-
General
-
Creating Content
-
Rating Content
-
Managing your Network
-
Profile/Account
-
Membership
General
What is SpongeFish?
SpongeFish is the community for minds, where you share and show off what you know. Your personal knowledge belongs on SpongeFish. It can be formal or casual, useful or esoteric, mildly interesting or shockingly entertaining, as long as it's based on who you are or where you come from. Our simple but powerful publishing tool makes it easy for you to publish what you know and be recognized for the star, genius or expert that you are. SpongeFish is also the place to seek out, evaluate, and enhance what other people know. Here are the things that you do on SpongeFish:
Look Smart
- Create, share, broadcast and market what you know in a polished manner.
- Connect with knowledge seekers: newbies, students, and the merely curious who value what you know.
- Build a reputation and earn recognition for what you know.
Get Smarter
- Seek and find the answers to what you want to know.
- Seek and find others who share your interests.
- Discover experts, gurus, coaches or instructors - everyday people who can satisfy your curiosity.
How is SpongeFish different from other social networks?
At SpongeFish, it's what you know, not who you know, that matters. Your reputation on the site and who you meet depends on the knowledge that you share with others as well as the knowledge that you seek. We connect you to people around knowledge so that you can chat, debate, collaborate or agree to disagree about what's really going on. Don't forget to let the rest of us know what you decide!
Who uses SpongeFish?
Everybody uses SpongeFish now and again. Here's who it's really for:
- People who know a lot about a particular subject area and want to share it. Know a lot about internet marketing? Changing a motorcycle tire? Have the perfect system for applying ketchup to burgers? Here's where you share it in whatever format your heart desires: video, audio, text, PowerPoint, and others.
- Showoffs. If you know something about lots of things and just can't help sharing it all, this means you.
- People who need to know. Got a burning question? SpongeFish connects the knowledge to a person, so you can check them out and make sure you trust the advice.
- Bored people. Looking to be entertained? Why not learn a little something along the way?
Is it free to use SpongeFish?
Yes, it's completely free to use SpongeFish! So much less expensive than your college education.
When you register on SpongeFish, we ask you for your rule to live by. Here are our rules to live by:
- Respect other people. You don't need to walk on eggshells trying not to offend. However, please treat other people the way you'd like to be treated when communicating with them.
- Keep a sense of humor. Something might not be to your tastes, but other people might appreciate it. If you find something truly offensive, please flag it as 'inappropriate' so that we can review it. We will remove content that violates our community guidelines or our terms of service.
- Support the creative process. Create things and provide feedback on what other people create. SpongeFish is the right place to agree, discuss, debate, or disagree about knowledge!
-
SpongeFish does not support the following types of content submission:
- Sexually explicit or pornographic content. If it's rated X, it doesn't belong here. We will report any content that we see containing material that exploits children.
- Content containing graphic or gratuitous violence, including anyone being hurt or humiliated. This includes content posted purely for shock value.
- Content glorifying dangerous or illegal acts.
- Content for which you do not own the copyright. Don't upload anything that you did not make and for which you do not have permission to use. Keep in mind that audio recordings of songs, commercials, movie trailers, movie excerpts, tv shows, and music videos are generally not available for use without written permission. Mashups containing multiple clips still require copyrights. Paying attribution is not the same as getting permission to use copyrighted material.
- Content that includes hate speech, malicious stereotypes, or is designed to threaten or demean any particular group of people.
- Content that exists purely to convey a marketing or advertising message, or Spam.
How does scoring work on SpongeFish?
SpongeFish gives you coins based on what you know and how you contribute to the knowledge on the site. We can't tell you exactly how to earn coins but we can tell you that we value the following:
- Creating and publishing content.
- Creating and publishing content that gets positive ratings from the community.
- Rating, commenting and sharing content that other people have created.
- Making connections with other people on the site.
Your coins will be added up and you'll be placed in a level. Your level will appear next to your picture and name when you participate on the site, including next to the content you create, the comments you make, and other actions you may take. Everybody starts SpongeFish as a Level 1 and there are 10 levels.
- Level 1: 0 - 249 coins
- Level 2: 250 - 599 coins
- Level 3: 500 - 999 coins
- Level 4: 1,000 - 2,499 coins
- Level 5: 2,500 - 4,999 coins
- Level 6: 5,000 - 12,499 coins
- Level 7: 12,500 - 24,999 coins
- Level 8: 25,000 - 49,999 coins
- Level 9: 50,000 - 99,999 coins
- Level 10: 100,000+ coins
Your total level of coins will not be shown to others, although you can find your total coins in your own profile. Click here to see the coins leaderboard, and find out just how smart you are!
Don't try and game the scoring system to get more coins! SpongeFish reserves the right to change its scoring algorithm at any time, so any significant effort to game the system will likely be in vain.
How does the Think Tank work?
The Think Tank keeps track of what you know or what you've learned on SpongeFish. The terms that appear in the tank are the tags from content you have published, favorited, viewed, or otherwise interacted with in the last 30 days. If you publish something tagged "money" and lots of people read it and favorite it, the larger the word "money" will grow in your tank. Similarly, the more you interact with content across the site that is tagged with "tennis", the larger the word "tennis" will appear in your tank. Don't worry, there's a threshold to have something appear in your tank. If you happen to read something tagged "bad hair", that term won't automatically appear in your tank. If you publish an article tagged "bad hair" and everyone views it, we're going to believe you're an expert on it and make "bad hair" large in your tank. (Don't worry, your hair looks great.)
As long as you have an account on SpongeFish, you can contact another user on the site by sending them a message. You can also leave a comment for them on their profile or on a piece of content that they've created. SpongeFish does not show private email addresses for its users.
Creating Content
What kind of content should I create on SpongeFish?
SpongeFish is designed around sharing knowledge that you've gotten. Here are the different types of things that work best:
- functional or academic knowledge
- informal knowledge (life advice, lessons learned)
- esoteric knowledge (useful only in certain circumstances)
- irrelevant but fun knowledge
- display of talent or creativity (show what you can do)
How do I create content?
We're glad you asked! We're very proud of our publishing tool. It makes it easy for you to share knowledge in any of the ways listed below.
- Text
- Video
- Pictures
- Webcam
- Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
- Adobe PDF
- SWF (Shockwave Flash)
Add Text
To add text, you can either type directly into the text box, or cut and paste from your personal website or blog. To add a new text box, click on the 'add text' button above the title box.
Formatting Text:
The default text is Arial 10. Use the toolbar at the bottom of the text box to apply the following formats:
- Bold, underline, italic
- Font size
- Paragraph indents and other horizontal alignment options
- Bullet points and numbers
Adding links:
Add links to other sites to your content:
- Highlight the text you'd like to link
- Click on the 'insert link' icon on the toolbar
- Enter the link url into the prompt box that appears and click 'insert'
The hyperlink will appear but not be activated until you publish.
Pasting from another site or document:
You can paste directly from a site or blog into a SpongeFish text document. It should retain your original formatting, including links, pictures and videos, however it never hurts to visually check and confirm that this is the case.
Sometimes, the formatting won't paste correctly, which is usually due to html tags being shown oddly or incorrectly. In this case, the best idea is to edit the html directly. You can do this by clicking on the 'html' icon in the toolbar and editing the html in the text file that pops up. Hit 'update' before you close the box to save your changes.
We do not recommend pasting into SpongeFish from a Microsoft Word document. Microsoft Word uses its own html formatting commands that are frequently incompatible with publishing on the web. If you've got something that needs to be pasted from Microsoft Word, try pasting it into a text file first, and then into SpongeFish. You will need to reformat the text within the SpongeFish tool.
Add Video
To add a video, click on the 'add video' button directly above the title box. You can add any of the following types of videos:
Videos saved on your computer: Choose 'my computer' to add a video directly from your hard drive. SpongeFish accepts any of the following files: FLV, MOV, MPEG and WMV.
Videos from Youtube: Choose 'the web' to add a video directly from Youtube. Search Youtube from the create tool, or enter the Youtube url of the specific video you have in mind. Currently, SpongeFish doesn't support uploads or embed codes from video sites other than Youtube.
Videos shared on SpongeFish: Select 'SpongeFish' to add a video that has been previously added for shared use on SpongeFish.
Once you've selected a video, click 'use now' to add the video to your content, OR click 'add to your stuff' to save the video for future use but not add it to your content.Click 'share' to allow other people on SpongeFish to use the video in their own future content.
Once you've clicked 'use now' the video will appear in your content. Mouse over the video to access the following formatting options:
- Enter a caption for your video by typing into the 'enter caption here' box below the video.
- Format the width of your video to 1/2 screen by hitting 'narrow' (you can change it back to full width by hitting 'wide')
- Drag and drop your video so that it is placed above, alongside or below other elements on your page.
Add Picture
To add a picture, click on the 'add picture' button directly above the title box. You can add any of the following types of pictures:
Pictures saved on your computer: Choose 'my computer' to add a picture directly from your hard drive.. SpongeFish accepts any of the following files: GIF, JPEG, PNG.
Pictures from Flickr: Choose 'the web' to add a picture directly from Flickr. Search Creative Commons licensed Flickr photos by keyword from the create tool . Currently, SpongeFish does not support uploads from photo sites other than Flickr.
Pictures shared on SpongeFish: Select 'SpongeFish' to add a picture that has been previously added for shared use on SpongeFish.
Once you've selected a picture, click 'use now' to add the picture to your content, OR click 'add to your stuff' to save the picutre for future use but not add it to your content.Click 'share' to allow other people on SpongeFish to use the picture in their own future content.
Once you've clicked 'use now' the picture will appear in your content. Mouse over the picture to access the following formatting options:
- Enter a caption for your picture by typing into the 'enter caption here' box below the picture.
- Format the width of your picture to 1/2 screen by hitting 'narrow' (you can change it back to full width by hitting 'wide')
- Drag and drop your picture so that it is placed above, alongside or below other elements on your page.
Creating content with Multiple Media elements:
So, you want to get creative and mix text and pictures, text and video, or something else? That's great! Here's how:
Think of your SpongeFish content page as a grid. Each element (text, video, picture, or other) is added separately, and then arranged in the order that you want by drag and drop.
Formatting individual media elements:
Each element that you create (text, video, picture, or other) can be full page width or half page width.
If you narrow an element to half page width, you can place another element next to it, such as text next to pictures, or text next to video. If you keep your elements full width, they will stack above or below whatever other elements are on the page.
Rearranging elements:
Your media elements don't need to display in the order that you created them. You can rearrange them by dragging and dropping them on your page.
To drag a picture or any other element, click on it, which will make it 'active' and reveal a blue toolbar above it. Mouse over the toolbar. When your cursor turns into a hand, you can drag the picture up or down, and right or left (if 1/2 page width). Once your destination is highlighted by a solid blue box, you can release your picture, and it will stay in its place. If you drop your picture on top of another element (text, video or another picture), they will swap places.
How do I see the content I've published?
Want to see your genius in action? You can find all of your content by going to your profile page and clicking on 'My Content'. This will show you all your content that you've published as well as drafts that you've saved. Other people will be able to see your published content when they visit your profile, but not the drafts that you are working on.
If you want to share content with your friends, you can click 'share this with my friends' after you've published it. To share all of your content with your friends, send them straight to your profile.
Once I publish something on SpongeFish can I still go back and edit it?
Yes! You can edit and update your own content even after it's been published. To do so, go to the bottom of the content and hit 'Edit'. Only the content creator can edit content.
My content is gone. Did SpongeFish remove it?
There are guidelines on SpongeFish around what you can submit as knowledge. We're not trying to limit thought, creativity or personal expression, but we want to make sure that SpongeFish is an enjoyable and safe place for people to share information.
If other people flag you or your content for abuse of the terms of service, SpongeFish will investigate those claims. If your content or conduct on the site is determined to be in violation of the terms of service, we will remove the offending content or actions. In the case of multiple abuses, we will suspend your account.
If your content gets removed, it was most likely done purposefully. If this has happened to you, please review the community guidelines to see where you may have gone wrong. If you don't see how your content or conduct was in violation of the community guidelines, please contact us.
Rating Content
How do I rate content on SpongeFish?
We encourage you to submit feedback on the content that you watch, read or hear on SpongeFish. We rate on the star system, with one star being low and five stars being high. You can find the ratings box at the bottom of each piece of content. Rate fairly! You can adjust your rating, but it will only be counted once. This should be honest feedback about what you thought.
Can I rate my own content?
You can rate your own content, but only once. Be nice to yourself!
Managing your Network
What is a favorite?
If you really like somebody, or something that they created, you can add them or something that they created as a favorite. It will create a bookmark for you, where you can visit them regularly.
What is a SpongeFish Contributor?
SpongeFish Contributors were the very first people on SpongeFish to share their knowledge, and as such, we celebrate them with orange badges. Don't be jealous. There will be other honors to come!
How do I invite a friend to see what I've created on SpongeFish?
If you want to share content with your friends, you can click 'share this with my friends' after you've published it. To share all of your content with your friends, send them straight to your profile.
Profile/Account
Why should I fill out my profile completely?
We spent time thinking of the perfect questions to ask you and now you don't want to answer them? All kidding aside, filling out your profile not only provides important information about your approach to life for people who may be taking your advice, but it also allows us to highlight content and people on SpongeFish that are more likely to be of interest to you. If you fill out the 'I Know' and 'I Want to Know' sections of your profile, we'll be able to show you the people who already know the things you want to know about, as well as the people who want to know the things you already know.
There's a link to your account at the top right of every SpongeFish page. Clicking on this link will bring you to your account page, where you can change your SpongeFish name, your email address, your account password, and your email preferences.
Stop sending me email! Agh!
We try not to email you too much. SpongeFish will email you directly with the following:
- Changes to your account.
- Newsletter about new content.
- Updates to the site.
- Comments on your profile.
- Comments on your content.
To change these email preferences, go to your account information and scroll down to email preferences.
What is my tank? What are the words in there?
What's that funny mass of words living on your profile page? Those tags are a reflection of your knowledge on SpongeFish. They reflect the things you know, as well as what you're learning on SpongeFish. The content you've created is represented, and specific tags will change in size depending on how much a specific piece of content is consumed by the SpongeFish community. Your tags also reflect the things you've been consuming on SpongeFish.
Membership
Can SpongeFish remove my account and profile?
Yes, SpongeFish can suspend and remove your account without warning. We will only do so in cases of extreme violation of the terms of service or community guidelines.
How do I close my SpongeFish account?
To close your SpongeFish account, please send an email to support@spongefish, with the subject header, 'account cancellation'. To verify that it's you, we request that you send the email from the same address that you used to register at SpongeFish. Don't forget to tell us why you are closing the account. We'd like your feedback on how the community failed to meet your needs or expectations.
