Zimbio

Welcome to Zimbio.com.  Below, we've listed answers to some of the most common questions about our company and website.  If you don't find what you're looking for, feel free to email us at support@zimbio.com and one of our friendly, helpful customer service representatives will be happy to assist you.

The Basics

What is Zimbio.com all about?

Zimbio.com is an interactive magazine focused on interesting people in the news, including celebrities, politicians, style icons, and famous athletes.  According to the industry tracking service Quantcast, more than 18 million people read Zimbio each month, making it one of the most popular magazines on the web.

What’s a wikizine?

Wikizines are wiki-based sections of our magazine that are focused on specific subjects both grand and granular, such as famous people, events, teams, TV shows, bands, or other special interests.  You can find wikizines (or ‘zines for short) about everything from actress Megan Fox to the Tour de France.

How do I join Zimbio? Is it free?

To join Zimbio, please go to our registration page and create a new account. Once you register, you’ll be able to comment on articles, register for picture alerts, and participate in our community.  And yep, it's free.

You can find our current membership guidelines here.

Contributing Content

How do I write an article?

Members are encouraged to write articles and share their opinions with the community.

When it comes to writing articles, you’ve got two choices: you can either write an article from scratch, or import one from your personal blog. To write an article from scratch, click on the ‘Write an Article’ link at the top of your Dashboard.  To import an article from your personal blog, first you'll need to submit your blog and add it to your Zimbio profile. Click on the Submit Your Blog link at the top of your Dashboard.

How do I create a new wikizine?

Any member can create a new wikizine, or section of our online magazine. You'll be asked to give the wikizine a unique name and a description, and then you and other members can begin to add content. To get started, please use our simple tool to create a new wikizine.  Please keep in mind that zines should be dedicated to a specific topic of general interest, such as a famous person, event, or hobby.

What if someone else has already created a wikizine about the topic I'm interested in?

Wikizines are wiki-based sections of the magazine, which means that members like you can contribute to any of the existing wikizines. If you're interested in contributing to a topic that's already covered, just go for it. Our site's content is user-driven - so the community depends on folks like you submitting great articles.

Can I change the title of a wikizine I just created?

Unfortunately, no. So please be extra careful when you create a wikizine!

What is a "Draft?"

All newly created wikizines start off as "drafts" that need additional attention from members, and as such, are considered works in progress. Once a draft has enough content and member contributions to help other members get down the learning curve on that topic of interest, a Site Editors will reclassify the draft as a wikizine and it will be added to its selected category and to the Zimbio sitemap and search results.

Drafts have the same functionality as regular wikizines, and members can use them in the same fashion.

What does it take for a Draft to qualify as a wikizine?

Site editors frequently review drafts to remove spam, errors, or duplicates of existing zines, and to promote drafts which are considered informative about the identified topic.

It takes only a few minutes to start a new draft, but usually a bit more attention to contribute enough content (links, pictures, videos, articles etc.) to complete the draft and qualify it as a wikizine. These contributions can be given by you or other members of the community.

How can I see what other members are contributing?

We track all member activities on the site, and display them in history logs that are publicly viewable. To see what members are doing on a specific zine, click on the ‘More’ tab and choose ‘History’. To see what a specific member has been doing across the entire network of wikizines, click on the member's username to view the member's public profile, and then click on the member's History tab.

Who owns the content submitted on Zimbio?

When members post their own copyrightable content on the service, they retain ownership of the specific copyright. As part of our terms of service, members grant us a perpetual, non-exclusive license to the content they post. Also, some Zimbio and user submitted works are licensed under a Creative Commons License. For more details, please visit our Terms and Policies page.

Can anonymous users contribute as well?

Anonymous users can view all of the pages in a wikizine. However, only Zimbio members who are registered and logged in can add, edit, or delete content. For example, members must be logged in to comment on articles. We believe accountability is an important ingredient for ensuring quality control across the network.

Ratings and Kudos

What are the 5 star ratings? Why should I rate content?

Zimbio is a user-driven site, and ratings help us suggest great content to other members. We display ratings throughout the site, and try to feature the articles that members tell us are the best.

You can rate content anywhere on the site by clicking one of the row of stars near an entry. Be sure to rate things that you didn't find useful or interesting as well as things that you loved.

What are Kudos? Why should I give someone a Kudo?

Kudos are an easy way to say "nice job". They're also a part of the Zimbio ratings system, so giving someone a kudo helps them get featured. When you visit a member's profile or read the full version of an article that a member wrote, you'll see a kudo graphic and a link to give someone a kudo.

You can also "Kudo Surf". Kudo surfing is a way to check out other people that either gave someone a kudo, or received a kudo from a specific person.

Managing Your Account

I didn't receive a registration email. What can I do?

You may want to check the spam or bulk mail folder of your email account. It is possible that our registration email was directed into one of those folders.

I lost my password, what can I do?

You can reset your password from the login page. Click "Lost my Password".

I lost my username, what can I do?

Actually, you can also log in with your email address and password.

How can I customize my public profile?

In My Account, select the tab labeled "My Profile". From here, you can edit your public profile.

How do I delete my account?

Just drop us an email at support@zimbio.com, and we'll make it happen. Send the email from the same email account you used to set up your Zimbio account and include your username. This is to verify you're the correct account holder. Same goes for changing your username. Send us an email.

Problems or Feedback

How do I report a problem?

If you have found a problem that you would like to report, please contact us at: abuse@zimbio.com.

How do I make a suggestion to Zimbio?

We'd love to hear what you think about your Zimbio experience and always appreciate tips and suggestions. Please send us your thoughts at: feedback@zimbio.com. You can also visit our Company Wikizine, where the Zimbio team makes company announcements and the community engages in feedback and discussion regarding the future direction of Zimbio.

What does the name “Zimbio” mean?

Zimbio (ZIM-bee-oh) is a play on the word "symbiosis," which refers to a relationship of mutual benefit or dependence. Symbiosis is an important part of our business, in terms of how we view our relationship to our members, content partners, and advertisers, as well as how our members relate to one another. Plus, we like the way "Zimbio" sounds, and the domain name was cheap. ;)