General

• What is Uncover?

• Uncover is simply the best way to find venues (bars and clubs) in your area. You get to look here for actual photos of different venues before making up your mind for the night. Why waste money on a cover fee or time looking around for some place good to get a drink after work? Browse through our photos in your location and find something that fits what you're looking for from the comfort of your computer.

  You can browse thousands of places through Uncover, so find what you're looking for here, enjoy the night, and then come back and add photos of your own.

• Are there are any rules?

• We're pretty lax on rules. We just ask that you don't violate any copyright laws by adding photos that's aren't yours. Other than that, we're looking forward to seeing photos of your favorite venues: you know, the ones where the drinks are free good? In all seriousness, if you're into that whole legalese thing, you can read through our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

• Is Uncover free?

• Yes, Uncover is one hundred percent free. Uncover will always be about the people that make up our community and well never charge you a thing as you make this website what it is. Youll never see us restricting access or charging money for this: keep your money for buying that cute girl at the end of the bar a drink. If you want to contribute by adding photos of your favorite places, please do, but if you just want to browse around, that's fine too.

• Id like to use a photo I found on Uncover. How do I do that?

• We don't act as a middleman between photographers and people looking to use their photos. Uncover really isn't about storing photos for any other use than allowing people to view them to look up places to go. If you want to use someone elses photo, we ask that before doing so, as a common courtesy, you ask them for permission!

• Do I have to register to use Uncover?

• You dont need to register to search Uncover for venues, but if you want to add photographs, rate venues, post reviews, and use other features of Uncover, youll want to register (it only takes a few seconds). If you want to read more about what youll get to use if you register, click here. Otherwise, sign up here!

• What makes Uncover unique?

• Certainly there are other means of finding bars and clubs online, but none quite like Uncover. Part of what makes us unique is that we feature photographs of venues rather than text based reviews, although, we also allow for those to complement the photographs. Furthermore, our rating system is based on the communitys collective input rather than just our opinion.

  We are also committed to fair and accurate search results. Believe it or not, many reviews you find online of venues are commissioned by businesses that offer money for a favorable review. We believe that this is not only unethical but defeats the whole purpose behind a website meant to help you find a place to go out.

  Our search results and listings are based on your contributions rather than the work of paid editors. Therefore, all content and ratings are based on the communitys view as a whole and turns Uncover into a living and breathing organism based on your participation. A variety of personalities contribute thoughts and photographs, and that gives you a variety of feedback to take into consideration.

• How can I contribute to Uncover?

• Uncover relies on people like you to contribute photographs, reviews, and other information to our listings in order to diversify the results. We've made it incredibly simple to do this by streamlining the sign-up process and having one-click voting, with effortless photograph and review adding. Doing any or all three of the above will vastly improve other peoples browsing experience, as there will be even more input to review. Sign up here!

• Does Uncover have international cities in its listing?

• Yes, Uncover has cities from everywhere in the world; Uncover is for everyone, and it's our goal one day to represent every city in the world. As enthusiastic international travelers ourselves, from its inception we wanted Uncover to span the globe, so that when you travel, you'll be able to find good places to go out at night in every country and major city in the world. We've started with some of the better known international cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, and others -- see a full list here -- and we will continue to add new cities every week. Our international cities are not only for the use of U.S. travelers. We encourage use of Uncover by everyone around the world and will do our very best to support visitors everywhere.

• Are restaurants included on Uncover?

• We certainly encourage the addition of restaurants to Uncover. We consider restaurants to be part of the nightlife scene -- which we loosely define as anything after dark -- and to go hand-in-hand with bars and clubs. Many bars and clubs are restaurants too, and that's just another reason to include restaurants in our listings.

• I don't see my city. How can I add it?

• Most major cities in all countries of the world should be listed on Uncover. Some mid- and small-size cities aren't in our listings, but that doesn't mean that we won't add them. While we try to add all cities that are requested, we also look at population numbers and the number of venues before adding such cities to our listings. However, an enthusiastic member wanting to add a new city can be enough to tip the balance for us, moving us to add it to Uncover, so please do not hesitate to contact us if you want us to add a city that interests you.

Photos

• How do I add photos?

• On the right side of every venue page there is a link titled "add a photo". Simply be logged in to your account, click this link and you can add a photograph up to 10 MB large and of the file types png, gif, or jpeg.

• Is there a limit to the number of photos I can add?

• You can add as many photographs as you would like to as many venues as you would like. The more photographs the better actually as it will give everyone more perspective on the venue. If you are having any problems adding photographs, please be sure to be logged in to your account and that the photo youre adding is no larger than 10 MB and of the file types png, gif, or jpeg.

• Are there limits on file sizes or file types for add?

• You may add photographs up to 10 MB and of the file types png, gif, or jpeg.

Tags

• What are tags?

• Tags are relevant keywords that are associated with photographs on Uncover. For example, a photo with a band in the background may be tagged as "live music," "band," or anything else that applies. Tags are an informal way of grouping photos and can be added by either the photographer or any other member. In organizing photographs by tags, we hope that you'll be more likely to find other enjoyable venues sharing common traits. If you like live music then you can click on the live music tag in your location to bring up all venues that share that tag. You can see a list of the top 100 most popular tags here.

• How do I apply tags?

• You can add tags to a venue when adding your review. Simply add words separated by commas and your tags will automatically be added to that venue and show up in search results, so that everyone will have more information at hand when finding a new venue.

• How many tags can I apply per venue?

• Venues can have as many tags as applicable, and you can contribute up to five to the pool. You should add what tags are the best attributes of the venue. For instance, if live music is a major feature of a venue then you should tag that first. If you want to see a list of popular tags, please view the tags page.

• What are some popular tags?

• You can see a list of popular tags on our tags page. How it works is: When the typeface is larger, that means that more venues share that tag than those displaying a smaller typeface. Still, when tagging a venue, we suggest you should pick tags that you think best describe it rather than those that are most popular at the time.

Reviews

• Can I include HTML in my reviews?

• Actual HTML is not available for formatting your reviews; however, you can still bold, underline, create links, and more, by following our style guidelines below:

  This is to protect both our website and your computer from malicious code that people could potentially put in a review if we did allow HTML.

• Is there a maximum length for my reviews?

• There is no maximum length for reviews at this time. This may change if people begin submitting book-sized reviews; but we doubt that will happen. So for now you should not be worried about posting a review thats to long. Sticking to important points and being as concise as possible to potential readers is likely to please most readers, however.

• Does Uncover edit or delete reviews?

• We may edit or delete reviews if theyve been marked as offensive in some way and we agree with that assessment. However, we wont ever edit or delete a review just because its negative or someone disagrees with its content. If you disagree with a review, you can simply vote that review down by covering it up.

• Do I need to leave positive reviews?

• Of course not; were looking to divide venues between those that are good and those that are bad, so the more accurate reviews the better. If there werent negative reviews, then we wouldnt know where not to go. It has certainly been our experience that some places are fun and you want to go back, but that others are terrible and youre sorry that you even stepped inside. We want to hear about both kinds!

  On a related note, understand its inevitable that people will share different views than you, so someone else may hate a place you love. You can always choose to vote their review down by covering it up if you dont agree with them. Furthermore, why not share your views by writing a review from your point of view?

• What if I disagree with someone's review?

• If you disagree with someones review, we suggest that you write a review of the venue yourself.

• How do I add a review?

• Find the city on the Uncover homepage where the venue you want to review is located. On the following page, you'll see a list of the top ten venues, but the place you want to review may not be on this list. If it is not, search for its name in the Search Box located in the top-middle of the page. On the results page, click on the venues name and then click "Uncover this venue."

  On the "Uncover this venue" page, you must choose a title and a rating for your review, but all of the other information is optional. Posting a full review with photographs and tags is preferred to simply posting a title and a rating, however, as the full review offers more information for other people to look through.

• How do I edit my review?

• Editing your review follows the same process as adding a new review, with one slight change: instead of seeing an "Uncover this venue" link, you will see an "Edit your Uncover" link. Click on that button and you can add to or subtract from your previous review in the same format as if you were creating a brand-new review.

Your Account

• Ive forgotten my password!

• Passwords are forgotten all the time, no need to worry. If you remember the email address you signed up with or are currently using at Uncover, simply fill that after clicking Sign In and a new password will be emailed to you. If you've forgotten your email address as well, please contact us with a link to your member page and well send you a reminder.

• How do I change my password?

• You can change the password to your account through the Preferences section. You must be logged in to change your password. If you do not remember your password, please reset your password here. If its your email address that youve forgotten, please contact us with a link to your member page and well send you a reminder of your email address.

• I'm able to log in, but keep getting automatically logged out.

• This is more often than not a web browser issue. We recommend that you use Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, or Opera when browsing Uncover. What you need to do is clear your cookies and cache. This option can normally be found under the Privacy area of your web browsers Preferences option.

• I dont want people to see my real name. How do I fix this?

• Your full name will not appear on your member page unless you choose for it to be displayed. You can select to either display your username or set your name to be Anonymous. You can change how your name is displayed through Preferences under your account.

• How do I change my picture?

• You can change your picture through the Preferences area of your account. Your picture can be of any size and well automatically shrink it for you to fit its area.

On Uncover

• Who made Uncover and why?

• Uncover was made by twenty-something year olds who were looking for a better way to find new venues over the web rather than the more traditional, yet less helpful, recourse of newspapers, radio commercials, advertisements, and so forth. We wanted an unbiased way to survey venues, and browsing through photographs seemed like the best way of doing that.

  Photographs dont lie and our searches dont either. We hope that you find what youre looking for at Uncover and come back and share your experiences with us by taking a second to register. Visit our About page to read more about Uncover and the people behind it.

• I want to report something inappropriate I've seen at Uncover. How can I do this?

• The best way to report something youve seen at Uncover is to contact us. We're very open to everyone in our community and we will happily respond as promptly as possible. Please be as detailed as possible when writing us, so that we can respond in kind.

• I have a great idea for a feature. How can I suggest it?

• We're really open to new ideas: anything that can benefit our community and the experience people get from visiting is welcome. If you have a suggestion, we would love to hear it. Please contact us with as detailed a suggestion as possible. We can't always include everything suggested, but we'll do our best to read over your request and get back to you with a response.

• Im not able to log in. Can you help?

• We certainly can. Please first try retrieving your password that corresponds with the email address you use to account Uncover. You may want to check your SPAM folder if you don't receive an email from us in your inbox. If you're still having problems, please contact us with a link to your profile and well send you the email address thats associated with it.

• I've found a bug. How can I report it?

• Thanks for helping us out! You can report a bug on this page. Please give us the website address as well as any details that can help us reproduce the bug on our end. We really appreciate you helping us out and we thank you for being a part of our community. Well be sure to resolve any issue as soon as possible.

• I need to talk to someone. How?

• You can reach us by contacting us through this page. Please be as detailed as possible, so that we can better respond to your request. Were always happy to respond to all requests and promise to do so as soon as possible -- usually in less than 24 hours.

Search

• How do I use the search?

• On every city page, you'll see a search bar on the top right of the page. Simply input a tag, the name of the venue, or the zipcode that you're looking for bars in, and hit the enter or return key on your keyboard. You'll be presented with results of your search on the next page. If no results are displayed, you may need to either refine your search or add the venue yourself.

• I can't find a venue. How do I add it?

• If your search fails to come up with the venue you were looking for, double-check to see that you've spelled it correctly and try limiting your search to part of the name. For example, if the name of the venue you're looking for is "McSorley's Old Ale House," try simply searching for "McSorley" and seeing if any results show up.

  If nothing shows up after you have refined your search, when logged in you will see a link that says "Can't find what the venue you're looking for? Add the venue yourself." Click on that link and you'll be able to input the venue's information, including Name, Address, Region, Telephone, and Website, depending on what applies. While some venues don't have telephones or websites, it's OK to leave those blank, but please make sure to input the correct Name, Address, and Region.

People

• How do I find people who use Uncover?

• You can find a list of all the people who use Uncover on our People page. People are sorted from top to bottom by the total number of uncovers they've done, but you can also click on a city for a list of people in that location only. If you know a friend's username, you can type it into the search box and hit the enter key. We know that our people search is somewhat lacking -- having to know your friend's username isn't the easiest method for finding people -- but we hope to improve it in a later version.

• How many people use Uncover?

• The number of people using Uncover can be found on the homepage of our website. We're small, but steadily growing, and the number of members is updated about once every twenty-four hours.

• Do I have my own profile page?

• If you register to become a member of Uncover, you will have your own profile page. A few examples of profile pages are members spencerf, BigJim, VandyMed2010, and vadimtsipenyuk. Your profile page organizes your uncovers and allows you to track your friends' favorite places too. More detailed profile pages are in the works too; we'll be releasing a lot of great features for your profile page in our next update.

• Why have friends?

• One thing that really sets Uncover apart and makes Uncover special is having friends. Your friends' uncovers are marked in a special way, so that you can distinguish them from other people's uncovers. This is great, because we generally share similar interests in destinations with our friends; and by this means you can easily spot places you might want to go to as well. Further friends features that will really take advantage of sharing similar interests will be in place in our next update.