Frequently Asked Questions

I answered this question in the news blog here

The Insiders Encyclopedia has a few Page Naming Standards to maintain high quality and ease of use throughout the IP project website. Please make sure you follow these standards.

Page Naming Standards:

1- Do Not Use 'all' Caps Letters:

Incorrect: GREEN FIELDS APARTMENTS
Correct: Green Fields Apartments

2- Do not Use 'all' Lower Case Letters:

Incorrect: green fields apartments
Correct: Green Fields Apartments

3- Use your business name, brand name, landmark name (i.e the entity's name) as the Page Title (i.e. Entity Title):

Incorrect examples: Senior Care Apartments, Massage Therapist, Minnesota Plumbing Services, Asian Restaurant, Dental Services

Correct examples: Green Fields Senior Care Apartments, Ultimate Healing Massage Clinic, Schmidt Plumbing, Green Fields Asian Restaurant, Big Smile Dentistry

Note:
The InsidersPedia Admin and moderators reserve the right to edit and adjust any Page title to meet these standards, with no requirement to give notice to Page publisher. If notice is given it is done solely at the discretion of site admin or moderators.

There are more reasons than I can accurately count. Read this article (here) to find some of the reasons why you should seriously consider using InsidersPedia.org, besides the fact that it is 100% free, open, democratic, empowering, offering information by Insiders and offering 100% FREE online 'local' publicity.

One thing to note:

Avoid using your real name as your screen name, unless you want it to be known. InsidersPedia is read by everyone with Internet access (i.e. friends, students, faculty, coworkers, family, etc) from around the world. Unless you want everyone to know who you are, keep your identity protected by using a pseudo name.

You are about to become an Insider! What are you waiting for? Get started now (it takes less than 2 minutes to join and have your first Page published) join many other Insiders now and literally help make the world a better place. By sharing your knowledge you are adding to the collective body knowledge found on IP , this benefits everyone! :-)

Welcome!!

Here are some general tips worth knowing:

1. Avoid using your real name as your screen name, unless you want it to be known. InsidersPedia is read by everyone with Internet access (i.e. friends, students, faculty, coworkers, family, etc) from around the world. Unless you want everyone to know who you are, keep your identity protected by using a pseudo name.

2. Be courteous. Stay positive. Embrace mutual respect. It goes a long way.

3. Use the search functions. Someone else may have already published a page about the same entity you wanted to include in the Insiders Encyclopedia. If so, consider leaving a comment and a rating or creating a new Listing (yes duplicates are ok). If you are the owner of an entity that has already been listed contact us for exclusive ownership of your Listing Page.

4. Use the “flag” button to report inappropriate content. It’s located at the bottom of every page on the site. It immediately alerts the moderators/administrators.

5. Respect copyrighted information. Copying information from other Web sites hurts those sites ability to generate revenue. Unless you are publishing original material or material that you own, it is best to post a link to the desired information or to post a caption of the text but not the whole text. If you use your own words it is highly advised that you reference the source of your info.

6. When leaving comments and rating entities, be courteous. Harassment and Flame-Wars burn everyone. Remember, don’t behave in a manner which might get you into trouble now or in the future.

7. Use common sense when posting text or images. No sexually-oriented or hateful words or images are allowed, unless published with permission from site admin.

8. TROLLS AND SPAMMERS BEWARE. Trolling and spamming interferes with operation of our nonprofit site. Those who troll or spam are trespassing on our network. We reserve the right to take any and all legal and technical remedies to prevent trolling and spamming of our network.

9. Even though you can edit your Page Listing at any time, once you’ve posted on the site, it’s there forever on the Internet. Even if you/we edited or removed a post, this post is often permanently cataloged in sites like Google or the Internet Archives.

10. Remember: Only entities get a Listing Page, not events, classifieds, or people. Learn more.

11. These are NOT entities and CANNOT be listed as Pages on InsidersPedia (since every Page is a Listing of an entity):

• A website. Unless your website is offering a service AND is a legal entity (i.e. business) otherwise your business is the Entity and your business gets a Page where you can link to your website.
• A service (this is not an entity but rather a part of an entity.)
• A housing classified, for sale, wanted ad, lost and found, or any classified ad (this is not an entity but rather a part of an entity.)
• An event (this is not an entity but rather a part of an entity.)
• Natural Persons (unless person's name is the name of entity, i.e. group/business/monument)

  Note: All of the above 'can' and should be listed on Insiders'Pedia, but must be mentioned within their respective entity's Listing 'Page', not as stand alone entities, since they are not entities, but events organised by, or services offered by entities.

  Examples: A website name and URL can be listed in the Listing Page for an entity, Ads, promotions, events can all be mentioned in your entity's Page (and updated as often as you like), a person's name can also be mentioned in a Listing Page.

12. Be sure to have FUN! Remember, we all come here to use this site for FREE and to share knowledge with fellow locals, neighbors, friends and the occasional tourists and new comers. Essentially, we’re here to help each other.

InsidersPedia allows you to do all the following:

1- Add / List Pages:

• List your favorite store, your favorite hiking trail, local attraction or any favorite entity
• List your own business (registered or not), team, group or any entity
• List any entity no matter how large or small.
• List any entity (Legal entity, Groups, Clubs, Business, Building, Monument, Landmark, Location, Venue, NGO's, Nonprofits, etc..) whether you own it or not.
• Rate existing Listings
• Leave Comments on existing Listings / Pages
• List some more!

Find out how to add a Page to InsidersPedia here

2- Find Pages:

• Browse Listings, find what others said about them
• Planning for the weekend? browse your local Region for categories that meet your interest
• Visiting a new place? find locations, hotels, and information submitted by local Insiders

3- Rate, Comment and Write Reviews:

Rate IP Pages (entities), leave your comments, short or long.. IP makes it easy to share your reviews on local entities with others.

4- Community Policing:

InsidersPedia is community policed. This means, if you find anything inappropriate (in violation of terms) on Insiders' Pedia, you can report it to the site admin simply and easily by clicking on the flag link at the bottom of each page to flag that Page for review.

5- Community Categorizing:

InsidersPedia Pages are organized using categories. Categories allow others to find you. InsidersPedia lets you, the Insider, decide what categories to use (i.e. IP allows you to categorize your page as you wish) and with as many appropriate categories as you chose to have. The website admin keeps an eye on the categories only to prevent abuse and offer advice to users to better utilize the categorization system

1. To list pages, first log in.
• If you do not have a login account, registering takes only 30 seconds and is very quick & simple (we don't ask for much info)
• Once you register, you will get a confirmation email with a link to click on.
• Once confirmed, you can log in and start posting / adding IP Pages.
2. Once logged in, find the "Select State Portal" box (upper right side) and click on your state.
3. Once on your state's Portal page you will see a link to "Add a Page"
4. Once on the "Add a Page" page; click the appropriate [add] link right next to the specific region your page should belong to.
5. You will then get a blank form, fill in the fields (the form has instructions to guide you) and click save.
   • Only a few fields are required, the rest are optional
   • The title of the page should be the entity's name, each word should start with a capital letter. Please read these 3 Page Naming Standards
   • You get to write your own categories that your encyclopedia page should belong to
6. Your Page is now published for the world to see. It has a unique URL. You can come back and "edit" your page at any time to add more info, change the address, post new specialties or new promotional offers.

Summary:
Creating a page can be done in as quickly as 1 minute.
All together, you can join and publish your first IP (Insiders Encyclopedia) Page in under 2 minutes!

Remember:
You can come back at any time and make changes to your Page.
Don't forget to write down your Page's unique URL so you can share it with others.

Since Insiders' Pedia is not a classified ads website (it's a local guide with local Listings of 'entities') you cannot post 'classifieds' here. However, you can list an entity that is offering the service you want to advertise.

So, instead of posting a classified ad for baby-sitting, pet grooming, car washing, a job opening, cars for sale, or housing & rentals ads post a Listing for the 'entity' offering such service. In other words, list the group offering to wash cars, list the business offering pet grooming, list the building where open apartments exist or the property management company, for car sales list the dealership not the cars, and if you are baby sitting list the business name you are using (no matter how small your business is). In each of these Listings you can explain what the 'entity' does in detail, and also mention any special offers, services, openings, rates, hours etc. This listing offers you more than a short classified ad, you get a Page Listing with a unique URL for you to gain instant online visibility.

You cannot list your own car for sale, or any of these classified-ad-type listings: free stuff, garage sales, selling, buying and trading -- Unless they are a service offered by an 'entity' as explained above.

This gives people one spot to look for the most up to date information on services, apartments, job openings, sales etc.. that are hosted at or offered by a certain entity.

An entity can be anything from a club, a group of people, a band, a business (no matter how small), a sole proprietorship, a non-profit, a location, a trail, a lake, a school, a team, a venue etc.

Every entity gets one Listing, this listing is a whole Page that can contain a lot of info including what this entity does and offers. You can edit the Listing at any time to keep it up to date.

No, you cannot post 'events'. Since Insiders' Pedia is not a classified ads website nor a calendar of events. IP is a local guide written by local containing listings of 'entities'. .

You can, however, List an entity (at which the event(s) occur) and you can list upcoming events on your entity page, this way people know where to look for the most up to date information on events hosted at/or by a certain entity.

An entity can be anything from a club, a group of people, a musical band, a business, a non-profit, a location, a trail, a lake, a school, a team, a venue etc..

Note that an entity Page (i.e. any InsidersPedia Listing / Page) 'can' contain events, special announcements, classifieds, etc..

Yes, InsidersPedia is Growing. More States, more Regions and more Sites are added almost weekly. More and more cities, hundreds of thousand of new Insiders are being offered this free service. The future of this open free online encyclopedia project looks as great as it can be.
As long as IP can serve Insiders, like YOU, we will keep doing our best to serve you better.
You can help us by telling your fellow Insiders about this free service. The more people use IP the more public access and visibility your Page will receive.

An Entity on Insiders' Pedia is any of the following:

• Legal entity (but not a 'natural person' ** see below for explanation)
• Group
• Club
• Team
• Band
• Business (registered or not, corp, llc, ltd, partnerships, sole proprietorship - no matter hor large or small) ***
• Agency offering a service
• Building, Monument, Landmark
• Location
• National/State Park
• School, Church, Theater, Club, Bar, Restaurant
• Field, Trail, Lake, Camp Ground, Beach, Mountain
• City, Incorporated and unincorporated communities
• Venu
• Governmental Agency
• Non-Governmental Org
• Nonprofit Org

Every Entity gets one (1) free encyclopedia Page per Site or City.
Every Page / Listing is of one (1) Entity.
The terms Page and Listing and Entity Page may be used interchangeably.

** An Entity 'cannot be':

• A (Natural) Person: This includes 'you', your friends, teacher, a celebrity, actor, musician, sports player or anyone else. Persons are not Entities (thus do not get a Page) unless this a business offering a service under person's name.
• A website. A website is not an Entity, unless your website is offering a service AND is a legal entity in of itself (i.e. business). Most likely, your business, group, team, non profit org, trail or building will be the Entity, and your Entity's website gets listed (under the 'website URL' section) within an Entity's Page. In other words, personal blogs are not considered Entities while a store front website or an official website for your organization or team is listed inside of your Entity's Page.
• A service. Like a website, this is not an Entity but rather a part of an entity. Services are listed on an Entity's Page
• A housing classified, for sale, wanted ad, lost and found, or any classified ad. These are not Entities but a part of an Entity. These can be listed within an Entity's Page
• An event. This is not an entity but rather a part of an entity. Events can be listed within an Entity's Page under the 'Promotions / Special Offers / Events' section.

*** Note on person names:

• If your name is the main 'brand others identify your services by' (so, if you are an artist, actor, therapist, doctor, musician) and your services are directly associated to your own name (and not to a business or brand name) then your name is considered an entity, thus can be used as the Listing title on Insider's Encyclopedia. However, if you are a doctor (musician, attorney, etc..) and offer services under a business name or within a clinic, the business name, or office name, is the Entity not your own name.

If what you want to list is not an entity do not list it, otherwise you will be banned from using IP.

Visit the definitions page for more definitions of terms.

InsidersPedia is is a portmanteau (a combination of portions of two words and their meanings), Insiders and Encyclopedia.

Insiders are regular folks that live in a community and know the ins and outs of it. These Insiders create the encyclopedia pages, one Page for each Entity (i.e. a business, service, location, building, person, etc..). They also rate and comment on Pages that others have written. You are an insider!

Pedia: Short for Encyclopedia. Being an encyclopedia, InsidersPedia aims at capturing 'everything local'. It relies solely on local individuals (we call them Insiders) to populate its Pages for all to benefit from in the public domain.

Entity: Can be many things, a business, service, group, location, landmark even a person. Click here to find out more about what qualifies as an Entity. Every entity gets one encyclopedia Page.

Insiders' Pedia (IP) is is a non-profit, all volunteer and FREE online project that offers communities across the U.S a platform (i.e. InsidersPedia.org) that empowers local individuals (i.e. Insiders) and businesses or groups (i.e. Entities) to share information by creating (i.e  adding) Pages to the Insiders' Encyclopedia website.

Every encyclopedia page can be rated and commented on. Every Insider is held accountable for their contribution, no anonymous comments or ratings are allowed and Insiders that List an Entity (create a Page) cannot rate or comment on that Entity Page. InsidersPedia brings the best of services such as Angies List, Wikipedia, Yellow Pages, Yahoo and DMOZ while emphasizing openness, community-policing, equal rights to all users and free access to all. As a result, InsidersPedia has effectively become a favorite local guide created and maintained by insiders, an insiders guide

Read the About IP for more info.

InsidersPedia is:

• A collection (a network) of local encyclopedias written and maintained by local insiders
• A local guide, a guide written by local Insiders
• Empowering individuals and businesses daily
• Continuously expanding and updating. Every Page is routinely updated by its creator.
• An encyclopedia of local  businesses, services and attractions (i.e. more than just a biz directory)
• A business directory,  where you list your business for free and can upgrade your page any time
• 100% the following:
  • 100% free
  • 100% volunteer based
  • 100% built by insiders / locals that know their community (like you)
  • 100% human created and reviewed (not automatically processed)
  • 100% free online listings service / directory
  • 100% free ratings and reviews
  • 100% available 24/7, 365
  • 100% local
• An Alternative:
  • A 'free' alternative to the Yellow Pages
  • A 'free' alternative to Angies List
  • A 'free' alternative to Yahoo
  • A 'democratic' alternative to DMOZ (the open directory project)
  • Free web Page - A platform where an Entity (business, service, landmark) gets a free Page
  • Free publicity - why pay for online ads when you can get an IP Page + instant publicity
  • A non-academic encyclopedia
  • A non-academic Wikipedia
• Is NOT:
  • A calendar of events
  • A classified ads listings
  • A job site
  • An old fasion type site where you have to pay.

Visit the About IP page for more on what Insiders' Pedia is and isn't.

• This is a non profit, all-volunteer website
• This website is provided for all to use free of charge.
• Paid memberships are available and provide additional features and control. Please use the contact us to learn more.

You will find encyclopedia Pages. Each Page will have information about an Entity. In other words a Page has information about a local business, service, building, monument, landmark, location, park, lake, trail, bar, hotel, field, team, foundation, governmental agency, NGO, nonprofit organization, and much more local information submitted by Insiders.

Yes, absolutely. If we get enough requests we will add your state, region and local Site.