Detailed Guide
General
1) How can I add an interest to my list?
On sign up, you will be asked to choose a default interest. In order to pursue more interests, select any other interest from the dropdown on top of your page; and click "Add Interest" in the interest page. Your Interest list will also be displayed in your profile. Unless you add you will not be able to post any objects or participate in debates in that interest.
2) How can I edit my profile details?
Under profile menu, you will see the 'Edit Profile' option. If you have created your account using Facebook connect, you will be given the option to change details like name, email etc. If you change the email details, you will be sent an email to that address to validate the change. If you have created your account using your Intellitrest registration screen, you will see the option to change your profile picture on the left hand side under your profile picture. You can change your default interest as well in that screen.
3) I see a "You & Peers" tab in my interest page. What do you mean by Peers?
While every user writes interesting information about your interests, there are some users whose objects you would like to read in particular. At Intellitrest, we call followers as Intellectual Peers. Go to the person's profile you would like to follow and click "Add As Peer". In your profile, the people you add as peer will be shown under "Following" and the people who add you as peer will be shown under "Followers".
4) I see a Badge on my profile, how can I get more badges?
A profile badge is awarded to signify your participation level on Intellitrest and to respect your knowledge. You can know more about the Intellitrest Badges by clicking here. Share your knowledge with us and get those badges awarded to your profile.
5) How do I share updates about the interests such as news, trivia and other details?
In the interest home page you will be able to enter your updates. Please note that unless you add the interest to your list, you will not see the post button.
6) I see an Experts Corner tab. What is that?
Experts from the interests can verify their account as an expert. We currently have that option for academics, PhDs, and people who work at museums and research institutions. If you are one of the above, you will be able to verify your account by clicking on 'Verify as Expert' button in your profile page next to your name. You need to provide certain details for verification. We will get back to you shortly once you send your request. Please provide your official email details, as that can speed up the process. That will be used for just verifying that you are one of the above listed, and you will continue to use your normal login details.
Intelli5
1) What is Intelli5?
Intelli5 is a wiki style information portlet but restricted to just five important points on a topic. While Wiki articles are fact based, Intelli5 can be opinion based. We all have our intellectual opinions about various topics, and would like and no one will take it out from the article for not being backed up by facts. You write it according to what you want to share, your views on a topic, your own research or maybe you want to focus on a particular aspect of a topic, Intelli5 is completely user based. Also, unlike Wiki where many users edit the same page, Intelli5 is one page per user per topic. Obviously, since each individual has their own point of view, the page is not shared.
2) How do I create a new Intelli5?
Simply click on the "Create a new Intelli5" button on the top-left corner of the page. Please note that you need to add the interest to be able to create objects. You can add that interest to your list by clicking on 'Add Interest' button on top of the interest home page. For security reasons there is a session timeout of 60 minutes if inactive, so you need to save the work or keep the session active.
3) How does this work?
When you click "Create a new Intelli5", the Intelli5 input screen will open. Type the keywords and get started! Since everybody would like to know what your article is all about in the interest hpmepage, you can start with a summary of your topic and then go on explaining all the individual 5 points.
4) What is the significance of keywords?
In Keywords, enter the words that define your article. This keywords help to simplify the search feature. The tags that you input would be shown on the interest homepage under "popular tags" cloud.
5) I have saved my Intelli5 but I want to make a few changes, can I?
Yes, you can. Open the Intelli5 you want to edit from Intelli5 homepage in view mode and click the "Edit this Intelli5" button on the top-left corner. Once you are done, click 'Save'.
6) How can I delete my Intelli5?
For deleting any object, go to your profile page and a link to delete is shown under each individual object.
7) How can I share my Intelli5 with my friends and social media?
If you have logged in from Facebook, you can automatically publish your Intelli5 once it has been saved. Otherwise, on the top-right corner of your Intelli5 page, there is a button through which you can share on multiple platforms.
8) How can I give my opinions and vote for other users' Intelli5?
On each Intelli5 page in view mode, on the right side, both voting and commenting options are available.
External Feed
1) What is External Feed?
External feed is for sharing news, articles, videos, pictures from external sources such as YouTube, SlideShare, Flickr, Google etc.
You can embed media objects or share links related to the interest.
This feature enables users to create a directory of their interest specific media objects and articles, which is easier than to browse
through hundreds of different sources for information related to their interests.
Choose Embed Object in the type drop down if you are posting an external media object. The external media site will have an embed code for the objects.
You can also post external articles by choosing the URL option in the drop down.
The platform automatically captures certain information from the link and is shown to you for selection.
2) How do I create a new External Feed?
Simply click on the "Create a new External Feed" button on the top-left corner of the External Feed home page. Please note that you need to add the interest to be able to create objects. You can add that interest to your list by clicking on 'Add Interest' button on top of the interest home page.
3) How does this work?
There are two types of feeds that you can create- 'URL' and 'Embed Object'. Under URL, you can paste any link that you want to share and give a title and description for it. Under embed object, Most web platforms such as Youtube, Picasa, Flickr, SlideShare, Google and others allow external sites to embed their objects for better display of media such as videos, photos and presentations. The source sites have an embed code that you can copy from there and paste in the description box. If you choose Embed Object, please do not change the copied embed code as it may affect proper display of the object.
4) How do I embed an external media object?
If you want to embed an object from, say, YouTube, first go to the video of your choice. Below the video, there will be an 'Embed' button. Copy the embed code given there and paste in the box provided in External Feed create button in Intellitrest. You can do the same for objects from other media platforms mentioned above.
5) How can I delete my feed?
For deleting any object, go to your profile page and a link to delete is shown under each individual object.
6) How can I share my feeds with my friends and social media?
If you have logged in from Facebook, you can automatically publish your feeds once it has been saved. Otherwise, on the top-right corner of your Intelli5 page, there is a button through which you can share on multiple platforms.
7) How can I vote and comment on other feeds?
On each external feed page in view mode, on the right side, both voting and commenting options are available.
Book Review
1) What is bookclub?
Books are an intellectual's best friends. Here you can search for your favourite intellectual book from any interest, give your reviews, read other reviews, comment and rate other reviews.
2) How do I create a new book review?
Search for your favourite intellectual books from the Bookclub home page. Below the navigation tabs, you will see a text box and a button called 'Book Search'.
Enter search details, and click on the button. You can search by title, author name, ISBN etc.
The list of books are shown, click on the book you want among the search results.
The book description is shown on top, and below that reviews from Intellitrest users are shown.
If you have already written a review for that book, it is shwon on top of other review for your easy access.
It will open up an Intelli5 like format and you can write your views and opinions about the book.
3) I have saved my book review but I want to make a few changes, can I?
Yes, you can. Open the review you had created either by searching for the book, from Bookclub home page or from your profile page.
In the review page, click the 'Edit this review' button on the top-left corner. Once you are done, click 'Save'.
The book description is shown on top, and below that reviews from Intellitrest users are shown.
If you have already written a review for that book, it is shwon on top of other review for your easy access.
It will open up an Intelli5 like format and you can write your views and opinions about the book.
4) Can a book be reviewed across multiple interests?
Yes, you can. As many books span across multiple interests, we have kept this feature. Each review that you write is for that book in a interest that you have chosen. So for writing reviews in another interest, go to that interest Bookclub page and repeat the create steps. Please note that, the reviews in both case will vary as you will be written from different perspectives. For example, Ayn Rand's books can be reviewed very different from a Literature perspective than from philosophical.
5) How can I delete my review?
For deleting any object, go to your profile page and a link to delete is shown under each individual object.
6) How can I share my reviews with my friends and social media?
If you have logged in from Facebook, you can automatically publish your feeds once it has been saved. Otherwise, on the top-right corner of your book review page, there is a button through which you can share on multiple platforms.
7) How can I vote and comment on other reviews?
On each review page in view mode, on the right side, both voting and commenting options are available.
Debate
1) What are oxford style debates?
Oxford style debates follow a specific structure to avoid deviation from the purpose of the debate. There are three participants
- The Proposer (for the motion)
- The Opposition (against the motion).
- The Moderator (regulator)
Once the debate starts, The Moderator gives the opening statement and is followed by The Proposer who in turn is followed by The Opposition.
In a similar fashion, the three give the rebuttal and then the closing statement.
The in-built workflow will inform participants through email about the next steps when the previous step is complete.
If you are the object owner, you will have the option of deciding who can participate in your debate.
2) How do I create a new debate?
Simply click on the "Start a new debate" button on the top-left corner of the Debate page. You can choose to participate as a moderator, proposer or opposition.
3) How do I start the debate so that participants can add their statements?
To start the debate, all open positions need to be taken up by participants. You can invite your intellectual peers to take the open positions. Once all the positions have been taken, you will be sent an email to start the debate. You will see the 'Start Debate' button in the Debate homepage along with other details for the debate. Once you start, the status will be changed to 'Debate In Progress'' You can navigae to You & Peers tab in the Debate homepage to see the debates that you have created.
4) How do I remove the participants?
This is your debate, so you decide whom to debate with. If you are the owner of the debate, you can remove participants by clicking on the remove button under the participant name on the individual debate view page or home page where debates are listed. However, once the debate starts, no participant can be removed.
5) I am not the owner of a debate that I want to participate. How can I join a debate?
On the individual debate page or on the home page where debates are listed, you can see join button under open positions.
6) How will I know when the debate starts or when it is my turn to add my statements?
If you are a participant, you will be notified through an email. Once the debate is opened, the moderator will be notified to give the opening statement, then the proposer and the opposition will be notified in that order. Likewise for Rebuttal and Closing Statements.
7) How can I vote for any participant?
If the debate is open, you will see a "Your Vote" column on the right side of the debate page. You can also change your vote during the course of the debate. Please note that this is different from the star rating that you can give for the debates.