VoyageForum Guides FAQ

FAQ

1- After clicking the "Submit my contribution" button, it won’t display.

When a contribution won’t go online, the reason—written in red—automatically appears at the top of the screen. It’s usually a small issue with the "tags" defining links, fonts, headings, etc., or sometimes when creating a new article, the title already exists. In all cases, a solution is offered.

To limit errors, you can use the "Preview article" button regularly during drafting, which flags problems the same way. And of course, nothing prevents you from submitting a contribution in stages using the "Send" button.

2- My contribution isn’t/no longer online or isn’t fully visible.

Several reasons are possible:

1- Since the guides are based on a collaborative principle, the contribution may have been modified by other users. The history tracks successive versions of the same article. 2- If it’s an article, the VF team may have moved it to a more suitable place in the guides. Less commonly, the contribution may have been merged with another page already covering the topic. 3- As a last resort, a text may be deleted if it violates copyright, is defamatory or legally reprehensible, is purely commercial, or is off-topic or duplicates existing content.

3- I want to cover a topic but I’m not sure I have enough content for it.

The guides’ content relies on collaborative work, where everyone can build on what’s already there based on their interests and knowledge. So even if your contribution is minimal, others will eventually expand on it.

You can also add brief comments or possible directions to your writing to help those who follow. Instead of integrating these recommendations directly into your text (which would make them visible on screen), use the "Brief description of your contribution" field in the text editor, or better yet, the "comment tags" or "invisible text lines", which won’t disrupt on-screen reading but will still inform those who later work on your topic.

4- I want to create a new article but I don’t know where to place it in the guides.

In this case, it’s best to look at the existing guides, themes, and articles to see what it most closely relates to. The search engine, as well as the "Guide Map", and the "Themes" and "Destinations" indexes are at your disposal. Then, integrate your article into the existing structure (the associated table of contents will be updated automatically if needed).

Of course, you can also contact the VF team for advice, who can, if necessary, move any misplaced article.

5- I want to create a new article that could fit in one guide or several others (e.g., tips for trekking in the Andes).

This scenario sometimes arises, with multiple possible locations. Generally, you should keep it simple and choose the section that most broadly covers the topic. For example, an article on "tips for trekking in the Andes" would be placed in the "Treks and hikes" section rather than in country guides. Then, once done, you can link to it from any other guide or article that might relate to it.

However, you should never copy-paste a contribution to save it in different places, as any later modification would then need to be made across all online versions.

6- I want to cover a topic, but it doesn’t necessarily relate much to travel.

Anything is possible, but it’s still better to stay within the travel domain. In any case, if in doubt, contact the VF team, who will let you know.

7- Since I’ve included content from my personal site, I’d like its address to appear in the guide.

As long as there’s at least some original contribution, this is possible using the "References and footnotes". These are used, among other things, to cite bibliographic sources where information may come from. However, for readability, it’s not recommended to indicate the source directly in the text.

8- I frequently disagree with some content from other users working on the same topic as me.

To reach a compromise, dialogue between contributors (and the VF team) is the solution rather than repeatedly deleting each other’s content.

Obviously, this dialogue doesn’t need to appear in the article; the "comment tools" can be used for this purpose, or even opening a discussion on the topic in the forum section of the site.

If the doubt concerns the accuracy of information (e.g., entry requirements), a simple online search via reliable sources should clarify things. More delicate are disagreements on substance (e.g., the appeal of a place). Here, rather than reducing things to a single approach ("it’s good" or "it’s bad"), it’s better to nuance. Each person can indicate, for example, in what context or for which type of traveller it will be suitable or not.

9- I can’t contribute to the VoyageForum guides.

Contributing to the guides only requires being a member of VoyageForum. However, even as a member, some people may be temporarily unable to edit the guides for a shorter or longer period.

In addition to the launch period of the guides, this may happen when there’s a surge of new contributions (such as after vacations). The VF team needs to verify/moderate them, so it’s preferred that contributions be spread out over time by temporarily allowing access only to those who have already participated. And of course, in cases of vandalism, trolling, or purely commercial texts, VoyageForum reserves the right to prohibit a user from contributing.

Glossary

Article: Each page in the VoyageForum Guides corresponds to an article, each with a specific title and usually chapters and sub-chapters. Each guide consists of several articles. Every article has its own history, which tracks its successive versions, and is also referenced in the Guide Map, which helps situate it in relation to the rest.

Tags: These are letters or symbols that, when combined, define the presentation of contributions and edit their display. They can be style tags (bold, italic, underline), headings, links, tables, etc. The VoyageForum Guides tags are simple and are included in the text editor used for drafting. For more details, you can also consult the article Formatting Tags.

Chapter (and sub-chapter): To improve readability, articles are divided into chapters (or sections), sub-chapters (sub-sections), or even sub-sub-chapters (sub-sub-sections). Visually, each corresponds to a specific automatically generated format. This formatting is done using tags or shortcuts in the text editor.

Comments: It’s possible to add comments to your writing to help others improve your contribution. In addition to the tag of the same name, the "Brief description of your contribution" field in the text editor or "invisible text lines" can be used.

"Contribute/edit": This is the link located at the top right of the screen next to the article title, or at the top right of each chapter. Depending on the context, you can then edit the entire article or just the relevant chapter. They lead to the text editor where the drafting is done.

Contribution: Refers to any correction, addition, or creation of content within the VoyageForum Guides.

Copyright: A fundamental principle whose violation is legally reprehensible. All contributions to the VoyageForum Guides must be original and comply with copyright from any source. Contributions that violate this principle are deleted by the VF team.

Text editor: This is the essential element for any intervention on an article, as it’s where you draft your contributions. Users are automatically directed to it when they click on a "Contribute/edit" link.

VoyageForum Guides: The VoyageForum Guides are a collective project aimed at providing users with quality content to help everyone prepare and experience their travels. The whole consists of multiple guides covering both destinations and travel-related themes.

History: Refers to the successive versions of an article. It provides information on authors, modifications, and comments made by each, and also allows comparing different versions. A "History" link is present on all pages.

Link: Each contribution can include internal or external links to VoyageForum. All are intended to inform or supplement page content but must never be for advertising purposes.

Link to an article to be written: In addition to links to other content (blue underlined words), there are also links in the guides pointing to articles not yet written (red underlined words). Like all collaborative systems, our guides are constantly evolving, and many articles are still to be created. If you wish, by clicking on a red link, you can create the corresponding article.

Moderation-validation: The VoyageForum Guides have a moderation-validation team. Their mission is to ensure there are no abuses, intervene on the form of contributions (spelling, layout), and if necessary, correct errors or move an article to a more suitable place on the site.

"Notes and references": These are additional pieces of information added to an article that don’t need to be integrated directly into the contribution. They are visible at the bottom of some articles.

Section (and sub-section): Same as chapter and sub-chapter.

"Report": Present on all pages, this is the link that allows anyone to alert moderation to any error, abuse, or act of vandalism in the guides.

Table of contents: Each guide has a table of contents listing the articles it contains. These are generated and displayed automatically when an article is added, deleted, or moved.

Vandalism: And by extension, spam or any other form of unsolicited advertising. Regardless of the source, anyone can alert the VF team via the "Report" link present on each page.

VF: Abbreviation for VoyageForum.