Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Perfectpoitou?
  Perfectpoitou is a community website aimed at supporting English speakers in the Poitou region of France. The main element is Perfectpoitou Q&A where you can ask and answer questions that are relevant to the community.
• What kinds of questions can I ask here?
  Most importantly, questions should be relevant to our community. Before you ask, please make sure to search for a similar question. You can search for questions by their title or tags.
  
  Please avoid asking questions that are not related to our community, too subjective or argumentative.
• What sort of answers do you accept?
  Any answers, explanations or insights that you think will help the person asking the question.
  
  Perfectpoitou Q&A is a question and answer site - it is not a discussion group. Please avoid holding debates in your answers. Answers should be clear concise and helpful and of course, polite.
  
  For brief discussion, clarification, or to thank someone for their answer, please post comments, not answers.
• What are tags?
  Tags are keywords used like sub-categories but which are flexible enough to go across the main categories. By keeping the categories broad it reduces cross-over and the tags allow you to be more specific.
  
  A tag might be animals or learning-french (this uses a hyphen to combine the words as a tag) and could apply to multiple categories. It allows people to search by tags as well as the broad categories.
  
  You need to have at least one tag for each question (with a maximum of 5). You can create new tags, but please try to use existing ones where possible, so as to keep the site well organized.
• Who moderates this community?
  The short answer is: you. This website is moderated by the users. Points system allows users to earn status as helpful members of the community.
• How does the points system work?
  When a question or answer is voted up, the user who posted it will gain points. These points serve as a rough measure of the community trust in that person and their level of contribution.
  
  For example, if you ask an interesting question or give a useful answer, it will likely be voted up. On the other hand if the question is poorly-worded or the answer is misleading - it will likely be voted down. Each up vote on a question will generate 1 point, whereas each vote against will subtract 1 point. Each registered user starts with 100 points and the full details are as follows :

  • Posting a question: 2 points
  • Selecting an answer for your question: 3 points
  • Per up vote on your question: +1 point
  • Per down vote on your question: –1 point
  • Limit from up votes on each question: +10 points
  • Limit from down votes on each question: –3 points
  • Posting an answer: 4 points
  • Having your answer selected as the best: 20 points
  • Per up vote on your answer: +2 points
  • Per down vote on your answer: –2 points
  • Limit from up votes on each answer: +20 points
  • Limit from down votes on each answer: –5 points
  • Voting up a question: 1 point
  • Voting down a question: 1 point
  • Voting up an answer: 1 point
  • Voting down an answer: 1 point
• How to change my picture (avatar), and what is an avatar?
  The picture that appears in user profile is called an avatar. You have various options for this. You can leave this blank and you will get a default grey image or you can upload your own image direct to our site directly on your account page.
• How can I contact members?
  If you click on a user name you will see the member's activity page (To protect member privacy, this is only visible to other members). Email addresses are kept private to protect members, but as a member, you can send them a private message or add a post to their wall if you want it to be a public message.
  
  Please be polite and do not send unwanted messages. Members sending/leaving unpleasant messages may be removed from the site.
  
  Users can opt not to accept contacts either by Private Message or Wall post in their account settings.
• How does registration work?
  You register for free by going to the Registration page. Enter your chosen username, email address, postcode and password and complete the captcha for security purposes.
  
  You will then receive an email to confirm your address. Once you confirm this you can then post comments. In order to vote you need to be registered, but this is just a formality for genuine contributors.
  
  On your account page you can add other details like your name, location and more about yourself (note: although your email address and password are secret, this information is visible to other members).
• I use Facebook to answer my questions, why do I need this site?
  Perfectpoitou offers another opportunity to ask your questions of the community. Facebook has a larger user base of course, but Perfectpoitou will, in time, build up a history of questions and answers. For various reasons, not everyone in the community wants to be part of Facebook and so will not be able to help with your questions. By allowing voting we can improve the quality of the answers. All the questions and answers are in the public domain but we will not use any of your data for other purposes. Finally, with the share feature you can share your question to Facebook so you will reach this group as well.
  
  
• How can I keep informed about new topics?
  When you post a question or answer you have the option to be emailed if there are additions to the topic. If you are on a particular question, category or tag page you can click the star in the headline to add this to your favourites and be notified of news.
  
  On your account page you can manage your favourites.
• Still have questions?
  Please ask your question and help make our community better!