BeWelcome FAQs - Check-up and Update

[[Wiki.trustroots.org]] is an independent wiki with information for people who are actively exchanging hospitality.
Revision as of 01:07, 14 November 2009 by Guaka (talk | contribs) (Protected "BeWelcome FAQs - Check-up and Update" ([edit=autoconfirmed] (indefinite) [move=autoconfirmed] (indefinite)))
BeWelcome Logo.jpg
This page is written in the context of BeWelcome.

It is important to regularly check and update our FAQs for BeWelcome users. Please use this site to

  • indicate that you have checked a particular section of the FAQs (by going to edit and inserting 4 ~ , which will display your username and the date)
  • mark an outdated FAQ by inserting OUTDATED
  • mark wrong links by inserting WRONG LINK and preferably try to find out the correct link and also insert it
  • suggest better wording by inserting SUGGESTED WORDING and the text you suggest
  • Suggest new FAQs by inserting NEW
  • Ask for help by inserting HELP NEEDED

Unfortunately at the moment I'm not sure who can work on the FAQs online - apart from myself (Claudiaab), so I would like to keep all the suggestions for alteration here, I will then put them online, once you notify me that you are done with a particular section.


General Questions / Registration

Can anybody become a member of BeWelcome?

It's ok for me Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Is joining free of charge? How can you provide a service like this without a membership fee?

Adding a link to [How is this project financed?] would be wise. Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

yep, and additionally I would link the word "donation" in the text directly to http://www.bewelcome.org/donate - Globetrotter tt 18:41, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

I am very interested in joining, can you tell me, how this works?

"To become a member of BeWelcome, please read all the information on our website at www.BeWelcome.org." Isn't it a bit too much ? Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Indeed, which information and where should i find them? And as i am already reading the FAQ, the second sentence ("A great way to get questions answered about the project is to browse through the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). " is also unnecessary. Globetrotter tt 18:51, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Is your service intended for families as well as individuals?

It's ok for me (I just added some directs links) Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Why are couples required to register separately?

It's ok for me (I just added some directs links) Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

I have a second address and I can also host there. How can I inform other members about this?

It's ok for me (but I actually don't know if it's updated information) Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

How can I get information about my potential hosts or guests? What is my protection against criminals coming to visit me?

"For additional security, we have volunteers in charge of identity verification. They organise meetings and check members' passports (or other official identity documents) and compare these documents with the data new members put in their profiles. So, if on a profile it says 'Checked Identity', you can be sure that the member is who she/he claims to be."

Really ?? Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Will other members be able to see all my personal data?

It's ok for me Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Is there a way to speed up the signup process? I would like to use the site as soon as possible.

HELP NEEDED. I do not know if the mandatory thing is still valid Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

I have lost my password. What can I do?

It's ok for me Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

What is hospitality exchange?

ok for me Bikepunk 23:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Do we really need this long text in the FAQ? Maybe copying and linking it here to this wiki and shorten the FAQ would be better? Globetrotter tt 18:57, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Using the Site: Profile

1. How can I change my password?

To change your password click here: change password


2. How can I change my profile?

If you want to change your profile, just use the edit my profile link. You can change every entry there and decide what you want to hide or set visible.


3. How can I change my physical address or email address?

Go to the "contact information" section in edit my profile.To change your location, use update my location. To change your address, just introduce the new one and press submit. The changes will be done authomatically. However, in order to keep our member's safety, our volunteers will check if the address you provided us is a valid one. Providing us your real address is mandatory.If you want to change your email, just do it and press submit. This email is the one we use to send you messages and notifications, please make sure that your mail provider and also your safety settings accept our emails to you.


4. How can I hide/unhide my name or physical address?

Just use the edit my profile link. You can change every entry there and decide what you want to hide or set visible. Don't forget to click on Submit at the end of the page. If the changes are not visible straight away, you should use the 'refresh button' of your browser.


5. How can I change my user name?

While it is not a common procedure to change usernames, we do allow it for the moment, if you have very good reasons for it. Please contact us and we will try to find a solution.


6. How can I upload a photo to my profile?

You can upload several pictures on your profile. You can also add a comment onto each picture you upload. To proceed click here. Please note that your pictures should be smaller than 488kb each. If you don't know how to resize them, you can send them to this email address : [email protected] We will resize them for you as soon as possible.

OUTDATED: needs rewriting, link http://www.bewelcome.org/bw/myphotos.php is also wrong. Email address still valid? Who is owning the address? Globetrotter tt 19:18, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


7.What is the purpose of comments, and how do I submit a comment about another member?

The purpose of the Comment System is to improve the security of BeWelcome. By sharing one's hospitality experiences, it will be easier for members to see whether or not they can trust a certain member. In order to make this system effective and trustworthy, please provide accurate and reliable information.To post a comment, go to the profile of the member you’ve met. On the left side of the profile page under "Action" you find a link entitled "Add Comment".Thanks for using this feature and making our project even safer!

OUTDATED: We don't have the "Action" headline in the profile anymore. Globetrotter tt 21:06, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


8.Can comments be edited?

In the future it will be possible to edit or up-date positive and neutral comments. This is important, if for example you met somebody at a party first, but are their guest a couple of months later. We do, however, keep the history of comments, so older versions of the comments can still be checked. We have decided to make negative comments unchangeable so they are very authentic and people trust in them. This is a matter of security in order to prevent recipients of negative comments to put pressure on the sender to get this comment changed. If you have some good reason for a negative comment to be changed or deleted you can contact us and we will forward your request to the volunteers in charge of comments!

CHECK: if negative comments are really unchangeable -Globetrotter tt 21:06, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


9.Can I write a comment on myself?

No, it is not possible to post a comment on your own profile. We plan to have a 'reply' function for comments where you can reply to a negative comment you have received and consider unfair. The comment volunteers cannot always find out who is right of course, so having both point of views on your profile (the comment you received from a member and your answer to it) is really the best and most fair solution.


10. What is a group?

- to be completed -

Does this belong to the Profile FAQ -Globetrotter tt 21:19, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


11. I would like to promote BeWelcome by adding a link to the signature of my email. How do I do that?

How to add a signature to your emails will vary depending on your email provider. Usually, there is a link for mail Options or Preferences where a signature can be created. Also, once the signature is created, some email providers require you to add the signature to the end of each email yourself, while others will add it automatically. You will have to check out how your particular email provider does this. * If you use MS Outlook, go to "tools" > "options" > signature and then add a signature, and select for which emails it will be automatically included, or if you want to add it manually in each email, hitting the "signature" button * If you use Thunderbird, first you have to create a .txt file (with notepad e.g.) that contains the text of your signature. Then go to "tools" > "account settings", and for the account you choose tick the "join a signature" box, and select the address of the txt file you created.


12. How can I change or delete my profile picture(s)?

You can delete or change your pictures or edit your pictures' comments by going to My Preferences in the top right and then clicking on the Edit My Profile tab. Then, click Modify Your Pictures in the left-hand tool bar: A shortcut to the pictures page is (or you can just click here).

OUTDATED: My Preferences is not in the top right anymore. It's also not possible to add a comment to the profile picture anymore. -Globetrotter tt 21:19, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


13. How to add a special relation in your profile ?

Text missing - Globetrotter tt 21:36, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


14. I have seen that several people have a profile in different languages. How does this work?

Every member can make several version of their profile in over 25 languages. To do so, go to Edit My Profile. Then, for example, if you want to make a version of your profile in English, click on the UK flag at the bottom of your profile, and start to fill out the page in English. When you have finished, click submit. : Now, to make a version in another language, click on the corresponding flag on the bottom of the page and fill your profile in this language.Please note: The language of the first profile that you fill out is, by default, already entered into other language versions of you profile. Please make sure your edits correspond to the correct language.

OUTDATED: We don't show flags anymore -21:36, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


15. Can I ask help to translate my profile?

When you want to travel in a new area, if you are to request for host it could be a very good idea to have a good profile well translated in the local language.We have an experimental feature wich allow you to allow someone you trust edit your profile in a Language he speaks and which you choose.To do so, click on "my translators" enter the username of the member you wich to give access to a version of your profile and the language in wich he will edit it. Then, when this member will surf your profile and select (by clicking a Flag at the bottom of the page) the corresponding language he will be able to click one edit this profile link and to create a version of your profile in the chosen language.However, because this allow someone to edit a version your profile, be very careful to give this right to people you really know.

It's not clear to me where i can find the link "my translators" -Globetrotter tt 21:36, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


16. Who owns pictures that I uploaded to BeWelcome (e.g. profile picture or pictures in the Gallery)

The person who uploads one of his picture on BeWelcome will always be the only owner of that picture. So if you upload a picture you will always remain the owner and BeWelcome cannot use it let's say for promotion material or newspaper articles unless you explicitly allow us to (we might ask you). You do, however, give permission to BeWelcome to use and display your picture on the BeWelcome website.

For the future we should consider an "creative commons" option for photos. -Globetrotter tt 21:36, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Using the Site: Contact

1.How can I contact another member?

You can contact a member by clicking on the member's username, which will lead you to the profile of that member. From there, you will find a link called Send Message" on the left of the profile under "Action". Just click on it and write your message in the blank field provided. You can attach your profile picture, if you tick that box. To send the message to the respective member you have to agree to the Spam Checking Rules by ticking the box 'I agree' and then click on Submit. The member will receive your message in his BeWelcome mailbox but all messages will also be sent to his/her email address

OUTDATED: "Action" headline is there anymore. --Globetrotter tt 21:38, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


2.Can I display my email address in my profile?

By default, a member's email addresses is not displayed on their profile. If, however, you wish to have your email address visible for every member (if your profile is a public profile, your email will also be visible to non-members), please go to edit my profile and put your email address in your profile summary. Please note that this will increase your chances of getting spam!


3. What is spam?

You can find some information about our spam policy here We will soon provide you with a more detailed page giving examples of spam messages and borderline cases. Please also check out our Do's and Don't s for sending messages.

REWRITE: --Globetrotter tt 21:51, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


4. Can I contact members in languages other than English?

You can contact members in any language specified on the members profile which also indicates how well that person speaks the said language. If you write to them in a language they don't understand, they won't be able to answer you!


5. Do I have to provide my phone number? I don't like being contacted by phone at all.

You are not required to provide your phone number at all. If you don't want people to contact you by phone, you can either remove or hide your phone number in your profile. Other members can contact you using the secure message mechanism on the site and those messages will be sent through to your email address.

I would add that BeWelcome strongly not recommend to put phone number on the profile as most abuse cases happenend by phone contact --Globetrotter tt 21:51, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


6. How can I find out whether messages sent to several members were considered spam?

You will always be notified if messages were considered spam.


7. How can I see all the messages I’ve sent through the BeWelcome site?

Please go to "My Messages" in the menu bar and then click on the "Messages Sent" tab.


8. How can I delete messages in my BeWelcome inbox?

On the message page, you will see the link 'delete' to the left of the message. Just click it and your message will be deleted. Please note that this won't delete the message of the member the message was exchanged with.

REWRITE --Globetrotter tt 21:51, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


9. Can I stop messages from going to my email account? For me it's enough to read them on the website itself.

Sorry, but this is not possible. We did not want to create yet another online community, the idea of BeWelcome is to bring people together in real life and we consider a working email account as one link to you in real life. We do not want to oblige people to regularly log in to BeWelcome, even though this would be nice :). Especially for people with limited Internet access it is much more convenient to get messages to their email accounts automatically and thus be informed about members coming to their area.


10. I'm looking for travel companions. Can you help me?

We have a special category for people looking for Travel Companions in our forum, just use this link . What makes BeWelcome special, however, is the system of Tagging that will be integrated more and more into the site. By combining several tags (for example Travel Companions - South America - May 2008) your post can be found easily by exactly the people that should read it. Of course you, too, are able to look for people planning to travel in the same area at the same time as you. We hope you will love this feature as much as we do :-).


11. Are there older people using BeWelcome? How do I find them?

There are definitely older members in our project! While the majority of our members are certainly quite young, the number of older people will also grow quickly.


12. I have found a dead link / other problem on the site. What can I do?

Please contact us , tell us the problem and we will try to find a solution. It will help us a lot if you provide information such as the exact link that doesn't work. For bugs please tell us the browser you are working with (Internet Explorer or FireFox or others) and describe in detail what is wrong (if there is an error message, please copy that into the bug report). Thanks for helping us!

Using the Site: Accomodation

Using the Site: Bugs, Problems, Abuse

BeWelcome organisation in general

I updated this section of the FAQs according to your suggestions 94.224.101.82 17:13, 1 November 2009 (UTC) (claudiab)


OUTDATED
I'll try something as soon as possible --Bikepunk 19:33, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

folowing, my proposal for a new, updated section :

1: How can I help BeWelcome?

Being an active member is the first way to keep BeWelcome running. Keep it in mind.

Then, to help further, you have actually two possibilities :

2: How is BeWelcome organised?

(a diagram would be more than welcome with : BoD, GA, Volunteers, members...)

BeWelcome is a project completely run by volunteers.
The legal structure behind BeWelcome is BeVolunteer(link to http://www.bevolunteer.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page), a non-profit organisation.

Notice that being a member of BeVolunteer is not required to volunteer for BeWelcome.

(Long-term members of BeWelcome (over 6 months) who have been active volunteers on one of the teams are invited to apply for BeVolunteer membership.) I'm not shure this is necessary. I think it fits better in the "Do I need to become a member of BeVolunteer in order to volunteer for BeWelcome?"

why don't we write it here AND there? PEople normally don't read the faqs from a - z so it's fine to have it twice (or maybe rephrase it once) 84.195.161.74 22:03, 29 October 2009 (UTC) (Claudiaab)
I think this is a bit off-board. Until now, the answer to this question is definitely not satisfying and I'm sorry that I cannot add more informations since I do not have them (it's coming):
We have to give infos (at least links for more infos) about the BoD, the GA, the volunteer teams...
This is a bout a "detail" wich people concerned will be aware and won't need the FAQ to know that anyway... ("Long-term members of BeWelcome (over 6 months) who have been active volunteers on one of the teams") Bikepunk 23:34, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

3: How is this project financed?

Here everything is based on volunteer work.
Thanks to that we have very few expenses (such as server rent, domains, administrative fees, security certificates). Those need to be paid, however.
The project financially relies on the shop (link to http://www.bewelcome.org/shop ) but above all on donations (link to http://www.bewelcome.org/donate )

Please note that our volunteers (including the members of the Board of Directors (link to http://www.bewelcome.org/groups/92 ) always pay their expenses themselves, so no donation money is used for accommodation or travel costs for volunteer meetings or conferences.

If you have some good ideas about financing the project, you are welcome to post in the forum (link to http://www.bewelcome.org/forums) or contact us (link to http://www.bewelcome.org/feedback) directly.

Transparency

We believe in transparency. Our accounts are published once a year to be checked/agreed on by the general assembly of BeVolunteer. During the year the board of directors - and the treasurer as the responsible delegate - take care of financial matters and are also your contact persons for related questions.

More information about BV finances and accounts in the wiki library. (link to http://www.bevolunteer.org/wiki/Finances )

4: Do I need to become a member of BeVolunteer in order to volunteer for BeWelcome?

No, as mentioned above, being a member of BeVolunteer is not required to volunteer for BeWelcome. Just get active ! (link to http://www.bewelcome.org/about/getactive )

may be here it would make sense to add : Long-term members of BeWelcome (over 6 months) who have been active volunteers on one of the teams are invited to apply for BeVolunteer membership.
The following needs to be checked, since I'm new here I'm not shure about that :
Being a BeVolunteer member allows you to take part in the GA, and to vote for the Bod... (anything else ? any page to link to ?)

It's now here (in Athens) 5:30 AM and I'll get a rest, hoping that this work will be usefull ;) --Bikepunk 03:20, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

deleted content

FaqQ_WhyAdds Why are there ads? I thought this was a non-commercial site!

Although this site is completely run by volunteers, we still we do have running costs including running and maintaining servers and so on. These costs are covered through advertisements on the website and from members' donations. In the future, we plan to have an online store where you can buy BeWelcome t-shirts and gadgets. Since the project is a non-profit organisation, all revenue goes directly to costs. Because Financial transparency and accountability is very important to us, we have made all relevant information available on BeVolunteer.org, the organisation behind BeWelcome.

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