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Become an Internet Authority on Actors with Flixster Experts
Wikipedia’s great, but it’s pretty general and lacks multimedia like photos and videos. IMDB can be useful, but when was the last time you messaged a friend there (or took a quiz, or watched a movie…)? You get the picture.
Flixster is a completely unique place where millions of movie fans have created a vibrant community. Because so many knowledgeable moviegoers hang out at Flixster, we thought it was only reasonable to let them come together and collaborate on the definitive movie and actor resource with the Flixster Wiki. And within that wiki project, we wanted to give top users the opportunity to become leaders of the most important parts of the wiki. These Flixster members are called Flixster Experts, and they will become the authority on actors on the Web.
What is an actor page wiki, exactly?
We have added wiki areas to each actor details page. These areas are located in the main left-hand column. When a user – any user – clicks the “EasyEdit” button, he or she can add, delete, or edit the information on that page.
- Actor Page Wiki Pane (titled the “Johnny Depp Wiki Profile”, for example, on the actor page): This is the area directly on the main actor page. Basic info about the actor is available here so visitors can get an idea as to what that actor’s all about.
- Extended Profile: This is a page that links off of the Actor Page Wiki Pane. This page includes tons of relevant details about the actor.
- Defining Characters: This is also a page that links off of the Actor Page Wiki Pane. It’s a place for users to add information about that actor’s most memorable characters – quotes, biographical details, etc.
- Quotes: Also linked from the Actor Page Wiki Pane, this page is for memorable or excellent quotes from the actor.
- Fan Pages: These are pages added by users. They can contain any sort of information relevant to that actor of the movies he or she has been involved with. Flixster Experts can help users set up these pages by giving them basic templates or advice.
All of these pages add up to the Actor Wiki, and all of these will appear in Google search results if they have enough interesting and unique content on them.
What’s a Flixster Expert?
Flixster Experts “own” actor pages at Flixster.com. That person gets moderator privileges, recognition, and access to community features. In exchange, the Expert makes sure that his or her actor pages are well taken care of.
What are benefits of becoming a Flixster Expert?
Recognition within the Flixster community. As an Expert, you will have your profile name (and picture, in most cases) added front-and-center of the actor page. You will also have the actor added to your Flixster profile. (See screenshots here.)
An Expert, Internet-wide. Individual actor pages on Flixster.com get tens of thousands of visits every day from search engines like Google. As you grow your page and recruit more fans to contribute, more and more people will come to visit, and there you’ll be – the Expert – staring back at them. (We’re also working on a program that will provide a score to how you’re doing each month, and we’ll have prizes for top pages.)
Moderator privileges. As an Expert, you’ll have access to moderator tools other users don’t. They are:
- Lock/Unlock – Experts can lock and unlock pages and regular users cannot edit them. Some Experts will want to do this with the Actor Page Wiki Pane once it’s full of objective information. Other users will then be able to create or click into other wiki pages about that actor and add to or edit them.
- Delete/Restore – Experts can delete content and entire pages. They can also restore content and pages that have been deleted.
Expert Community. As an Expert, you will have your own community carved out within Flixster. You can get information about the wiki project and get materials to support their efforts (e.g. templates, page ideas, and tips for making your actor pages more attractive to search engines). You will be able to communicate with other Experts and swap notes.
Tell Us What You Want. We are certainly open to other recognition and benefits that users would like for being Experts. Drop us a line and let us know what you’d like.
What are my responsibilities as a Flixster Expert?
Own the Page, Lead the Effort! This is your public space on Flixster.com and your opportunity to build something important with the help of other Flixster members. First and foremost, spend some time filling the page out with information about the actor. Then raise the bar with more creative content and watch as other users follow and astound you with their creativity.
Tend Your Garden. Remove spam and inappropriate content. Use your powers to restore content that shouldn’t have been deleted, and delete bad pages. It’s your call.
Recruit Greatness. Promote the page to other people you think will have good info to add. (The pages with the most info and editors will get more traffic from Google and be recognized site-wide.)
Cultivate Your Contributors. Building good relationships with contributing Flixster members means people will help you build out the page with incredible creative and rich content. You’ll have made some new friends and made Flixster a more enjoyable place. Please keep in mind that any user who is adding legitimate content to an actor page (not spam or offensive) must be allowed to do so. As the Expert, you’re not obliged to promote this page or content, but please be fair to other users’ contributions – expertise comes with understanding other perspectives!
How many actors can I be an Expert for?
If you’re up for it, we’d love for you to be an Expert on more than one actor. Currently, we are able to support five actors per Expert. It’s up to you to figure out how many you can handle at once.
What if someone else already is an Expert for my favorite actor?
We hope to be able to support up to two Experts for each actor (initially we’re able to support one). If those spots are taken, we will add you to the waiting list to become an Expert. If an Expert relinquishes his or her spot, and you’re up next on the list, we’ll drop you a line immediately to let you know.
If your favorite actor is already taken, feel free to request up to three other actors.
How much time will it take to be a good Expert?
The most basic functions of an Expert are to fill out the page initially, which could take as little as an hour or two. Coming back every week or so to make sure no one has added bad or spammy content to the page is also a basic activity.
The more time you put in, and the smarter your work, the better your page will be. By recruiting other users to add info and other content, you’ll be able to kick back and just make sure the good stuff gets promoted and the bad stuff gets buried or removed. You can also throw yourself into creating great content for the page, which usually draw more people that will join you.
How do I become an Expert?
We thought you’d never ask! Please contact Experts@flixster-inc.com with what actor (or actors) you’re interested in. He’ll let you know what to do next.
What are the specific basic criteria for maintaining my status as an Expert?
While we expect most Experts will go all out on their pages, we know it’s helpful to get a basic idea of what we need to keep most actor pages growing and maintained. (It’s also only fair to other Flixster users hoping to become Experts on your actor.) Here are the basic requirements:
- Within 1 week of becoming an Expert, fill out the existing Actor Page Wiki Pane (“Wiki Profile”) template. Feel free to change or add to the template, but our hope is the base of your expertise is show in your expertise.
- Feel free to rewrite entirely or edit the biography we include.
- Feel free to lock and keep a close eye on this pane with your moderator tools, since this the most visible aspect of your Expert status.
- Visit your page every 2-3 days and comb out any inappropriate content such as spam or irrelevant additions.
- Within 2 weeks of becoming an Expert, make additions to the additional pages included along with the wiki profile (Extended Profile, Quotes, and Defining Characters).
- Recruit at least 3 other users to edit an exist page or create a new page.
Please note that in the case of very popular actors, we may have a long list of Experts waiting to have their shot at the page. We will contact you if we feel like you might benefit from some more help.
Can I remodel? Can I change the existing templates or add new ones?
If you’re the first Expert on the scene, you will notice the baseline templates we’ve created. We’ve also added some basic information for many actors (biography, date of birth, etc.). Feel free to update, edit, revise, or completely rework any of this. As long as you’re adding to the actor page (and not just deleting stuff and leaving it sad and empty), it’s in your hands.
Actor page skins make it a little hard to read or edit my Actor Page Wiki Pane. What can I do?
You can temporarily remove the skin from the page. Just beneath the top box on the left hand column - on the far right - you'll see a link that reads, "Unskin this page." Click "unskin" and that page will revert to the default Flixster skin, which is very legible. We're working on a switch that you'll see at the top of the page when logged in. This switch will quickly and easily let you turn skins on and off on movie and actor pages.
As an Expert, you can also request via Customer Service to have the skin swapped with a more legible one.
What can regular users do on these wiki pages?
Regular users can add or edit content on any page (as long as an Expert hasn’t locked the page). In order to add or edit, the only thing regular users need to do is to make sure they’re logged in.
Do my Expert privileges work on other Experts’ actors?
You and your fellow Experts have the same privileges throughout the wiki areas on Flixster.com. With these “moderator” privileges, you can affect content on other Experts’ actors, just as they can affect content on yours. While you have the same privileges across the board, you are the Expert for your actor(s) only, and we ask that Experts not make unwanted moderator-level changes on other actors’ pages (e.g. locking pages, deleting content, restoring content). As an Expert, your moderator privileges allow you to undo any changes another Expert does, but we know it’s still a hassle.
If another Expert comes to your page and makes moderator-level changes that you don’t agree with, please contact him or her and politely ask them to make moderator changes through you. If you are unable to work out the situation directly, you may report them to Experts@flixster-inc.com.
What if a user or an Expert is abusing the system?
We hope that everyone will be civil and friendly, but we know that sometimes an abusive user surfaces. In that case, please report the user to Customer Service via our contact form (http://www.flixster.com/support/contact).
If you have a disagreement with another Expert, and you’re unable to work it out between the two of you, please contact Experts@flixster-inc.com.
What content is acceptable on the actor pages?
Any and all things related to the actor in question are great for these pages. What we can’t have is spam. Spam is any solicitation, especially one providing links to pages outside of Flixster.com with the intent to market products. We also don’t want unnecessary foul language. If the foul language is relevant to actor – in a quote from one of the actor’s characters, for example – that’s probably okay. It’s up to the Expert to decide whether or not the language should be edited (e.g. “What’s this day of rest s***?”) or not. Experts should not delete legitimate content just because it has foul language; they can, instead, edit it for content.
What if I am unable to keep up an Expert-level page?
We have a great deal of confidence in our users’ ingenuity and abilities (we see it all day, every day). However, if you are having difficulty getting your page going, or you have questions about anything, we’re here to help. Just drop us a line.
If, instead, you would like to pass off the responsibility of maintaining your actor page to someone else, we’re happy to transition the responsibility to another user. Just let us know.
How are you monitoring Experts to make sure I’m not the only one working hard?
We have a team of folks at Flixster as well as some software that makes sure actor pages with Experts getting taken care of. We’ll contact any Experts that look they might need some help.
How do I delete a page?
To remove a page, go to the bottom of the wiki area and click “content tools”. A menu will pop up, and then you select “delete content”. You’ll get a confirmation popup where you can enter any detail if you want, though it’s not required. The content will be marked for deletion, though may see it for another day or so before it churns out of the system.
How do I lock and unlock pages?
Go to the bottom of that wiki box on the actor page and click "content tools". then click "lock content" (or "unlock" if the page is already locked). A confirmation box will pop up, which you can add detail to or skip, and that's that. Once you've completed that, the page is locked/unlocked.
At that point only you and other Experts can make changes to that page. if another Expert comes and makes changes you don't like, and you're not successful at settling it yourself, please contact the Expert Liaison and we'll step in.
What if I need to undo an edit, deletion, or addition?
Go to the bottom of the page and click "content history". This will bring up a list of all of the changes people have made to this page. Yyou can see all changes people have made to all of that actor's pages by clicking the link at the top, "View all recent updates to your site".)
Find the change you want to undo in that list. Usually, if it's to undo someone's erasing, find the one that lists "X words deleted". On that line, click on the little triangle to the far left. This will expand that line to show some options, which will consist of the following,
- "Make current version": This takes the page back in time to whatever that line's version was
- "Delete this version": Removes whatever changes were made during that change
