This part of my user's guide covers the reporting mechanism and how to use it to maintain good content on the site. It was last updated on 25 December 2009.

As আপনি continue to use Fanpop, আপনি will come across content that is not what it should be in some way. Since ফ্যানপপ is largely only as good as the content it contains, it is important to address these issues for the good of the site and the ফ্যানপপ community.

Now, most of the content that "is not what it should be" is likely just content that আপনি don't like, and such content should be rated appropriately (see the link). But, rarely, there is some content on the site আরো problematic than that, and for such content there exists the reporting function. Reporting allows you, the user, to flag something on ফ্যানপপ as being wrong in some way, so that it will be fixed.

Here's a handy guide to distinguishing between different types of problem content, and whether ratings অথবা reporting should be applied.

* আপনি disagree with a particular user (rate)
* আপনি don't like what the user says (rate)
* আপনি find the user obnoxious and harassing (ignore)
* The user uses obscene language and/or posts obscene content (report)
* The user attempts to sell a product অথবা encourages আপনি to buy a product (report)
* The user consistently attacks and demeans আপনি (report)
* আপনি suspect the user is actually a duplicate account of another user (ignore)
* Content is পোষ্ট হয়েছে that আপনি think sucks (rate)
* Content is পোষ্ট হয়েছে without মূলশব্দ (rate)
* Content is পোষ্ট হয়েছে with inadequate মূলশব্দ (rate)
* Content is পোষ্ট হয়েছে in the wrong spot (report)
* Content link does not work (report)
* Content link is to a web site which hasn't been updated in years (rate)
* Content link is for a contest which has already ended (report)
* Video link doesn't work embedded (rate)
* Video is short, low-quality, video is out of sync with audio (rate)
* Video requires users to install software on their desktops in order to view it (rate/comment)
* Video doesn't work embedded nor on the উৎস site (report)
* Video is offensive/obscene (report)
* Video takes forever to load (rate)
* Video not what আপনি expected (rate)
* Video is unrelated to the spot topic (report)
* Content exactly duplicates other content already in that spot (rate/comment)
* Spot duplicates an existing spot (report)
* Spot seems silly, unnecessary (comment)
* Spot name contains errors অথবা isn't precise (comment)
* Spot is offensive অথবা obscene (report)
* Image is low quality, has no description, and/or fails to have image credits (rate/comment)
* Image has no image credits and আপনি know the copyright belongs to someone else (report)
* Soapbox প্রবন্ধ presents a ridiculous opinion (rate)
* Soapbox প্রবন্ধ filled with grammatical, spelling and/or logic errors (rate)
* Soapbox প্রবন্ধ shorter than a full page (rate)
* Soapbox প্রবন্ধ consists of text from another site/source (report)
* Soapbox প্রবন্ধ has no pictures (rate)
* Pick has no pictures (comment)
* Pick does not allow users to add উত্তর that are clearly necessary (comment)
* Pick is not related to the spot topic (report)
* Pick contains offensive/obscene text/images (report)
* Pick is biased/one-sided (comment)
* The video in a ক্যুইজ প্রশ্ন doesn't work (report)
* আপনি don't like a particular pop ক্যুইজ প্রশ্ন (comment)
* There are spelling errors in a pop ক্যুইজ প্রশ্ন অথবা answer(s) (comment)
* There are factual errors in a pop ক্যুইজ question/answer (report)
* There is no way to know the answer for a pop ক্যুইজ প্রশ্ন (report)

Reporting and comments
To file a প্রতিবেদন on something, look for the little "flag" icon. This is located in different places, depending on what আপনি are reporting. Click on the flag, and a sub-menu will appear, along with a text field for "comments". IMPORTANT: EVERY প্রতিবেদন SHOULD HAVE A COMMENT! Note, however, that the user interface is poorly designed - আপনি must type the মতামত BEFORE clicking the type of report, even though the মতামত box is under the প্রতিবেদন buttons. Why comment? It is VERY likely that the staff অথবা admins who review the reports on a প্রদত্ত দিন will not immediately understand WHY আপনি reported a piece of content, and if it's not immediately obvious, it may not receive any action. It's that simple.

Types of Reports
Broadly speaking, there are three types of reports আপনি can file as a ফ্যানপপ user.

* Spot reporting: আপনি can file a প্রতিবেদন on a particular spot. To প্রতিবেদন a spot, look for and click the red flag and the word "report" just below the spot's banner in the upper right. This will open the reporting sub-menu.


* User reporting: আপনি can file a প্রতিবেদন on a particular user. To প্রতিবেদন an user, click on the user's name to go to the user's পরিলেখ page. In the left column, labeled "about me", you'll see a bunch of information: the user's পরিলেখ pictures, name, country, পছন্দ films, books, et cetera. Under that, there will be several links, including one with the red flag and the words "Report Abuse". Click that link to open up the reporting sub-menu.

* Link reporting: আপনি can file a প্রতিবেদন on a particular piece of content on the site. There are eight kinds of content which আপনি can প্রতিবেদন on Fanpop: links, videos, images, soapbox articles, pop ক্যুইজ questions, picks, উত্তর and মতামত (Note: only মতামত in a ফোরাম অথবা উত্তর to an Answer Request can be reported as of 25 December 2009). With each, you'll be looking for a grey, unlabeled flag, in the locations described here:

With links, the flag is located just under and to the left of the ratings bar.


With videos, the flag is located just under the ratings bar.


The flag for প্রতিমূর্তি is located (as with the video flag) just under the ratings bar.

With ক্যুইজ questions, the reporting flag is located on the right, between the প্রশ্ন and the তালিকা of answers.


The flag for প্রবন্ধ is just under the শিরোনাম of the article, far to the left of the ratings bar:


The flag for picks is on the right, where the ratings bar would be if আপনি could rate picks:


The flag for উত্তর is below the প্রশ্ন and the "answer this question" button:


The flag for মতামত is below the মতামত itself:


What the reports mean
When আপনি click the flag, a sub-menu will appear, prompting আপনি to select which kind of প্রতিবেদন আপনি wish to file. These choices vary slightly, depending on which kind of প্রতিবেদন আপনি are filing. To file a report, আপনি must click on one of the red boxes, selecting one of the categories of reports.
If আপনি change your mind and don't want to click any of the reports, আপনি can always click the green "don't report" box in the sub-menu instead.


When আপনি প্রতিবেদন a SPOT, there are four possible reports:
The spot inappropriate প্রতিবেদন specifically means a violation of the link. This includes obscene content, spam content, hate speech content, as well as copyrighted content. A spot dedicated to "Robbing Banks" would merit an inappropriate report, as would spots dedicated to "Sex chat", "Downloading mp3s for free" and anything involving a racial slur.

The spot offensive প্রতিবেদন means content that আপনি find offensive. It may not be obscene অথবা a clear violation of the Terms of Service, but আপনি find it offensive. "Defeating Atheism" might be a spot to প্রতিবেদন as offensive.

The spot miscategorized প্রতিবেদন means that the spot is catalogued in the wrong channel. For instance, if a spot dedicated to the Lynx web browser were to be listed as part of the "Travel & Places" channel, one would be well-justified in filing a miscategorized spot report.

The spot duplicate প্রতিবেদন means that the spot's topic is already covered দ্বারা another spot that was created beforehand, অথবা that the reported spot's topic is insufficiently different from an existing spot to merit a separate spot. A "Fanpop Kids" spot would likely be reported as a duplicate of the "Parenting" spot, for instance, and a "Great car commercials" spot would be reported as a duplicate to the "Car Commercials" spot.


When আপনি প্রতিবেদন USERS, there are three possible reports:

The user spam প্রতিবেদন means that the user is clearly on ফ্যানপপ for the sole purpose of trying to sell a product অথবা service to the other users. An user whose only contributions are to a spot he created for "Greatest Video Downloads", including a link to the site greatestvideodownloads.com and a soapbox প্রবন্ধ describing how great the same web site is, is an example of an user who should be reported as a spammer.

The user offensive content প্রতিবেদন indicates that আপনি feel that the user in প্রশ্ন is regularly posting offensive content to the site, across many spots. An user who posts লিঙ্ক to a blog called "Why your beliefs are stupid" to all the faith-oriented spots would be reported with this flag.

The user abusive প্রতিবেদন indicates that the user in প্রশ্ন is abusive to আপনি and/or other ফ্যানপপ users on the site. An user who regularly rates all your content as a 1 might get an abusive report, as well as an user who regularly posts attacking মতামত in response to your comments, as well as an user who belittles someone's opinions, intelligence, appearance and so forth.


When আপনি প্রতিবেদন CONTENT, there are five types of reports আপনি can file:

The content broken প্রতিবেদন indicates that the content link does not work. This should be filed anytime a link goes to a page that doesn't exist, a link goes to a completely different page than what the link described, অথবা (in the case of videos) the video in প্রশ্ন has been removed from the host web site. NOTE: a video link is NOT BROKEN if it doesn't play embedded on ফ্যানপপ but does work on the host web site. Some video hosting web sites - YouTube springs to mind - allow their users to specify whether their চলচ্ছবি may play embedded অথবা not. If the video cannot play embedded, it will প্রদর্শনী up as normal on Fanpop, but আপনি must click the video's title (or the little অনুষ্ঠান- অ্যারো link পরবর্তি to it) to go to the hosting web site and see the video. It is only when the video does not work embedded AND it does not work on the উৎস site that আপনি should file a "broken" প্রতিবেদন for a video.

NOTE: pop ক্যুইজ প্রশ্ন do not have a broken প্রতিবেদন option. Instead, they are the only type of content to have a bad question reporting option. The bad প্রশ্ন flag is used to both indicate when a question's video link is broken (it doesn't play embedded অথবা on the উৎস site) and/or to indicate that the প্রশ্ন is incorrect (that is, if the প্রশ্ন is wrong). It is also appropriate to use this প্রতিবেদন if a প্রশ্ন requires the user to guess, not because আপনি don't know the answer, but because there is no way for আপনি to know the answer. For example, a প্রশ্ন that asks "What is my পছন্দ color?" is a valid প্রশ্ন only if that information is available on Fanpop. A প্রশ্ন "What is the population of country X?" would be a bad question, but a প্রশ্ন "What was the population of country X in 2008?" would be valid, because it can be validated.

The content inappropriate প্রতিবেদন indicates that the content violates the link in some way. Among other things, this includes sexually explicit imagery, চলচ্ছবি that contain obscene language, প্রতিমূর্তি without proper copyright credits that clearly were created দ্বারা someone other than the user, and soapbox প্রবন্ধ that consist in large part (if not their entirety) of text that was copied from some other site (ie, plagiarism).

The content outdated প্রতিবেদন indicates that the content (usually a link) points to a site describing an event that has already occurred অথবা a deal that has expired. A link to a site where আপনি can sign up for free e-mail নবীকৃত তথ্য on the 5th season of "Big Brother" would be appropriate to flag as outdated.

The content spam প্রতিবেদন indicates that the content is trying to sell something to the ফ্যানপপ users viewing it. This one is a little tricky, because most web sites are trying to sell something. But a link to, say, a dating service web site would not be spam if some of the site could be used for free, but would be spam if আপনি had to pay money up front to actually get to any content on the site.

The content miscategorized প্রতিবেদন means that the content has nothing to do with the spot in which it is found, অথবা that there's a better spot for it. A video link to Michael Jackson's HIStory in the link spot would be miscategorized, for instance. That one is obvious, but this প্রতিবেদন can also be pretty tricky. Would a picture of Carly Simon, who didn't tour অথবা produce any albums in the 1980s (but who was at least alive in the 80s) be miscategorized if it was placed in the link, instead of the link? Would চলচ্ছবি of ফ্যানপপ users' children be miscategorized if they were placed in the link rather than the link? Would an প্রবন্ধ describing how to be kind to our fellow users be miscategorized if found in the link, rather than the link অথবা link spots? There is some leeway; when in doubt, আপনি can always try sending a message to the user who পোষ্ট হয়েছে the content which may be miscategorized to discuss it with him/her.

A note on multiple reports
Just a quick note: ফ্যানপপ remembers the reports that আপনি submit. So don't try to swamp content with reports, because the site will only allow আপনি to প্রতিবেদন a প্রদত্ত item once. Any further attempts will be met with the reply "You have already reported this as a <report type> <spot/user/link>".

What happens to reports
So you've found some content that doesn't work in some fashion and have reported it. What happens then?

Reports that users file appear in a তালিকা for the site staff and moderators to address. In many cases, the reason that the প্রতিবেদন was filed will be obvious to them, and the staff and/or moderators will take the appropriate action. However, in many cases it is apparently not obvious why a প্রতিবেদন was filed, because the moderators will occasionally contact the person who filed the প্রতিবেদন via a message, asking for clarification. Then, once they've investigated what the reason was for the report, they will take whatever action they deem necessary. Such action includes chastising users, moving miscategorized content, banning users, merging spots, deleting spots, and deleting other content.

In addition, if the প্রতিবেদন was a "broken" content report, a message is also generated to the user who পোষ্ট হয়েছে the content originally, with the subject line "One of your লিঙ্ক has been flagged দ্বারা another user." In the case of broken content, the user who পোষ্ট হয়েছে the content originally usually has two days to সম্পাদনা the link and replace it with a working link before the broken link is completely removed from the site.

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Here's লিঙ্ক to other parts of the guide for your quick reference:

* link

* 1: link

* 2: link.

* 3: link

* 4: Picks: this is the generic name both for the মতামত প্রশ্ন that আপনি see on the site and for the উত্তর আপনি can pick to that question. Papa has created a link.

* 5: link

* 6: link

* 7: link

আপনি may also want to see:

* link feature

* link