crab1 - FAQ

People can then browse the news on the site, or simply select what they're interested in (their favorite bands, concert halls nearby, etc) and receive all related news by email.
Because no one has time to browse regularly the websites of 15 halls and 20 bands to stay informed, as no one wants to subscribe to that many newsletters.

We want crab1 to be both
- a tool for users and fans (for example, so that you don't miss a concert or a new album from one of your favorite bands)
- a tool for professionals (for example, so that museums and concert halls in your city can broadcast their program more widely)

We don't want crab1 to replace other sites / media:
- We encourage people to post summarized news, with a link to a complete article on a 'real' site.
- We don't want crab1 to host reviews or critics as in specialized magazines.

crab1 was initially made for music-related news, but it is now open to all kinds of subjects (like cities, actors, football teams, etc)

Examples of use

1 - You like the White Stripes.
White Stripes fansites exist, all of them providing news, and some providing a newsletter. Yet you did not subscribe to one of these newsletters, and you almost never visit these websites.

Usually people like 30 different bands, and they'd like to know when one of them:
- records a new disc
- goes on tour (where and when)
- works on a parallel project (a movie, another artist's disc, etc)
- or when the band splits...

But most people don't want to subscribe to 30 newsletters, and they don't have time to visit 30 fansites regularly. That's why only a few thousand people subscribed to White Stripes newsletters, while hundreds of thousands will wait for their next album.

Crab1 allows you to select your 30 favorite artists and receive all their news in one single newsletter as frequently as you choose. This way we think we can reach many more people than with regular newsletters.

The news will have to be input by someone designated "White Stripes admin" in crab1, for example the owner of one of these White Stripes fansites. The news will be summaries with a link to the original article on a 'real' site, so that there is no negative impact on existing sites.

2 - You like "2001: A Space Odyssey", but you have never seen it in a cinema. Precisely, a small cinema in your city just got a copy and is showing the movie this month.
Unfortunately, you usually don't know the program of this small cinema, which just prints flyers and relies on word-of-mouth...

We think that once registered to crab1, users (for example students in a city) will add local cultural institutions to their newsletter, which will increase their visibility.

3 - Your city has a website (which you never visit).
Yet you'd like to know when a cinema closes, when a new museum is built...
People who manage this website can post news in crab1 about your city. They can also maintain a 'sticky' news that lists everything in the city that is referenced in crab1: all the city's concert halls, cinemas, museums, etc, helping you to add to your personalized newsletter everything you might be interested in.

4 - So you register to crab1, you tell the site the country you live in and what languages you speak (so the site selects only relevant news for you), you select your favorite bands and TV shows, your favorite paper magazines, concert halls, museums, cinemas in your city, festivals you may go to, etc, and just forget about crab1 until you receive, each month (or each week, or every two weeks, as you like) your newsletter containing all you need to know about everything you're interested in.

Why not use RSS?

If you're asking, you probably are a computer guy :-) . Half of computer guys know what RSS is, which represents 0.01% of the population.

Even you don't use RSS feeds to know who's playing in concert halls around. Everyone has a good reason not to use RSS, it is just not fitted for that purpose.

Besides, today most people have an email address. Your mother or your grandmother may have one. Crab1 was made, for example, to solve communication problems between concert halls and inhabitants of the city. This can be done with a newsletter but you'll have to wait 10 years before RSS can play this role.

Besides:

- crab1 sorts news according to the country and the language of users, which RSS can't do.

- You may have noticed that fan sites sometimes post 2 or 3 news items a day. On crab1 the number and the quality of news will be monitored (trash news won't be allowed, and 2 news items per week should be enough to keep track of anything). If someone just wants to stay informed about an artist he can add it to his favorites; if someone wants to receive all existing news, he will add the fansite in his favorites (because websites can be referenced on crab1, and they can post whatever news they want)

Is the site working now?

Crab1 is still a project in progress. This site works, but it is basically a demo made to show to people we'd like to work with.

Who is behind crab1?

Behind this project is a single man you can reach at david@crab1.com

About using the site

How do I use it?

If you are not registered to the site you can:
- use the search form (search for museums, concert halls, singers, festivals, anything)
- once you have found the subject you were looking for, you can browse its news. You will only see news written in the current language (english), and only news specified as 'worldwide' (you won't see news that relate to a specific country only)

Why should I register?

Once you are registered:
- You can select your favorite subjects, and receive related news by email (in a monthly newsletter for example)
- You will see an envelope icon showing unread news
- You will see news about your favorite subjects on the front page of the site
- You can select your spoken languages and your country to receive relevant news only.

About signing in

I lost my username or password

Your username and your original password are written on the registering email that was sent to you. But you may have changed your password afterwards.

We can not retrieve your password, we keep it encrypted in a way that allows us to check if you have the right one when you sign in, but that does not allow us to decrypt it.

What is the 'remember' box when I sign in?

If you check that box, you will not have to enter your username and password again next time you visit crab1.

You may want to uncheck that box when you are on a public computer, so that someone else will not automatically access your account.

About setting your preferences

What are preferences?

'Preferences' defines the configuration of crab1. You can principally set your spoken languages, the country you live in and whether you want to receive news by email.

This is available to registered users only. Once you are registered AND logged in, you will have an 'Edit your preferences' link at the top of the page.

What's the use of the 'languages' box in the preferences?

You can tell the site what language(s) you understand. Crab1 will only show you news written in these languages (you won't see news written in languages you don't understand).

To select more than one language, use the 'Ctrl' key while you click in this box. You can't select more than 10 languages.

What's the use of the 'countries' box in the preferences?

You can tell the site what country you live in or what countries you're interested in.
Crab1 won't show you news that relates specifically to a country you didn't select. That is to say that as long as you don't select your countries, crab1 will only show you news that were declared 'worldwide' (and you will miss the news that specifically relates to the country you live in)

To select more than one country, use the 'Ctrl' key while you click in this box. You can't select more than 10 countries.

What are the 'email' preferences?

You can ask crab1 to send you a newsletter containing news on the subjects you selected as your favorites.

You have to give your email address and you have to define how often this newsletter will be sent to you. (you can select 'Never')

About posting news

Who can post and edit news?

Only administrators can post news.

One or more people can be designated administrators for a given subject (for example, a band's fan-site owner will be administrator for this band; a night-club owner will be administrator for his night club).
These people can post and edit news about their subject only.

Other people designated high-level administrators can post and edit all news about all subjects.

If you are not an administrator and you think you have news that should be posted, you will have to post a message on our forum, where other users may help you, and where administrators may input the news for you.

What kind of news can be posted?

Read our disclaimer (available on the registration page) for general information about what can be posted on the site.

Tabloid news ('trash' news) is not allowed on the site. Admins will have to determine whether news is relevant to those users who asked to be kept informed about that subject.

News copied-and-pasted from another web page is not allowed.
We strongly encourage people to post summarized items with a link to the original site. People will decide if they want to click on the link to read more details.
To create a link in a post, simply write the address (http://mysite.com/example/), it will be converted to a link when displayed.

Why do I have to choose a "text language" when posting news?

When people register to crab1, they select the languages they understand.

When you post news (in one given language), you have to tell the site what this language is.

If you post news in German for an 'international' band for example, it will neither be displayed NOR sent by email to people that only understand Japanese.

News can be translated so that it is available to more people.

What is the 'countries' box when I post news?

When you post news you have to determine if it is relevant for people all around the World, or just people in a single country.

When people register to crab1 they select countries they're interested in (especially the country they live in)

If someone is only interested in what happens in France, they will see and receive by mail the news that relates only to France, and they will also see and receive the news declared "worldwide". But they won't receive news that relates only to Spain.

Unregistered people see 'worldwide news' only, so many people won't see your news if you select a country.

Examples:

- If you post news that an international band is releasing a new album, you must select "the whole world".

- If you post news that a local Mexican band is releasing a new album, you must select "the whole world" too! (Because if someone in Japan asked to be kept informed about this band, they will also want to receive this kind of news)

- If you post news that a band will appear on a local Mexican TV channel, you must select 'Mexico' (people in Japan won't be interested in that news if they can't watch this TV channel, even if the band is widely known)

- If you post news that a band will appear on a Mexican TV *that is widely available by satellite*, you may select "the whole world". Same thing if the show is broadcast on MTV.

- If you post news that a band is going to play in a concert hall in Paris, you must select "France".

- If you post news that a band is going to play in a concert hall at the frontier between France and Germany, you must select "France" or "Germany". People living at the frontier will have to tell the site that they're interested in both countries to receive the news anyway.

What is the expiration date when I post a news item?

Expiration date for a news item is optional. You may choose the date the news will stop being interesting for people.

For example if you post news that a band is in concert, you may use the day of the concert.

News is displayed AND sent by email even if it is already expired.

Currently there is no system to send people an extra email about news that will have expired before the normal newsletter is sent.

Can news relate to more than one subject?

No, this is not possible.
This used to be possible, but appeared to be useless.

About 'subjects'

What are subjects?

All news is related to one special 'something', called the 'subject' on crab1.
This can be a place, a magazine, a TV show, anything.
It must be created on crab1 before one can post news about this subject.

Who can create and edit subjects?

Only high-level administrators can create subjects. They can also edit all existing subjects, change the 'official name' of a subject, and also change its 'search names', that is to say the search strings that will lead to this subject in searches.

Low-level administrators (that only have rights on one subject) can change some data about their subject, but not names.

Subjects have categories ('band', 'TV channel', etc). Categories are created by high-level administrators when needed. Categories determine what kind of data can be associated with a subject (example: for a magazine: its country and language; for a festival: its country and city; etc)

You will have to post a message on our forum for any of the following situations:
- You think a subject is missing on the site
- You play in a band, or you own a concert hall, or any other similar situation, and you want your subject to be created and you designated as administrator
- You already are an administrator for a subject but you want to change its name or its search names
- You think a new subject category should be created or modified

Have a problem / a question?

Contact information

Feel free to contact us at team@crab1.com