Article Submission Questions
How do I submit stories?
What kind of articles should I submit here?
What section/topic should I submit my article to?
What is the moderation queue?
How do I know when my story gets posted/dumped?
What do I do if my story gets dumped?

Account Questions
Creating an account. Do I need one?
How do I log in?
How do I modify my profile?
What happens if I lose my password?

Membership Questions
What are the privileges of membership?
What is ‘Moderate Submissions’ all about?
What’s so cool about ‘Hotlists”?
What’s so cool about Blogs (Diaries)?
How do I check my comments for replies?
How do I rate comments?
How do I quickly find unread comments in a story?

General Site Questions

What’s the best way to use this site?
This section of WiseNomad is organized quite a bit differently than your typical web-publishing site for backpackers and world travelers. The main difference is that travelers just like you can submit stories and opinion pieces, and the community members (the same travelers) vote on what content gets posted. Think of it as open source content for backpackers, with a democratic twist.

As everything gets date stamped and attached to the original submitter, many backpackers use this section of WiseNomad for their travel Blogs (i.e. weblog or diary). Collectively, these Blogs form a dynamic group Blog. As such, this site is designed as a well of information where backpackers can learn from one another, and help one another. Anyone can contribute the inside scoop on the places they’ve been, and anyone can research the places they’re going.

Additionally, users can comment on each other’s stories. Each newly submitted story or opinion piece introduces a specific topic or idea and then kind of acts like a bulletin board for responses. The original posts are not like typical bulletin board or discussion group’s posts (short questions, or short posts), but rather in-depth stories, news commentaries, and opinion pieces. Once a story is posted, however, anyone can weigh in on the topic at hand. Community members can also rate each other’s comments, so the quality control extends throughout the life of each article and it’s discussion.

So, in a nutshell, the best way to use the site is to take some knowledge away while you are here, and contribute some knowledge now and/or in the future.

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How do I navigate the site?
You can navigate around the site by clicking on the WiseNomad image (which takes you to the front page of the WiseNomad site, which is also the front page of this “Articles” section), by clicking on the section headings on the tan bar across the top part of the screen, by clicking on the links in the ‘Major Sections’ navigation bar that sits down the left side of the screen, and/or by clicking on just about anything else on the screen. If it is a link, click it and see where it goes. You can always come "home" by clicking on the WiseNomad image.

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How do I search the site?
In the main menu (top box on the right-hand side on every page) there's a 'Search' link, or you can use the shortcut search box down at the bottom of every page.

You can narrow your search down by selecting what you want to find (stories, diaries by, authors, comments, comments by, or users), and what topic and section you want to search in, if any. You can also choose how many results to return on each page, and whether to display the story summaries (i.e. the introduction to stories that you see on the main page) or just the titles.

If you leave the search box blank, it will return everything (i.e. If you want to list all comments, choose 'comments' from the 'search for:' box, leave the search box blank, and click 'search'. It will return all comments, the newest one at the top.

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How do I read stories and comments?
The front page, which is where clicking on the WiseNomad logo will take you, displays the introduction of the most recent stories in the main column. You will see its title, author, date posted, and so on, and then the introduction. Just below the introduction, there's a link that says "Full Story". If you click on that link, you will be able to read the entire story and any comments people have posted in reply to that story. Sometimes, there will only be a short story, and it is entirely in the introduction. In that case, instead of displaying "Full Story", it will display "Comments >>".

Just to the side of the "Full Story" link is an indication of how long the full story is, and how many new and total comments there are. This makes it a lot easier to see if there have been any new comments since you were here last, so you don't have to actually scan through each story you're interested in.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The comments are always displayed below the story; sometimes, if the story is very short you may have to scroll down a page or two before you see the comments, because the boxes to the right push them down. Replies to comments are shown indented.

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How are articles sorted?
Articles are sorted in two ways. Each article has a TOPIC and a SECTION (NOTE: Do not confuse the article sections described here (Which articles are sorted by) with the Major Sections of the WiseNomad site such as the Hostel directory, the Backpacker directory, the Transportation section, etc.

Article topics are narrow focuses, while article sections are broad categories. When navigating this part of WiseNomad, notice that each article is slotted into its relevant section. The home section is also called the “Front Page” and contains the recent most highly rated articles. There is another section called “Everything” which houses all approved articles. Other sections contain content of a more specific nature, such as articles just about Southeast Asia or Western Europe. Here is a brief rundown of what the different article sections are:

Sections (Tan bar across the top, and under “Article Sections” on left side)

• Front page
• Everything
• Viewpoints
• Encounters
• Blogs
• Western Europe
• Australia & New Zealand
• Southeast Asia
• North America
• South & Central America
• Eastern Europe
• Asia
• Africa
• Rest of the World

While articles sections are broad categories, article topics are narrow focuses, and represent a secondary level of categorization. The topic icon next to each article can identify the topic of an article. As an example, this secondary categorization helps readers to distinguish which of the articles in the Western Europe section are about nightlife, which are about culture, which are about adventure activities, etc. Here is a brief rundown of what the different article topics are:

Topics (Denoted by the topic icons)

• Backpacker Scene
• Festivals and Happenings
• Food and Drink
• Getting There and Around
• History and Culture
• Hostels
• Keeping in Touch
• Nightlife
• Non-Hostel Accommodations
• Off the Beaten Path
• Outdoor Adventure
• Passports and Visas
• Sand and Surf
• Sightseeing
• Solo Travel
• Study Abroad
• Suggested Itineraries
• Trip Planning
• Women Travelers
• Working Abroad

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What are comments?
An important aspect of WiseNomad article section is the ability to post comments about the stories that you see here. Comments provide insights, feedback, questions, new discussion issues, and sometimes humor. Commenting is a very good thing, and really helps articles develop into the discussions we like to see here.

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How do I post a comment?
When replying to a comment, click the 'reply to this' link just underneath the comment you want to reply to. This will bring you to the comment posting page, where you can enter the subject line and main portion of your comment. If you do not have an account or are not logged in, it will ask you if you want to log in or sign up for an account. This isn't necessary, but account holders get all kinds of nifty extra features, and if you are not signed in the comment will be marked as being from 'Anonymous'. You are of course free to identify yourself as you please in the main part of the comment.

Just underneath the comment box are a the controls: a 'Preview' button, a selection box saying 'Plain Text', 'Auto Format' or 'HTML Formatted', and a 'Post' button.

Plain text mode will post your comment as you wrote it, with line breaks where you pressed enter (or where it hits the edge of the screen, if you write one long paragraph) and paragraph breaks where you left a blank line.

Auto Format mode will format your comments the way you meant them to be formatted. Pressing enter once will put in a line break; pressing enter twice so there's a blank line will put in a paragraph break. Putting *stars* around text will make it bold and _underscores_ or /slashes/ will make it italic. Any URL (like http://www.wisenomad.com/ ) will be linkified to look like http://www.wisenomad.com. If you want the link to be some specific text instead of the URL, you can use square brackets: [This text will be the link http://write-on.homeip.net/] will become This text will be the link. If you want lists, you can start the items with "* " (star followed by space) then the list item text; you'll get a bulleted list. To get a numbered list, just use numbers instead of stars.

HTML formatted mode allows you to pretty up your post using such things as <B>bold</B> and <I>italic</I> text, but you have to remember to mark the paragraph breaks yourself, with <P> - or your comment will be one huge long paragraph. The HTML tags you are allowed to use are listed by the comment box.

The preview button will show you what your comment will look like. If you scroll down, you will find the comment box with your comment still in it below the preview, so you can change things around and hit the preview button as much as you like before you finally post the comment, without having to keep pressing the 'back' button in your browser (and risk having your comment vanish).

To reply to the story itself, and not an existing comment, click the link 'Post a Comment' just above the first comment or just below the last comment. The rest of the procedure is the same.

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Article Submission Questions

How do I submit stories?
Anybody can submit a story. On behalf of the community, all we ask is that it is relevant to backpacking travel, youth travel, and/or independent travel. Up in the main menu box (top right) is the link 'Submit Story'. This takes you to the submission page.

At the very top, there are a few general instructions for writing stories. Just below that, you get to choose what section you think it belongs in, and what topic matches best what you want to say. The choice of topic also determines which picture shows up in the story introduction.

Fill in a title for your article, and then you can get to the meat of your story. There are two boxes, one labeled 'Intro Copy' and the other 'Extended Copy'. 'Intro Copy' is what is displayed on the front page, along with the title, and so should be only a paragraph or two; 'Intro Copy' and 'Extended Copy' together are displayed on the story page when someone clicks the 'Read More' link. Please don't repeat the 'Intro Copy' paragraph(s) in the 'Extended Copy'!

The story submission allows the same formats as comments (i.e. plain text, auto format, or HTML).

Now preview! You must preview at least once. The preview shows you what your story will look like. As with comments, you can just scroll down to find the editing boxes below the preview. Preview again if you make a change. Keep previewing until it's formatted the way you want and there are no spelling errors. Then preview one more time. Then press the 'Post' button.

When you post a story, it goes into the story queue - other people with accounts can see it and vote on whether or not the story is posted, and whether to post it on the front page or in the section (So make sure you choose the right section!). If enough people vote for the story, it will be posted.

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What kind of articles should I submit here?
Well, the short answer is anything that you find interesting that is related to backpacking travel, youth travel, and/or independent travel. We do not get upset if we do not like your articles. In fact, if we do not like your article, but it was posted in all sincerity as something you thought was interesting, we will just leave it alone and let the users decide whether to post it or not.

In general, we prefer articles that have some meat to them. A summary of an article on another site, with only a one- or two-sentence statement of opinion added by you, is not usually preferred here. We encourage submitters to extend their posts, and perhaps offer some insight or explanation as to why they thought their item was interesting, and what it means to us. As always, the readers will decide, so your job is to interest them in your article!

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What section/topic should I submit my article to?
The choice of section and topic is up to you. However, it is not unheard of for articles to be rejected because people feel they should be in a different section. In general, section matters more than topic. The following are rough descriptions of what the sections and topics are for.

Sections:

• Viewpoints – Opinion or editorial-style pieces. Give your viewpoint.
• Encounters – Interesting things that happen when people get together.
• Western Europe – Anything related to Western Europe.
• Australia & New Zealand - Anything related to Australia or New Zealand
• Southeast Asia - Anything related to Southeast Asia
• North America - Anything related to North America
• South & Central America - Anything related to South or Central America
• Eastern Europe - Anything related to Eastern Europe
• Asia - Anything related to Asia
• Africa - Anything related to Africa
• Rest of the World - Anything related to the Rest of the World

Topics:

• Backpacker Scene – What’s hot and what’s not
• Festivals and Happenings – Noteworthy events
• Food and Drink – Unique grub and spirits
• Getting There and Around – Everything transportation related
• History and Culture – Rich traditions
• Hostels – Hostel related
• Keeping in Touch - Communications
• Nightlife – The party
• Non-Hostel Accommodations – Cheap hostel alternatives
• Off the Beaten Path – Non-traditional travel and exploration
• Outdoor Adventure – Anything outside the cities
• Passports and Visas - Documents
• Sand and Surf – Beach and water related
• Sightseeing – Must-sees
• Solo Travel – Venturing out on your own
• Study Abroad – School in a foreign land
• Suggested Itineraries – Good trips
• Trip Planning – Good plans
• Women Travelers – Travel issues unique to women
• Working Abroad – Making money on the road

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What is the moderation queue?
Once an article has been written and submitted, it is put into the moderation queue. This is an area where only members can review articles before they are posted to the site for general consumption. Members are allowed to vote once on an article in the queue.

You have four options when it comes to voting on the moderation queue:

1. Post it to the Front Page! (+1) - Choose this if you like the story, or feel it is really worthy of being on the front page.
2. Post it to the Section Page Only (+1) - Choose this if you like the story, but think it should be on the section page (not on the front page).
3. I Don't Care (0) - Choose this if you do not really care either way about the article.
4. Dump It! (-1) - Choose this if you dislike the article and feel it is not worthy of everyone's time.

Once you have voted, the ‘Moderate Submissions’ page will change to reflect how you voted. Likewise, a list of who voted and how they voted will appear on the right side of the screen.

It is important to remember that, just because an article might not be about a topic you are interested in, it is not a reason to vote -1. Vote 0 if you are not sure. Likewise, if this article has "been seen before", or "I saw it on the other site", or any such similar thing, that is not a reason in and of itself to vote a story -1. Vote it 0 if you do not really care.

Once you have voted, you can see the current score of the story. There is a "post threshold" and "dump threshold" which are both defined by a mathematical formula based on the percentage of total registered users. Once the voting score reaches either of these two thresholds, the story either posts or dumps. If a story posts, and if it got at least 50% of its votes "+1 Front Page", it will appear on the front page. Otherwise it will go to the section page. Do not get upset if your story does not make it to the front page; it is very hard to get a story there.

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How do I know when my story gets posted/dumped?
There are four easy ways to tell if your story has been posted or dumped:

1. Check the moderation queue, if it is not there, it has either been posted or dumped.
2. Check the Front Page and Section Pages. If you find it there, it has posted. Be very aware that most stories get posted to the sections. Very few stories get posted to the Front Page. Only the best of the best make it to the front.
3. Check your email. Whenever a story posts or dumps, you get an email from the server saying so.
4. Click the ‘My Info’ link (You must be logged in), followed by the ‘View stories posted by…” link. This will show all of your stories.

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What do I do if my story gets dumped?
Well if your story gets posted - celebrate on a job well done. If your story gets dumped, on the other hand, you have a few options. You can forget it and get on with your life, you can rewrite it (and pay attention to any comments that might have been posted on your story) and then resubmit it, or you can find a new topic and write something else. No matter what, do not get upset that it did not get posted. Many great articles do not always make it first time.

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Account Questions

Creating an account. Do I need one?
If you decide you want to create an account, you can click on the 'Create Account' link in the main menu, next to the login form, on the comment post page... you get the idea. They're everywhere.

The first step is to tell it what nickname you want to use and your email address. Nicknames can have spaces. NOTE: the email address you enter must be a real address, and must be one you have access to, because the system emails your confirmation and initial password there. This email is not displayed anywhere.

After you finish filling out the form and submit it, you will get an email telling you where to go to activate your account, and what your password is. Visit that web page to confirm that yes, you did in fact want to make an account, then log in using the nickname you chose and the password emailed to you. You should probably change your password to something you'll remember right away.

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How do I log in?
Once you have set up your account, you can log in on the left side of the WiseNomad home page by entering your username and the password that was provided to you. Please note (and this is VERY IMPORTANT): you must have cookies enabled in order to use your account. Once you are logged in, you can modify your settings and change your password using the ‘My Profile’ page.

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How do I modify my profile?
You can edit your user preferences once you are logged in. Click on the ‘My Profile’ and follow the onscreen instructions.

You can modify the following user options:

• Real email – a working email address to verify your account. We don’t share this with anyone. See our privacy policy.
• Fake email - the email address you would like displayed with your comments. This can be blank, some garbage, a spam-trapped or otherwise altered version of you real email address, or your real email address.
• Homepage - allows you to link to your homepage with every comment
• Bio - a place for you to write a little bit about yourself. This will be displayed on your "My Info" page (which all members can view), along with your homepage, fake email, and links to your past comments, diary, articles you've submitted, and comments you've rated.
• Signature - for your comment signature. It is displayed at the end of each of your comments.
• Public Mail Key - for a cryptography key. If you don't know what that is, leave it blank.
• Receive Email Story Digest - receive an email digest of all new stories on a daily, weekly, or monthy basis, or never (default).
• Account Password - If you want to change your password, enter the new password in both boxes.

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What happens if I lose my password?
If you lose your password, you can get a new one emailed to the "real" email address you originally gave us. We do not keep a plaintext copy of the password list. All our password information is kept encrypted. You can get a new password assigned to you by entering your username on the login on the account information area and then clicking the MAIL PASSWORD button.

Do not share your password with anyone else. Once you lose control of your persona, it is your problem.

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Membership Questions

What are the privileges of membership?
If you have an account, the site can keep track of certain things for you that are impossible if you don't have an account. Things like the comments you've made, and the stories you want to keep a close eye on. Additionally, members can keep a Blog. All postings to your Blog get published – nobody has to vote them in. If you're logged in, the “Member Privileges” box on the left is where you see most of the member-only features.

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What is ‘Moderate Submissions’ all about?
The ‘Moderate Submissions’ link is where members can go to look over articles that other people have written, and vote on whether and where you want that story to appear. Just beside it is a short note telling you how many stories are waiting for you to vote on them.

You don't have to vote, of course; the number of votes needed to post the story is lower than the total number of accounts. But if you vote and submit articles then you have a say in whether this site starts hopping or languishes off to an early grave.

The story voting is fairly simple: you select which story you want to vote on from the list by clicking on its title, read the story, optionally read any comments already made, then choose one of '+1 Front Page', which is your vote for posting the story to the front page for everyone to see; '+1 Section', which is your vote for filing it in its section, where those interested can read it and those not interested can ignore it; '0 Don't Care', for when you don't care if or where it's posted because you don't plan on replying to it at all; and '-1 Dump It', for stories you don't think should be posted for one reason or another.

You can also post comments to a story while it's waiting to be posted. There are actually two types of comments: topical, which address the topic of the story, and are the normal type for stories that are posted; and editorial, which is where you can nitpick about spelling and grammar, or explain why you voted the way you did. Topical comments are 'normal' comments, while editorial comments are hidden when the story is posted.

Note that a large number of grammatical problems is a valid reason for voting '-1' on a story, IF you then post an editorial comment explaining to the author what was wrong with it, perhaps some suggestions for fixing it, and a note that if they rewrite it with the grammar fixed, or the point tightened up, or less rambling before getting to the point, you may vote '+1'. But tell the author why you're voting '-1'.

Authors should check a story they submitted frequently and watch and respond to these editorial comments. If there are only small spelling or grammar errors, no worries, they’ll probably just slide by.

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What’s so cool about ‘Hotlists’?
A hotlist is a box that contains your personal list of stories that you're interested in keeping an eye on, even if they wouldn't normally show up on the front page, or after they've scrolled off the bottom of the front page.

If you're logged in, each story will have a '+Hotlist' link by the title. If you click on that link, that story will be added to your hotlist box on the right side of the page, and its title displayed on every page, for you only, as long as you're logged in. The hotlist box displays the title of the story as a link and the number of new and total comments made, so you can watch for new comments and keep participating in the discussion even after the story is no longer on the front page without having to search for it.

Once a story is in your hotlist, the '+Hotlist' by the title changes to '-Hotlist'; clicking this link will remove the story from your hotlist. Cool huh?

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What’s so cool about Blogs (Diaries)?
Blogs (slang for Web Logs), also known as diaries, are just like stories, only nobody votes on whether they're posted or not, and they're in their own special section (called ‘Blogs (Diaries)', naturally). Your Blog (Diary) is your space, totally under your control, for you to post whatever you feel like. Just remember that anyone can read your diary, and comment on it, so don't put personal information there if you're not comfortable with just anyone reading it.

These Blogs (Diaries) are great for backpackers that like to record their travels. Upon arriving home, you’ve got a documented adventure. Why record everything in a hardcopy journal that weights you down, and can get lost, when you can just post it to the web from an Internet café as you go. It’s a great way to keep friends and family posted.

Many travelers spend a good deal of time setting up their own designated Blog sites (which are great), but why go to the trouble when you can set one up on WiseNomad in about 15 seconds. Not to mention, by posting it on WiseNomad, you share your adventure with the world. You fellow travelers, who may be just a step behind you, can learn from your experiences, or maybe even schedule to meet up with you for a beer or two.

To see your Blog (Diary), click on the ‘My Info’ link, then on the ‘View my_username Diary’. To add a new Blog (Diary) entry, click on the ‘Post Blog (Diary)’ link. Adding a Blog (Diary) entry is almost exactly like submitting a story, except that you don't choose a section or topic, and nobody will vote on it, as it automatically goes live in the Blogs (Diaries) section, as well as your personal Blog (Diary) section.

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How do I check my comments for replies?
If you are logged in, you will see a link titled ‘My Info’. Click on this, and then click on 'View Comments posted by my_username'. This takes you to a page that lists all of your comments, with the number of replies and their ratings. If you see a new reply to one of your comments, you can click on the title of your comment, which will take you to a page displaying your comment and all replies. This way you don't have to search through the stories to find your comments and see if anyone replied.

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How do I rate comments?
If you are logged in, you will notice at the bottom of every comment a small box that allows you to select one of 'none', '1', '2', '3', '4', or '5', with a button next to it that says 'Rate All'. As you read the comments, you can rate the comments based on how good you think they are. A rating of 3 is for a comment that you consider 'average'; a 4 is for a comment that contributes something extra; a 5 for a comment that is really stellar, well written, and all-around wonderful. A 2 is for a comment that is on-topic but doesn't add anything to the discussion, or is slightly off-topic; while a rating of 1 is for a comment that is spam, totally off-topic, or downright rude. You can set values for any number of comments, then click any one of the 'Rate All' buttons to register all of them at once.

The rating given to a comment is the simple average of all ratings given it - so if one person rated a comment 3 and another rated it 4, the comment's rating would be 3.5. Comment ratings are mostly used if you want the comments displayed 'highest rated first'.

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How do I quickly find unread comments in a story?
If you are logged in, instead of just the plain (n comments) shown with a story you will see (n comments, m new) telling you if somebody has posted a new comment since the last time you visited the story, so you don't have to try and remember how many comments there were last time you were here.

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