Guide for Guides

With Alex's permission, I share the following. My impression is this is still a work in progress, so feel free to comment (admin, is this worth pinning to the top of the thread?):

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We've prepared a brief guide for guides to help newcomers and clear up any doubts. If you think anything important is missing or have any questions, please advise:

A guide for guides

Community Guides are outstanding users of the community and experts in one or several subjects. They develop a great network of support on the site, offering suggestions and opinions, which complement the content that the categories offer. They are conduits between the Community and dooyoo, offering help, advice and support to the dooyooteam.

What is expected from guides

Guides are expected to read all opinions in their category and offer users help. They should rate most, if not all of these reviews, and nominate those that they deem crown worthy, as well as reporting any abuse of the system they may find. Comments to new users are also helpful. Reading reviews in other categories and participating in the forum is optional. If they are not going to be able to participate for an amount of time, they should contact dooyoo and/or a fellow guide. Ideally, they should log in at least once a week, but it is again not essential, specially at busy times. We know that the post is optional!

Nominating for a crown

Some guides choose to nominate every opinion that may opt for a crown, and others only nominate those that they like personally. Either way is acceptable, as guides are only making suggestions and their nomination is not essential for obtaining a crown.

Nominating in categories which are not their own is also helpful, although again not a must.

The Technical Stuff

When you’re logged in, you’ll find a dooyooGuide Feedback Form at the bottom of pages with reviews. You can make nominations (in any category) through this guide box. You can also report abusive comments etc. with it, and write a comment for the attention of dooyoo when necessary. For nominations, comments are optional, but they are needed in cases of abuse.

New guides

Guides are welcome to suggest fellow users for a particular guiding post, although not publicly. The way to do this is e-mail or private messaging. The final decision on naming guides is made by dooyoo. Polls or questions through the forum regarding the naming of a guide will no longer be made, although PM or e-mail may be used in certain cases.

So...what do you think?

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Guides are welcome to suggest fellow users for a particular guiding post, although not publicly. The way to do this is e-mail or private messaging. The final decision on naming guides is made by dooyoo. Polls or questions through the forum regarding the naming of a guide will no longer be made, although PM or e-mail may be used in certain cases.

So no more polls by the looks of it, just private messages backwards and forwards.

There haven't been polls since I've been a guide.

And the 'PM or email' clause makes sense - I recommend a personal friend as a guide. Dooyoo engage in email conversation with me to make sure that I'm not nominating ONLY because the candidate is my friend.

Don't see demons where there (may) not be any.

No, it's an improvement to the polls.

I have said this elsewher but I believe that guides should rate all the reviews in their category especially as they should be reading everything anyway. I also believe that part of the role is to be active and suggest improvements to Dooyoo o so membership and participation in the frum should not be optional.

I think that putting the personality thing in there is dangerous ground. Ok you don't write a review to the style of the particular guide so you don't get nominated. Time and time again, people say that guides nominations don't count as the sole criteria for getting a crown, although they must be taken into consideration. In all fairness to all members, should a guide then not rate as a guide on the basis of what the review contains rather than what they like ? This has been discussed before and Jill and Angus both said that was the way they rated, though there are areas where I really do believe you write for a certain style instead of feeling that you can use your own style, simply because you know that you will not be awarded crowns if you do not conform to what the guide in that particular area wants to see. I agree that not all guide noms get crowns. I agree that not all reviews are guide nominated, but let's face it, on busy weeks, can you really see dooyoo read every review. They must have some trust in the people that they chose to be guides, otherwise why bother ? The danger of nominating those reviews that you "enjoy" is that areas then become mundane and follow a style, and ok in some ways that style might work, but doesn't that stifle individuality and creativity ?

It is so important that we all have our own individual style, and don't feel forced into conforming into a certain one in order to obtain rewards. I have been told before by a few people, that I should've written a review in this way and that way like they do. At the end of the day, we all have our own way of writing. As long as the review if clearly laid out without jumping all over the place, and contains all relevant info to that the person who's reading, then surely then that's good enough. Lisa x