Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is WikiYou?
WikiYou is the unauthorized biography of every person on earth. It allows everyone to openly and freely write about each other. It provides a platform for a democratic oral history of every person on earth. WikiYou empowers people to write about one another openly and records the stories of our lives.

How do you know the information is accurate?
The information is as accurate as the people who edit it. It is a collaborative effort on the part of all the people who know or know of you. Once you claim a profile as your own, there are certain sections that cannot be edited by anyone else, since you are the authority of those facts.

What is a "wiki"?
A website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by its users.

Membership

How do I sign up?
"Signing" up on WikiYou means that you "claim" a profile as your own. Whenever a profile is created on WikiYou with an email address, we will send an email asking for the person to claim his/her profile so that they can become a member.

Why should I join WikiYou?
Joining WikiYou gives you more control over your own profile. As a member, you can add photos, add friends, and manage your personal info. You'll also be able to work towards building your own karma/reputation on the site. With the Karma, you'll be given more and more prominence in the WikiYou community, which will allow you to have more privileges and options.

What does it mean to "claim" my account?
"Claiming" a profile just means that we have verified that your email is associated with a particular profile. You can only claim 1 profile with your email, though! Once your profile is claimed, you have complete control over certain parts of your profile.

Can I cancel my account?
Since WikiYou is publicly editable, profiles are never removed. Since your member account is simply an extension of a profile, the account will remain active indefinitely.

Why do you need to know my email?
Email is needed to verify claimed profiles. We will not provide 3rd parties with your info without your consent. If you have concerns about how these emails are being used, please see our privacy policy.

Profiles

Who can edit my profile?
Until a profile has been "claimed" by someone, all of the information is editable by anyone. Once a profile is claimed, only the biography and stories can be edited by anyone. The rest is editable only by the owner of the profile.

Can I stop people from editing my profile?
You can stop people from editing your basic information by claiming your profile. Your basic information includes your name, birthday, zip, schools, work, websites, and friends. You can also revise anything that people write on your biography or story at any time.

Can I add HTML to my biography or story?
Yes! However, there is also a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor at the top of the edit boxes that allows you to format your text without having to know HTML at all.

What are "stories"?
Discussions are places where you can discuss different topics relevant to the profile. Anyone can start a discussion topic, and anyone can edit the contents of the discussion. People can debate the merits of biographical information or come up with ways to expand on the person's profile.

What are "Siblings"?
In order to add slibings you have to be friends of them first of all. If not you are not going to be able to add them. Also, this person will be receiving an email notification that will approve the slibings that you are trying to add.

Friends and Fans

What is the difference between a friend and fan?
A friend is a relationship you approve of, and a fan is a relationship you are seeking.
For example, User A adds User B as a friend. User B becomes a friend on User A's profile, but User A is a fan of User B until User B accepts User A as a friend.

Can I completely remove a friend?
Since WikiYou tracks history, friends are never completely removed - they are just hidden from the public view.

Celebrities

Why do some stories stay at the top of celebrity profiles?
There are certain respected members of the WikiYou community that we affectionately call "editors". :) They are generally the most active users on the site. Whenever an editor adds a story to a celebrity profile, we consider it an authoritative posting, so it remains highlighted for a short time.

Who do you consider a celebrity? / Do you ever add celebrities?
Various factors go into our classification of someone as a "celebrity". Right now, it is strictly a manual process on the part of WikiYou. We'll let the users know if there is ever a time when we will allow people to nominate celebrities.

Blogs

Does WikiYou provide a custom Blog for each Profile?
WikiYou offers the possibility to the people of being able to create its own blog to make posts or commentaries or just to share thoughts and ideas. It is blog totally customized so that they use it to the people to his pleasure. We will be adding new developments to be able to improve it continuously.

Technical Issues

I see a bug on your page - how can I report it?
First of all, thanks for helping to make WikiYou a better place. If you see something out of the ordinary, please contact us at: .

I'd like to see a new feature - how can I suggest it?
We'd love to hear your suggestions. You can send them to: . We're constantly iterating and adding new things to the site, so your emails WILL be considered!

Where can I find your Privacy Policy?
Privacy Policy

Where can I find your Terms of Service?
Terms of Service