Here at Fashion Students Online™ we have developed an innovative way to build the site bigger and better while giving back to the community and enabling people to access the information they desire, and need, for their learning.
FSO thrives on user-submitted content. Every user can be involved by submitting content to any section. Just by being a part of the forums you are involved and we reward that involvement. In exchange for your content and interaction on the website you will earn FSOPs which stands for Fashion Students Online Points.
Starting in early 2010 there will be new features added to the website which will require membership to access. The memberships will be inexpensive, about as much as it costs to buy a magazine on the newstand and the reason we will be charging is because these features not only require significant time, but also require money to incorporate. One thing we will be adding is self-study courses...and you'll have to wait to find out what else will be coming!
We know that not everyone can afford to pay even for an inexpensive membership, and we also know that a lot of people just don't want to pay for stuff. So...you scratch our back and we'll scratch yours. You interact with the website and submit content and you will receive a free membership. The number of free months that you receive will be based on the points that you earn. You receive one month for every 100 points earned.
At a later date we may be offering items for sale and FSOPs can be applied towards them. These items would be educational, such as booklets, rulers, etc. This is not expected to be implemented however for several months. People who are able to contribute financially by paying for their membership do not need to redeem their points, they can instead save them and at a later date we will have a donation system in place so that users can donate their points to other users and to contests on the site.
To check your FSOPs you must be logged in. If you are logged in click here to view them. Note, no other user can see your points profile so you do not need to fill in any of the information.
So, how much is everything worth?
| Item Type | Length | Points |
| Register on FSO | n/a | 20 |
| Refer a Friend | n/a | 10 |
| Leave a comment on an article (not student blogs) | n/a | 1 |
| Start a New Forum Thread | n/a | 5 |
| Website Link | n/a | 5 |
| Non-English Website Link | n/a | 10 |
| School Link | n/a | 10 |
| Non-English School Link | n/a | 20 |
| Interview | min 8 Qs & 2-3 screens | 50 |
| Tutorial | varies | 50 |
| Student Essays | 500-2000 words | 25-100 |
| Other Articles | 2-4 screens | 25-50 |
| On Your Birthday | n/a | 50 |
| Daily Site Visits | n/a | 1 |
*Point amounts subject to change.
* User must login on birthday to receive Birthday points and they must have put
their birthday information into the userpoints system (Click "Edit Profile").
* Use this form to Invite friends. Points awarded after your friend activates their account.
For items with a points range (ex "25-50") moderators/editors will decide how many points but generally speaking a shorter piece will receive less points. For the Wiki, 5 points is a small edit, 25 points is a large edit, and 50 points is for contributing the majority of the article (either elaborating on something that isn't covered well, or creating a new article altogether).
Items which give length in screens (ex "2 screens"), this means that when users read this item it should take up that many screens, or in other words, they should have to scroll down that many times to read all of it. In general one screen is about 30 lines of text. We use screens for some items (like Interviews) because word counts would be misleading. Some lines in an interview only consist of a few words.
The 5 points earned for Starting a New Thread will only be offered until our forum has 500 threads. Points will not be granted to people who appear (in the judgement of the site staff) to be opening pointless threads simply to up their count.
Please note some of the points are earned automatically (such as the point a day for your daily visit). However other points are awarded manually and could take up to two weeks to receive. Also please note you must be logged in for points to be recorded.
Users found to be abusing the system by posting blank weblinks to earn FSOPs or constantly changing their birthday information will be permanently banned from the FSOP system and will loose points they have automatically been awarded via this behaviour.
How do I submit stuff?
It's really easy, simply CLICK HERE.
If you have questions about how to submit or want some ideas on things you can write about please post in the forums in the appropriate areas.
