How to Understand MyLot - Your Help Needed!
@owlwings (43910)
Cambridge, England
August 15, 2015 4:00am CST
I've been a member here since October 2006 and I and several others have tried to help newcomers to understand the site and to get the best out of it.
I've been compiling a list of the most commonly asked questions about MyLot which, because there is no general FAQ section at the moment, I have been publishing as a blog page. I've recently updated it, added some new material and reformatted it.
The owners of MyLot have told me that they are very keen to get members involved in helping to write the FAQs, so your input here will be much appreciated!
Please read through what I've done already. If you know of or have any questions, especially ones which you think may be asked often, please respond here; if you think that the answers I have given are unclear, incomplete or inaccurate, please correct me! We want the answers to burning questions to be truly helpful and as complete as possible, so that there will (hopefully) be fewer 'discussions' asking things which have already been answered a hundred times before!
MyLot is a 'utility' which aims to share its profit with its members but, much more than that, it's a community of individuals which shares its knowledge with other members. This is your chance to contribute, whether you know the answers or have a question to ask!
What are the questions which you have seen cropping up over and over?
Do you have the answers? Have you seen any really WRONG answers (those are useful to me too, because then I will know what things are commonly misunderstood!)
A quick user guide to MyLot with answers to some Frequently Asked Questions, a short history of MyLot and other notes Pages Useful Links Frequently Asked Questions Where do I find my earnings? Your total earnings to date are displayed at the top left of th
66 people like this
44 responses
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
15 Aug 15
I am going to suggest this to all the newbies who are following me so they can get better answers or ask here!!
12 people like this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
15 Aug 15
@Rosekitty. Of course. Only one? They are reduced fat so you can have as many as you want. 
5 people like this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
15 Aug 15
Great reading material while I am munching on my Oreos!
6 people like this
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
15 Aug 15
@howard96h May I have a Oreo please?..
5 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
15 Aug 15
You are one of the most experienced members here, and certainly the best when it comes to give a clear expert response about myLot rules. Writing a FAQ is not an easy exercise, but who could have done it better than you ? The responses given by this FAQ are full responses going beyond what is usually found in a FAQ about a particular site, like your useful explanations about PayPal. I encourage any new member having questions about how to use this site to read it.
I am less qualified to tell what is perhaps missing in this FAQ than new members as I already know approximately how to use myLot. You wrote about the 'like' and the 'suggest' buttons, but not about the 'report' button. I suppose that it is deliberate as this FAQ is for newcomers, but maybe a word about it would be useful ?
12 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
15 Aug 15
@Unforgettable_Raja You can, you did a better job than me at finding some important questions missing
.
.2 people like this
@dpk262006 (58678)
• Delhi, India
15 Aug 15
I have read your mylot guide very carefully. First of all full marks to you for making it almost a comprehensive guide
. I am pretty sure that it will help the new users to understand mylot and they are supposed to perform here and get rewarded.
Some of the basic questions which my friends asked who were active on older version of mylot but not experimented with the new version.
Question which could be included in FAQs
(I) How to start a new discussion?
(ii) How to change your avatar and edit your profile?
(iii) will my earnings lapse if I don't log into mylot over a long period of time?
(iv) Does inclusion of an 'image' in respond to a post or in a new discussion affects our earnings?
Guidelines could elaborate that users should avoid starting a post on a subject which has already been started as a post (though I feel it is not easy to follow this condition by new users because they generally do not check which topic has already been discussed).
Also- Users should not use English as they use in sending personal messages e.g. 'U' for 'you' or 'C' instead of 'see'.
Users should try to be polite when intetacting with other users. If they use decent and refined language, they are likely to get more responses and may be more friends.
If any of my above suggestions already get covered in FAQs/Guidelines or in the guide prepared by you, they could be ignored.
. I am pretty sure that it will help the new users to understand mylot and they are supposed to perform here and get rewarded.
Some of the basic questions which my friends asked who were active on older version of mylot but not experimented with the new version.
Question which could be included in FAQs
(I) How to start a new discussion?
(ii) How to change your avatar and edit your profile?
(iii) will my earnings lapse if I don't log into mylot over a long period of time?
(iv) Does inclusion of an 'image' in respond to a post or in a new discussion affects our earnings?
Guidelines could elaborate that users should avoid starting a post on a subject which has already been started as a post (though I feel it is not easy to follow this condition by new users because they generally do not check which topic has already been discussed).
Also- Users should not use English as they use in sending personal messages e.g. 'U' for 'you' or 'C' instead of 'see'.
Users should try to be polite when intetacting with other users. If they use decent and refined language, they are likely to get more responses and may be more friends.
If any of my above suggestions already get covered in FAQs/Guidelines or in the guide prepared by you, they could be ignored.8 people like this
@dpk262006 (58678)
• Delhi, India
16 Aug 15
@Unforgettable_Raja - Thanks dear for your kind words about my suggestion.
@dpk262006 (58678)
• Delhi, India
16 Aug 15
@tammyr - You see occasionally or once in a while it is OK to use short cuts, while submitted detailed response/comments but not regularly, this is what I believe.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (223776)
• Chile
15 Aug 15
I am so very happy to have Mylot again that I want to shout about it. But I cannot find a link to use to do so.
5 people like this
@buenavida (9984)
• Sweden
3 Sep 15
Hi, marguicha -!! It is good to see you and others back. Here is one shouting for joy.. 
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
15 Aug 15
Thank you so much Mr. Owlwings, still you are one of the members the newbies and forgetful members like me can rely on.
thumbs up.. for 100 likes
7 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
15 Aug 15
Anything particularly you'd like to see in the FAQs, @mavic123456 ?
2 people like this
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
15 Aug 15
@owlwings i will just check on your handbook/blog .. if I will need answers. i had it bookmarked in my laptop for easy access, thanks...
2 people like this
@VARUNAURORA (3)
•
15 Aug 15
Perhaps today is my first day on MyLot and was very confused because i could not find the FAQ button and was worried too and was asking myself did i registered to a legitimate site but really Thanks to this discussion, it helped me a lot to understand the basics. Very thanks once again!!!
6 people like this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
15 Aug 15
Thanks, very useful and helpful. I will keep this handy.
3 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
15 Aug 15
What would we do without you?! I don't have anything to contribute at the moment. I find that just paying attention and trial and error teach me what I need to know. But then, I've been a member for a long time too. Experience goes a long way....
4 people like this
@TLChimes (4822)
• United States
15 Aug 15
~Maybe a reminder that (if it is still true) if a discussion is removed, no one gets paid for it.
"If your earnings drop it could be because a discussion was removed" or something like that.
You did a great job and I see great suggestions in the comments already made.
Keep up the great work.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
15 Aug 15
Ah yes! Good one!
Actually, we should ask for confirmation of this from @goaskalice or @mylotbugs. The new algorithm is different from the old one and may not work in quite the same way.
Actually, we should ask for confirmation of this from @goaskalice or @mylotbugs. The new algorithm is different from the old one and may not work in quite the same way.1 person likes this
@rebelann (112969)
• El Paso, Texas
16 Aug 15
apparently I joined in 2011 and now I recall how confused I was back then, now I find that although it's not as confusing as it was I am still having trouble finding material a specific member has written .... I'm used to the format as seen in sites like Gather & Bubblews where one can look up a member to see what they have written.2 people like this
@Druscilla034 (379)
• United States
16 Aug 15
Nope, don't really have any questions....all this stuff is old school to me. Joined myLot Sept. 5th, 2006. So I can pretty much myLot in my sleep. 
But thanks for helping out all the newbies, that is very kind of you. I try to help them myself sometimes....or every now and then I just mess with them a little with goofy answers. That's not nice. I know this.
But when I see the age-old newbie question that goes something like: "I new here, plz tell me how make money?" Well, I just can't resist. 
But thanks for helping out all the newbies, that is very kind of you. I try to help them myself sometimes....or every now and then I just mess with them a little with goofy answers. That's not nice. I know this. But when I see the age-old newbie question that goes something like: "I new here, plz tell me how make money?" Well, I just can't resist. 3 people like this
@MoonHowler17 (101)
• Ballina, Australia
19 Sep 15
That was very helpful reading - but I still have a question. How do you find other members you are friends with so you can follow them? I know several of my friends from other sites are here and have tried putting their user name in the search box at the top right but it doesn't do anything. Am I doing something wrong or is the search box not working?
2 people like this
@MoonHowler17 (101)
• Ballina, Australia
19 Sep 15
@owlwings Thank you for the detailed explanation. I do know a few user names and they were what I was searching for. The search function wasn't working for me earlier but I've just tried again and it is fine. Technology!
1 person likes this
@Buchi_bulla (8298)
• India
15 Aug 15
There is a number appearing on the word ME at the left hand side of the page. What does it mean? If I have to go to somebody's page, how to go?
2 people like this
@much2say (56057)
• Los Angeles, California
17 Aug 15
Oh wise @owlwings - so good of you to do this for the myLot community! Playing around now, I think I mostly have the hang of it. What is the significance of the "People" tab as I feel like everything is there on the "Explore" tab? I can't put my finger on it, but I think a few of the options could be condensed so we can all be here most efficiently but that I guess needs to be put in a suggestion area. I'm gonna have some Good King Henry and read your blog again! 
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
17 Aug 15
While the 'Explore' tab allows you to see discussions from the whole community, the 'People' tab shows you what those you are following are doing in the way of discussions, responses, comments, likes, follows and mentions. Knowing who those you follow are following allows you to expand your list of contacts intelligently.
You can also use the Search function in the 'People' tab to search for other members by name.
2 people like this
@allknowing (137769)
• India
16 Aug 15
Kudos once again. You are an asset here
.
And as for suggestions
:
- We should be informed when a post and/or comment is deleted giving the reason. This is not happening now. I was told that a post of mine was deleted. I do not even know which post it was.
- The Block option should be done away with. It is misused wholesale. When someone is blocked there ends interaction but the one who blocks can unblock participate and then block that person again. This is murder. Why should a blocker be given the opportunity to harass another member here?
- I get timed out very often. this could be looked into.
So much for now. I may get back with more
-Here's one more
What's so hot about this post. It has received zero responses
This explore category needs looking into
-Here's one more
What's so hot about this post. It has received zero responses
This explore category needs looking into
I think Respect, and the only way to have it , is by earning it ! and also most respectful people are powerful , in certain ways , which make them famous !and...
2 people like this
@LegalAlien (641)
• Serbia
15 Aug 15
Well, well, well. We meet again, friends. It's been a long time, and we've come a long way. Glad MyLot is coming back!
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
26 Sep 15
You explained the monetary section under our name at the top of the page on the left where our settings and such are, but I thought maybe the number in parenthesis that shows up to the right of our username on each comment or post was related to our earnings. It looks like that isn't the case. Can you explain what that number is?
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
27 Sep 15
I know that you have worked out the meaning of it but, for the benefit of others, the number in brackets is the total of the discussions, responses and comments a person has made. You can see a breakdown of these figures on the left side of your (or anyone's) profile.
Looking at the number of responses and comments someone has made as a proportion of their total 'activity' can be a useful guide when deciding whether to follow someone or not.
2 people like this
