Q: What is My Scrapbook?
A: My Scrapbook is a fun web tool that makes it easy to make complicated and social decisions. My Scrapbook helps you:
- gather research on a decision (e.g. picking a holiday house, deciding on a wedding dress)
- collaborate and get feedback from friends
- make and act upon a decision.
Q: What is social decision-making?
A: Social decision-making is when you make a decision in a social way. Rather than deciding on something on your own, you seek advice and feedback from friends, family, colleagues, or the general public. My Scrapbook aims to make this process fun and easy.
Q: How do I use My Scrapbook?
A: Take our quick tutorial to be guided through steps to using My Scrapbook. If you are still unsure, please let us know: we want to make My Scrapbook as easy to use as possible.
Q: Do I need to be very technical to use My Scrapbook?
A: Definitely not! Our aim is to make My Scrapbook fun and easy to use. We believe simplicity is essential, and have built My Scrapbook that way.
Q: How is My Scrapbook different from other sites?
A: There are other sites that let you bookmark and share websites among friends, but only My Scrapbook is tailored to helping you make and act upon a decision. In addition to pooling together websites, My Scrapbook helps you sort, filter and analyse all the information you collect.
Q: Why is it free? What is the catch?
A: No catch. My Scrapbook is free to use because we want to attract a loyal user base to the site. We have some relevant advertising on our site, and this is what keeps us in business. In the future we may offer more premium services at a fee, but this will be an optional extra.
Q: What do you do with my personal data?
A: My Scrapbook will never use your personal details for financial gain, or send you spam. We want our business to be the kind you feel you can trust. Please review our privacy policy (link) for further details.
Q: Is my data safe?
A: Your account is protected by username and password. You can choose to share your findings with others, but you are in control to make it private when you wish.
Q: What web browsers are compatible with My Scrapbook?
A: My Scrapbook requires Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox or Google Chrome. Skimbit doesnt work with Internet Explorer 5.x. Other browsers may or may not work, but only the four listed are guaranteed compatible.
Q: What's the difference between a button and a bookmark?
A: Both do exactly the same, it just depends what you would prefer. A button requires a quick install and becomes part of your browser, like the Back and Home buttons. A bookmark is added to your browser's bookmarks toolbar without having to download or install an application. It's ideal if you can't install things on a corporate computer, but doesn't look as swish.
Q: Why are bookmarks or buttons installed in my browser toolbar?
A: There are two buttons/bookmarks. The first is called 'Skim this!', which grabs information from the site you are interested in (titles, descriptions, photos) plus lets you add extra relevant information. The second button/bookmark is called 'Your dashboard', which takes you straight to the web page with all your My Scrapbook decision.
Q: How do I install the buttons or bookmarks?
A: You will be prompted during account creation. If you skipped this step it can be done later by clicking the 'Get the Skimmer' link on your dashboard.
Q: My company won't let me install things on my computer. What do I do?
A: Use the bookmarks (instead of the buttons) which require no installation (see above questions).
Q: How do I remove the buttons?
A: To remove a button, go to your browser's Tools menu, and select Extensions (on Windows) or Add-ons (on Mac). From here you can uninstall the buttons from your browser. To remove bookmarks, just right-click on them and select 'Delete'.
Q: What is a decision?
A: A decision is how we refer to any decision you need to make, or research you need to do e.g. choosing a holiday house, researching which TV to buy or finding a venue for your wedding.
Q: How do I start a decision?
A: Login to Skimbit and click on 'Start a decicion'. Here you can enter all the information about your decision, like the type of decision and the decision-making criteria. Once you have finished, My Scrapbook will create your own decision webpage and you can begin your search process.
Q: How do I add items to a decision?
A: When you find a webpage with something you like on it, click the 'Skim this!' bookmark or button on your browser (depending on which version you installed). You will be asked to login if you aren't already, and then the Skimmer will automatically extract any title, description and image from the page. You can then refine the selection by choosing the one that is best for you, or entering your own.
Q: What is an 'Option'?
A: An Option is our term for how we display the skimmed content. It contains a title, description, image and decision-making criteria. It can also contain the feedback collectors you have picked for your decision eg. rating, ranking, polling and comments. Displaying your options like this is the perfect way to help you make a decision.
Q: How do I access my 'Your dashboard' page easily?
A: You can install two buttons/bookmarks into your browser: one of them is called 'Your dashboard' and will take you straight to where your decisions are.
Q: How do I share my findings?
A: Skimbit offers you two ways to manage your findings:
1. Keep it private - no one but yourself and people you invite will be able to access and give feedback.
2. Make it public - anyone can access and give feedback
You can set your sharing status on 'Your dashboard', or by clicking the Edit decision button for your decision.
Q: Do people I share with have to have a My Scrapbook account?
A: If it's a private decision, yes. We will need to authenticate the people we give access to your site, so they will need to register using the same email address you used to email them. If it is a public decision, your friends can still visit the site but they won't require an account to view it. Of course, this also means anyone else can view your decision and contribute to it.
Q: How do I know if others have shared their decisions with me?
A: You will have been sent an email inviting you to visit their decision page. Simply click on the link in the email, login, and you will be taken to their decision page.