variety of topics and receive quality-controlled answers from registered experts ("Ammas").

All queries are rated by the Council of Ammas in the topic you've selected before being passed on to the registered experts ("Ammas") for answering. Note: The Council cannot see your name or email when rating the query. Detailed queries receive higher ratings. Queries which can be easily answered by searching through Ammas.com receive lower ratings. Please see our Query Rating Criteria for more information. The amount of points an Amma earns for answering a query depends on the query's rating, so the higher the rating, the more quickly you are likely to receive a response from the Ammas.

Yes. There are several ways to do this. 1) Ask high quality questions (see above), and 2) Increase your User Value by

• Adding money through My Ammas, or
• shopping at Ammas Mall, or
• giving good advice to users.

To understand User Value, please log into My Ammas. (Use the "forgot password" option if you don't know your password.) The higher your User Value, the higher you move up the user rankings of Ammas.com. The higher your ranking, the higher priority your questions receive from the Ammas.

There are three ways to increase your User Value. You can

• log into My Ammas and add money to your account. Use the "forgot password" option if you don't know your password.
• Shop at Ammas Mall where a percentage (usually 10%) of what you buy goes toward you User Value.
• Give advice as an Amma. The higher you move up the rankings, the more User Value you earn.

Ammas.com receives hundreds of queries each day. We needed a way to prioritize them to prevent spamming, malicious use, and waste of time. The system takes many factors into account when priortizing queries. One of those factors is what the Council of Ammas considers the value of the query. Please see our Query Rating Criteria for more information.

Your queries are rated by the top-ranked advisors in the category -- the Council Members. More than one Council Member can rate your query. The system takes the average. To preven grossly unfair ratings, Council Members who deviate substantially in their rating from their peers gradually lose points and fall off the Council.

Each time you give gratuity to an Amma your User Value goes up, and the Ammas ranking goes up. You can check your User Value through My Ammas. (Use the "forgot password" option if you don't know your password). User Value also takes into account the number and rating of the queries you've asked Ammas so far.

And of course, when you give gratuity, there's the satisfaction that comes with knowing you've helped an Amma who's been working hard to provide high quality information.

It depends on the rating your query has received and your current User Value. To see your User Value, log into My Ammas. Use the "forgot password" option if you don't know your password.

You will be notified by email when the query is rated by at least one member of the Council. The email will guide you as to how to view the response. You will also be notified by email each time a new answer comes in that has been rated by at least one Council member in the category.

You can store funds in your User Account for distribution at a later date. This saves money for everyone -- including yourself -- because it reduces the number of times the transaction must go through financial institutions, which take a percentage on each transaction. It also increases your User Value immediately! The money remains in your account for as long as you wish. There is no time limit, but the money cannot be refunded.

You can add money to your User Account by logging into your My Ammas page.

When you ask a question through Ask Amma™ -- if you haven't selected the "Special and Private Delivery" option -- the question is distributed to all of the Registered Ammas who are registered in the category you selected. When a Registered Amma responds to your query, the response goes to a special Council of Ammas for that category, who must approve and rate the response. When you view the response, you see the average rating the response has received so far. The rating will change as more Council Members have a chance to view it. You can also see how the Amma who gave the advice compares with other Ammas in terms of rank. Just click on the "Featured Ammas" link at the top of each category page and you will see the Ammas listed by rank.

The Ask Amma™ feature allows users to receive several responses to a single query. The rating system will tell you which response the Council of Ammas rates highest. If two responses are conflicting and given the same rating, please submit the conflicting responses through Ask Amma™ again and request a clarification. You can also see how the Ammas who gave the advice compare with other Ammas in the category by clicking on the "Featured Ammas" link at the top of each category page.