Company Info - Help: Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

Help: Frequently Asked Questions

1. The Basics

What is Zimbio all about? And what is a wikizine?

Zimbio allows anyone to become involved in any story, so entertainment, current events and news are delivered with context, opinion and multi-media. Here at Zimbio, we encourage stories to evolve and expand quickly, through new enabling technology and people's desire to leave their mark on a story. We do this by offering wikizines - interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit on subjects both grand and granular, such as topics in current events, cultural reference points, and niche areas of interest.

What are some of the things I can do on a wikizine?

Well, lots. To name a few, you can:
- Browse to find great links, news, articles and pictures about topics that you're interested in
- Write an article to share your thoughts or ideas with the community, or post videos and pictures related to the topic
- Connect with like-minded people in the forum
- Grab an RSS feed for your reader

Do you have any membership guidelines?

We have created an initial draft of Zimbio's membership guidelines. Ultimately members themselves will help these guidelines to evolve. You can find our current guidelines, and other policies we develop over time, on our company wikizine.

How do I join Zimbio? Is it free?

To join Zimbio, please go to our registration page and create a new account. And yep, it's free.

What browser should I use?

Our site is optimized for the following browsers: Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 2, Safari 2, and higher. If your browser is a different version, you may have problems viewing the site. For the best experience, Get Firefox.

2. Creating a Wikizine

How do I create a new wikizine?

Any member can create a new wikizine. 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.

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

Wikizines are wiki-based magazines, 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, links, feeds, pictures, videos, and comments.

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 a work in progress. Once a draft has enough content and member contribution 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 as a wikizine. These contributions can be given by you or other members of the community.

3. Adding, Editing, and Rating

How do I suggest a link to a web site or article?

Submitting links is easy, and there a couple of ways you can do it:

A. From a wikizine Front Page: Find the Linkroll module, and click on the "+ Add" link. Fill in the link's title and URL, and description, and click "save." Your link should appear in the Linkroll, either immediately within the module on the front page, or on the full page view, which you can see by clicking "more." Where it shows up depends on how the editor configured the zine's front page.

B. You can also add a link directly from the full page view of the specific Linkroll (in the Links and Feeds section of a wikizine).

C. You can also use a browser button. See the next FAQ for details.

Please check the list before submitting a new link in order to avoid duplicate entries.

Do you have browser buttons ("bookmarklets") so I can quickly add links to a wikizine?

Yep. Grab a browser button to help you quickly add links, pictures, and more to your favorite wikizines. Once you have a browser button installed, you can simple click on that button whenever you are visiting another website with content that you'd like to share about a wikizine topic. Go to your account dashboard for information on how to grab the button.

How do I write an article?

You can write an article from scratch, or import one from your personal blog. To write an article directly on a wikizine, visit that wikizine and click on the "Write an article" link in the top right corner of the Front Page. To import an article from your personal blog, first you'll need to submit your blog and add it to your Zimbio profile. Click Submit Your Blog to learn more or get started.

You can use the text editor to format text or attach a picture to your article.

How do I post a picture to a wikizine?

Members can post pictures in the Pictures section of each wikizine by clicking on a specific album and then clicking "Add Picture."

When you add a picture to any wikizine, we also automatically save it in your Zimbio account, which you can access through My Account.

Can I post a picture directly to my own account?

Yep. On the My Pictures page within My Account, you can upload a picture directly to your own account, without posting it directly to a wikizine. This is helpful if you want to upload a picture now and include it within a zine or article at a later point in time.

What limits do you have on the size or types of pictures I can upload?

The maximum file size allowed for a single picture is 3MB. We support the following picture formats - gif, jpeg, and png.
Also, each member gets a total picture storage limit of 20MB per account.

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

Zimbio is a user-driven site, so it is up to folks like you to suggest great content to other members. We display ratings throughout the site, and try to feature the links, feeds, pictures, and 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 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.

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 History section in the wikizine's table of contents. 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.

4. The Front Page of a Wikizine

What's on the "Front Page" of a wikizine?

Each wikizine has a "Front Page" where you'll find a collection of interactive modules that can be used to quickly get up to speed on the topic. This is the best place to start reading the wikizine. Each module shows you a different snapshot of content - sometimes the best stuff, sometimes the most recently added.

If you want more detailed information on the content within a module, click the "more" link at the bottom of a module.

What is a "module"?

A module is a snapshot of interactive content on the Front Page of a wikizine. Zimbio supports lots of different types of modules:some show pictures, others play videos, others show RSS headlines. Each module is connected to content that lives in other sections of the zine - for example, if you click the "more" link on the Forum module, it will take you to the full view of the message board.

I've created a new roll, tracker, video playlist, or picture album, and it doesn't appear on the Front Page? Why?

Members can add content or create new sections on any wikizine. However, only editors can control the layout of each wikizine's Front Page. Once you create a new section, you'll be able to navigate to that section from the table of contents. The next time an editor visits the wikizine, he or she can decide whether to include your new section on the Front Page.

5. 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.

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.

What is my photo storage limit?

20 MB.

How do I delete my account?

Just drop us an email at support@zimbio.com, and we'll make it happen.

6. Problems and Feedback

How do I remove a bad link, feed, or picture?

If you find a dead link, duplicate entry, irrelevant content, or commercial spam, please delete it by clicking on the "Edit" icon or link and choosing "delete." Note that you may not be able to delete some entries until your account gains more experience and trust in the system.

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 the Zimbio service 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.

7. What's in a Name?

What does "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 mission, in terms of how we view our relationship to our members, and how our members relate to one another. Plus, we like the way "Zimbio" sounds, and the domain name was cheap ;)

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