I'm looking for a business, what do I do?
Use the search box at the top of the page to find recommendations
from your friends (and their friends).
If you don't find what you're looking for, click
Ask for Recommendations (in the top bar). There you can
describe exactly what you're looking for.
This will create a special page that your friends will see, and can respond
to with their recommendations.
What happens after I ask for a recommendation?
Hopefully your friends will chime in with their responses. To get more people to
see your request, click the Share link on that
request page. You can share this page via Facebook, Twitter, or regular email.
The more people who see this page, the more recommendations you will get.
So don't be shy!
How do I know if people have recommended a business to me?
When someone posts a recommendation to you, you will be notified by email.
Also, when you sign in to http://askr.com/ the home page will
show "Responses to You", which includes all responses, comments, and
agreements to you.
I know of a great business, how do I recommend it?
The easiest way is to click Make a Recommendation.
This will let you create an "unsolicited" recommendation for a business.
When your friends search for a business of that type, your
recommendation will appear in their search results.
Your recommendation will also appear on your
user page,
along with all your personal recommendations.
But a more helpful way to recommend a business is to respond to someone
who is looking for one. You will be directly helping someone asking
for help, and they'll be very thankful. Your recommendation still appears
in search results and on your user page.
What kinds of businesses are listed on this site?
Any business big or small. It could be a mom-and-pop bed-n-breakfast,
or a nationwide carpet cleaner. It could be your next-door babysitter, or even
an online store. As long as it has a name, a place,
and some way to reach them, feel free to recommend it.
What's the difference between my "home page" and my "user page"?
When you sign in to http://askr.com/, that home page will
show you responses to your requests and recent activity from your friends.
Every person on the site also has a "user page"
(http://askr.com/username)
that shows all the recommendations they've made. It also shows all the people
they follow (or who follow them).
Think of the home page as "what's happening now", and the user page as
"everything about me".
What does "following" mean?
If you follow someone, it means you would trust their recommendations.
When you search for businesses in the search box, you'll always see
results from people you follow at the top. After that you'll see
results from people they follow (your "extended network").
When you ask the community for a recommendation,
people who follow you will see your request on their home page.
Note that following is a one-way relationship:
just because you follow them, doesn't mean that they will follow you back.
(They probably will if they know you, but don't take it personally if
they don't.)
It's easy to follow someone - just click on their name, and click the big
"Follow" link on their user page. It's just as easy to un-follow someone.
What does it mean to "track" a request?
If you find a request that interests you, you can track it in order
to receive updates when there is new activity for that request. While
you are tracking a request, you will be emailed when new recommendations
and comments are posted, and they will also appear in the "Responses to You"
section of the homepage.
To track a request, go to the request's page and click the "Track" link
underneath the description. If you are already tracking the request, an
"Untrack" link will appear instead.
How do I find people I know?
One way is to click
Find Friends
which will help you find users on the site by name, or from your Facebook friends.
Another way is to go to
your user page
and look at your "Extended Network". If you see people you recognize,
simply click the "follow" link that appears next to their name.
How does syncing with Gmail work?
If you go to your Find Friends page, we can help you find
users on AskR.com that you already know (through your Gmail account).
To do this, you need to type in your gmail password, which we use to access
your gmail account, to see if any of your contacts are also AskR.com users.
We then forget your gmail password.
We also store a secure hash of your gmail contacts, so that if any of your
friends sign up on AskR.com later, you'll see them as a suggested user to follow.
How do I invite my friends?
When you open the
invite your friends
dialog, you can contact your friends in one of three ways.
- Post an invitation to your facebook feed (we have an easy button for that!)
- Post an update to twitter (we have a button for that, too)
- Or, just enter their email addresses in the invite form.
If you choose to email your friends, they will each get a separate email from us,
mentioning that you invited them and including your personal message. Your email
address will be included to help them identify you.
Each time a friend you invited signs up, you earn 20 mojo points.
What is Mojo?
Mojo is a point system that measures how helpful you've been to the
AskR.com community. The Leaderboard on the top-right of the page
shows the top users on the site (we love you guys!).
How do I get Mojo?
Want more mojo?
Invite your friends
Everyone starts with 10 points for creating an account. Then, you can get more mojo:
- +20 for each new user you invited
- +10 for each recommendation in response to a request
- +4 for all other recommendations
- +5 for each request you post
- +5 for each recommendation anyone writes in response to one of your requests (limit 15 points per request)
- +3 for each person that is following you
- +1 for each person you follow
- +2 for each comment you write
- +1 each time you agree with a recommendation
- +1 each time someone else agrees with your recommendation
- +1 for each request you are tracking
- +2 for each person that is tracking one of your requests
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