Our Mission:
HowToDoThings strives to solve people’s everyday problems by compiling reliable information from experienced contributors and making it available to inexperienced readers. It’s simple: We’re a community sharing its expertise to solve people’s problems.
What We Do:
HowToDoThings is a site that solves people’s problems. Whatever the issue, we know that there’s someone out there who has personal or professional experience in that area. We want to compile everyone’s expertise in one place, so that the solutions to millions of problems are easy to find and, more importantly, trustworthy.
We review and edit your contributor applications and articles, write HowToDoThings articles ourselves and interact with our visitors via email every day. We strive to offer our readers informative, engaging articles on a wide array of topics and work with our contributors on a daily basis to make sure that happens. You’ll always find us behind the scenes encouraging writers and improving the site.
Our Contributors:
Unlike other how-to websites written by staff writers, HowToDoThings’ contributors are hobbyists, professionals and experts. To put it simply, our articles are written by people who know the best way to do something. Whether you're an expert at stringing a kite, winning at poker or programming a computer, you might qualify to be a How To Do Things contributor.
As a contributor, you’ll need to explain why you’re qualified to write in the categories you select and every article you write will be reviewed and published by our editors. You don’t need to be a mechanic to write automotive articles, but you must have personal experience in the area. Maybe your hobby is fixing up old cars or you’ve sold a few used cars in your day. Either way you’re probably qualified to write in those categories. Once published, your article will help others learn about, understand and actually “do” things that will make a difference (maybe big, maybe small) in their lives.
You’ll also have the chance to make some money. Although you probably won’t be able to retire with the money you make from your HowToDoThings articles, we’ll split all of your articles’ earnings with you. We’re in this together. You write great articles and we’ll make them available to hundreds of thousands of visitors a day.
Who We Are:
Meet our Seattle-based Editorial team:
Liz Smith, Vanessa Raymond and Brian McDonald
Together we have 43 years of writing and editing experience. We take pride in each and every HowToDoThings article and contributor and are excited to be working for such a useful resource. We’re helping HowToDoThings continue to grow into an authoritative site that people can turn to for an explanation of how to do just about anything.
Look for us at coffee shops around the Seattle area where you can chat with us about the site or even suggest an article or two. Some of the caf?s we frequent include: Canal Street Coffee, Fremont Coffee, Zoka and El Diablo Coffee.
Our San Francisco based technical team includes Erik, Greg, Chris and Nancy. They work behind the scenes as product managers, programmers and developers.
We are committed to protecting your privacy when you visit HowToDoThings.com and its related websites (collectively, the “Website”), so we want you to know what information we collect during your visits, how we use it, and how you can update and control the use of that information. We reserve the right to amend or otherwise modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please re-visit this page occasionally to check for updates.
- What Information We Collect
- Information Collected Automatically
- Information You Provide to Us Voluntarily
- How We Use Information Collected Automatically
- How We Use Information That You Provide to Us Voluntarily
- Opt-in/Opt-out Procedures
- Our Security Measures
- Why We Use "Cookies"
- Third Party Advertisers
- Links to Other Sites
- Access to Personally Identifiable Information
- Website Users Located Outside of the United States of America
- Business Transitions
- Changes in this Privacy Policy
- Contact Us
- Definitions
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We collect various types of information from our visitors which we use in the general administration of the Website, to improve the content and usability of the Website in order to meet our users’ needs and expectations, and to present to users of the Website more targeted advertising, products and services. Some of this information is provided to us voluntarily by the users of the Website, and other information is collected automatically through cookies or other Internet tracking technologies.>
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Information Collected Automatically
Each time you visit the Website, your browser or internet session automatically sends to us, and we automatically collect, the following types of information:
- Your browser, e.g., Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator,
- Your Internet domain, e.g., AOL, Netcom, Earthlink, etc.,
- You computer's operating system, e.g., Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, Linux, etc.,
- Your navigation path, i.e., the URLs of where you come to our site from, which of our pages you visit, and where you go as your leave (sometimes called “clickstream data”),
- Your computer’s IP Address, and
- A date/time stamp.
This information is automatically stored in log files, and helps us analyze trends with regard to use of the Website so we can make the Website more useful. For example, we use this information to track how users are finding the Website, track users’ movements around the Website, determine which pages are visited the most often, and gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. However, this information does not identify individual users.
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Information You Provide to Us Voluntarily
In addition, when you register as a Contributor and set up an account on the Website, we collect certain personal information, such as your first and last name and e-mail address. However, even if you do not register as a Contributor, from time to time, we may collect information that you choose to provide to us. For instance, you may provide us with personal information when:
- Requesting additional information from us or our advertisers,
- Submitting questions, opinions, or other feedback regarding the Website, or
- Participating in community or interactive features that we may provide on the Website.
Examples of personally identifiable data that you may provide to us include name, address or other location information, email address, gender, age, marital status, occupation, and other similar personal information.
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How We Use Information Collected Automatically
We use the information we automatically collect only in the general administration of the Website, and to help us improve the Website to better meet your information needs.
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How We Use Information That You Provide to Us Voluntarily
Your e-mail address will be used only in the following circumstances:
- If a user of the Website has registered and been accepted as a Contributor, we may send notifications to the Contributor relating to the use of the Website or the article submission, editorial, or publication processes;
- Provided such Contributor has given us permission to do so, we may send additional notifications of other features on the Website to the Contributor; and
- If a Contributor has given us permission to do so, we may send regular notifications, periodic updates, newsletters, or other news regarding the Website, our other promotions, products, or services, or our partners and their promotions, products, or services.
If you are a Contributor or otherwise have provided your e-mail address to us when using the Website, your e-mail address will never be shared with or displayed to any other person without your prior consent. For a description of how a user’s permission or consent is given, see “Opt-in/Opt-out Procedures” below.
We will use the other personal information you have voluntarily provided to us for marketing purposes only with your prior permission. Otherwise, all personally identifiable information you provide is maintained in confidence.
Except as explained above, or where you are expressly informed otherwise, we will not sell, rent, share, trade or give away any of your personal information, unless required by law, when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on the Website, or for the protection of a Contributor’s use of the Website or participation in the publication process. However, we will share certain aggregate Website usage information or other aggregated demographic information about users of the Website in a non-personally identifiable manner with advertisers, partners, and other third parties in order to present to users of the Website more targeted advertising, products and services. In such situations we will never disclose information that would personally identify you.
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If you become a Contributor or otherwise provide your e-mail address to us, we provide you the opportunity to “opt-out” of having your personally identifiable information used for certain purposes, when we ask for this information. For example, if a Contributor registers or signs up for a promotion, contest, or other feature provided through the Website, but does not wish to receive any additional marketing material from us, the Contributor can indicate his or her preference on the applicable registration or personal profile page.
If a Contributor no longer wishes to receive any of our notifications, updates, newsletters or promotional communications, he or she may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each of such communications or on his or her personal profile page.
You will be notified when your personal information is collected by any third party that is not our agent or service provider, so you can make an informed choice as to whether or not to share your information with that party.
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The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If you have any questions about security on the Website, you can email us at admin@howtodothings.com.
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A “cookie” is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this site, and we link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site.
We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site. A session ID cookie expires when you close you browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” or “options” file.
If you are a Contributor, we may set a persistent cookie to store your e-mail address or password, so you don’t have to enter it more than once. Persistent cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on the Website. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but your ability to use some areas of our site, such as promotions, contests, or surveys, will be limited.
Some of our business partners (for example, advertisers) use cookies on our site. We have no access to or control over these cookies. This Privacy Policy covers only the use of cookies by us on the Website and does not cover the use of cookies by any of our business partners. See “Third Party Advertisers” below.
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The ads appearing on the Website are delivered to users by our advertising partner, who is a reputable, independent ad server. We share Website usage information about users with our advertising partner for the purpose of targeting our advertisements on the Website.
Our advertising partner uses cookies on the Website, which allow it to recognize a user cookie when he or she visits the Website. The information that our advertising partner collects and shares through this technology is not personally identifiable.
For more information about our third-party advertiser, or to learn more about the choices available to you regarding this anonymous information, please click here.
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The Website contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware of when you leave the Website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information.
This privacy statement applies only to information collected by the Website.
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Access to Personally Identifiable Information
If you are a Contributor, and your personally identifiable information changes or you no longer desire to contribute to the Website or use any other feature offered to Contributors through the Website, you may correct, update, or delete such information or deactivate your Contributor account by making the change on “My Profile” page, by emailing our Customer Support, or by contacting us by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed below.
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Website Users Located Outside of the United States of America
We have made an effort to protect the personal information of all users of the Website, and to the extent applicable, we attempt to comply with local data protection and consumer rights laws. If you are unsure whether this Privacy Policy is in conflict with the applicable local rules where you are located, you should not submit your personal information to the Website. IN ADDITION, IF YOU ARE LOCATED WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION, YOU SHOULD NOTE THAT YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE UNITED STATES, THE LAWS OF WHICH MAY BE DEEMED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO HAVE INADEQUATE DATA PROTECTION (see, for example, European Union Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995, a copy of which can be found here). If you are located in a country outside of the United States of America, and you submit personal information to the Website, we will consider such submission to be your consent to the general use of such information as provided in this Privacy Policy and to the transfer of that information to and/or storage of that information in the United States of America.
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In the event that we go through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personally identifiable information will likely be among the assets transferred. Where feasible, you will be notified via e-mail of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information. However, we reserve the right to notify you of any such change by prominently posting a notice on the Website for 30 days after any such change.
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Changes in This Privacy Policy
If we decide to change this Privacy Policy, we will post those changes in the currently available version of this Privacy Policy, on the Website’s homepage, and any other place we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this Policy, we will notify you as described above.
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If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact us at: admin@howtodothings.com.
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IP (Internet Protocol) Address
This is the address of a computer attached to a TCP/IP network. Every client and server station must have a unique IP address. Client workstations have either a permanent address or one that is dynamically assigned for each dial-up session. IP addresses are written as four sets of numbers separated by periods; for example, 204.171.64.2.Browser Session
A browser session is defined as the period of time a browser is in consecutive use. The session begins when you open the browser and ends when you close it. When you reopen the browser, you begin a new session.URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
An Internet address. URLs are used to locate sites on the Internet and to navigate between sites and pages within sites.
Terms and Conditions of Use
Effective Date: May 27, 2008
THESE TERMS OF USE, AS MODIFIED OR AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME ("Terms") ARE A BINDING CONTRACT BETWEEN How To Do Things, Ltd. ("HTDT" or "we") AND YOU ("you"). BEFORE USING THE HowToDoThings.COM WEBSITE (the "Site"), PLEASE READ THESE TERMS RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE CAREFULLY. BY USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS, AND YOU AGREE TO FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES AND POLICIES THAT HTDT MAY POST ON THE SITE OR PROVIDE TO YOU FROM TIME TO TIME. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE THE SITE, IN WHICH CASE YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY EXIT AND NOT USE THE SITE. HTDT MAKES THE SITE CONTENT AND INFORMATION ON THE SITE AVAILABLE TO YOU CONDITIONED UPON YOUR ACCEPTANCE, WITHOUT MODIFICATION, OF THE TERMS. THESE TERMS APPLY TO ALL USERS, INCLUDING VISITORS TO THE SITE, AND REGISTERED MEMBERS AUTHORIZED TO POST CONTENT TO THE SITE. IF YOU WISH TO BECOME A REGISTERED USER, COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER REGISTERED USERS AND MAKE USE OF HTDT'S SERVICES, YOU MUST READ THIS AGREEMENT AND ALSO INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE DURING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS.
1. DESCRIPTION OF SITE; MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT
Our Site is a popular place to find instructions on how to do a variety of things. You and other users of our Site have access to thousands of articles that are intended to provide directions on how to do things. Many of these articles are posted by people from around the world, and represent a diversity of perspectives, experience and approaches to issues that may be of interest to you.
In addition to being a place for you to find out how to do things, the Site is also a platform for you to share your ideas with others. In return for our display of your content for any period of time, you grant a license to HTDT described in Section 5 hereof. We invite you to comment on HTDT articles, as well as submit your own articles and other content for posting.
This Site is intended for use by persons who are at least 18 years old, or the legal age required to form a binding contract in your jurisdiction if that age is greater than 18. By using the Site, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old and of legal age to form a binding contract, and you hereby ratify any prior grant of rights, consents, agreements, assignments and waivers made by you. If you choose to set up an Account, your Account may be used only by you. If you are not 18 years of age, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, and you use the site and submit articles, then when you reach the age of majority, you will be deemed to have ratified these terms and conditions automatically, and without further action.
2. MODIFICATIONS TO TERMS
You agree that from time to time we may, at our sole discretion, modify, add or remove any or all parts of these Terms and the Privacy Policy. Such modifications will be effective immediately upon posting of the modified Terms to the Site. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to these Terms will mean that you accept those changes. To update the Terms, we will post both the changed version and its effective date on the Site. As such, we encourage you to check back regularly to review these Terms and any updates thereto.
3. MODIFICATIONS TO SITE
You may use the Site only when and as available. We reserve the right from time to time to temporarily or permanently modify or discontinue, and restrict or block access to, the Site (or any part thereof) without notice. We may temporarily or permanently modify or remove any part or all of your Content from the Site at any time without any notice to you. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, discontinuance or removal and any such action by us will not affect HTDT's license to your Content as stated herein.
4. POSTING CONTENT ON THE SITE; REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
By displaying or publishing ("posting") any content on the Site, including without limitation text, audio, video, pictures, graphics, music, sound clips, images, likenesses, personal information and other works of authorship (collectively, "Content"), and you warrant and represent that (a) you own all rights in your Content and the performance contained in your Content or, alternatively, you have acquired all necessary rights in your Content to enable you to grant to HTDT the rights in your Content described herein and for us to exercise the rights with respect to such Content that you grant herein; (b) your Content has not previously appeared on any other website or online medium. (c) you have paid and will pay in full all license fees, clearance fees, and other financial obligations, of any kind, arising from any use or commercial exploitation of your Content; (d) you are the individual pictured, depicted, and/or heard in your Content, or, alternatively, you have obtained permission (and, if applicable, publicity rights) from each person (including consent from parents or guardians for any individual under the age of eighteen (18)) who appears and/or is heard in your Content to grant the rights to HTDT described herein; (e) you will make such permissions available to HTDT upon request; and (f) your Content is not defamatory in nature, does not infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy, rights to publicity or any other legal or moral rights of any third party. You agree to keep all records necessary to establish that your Content does not violate any of the foregoing representations and warranties and to make such records available upon the request of HTDT all without the violation of any other person's intellectual property or other rights or of any laws or regulations. You acknowledge that the Site does not have any "digital rights management" or other security technology features to restrict someone who receives Content from copying and redistributing it.
To post Content on the Site, you must first complete the Site registration process to create an account with a user name and password (the "Account"). You agree to provide accurate current and complete information during the registration process, when contributing Content or when otherwise using the Site. You also agree that you will review, maintain, correct and update such information in a timely manner to maintain its accuracy and completeness. You agree to safeguard your user name and password, and you authorize us to accept any use of the Site through your Account as being used by you or someone authorized to act for you. You agree to be liable for any Content posted using your Account and for any transactions associated with your Account. You agree that we can rely upon the contact and other information that is supplied to us using your Account and that we will rely upon such information. You agree and acknowledge that your Account is non-transferable and non-assignable.
5. OWNERSHIP OF RIGHTS; LICENSE RIGHTS
You retain ownership of your copyrights and other intellectual property and proprietary rights in any Content you post to the Site, subject to the non-exclusive rights that you grant to us as described in these Terms.
You hereby grant HTDT a worldwide, royalty-free, freely transferable, freely sublicensable (through unlimited levels of sublicense), non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, transmit, distribute, publicly perform and display (including in each case by means of a digital audio transmission), and create derivative works of the Content, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. You also hereby waive any moral rights you may have in such Content under the laws of any jurisdiction. You hereby appoint us as your agent with full power to enter into and execute any document and/or do any act we may consider appropriate to confirm the grant of rights, consents, agreements, assignments and waivers set forth in these Terms. You agree that we may (but are not obligated to) display your Content, and your username or your actual name along with your Content. You acknowledge that the posting of your Content for any period of time is sufficient consideration for the license granted herein to HTDT. Lastly, you agree to not post your Content in its exact form to other "How To" online properties.
6. PROHIBITED CONDUCT
You agree not to post to the Site any Content or any other materials whatsoever that is or could appear to be: (a) untrue, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive to another person's privacy or protected data, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (b) infringing or alleged to be infringing upon a third party's intellectual property rights, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other proprietary rights of any party, including, without limitation, any Content that is the subject of any third party claim of infringement; (c) of a type that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships, such as inside information and proprietary and confidential information; (d) unsolicited, undisclosed or unauthorized advertising; (e) software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; (f) data or information obtained through access that was not authorized by the owner of the data or information, or with respect to which such posting would constitute unauthorized use; or (g) in violation of any applicable local, state, national or international law, regulation, or statute (including export laws).
7. PROHIBITED CONDUCT
You agree not to do, or attempt to do, any of the following, subject to applicable law: (a) access or use the Site or any service on the Site in any way that violates or is not in full compliance with any applicable local, state, national or international law, regulation, or statute (including export laws), contracts, intellectual property rights or constitutes the commission of a tort, or for any purpose that is harmful or unintended (by us), or other than in full compliance with these Terms; (b) access, tamper with, or use services or areas of the Site that you are not authorized to access; (c) alter information on or obtained from the Site; (d) tamper with postings, registration information, profiles, submissions or Content of other users; (e) use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the Site or extract data or gather or use information, such as email addresses, available from the Site or transmit any unsolicited advertising, "junk mail," "spam," or "chain letters"; (f) frame any part of the Site, or link to the Site, or otherwise make it look like you have a relationship to us or that we have endorsed you or your Content for any purpose except as expressly permitted in writing by HTDT; (g) impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity; (h) reverse engineer any aspect of the Site or do anything that might discover source code, or bypass or circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any area, content or code of the Site (except as otherwise expressly permitted by law); (i) send to or otherwise impact us or the Site (or anything or anyone else) with harmful, illegal, deceptive or disruptive code such as a virus, "spyware," "adware" or other code that could adversely impact the Site or any recipient; or (j) take any action which might impose a significant burden (as determined by us) on the Site's infrastructure or computer systems, or otherwise interfere with the ordinary operation of the Site.
8. MONITORING OF SITE CONTENT
We are under no obligation to restrict or monitor Site Content in any way. YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HTDT DOES NOT REGULARLY MONITOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF CONTENT. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to modify or remove any Content at any time. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or Content expressed or made available by third parties, including other users, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of HTDT. HTDT neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice, information, or statement made on this Site by anyone other than authorized HTDT employees acting in their official capacities.
9. PROTECTION OF SITE CONTENT
Our Site is protected by intellectual property laws and you agree to respect them. HTDT grants you a limited, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive license, under the rights HTDT has in the Content, to privately display the Content on your computer for your own personal, noncommercial purposes, and to print a reasonable number of copies of the Content as needed for that use. HTDT reserves all other rights in the Content, on its own behalf and the behalf of its licensors (including contributors), and HTDT does not, directly or by implication, by estoppel or otherwise, grant any other rights or licenses to you under these Terms. Except as expressly stated in this paragraph, you may not reproduce, distribute, modify, publicly perform or display, or prepare derivative works of any Content without prior written consent from HTDT or the contributor of the Content or other third-party owner of the rights in that Content (if any). You agree not to reverse engineer any Content consisting of downloadable software, unless specifically authorized by HTDT or the third-party owner of the rights in that Content (if any) or otherwise permitted by law.
10. PRIVACY POLICY
Please see our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy is part of and incorporated into these Terms. We reserve the right to contact you in connection with our or your compliance with and performance of these Terms (including without limitation the license rights granted hereunder) or any Content or activities relating to the Site.
11. TERMINATION OR CANCELLATION
You agree that we may, at any time and at our sole discretion, with or without cause or any notice to you, terminate these Terms, your access to the Site, and/or your Account, or suspend or block your access to the Site. If applicable law requires us to provide notice of termination or cancellation, we may give prior or subsequent notice by posting it on the Site or by sending a communication to any address (email or otherwise) that we have for you in our records. You will still be liable for any breaches of these Terms and/or obligations incurred before the Terms end. If you use the Site after termination of these Terms, that use will constitute your agreement to the Terms then posted on the Site.
If your Account or access to the Site is terminated for any or no reason, you may no longer have access to the Content you posted on the Site. In such event, HTDT may continue to exploit electronic or printed materials it has created, or developed specific plans to create, that contain such Content according to the terms contained in Section 5 with respect to removal or modification of Content previously posted on the Site.
The provisions entitled "Posting Content on the Site; Representations and Warranties," "Ownership of Rights; License Rights," "Indemnification," "Disclaimer of Warranties," "Exclusion of Damages; Limitation of Liability," "Additional Terms", the Privacy Policy, and any other terms which by their nature appear to be intended to survive the termination of the terms, will survive termination of these Terms
12. DEALINGS WITH MERCHANTS; LINKS
The Site contains advertisements, offers, or other links to other websites and resources of third parties that we do not control. That information, as well as advertisements, may or may not be or remain wholly accurate. You acknowledge and agree that HTDT is not responsible or liable for (i) the availability or accuracy of such sites or resources; or (ii) the content, advertising, or products or services on or available from such sites or resources. The inclusion of any link on the Site does not imply that we endorse the linked site. You use the links at your own risk. HTDT's Privacy Policy is applicable only when you are on our Site. Once you choose to link to another website, you should read and understand that website's privacy statement before disclosing any personal information.
Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, third party merchants or advertisers that are found on or through the Site or which provide links on the Site, including, for example, "click to purchase" and other similar programs, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such merchant or advertiser. You waive any claim against HTDT and agree to hold HTDT harmless from any loss or damage of any kind incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such merchants or advertisers on the Site.
13. INDEMNIFICATION
As a condition of your access to and use of the Site, you agree to hold HTDT, and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, attorneys, and suppliers, and each of their respective successors and assigns, harmless from, and indemnify them for, all damages, costs, expenses and other liabilities, including but not limited to attorneys' fees and expenses, relating to any claim arising out of or related to: (i) your access to and use of the Site and the content therein; (ii) your violation of these Terms (including terms incorporated into them, e.g., the Privacy Policy and Supplemental Terms), and any applicable law or the rights of another person or party; (iii) any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more users of the Site; (iv) HTDT's resolution (if any) of any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more users of the Site; (v) your improper authorization for HTDT to collect, use or disclose any data or Content provided by you; and (vi) any disclosures made with your permission (including, without limitation, your consent that HTDT disclose your personal information and other information collected as set forth in our Privacy Policy). Furthermore, you fully understand and agree that: (a) HTDT will have the right but not the obligation to resolve disputes between users relating to the Site and HTDT's resolution of a particular dispute does not a create an obligation to resolve any other dispute; and (b) HTDT's resolution of a dispute will be final with respect to the Site.
14. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
THE SITE MAY CONTAIN ADVICE, OPINIONS, INSTRUCTIONS AND STATEMENTS FROM HTDT, ITS USERS AND OTHER CONTENT AND INFORMATION PROVIDERS. THIS CONTENT IS INTENDED TO BE USED FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. YOU USE THE SITE AND CONTENT AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL OR SOME OTHER AUTHORITY IN THE APPROPRIATE FIELD BEFORE USING ANY OF THE CONTENT. THE SITE IS PROVIDED BY HTDT ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HTDT MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SITE OR THE INFORMATION OR CONTENT INCLUDED ON THE SITE. HTDT MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE, SECURE, OR TIMELY. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HTDT EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND THOSE ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, TRADE, USAGE OR PERFORMANCE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND THEREFORE SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. WE URGE YOU TO KEEP BACKUP COPIES OF CONTENT AND OTHER MATERIAL, IF ANY, THAT YOU MAINTAIN ON OR USE WITH THE SITE. IF YOUR USE OF THE SITE RESULTS IN THE NEED FOR SERVICING OR REPLACING PROPERTY, MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT OR DATA, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY RESULTING COSTS OR DAMAGES.
Without limiting any of the foregoing, HTDT makes the following specific disclaimers for the following categories of information:
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b. identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
c. identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit HTDT to locate the material (for example, by providing a URL to the material);
d. your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
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f. a statement that the information in your notification is accurate and a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
Our designated agent to receive notification of claimed infringement can be reached at:
Copyright Agent
433 Airport Blvd, Suite 550
Burlingame, CA 94010
admin@howtodothing.com.
In the event that we conclude that your copyright interest has been infringed, we will remove the infringing material from the Site. It is our policy to terminate in appropriate circumstances any Account for repeated infringement of intellectual property rights, including copyrights, and we also reserve the right to terminate an Account for even one instance of infringement.
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18. NOTICES AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Except as otherwise provided in these Terms, HTDT will give you any notices by posting them on the Site. You authorize HTDT to send notices (including without limitation notice of subpoenas or other legal process, if any) via electronic mail as well if HTDT decides, in its sole discretion, to do so. You agree to check the Site for notices, and that you will be considered to have received a notice when it is made available to you by posting on the Site. HTDT may provide notice to any e-mail or other address that you provide during registration. You agree to keep your address current and that notice provided by HTDT to the address that you have most recently provided will constitute effective notice. We receive many emails and not all of our employees are trained to deal with every kind of communication. Therefore, with the exception of notices related to copyright infringement and removal of licensed material described in Sections 17 and 5 above, respectively, you agree to send us any notice by mailing it to our address for Legal Notices which is: 433 Airport Blvd, Suite 550, Burlingame, CA 94010, U.S.A., Attn: HowToDoThings Legal Department.
19. ADDITIONAL TERMS
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d. Severance. If any part of the Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the invalid or unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remainder will remain in full force and effect, provided that the allocation of risks described herein is given effect to the fullest extent possible.
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f. Jurisdiction; Choice of Law; Export Limitations. This Site is controlled by us from our offices within the United States of America and is directed to U.S. users. If you choose to access this Site from locations outside the U.S., you do so at your own risk and you are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. You may not use or export anything from the Site in violation of U.S. export laws and regulations or the Terms. These Terms and all performances and claims of every nature (including without limitation, contract, tort and strict liability) relating in any way to any aspect of the Site will be governed by the laws of the State of California, U.S.A., without regard to any conflicts of laws principles that would result in the application of the law of a different jurisdiction. You and HTDT agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within San Mateo County, California. Any disputes regarding such claims or arising under or related in any way to these Terms or the Site shall be heard exclusively in the appropriate forum in California. You hereby consent to jurisdiction in a state or federal court sitting in San Francisco, California, and waive any claim or defense that such forum is not convenient or proper, and consent to service of process by any means authorized by California or federal law.
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h. Paragraph Headings. The paragraph headings in these Terms are included to help make these Terms easier to read and have no binding effect.
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NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FILTERING SOFTWARE
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HTDT WILL NOT GIVE, SELL, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER ADDRESSES MAINTAINED BY HTDT TO ANY OTHER PARTY FOR THE PURPOSES OF INITIATING, OR ENABLING OTHERS TO INITIATE, ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES EXCEPT AS AUTHORIZED BY APPROPRIATE HTDT PERSONNEL OR POLICIES. EXCEPT FOR PARTIES AUTHORIZED TO HAVE ADDRESSES MAINTAINED BY HTDT, PERSONS MAY VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW IF THEY: (1) INITIATE THE TRANSMISSION TO HTDT COMPUTERS OR DEVICES OF A COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGE (AS DEFINED IN THE U.S. "CAN-SPAM ACT OF 2003") THAT DOES NOT MEET THE MESSAGE TRANSMISSION REQUIREMENTS OF THAT ACT; OR (2) ASSIST IN THE ORIGINATION OF SUCH MESSAGES THROUGH THE PROVISION OR SELECTION OF ADDRESSES TO WHICH THE MESSAGES WILL BE TRANSMITTED.
NOTICE RE TRADEMARKS
The trademarks HowToDoThings.com and all other trademarks listed below or used in the Site are owned or used under license by HTDT and its affiliated organizations. The names of third parties and their products mentioned may be their trademarks. You may not use any of the above or other trademarks displayed on this Site or in any Site content. All rights are reserved.
NOTICE RE COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP: © HTDT Ltd. U.S.A. All rights reserved.
All content on the Site is subject to intellectual property rights, contractual or other protection. The intellectual property rights are owned by us or our licensors. No content may be copied, distributed, republished, uploaded, posted or transmitted in any way except as provided expressly in the Terms or with our prior express written consent. Modification or use of the materials for any other purpose may violate intellectual property rights.
Last updated: May 27, 2008
What’s the difference between a member and a contributor?
What do “My Stats” and “My Earnings” mean on my dashboard?
Can I apply for more than one category?
How can I add more areas of expertise to my profile?
How do I write an article? What do I do if I don’t see the topic I want to write about?
What is “View Available Topics?”
What are the article guidelines and standards?
Are you going to sell my contact info?
Why do some people have pictures while others don’t?
How does the Article Comment & Rating System work?
How do I create a break in a paragraph without adding another number or bullet?
How exactly do you share revenue with contributors? When do I get money?
How do I determine the cost and difficulty of a "How To"?
What do the "Author Rating" and "Article Rating" in my dashboard mean?
What does the book badge mean?
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What’s the difference between a member and a contributor?
A member can login to the site, leave comments, rate articles, suggest article topics and email contributors, but cannot write an article. A contributor has all the capabilities of a member AND can write articles in categories that he or she has been approved in.
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What do “My Stats” and “My Earnings” mean on my dashboard?
When you visit your dashboard you’ll see “My Stats” on the right-hand side of the page and "My Earnings" below the "Announcements".
“My Stats” tracks the number of articles you’ve written, number of times visitors have viewed your articles and number of ratings and comments you’ve received from other users and contributors.
“My Earnings” tracks your Google AdSense account information. Here you can view your AdSense ID, and the email affiliated with your AdSense account. For now, you’ll need to login to Google AdSense to view your earnings to date.
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Can I apply for more than one category?
Sure! To apply for more than one Area of Expertise, simply check the boxes of all the subcategories that you feel you have experience in. Don’t forget that you’ll need to explain why you feel you’re an expert in each of these areas. It’s best to select only a few Areas of Expertise at a time. It makes the explanation more manageable and you’ll always be able to add more categories later, once you’ve been approved as a contributor.
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How can I add more areas of expertise to my profile?
To add areas of expertise to your profile, simply go to your dashboard, click on “Areas of Expertise,” then “request new categories.” At this point you can scroll through all HowToDoThings categories and select those that you’d like to write in. Then scroll to the bottom of the page, fill out the “why are you interested and why are you an expert” field (be thorough) and click "Submit." We’ll review your application and get back to you soon.
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How do I write an article? What do I do if I don’t see the topic I want to write about?
To write an article, you must be an approved HowToDoThings contributor and you must be writing in one of your approved Areas of Expertise.
You can visit “View Available Topics” from your dashboard to get article ideas, or simply write an article that you’ve come up with yourself.
Either accept an article from the “View Available Topics” list or click on “Write an Article” and type away to your heart’s content. Make sure to include a title and a 1-2 sentence description of your article, if you’ve come up with it yourself, before starting on the body of your article.
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What is “View Available Topics?”
We thought our contributors might appreciate some suggestions. Even though contributors can write articles (within their Areas of Expertise) on any topic that they wish, it can be hard to come up with idea after idea (we know how that goes). We thought some contributors who felt like writing, but weren’t sure what they wanted to write about, would enjoy browsing through topic ideas from HowToDoThings editors and other members.
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What are the article guidelines and standards?
We take pride in our content, as we know you do. Our articles must adhere to our editors’ standards of writing quality (see our Writing Tips to learn more), be a minimum of 400 words long and be listed in a numbered, step-by-step format. We always edit each article as thoroughly as possible.
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Are you going to sell my contact info?
No. Your contact info is private and we will never give or sell it to anyone. See our privacy policy for more details.
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We require that all contributors submit a first and last name in their application. If you’re more comfortable using a pen name, that’s fine, but please no screen names or nicknames.
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To add your public bio, simply click on “My Profile” and you’ll be taken to your current profile. From here, you can click on “edit my profile” and change your name, password, email address, bio, interests and image. Basically, anything you want to say about yourself can be said right here.
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Why do some people have pictures while others don’t?
It’s up to each user whether he or she wants to add a picture to his public bio. If you haven’t added a picture and would like to, you can click on “My Profile,” “edit profile”, scroll about halfway down the page and upload the photo of your choice. We only accept pictures of actual people. And please, nothing you wouldn’t want your kids to see.
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How does the Article Comment & Rating System work?
Members and contributors have the capability of rating articles and leaving comments. If you read an article you like, you can comment on it, rate it (from one to five stars) or both. You have to be logged in to do so.
Once logged in, you’ll be able to see the ratings and comments that you’ve left by visiting your dashboard. By clicking on “My Comments & Ratings,” you’ll be able to browse through a list of articles that you've rated and commented on, view the average rating of each of those articles, and click on the title to read the full thread of member and contributor comments associated with that particular article (including yours).
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How do I create a break in a paragraph without adding another number or bullet?
To add a break between numbers or in the middle of a large paragraph that constitutes one number, simply hold down the "shift" key and hit "Enter." This will allow you to add a break without creating another number on that line.
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How exactly do you share revenue with contributors? When do I get money?
As you may have noticed, we run Google ads to the right and just below every article, which is how HowToDoThings makes money. We get paid monthly from Google AdSense. Under the revenue-sharing system, we share all of the ad revenue with you, 50/50. Whatever money you’re making on your articles is what we’re making on them.
Once you sign up for a Google AdSense account and input your Google AdSense ID into our system, you’ll begin to see page impressions, click-through rates and best of all, revenue appearing in your AdSense account and on your HowToDoThings dashboard.
Google AdSense will pay you monthly, just like they pay us.
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Will I be able to earn AdSense revenue from articles that I wrote before the revenue-sharing system was implemented?
No. Once you’ve completed the revenue-sharing sign-up process, you can start earning cash on any new articles you write and submit. However, since you were compensated for all articles written prior to the revenue-sharing system, those articles won’t be included in your Google AdSense portfolio.
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How do I determine the cost and difficulty of a "How To"?
Cost: You'll notice that th re are price ranges associated with each "cost" option. If the "How To" you're writing doesn't require any money to accomplish you don't need to select anything. Our system defaults to N/A or "no cost". If the "How To" you're writing requires tools, ingredients, personnel or anything else that the reader would likely need to purchase in order to complete the task you're describing, please estimate how much it will cost and select the appropriate radio button.
Difficulty: Similar to the cost function, the difficulty option defaults to N/A or "not applicable" if you don't choose a level of difficulty. If you'd like to indicate how difficult (or easy) the "How To" process you've just described in your article is, you can select the appropriate radio button on the "Write an Article" page. The levels of difficulty are subjective and will vary based a person's skill level and familiarity with the subject; some people will find certain processes very easy, while other will find the same processes very difficult. Use your best judgement to determine how easy or difficult your "How To" will be for an average person to accomplish.
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What do the "Author Rating" and "Article Rating" in my dashboard mean?
Author Rating: The author rating, which you can find in the "My Stats" section of your contributor dashboard, indicates how many articles that you've published compared to other contributors. As you continue to write articles for HowToDoThings, your article rating will increase accordingly. If you've written the most articles, your author ranking will be 1. If you've written the 36th most articles, your author ranking will be 36.
Article Rating: The article rating, which you can find when you click on "View All" in the "My Articles" section, indicates where your article ranks, compared to other articles on the site. It's based purely on pageviews. So, as your pageviews increase, so should your article rank. This statistic basically tells you how many times your article has been viewed in relation to all the other articles on the site. Older articles will have a higher article rating initially, but as newer articles continue to get pageviews, they will start to overtake the less popular (less viewed) older articles. -
What does the book badge mean?
By remaining active on HowToDoThings, you can advance through the contributor levels outlined below and gain access to special rewards as you achieve each new level. You’ll receive a badge in your public profile that indicates what your HowToDoThings level is. See "How To Earn Points" for more detail.
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HowToDoThings members and contributors receive points for staying active on the site. You’ll get a certain number of points for each action you take, including getting an article published, commenting on another contributor’s article and rating other articles. See "How To Earn Points" for more detail.
