JapanSoc FAQ


Note: You can find more information about JapanSoc here.

1. What is JapanSoc?

JapanSoc is a social bookmarking site, devoted to news and stories about Japan.

Social bookmarking is a way for Internet users to store, organize, share and search bookmarks of web pages. In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. [Wikipedia]

2. Why should I register?

Once you've registered, you can vote up pages you like, or bury those you don't. You can also submit Japan-related stories you find interesting, including your own.

3. What's a "Soc"?

"Soc it!", "Soc'd" and "Socs" mean "Vote!", "Voted" and "Votes".

4. How many socs to get on the "Top Stories" page?

When a story is submitted, it appears on the "upcoming" page with one automatic soc. If the story has 2 socs 3 socs, it will be moved to the "Top Stories" page. This number is likely to increase as more people join JapanSoc. Also note that if an upcoming story is older than 7 days (i.e. it's not really "upcoming" anymore), it won't appear on the front page.

5. What does the "Bury" button do?

The "Bury" link below each story is used to "vote it down". However, instead of reducing the number of socs a story has received, it is used to calculate whether a story should be deleted or not. If the number of "buries" is three times greater than the number of socs, the story will be deleted automatically. Note that when a story is buried, it will be grayed out for the current user. Note also that the number of "buries" is not visible to users. Finally, note that you can't bury a story you submitted yourself, hence the "Bury" link is not shown to the submitter.

6. How can I submit a story?

You can use the "Submit a new story" tab to recommend either your own Japan-related articles, or other Japan material you've found and want to share.

7. Can I submit stories on the fly?

The easiest way to submit a new story is to add the JapanSoc bookmarklet to your browser toolbar or favorites. You can do this from your profile page. Then, all you need to do when you find a page you like is click the bookmarklet and you'll be taken to the "submit a new story" page.

8. How can I get my readers to submit my articles?

One of the best ways of encouraging your readers to submit and soc your articles is to include a "JapanSoc It!" style link at the foot of your own blog posts, and also in your RSS feed.

1) 'SOC IT FROM YOUR FEED:
Google have provided an easy way to add submit buttons to your RSS feed using FeedBurner FeedFlares, and Ken from WhatJapanThinks.com has kindly written a FeedFlare for JapanSoc:

If you as a blog publisher want to use it, sign up to both FeedBurner and JapanSoc if you haven't already done so, then from your feed's FeedBurner menu select the Optimize tab along the top, then the FeedFlare option on the left. Look for the edit field with the "Add New Flare" button beside it, and type http://whatjapanthinks.com/misc/japansoc.xml into the box and press the button. Now, everyone who reads your feed will have the opportunity to submit your stories to JapanSoc.

Read JapanSoc social bookmarking service FeedBurner FeedFlare for more information.

2) 'SOC IT WITH A VOTING BUTTON:
There is also a way of adding a "Soc it!" button to your blog post that displays how many votes the article has received on JapanSoc. It's an excellent way to get your readers to sign up and start voting for your posts. Read JapanSoc Voting Button for Blogs for more information.

3) 'SOC IT FROM YOUR FOOTER:
You can also add a "JapanSoc It!" style link at the foot of each of your own blog posts manually, as in the screenshot below:

To do that, the code you need depends on the blogging platform you're using. Here are some examples (ignore any linebreaks):

Blogger (old):
<a href="http://www.japansoc.com/submit.php?url=<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>&title=<$BlogItemTitle$>">JapanSoc</a>

Blogger (new):
<a href='"http://www.japansoc.com/submit.php?url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title'>JapanSoc</a>

Wordpress:
<a href="http://www.japansoc.com/submit.php?url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&title=<?php the_title(); ?>">JapanSoc</a>

Typepad/MovableType:
<a href="http://www.japansoc.com/submit.php?url=<$MTEntryPermalink$>&title=<$MTEntryTitle$>">JapanSoc</a>

Put the code in your post template (not the post itself), and cross your fingers. If you'd rather use an image, please right-click and download    or    and upload it to your own server. Then replace the text "JapanSoc" in the code above with an <img> tag, linking to the image.

If you still need help...

  • Wordpress.org: Watch the JapanSoc Social Bookmarking Button Video Tutorial.
  • Wordpress.com: Sorry, I don't think they let you edit the template/theme on a Wordpress.com site. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
  • Blogger: Read this article about adding social bookmarking links in Blogger.
  • HTML website: Use the Javascript below.

4) 'SOC IT FROM ANY WEBSITE:
If you're not using one of the blogging platforms above (or you just can't get them to work), try this javascript link (ignore any linebreaks):

<a href="javascript:location.href='http://www.japansoc.com/submit?url='+encodeURIComponent(document.location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title)+' '">JapanSoc</a>

9. Who's behind JapanSoc?

JapanSoc is the work of long-term Japan resident, Nick Ramsay. Learn more about JapanSoc on his blog, here.

10. What can I do to promote JapanSoc?

If you're a blogger, please write about JapanSoc on your site, or link here with either a textual link or one of the graphics on the Banners and Buttons page.

11. My avatar won't show up!

Unfortunately, only jpeg images seem to be working with avatars, and if you find there's a loss of quality, it's probably because your image has been automatically shrunk to 30x30px. For best results, upload a 30x30px .jpg image.

12. I'm having problems. Help!

JapanSoc has its quirks and sometimes misbehaves. If you're having problems with avatars, links, or anything for that matter, please contact Nick (see below) and he'll be onto within 24 hours if not sooner.

13. How can I contact you?

If you need to make contact, please use the this contact form.