Trazzler FAQ

1. Have a question that requires a real person?

Ask a question, share an idea, or report a problem and get help from the Trazzler staff. We're in each of these venues every day.

Twitter -- where you can send us a tweet @trazzler and we'll reply.

Facebook -- where you can post on our wall and we'll reply.

GetSatisfaction -- where you can post and we'll reply.

2. What is "Connect with Facebook"?

Facebook Connect is a service Facebook provides that allows you to create accounts with third-party websites, such as Trazzler, using your Facebook user name and password. The benefits include not having to create yet another account, bringing your Facebook friends to Trazzler, and sharing wishlists, recommendations, and even making new friends based on travel compatibility (coming soon). All you need to do is click the 'Connect with Facebook' button on any page of the site. If you are logged into Facebook, then that's all there is to it (otherwise you'll be prompted by Facebook to enter your Facebook username and password). Note: Trazzler does not store or have access to your Facebook login information. If you have an existing Trazzler.com account then you should choose to sync it up in order to keep your wishlist and any trips that you have written.

One component of Trazzler's Facebook Connect implementation is "Offline Access." If you grant Trazzler offline access, 'Save' on Trazzler will also share the trip you Wishlisted on Facebook.

If you're interested in even more detail, read about the Facebook Connect service here.

3. Your editorial coverage isn't comprehensive. Why?

Several users have asked about lack of content in lots of places like India, China, Africa, South America, Central America, the Caribbean... The world is a big place and Trazzler isn't anything like the usual travel info clearinghouses. We're creating our content from scratch. We're not scraping other sites or rehashing logistical information from existing guides. We don't publish everything that's submitted, either. It's going to take longer this way, but we think it will be worth it in the end. Why not help us fill in the gaps by writing some trips of your own?

4. Who writes your copy?

Our copy comes from several sources: (a) Insiders who write about places that they really know and meant something to them. (b) We pay freelance writers (we're hiring by the way). (c) We have partners, such as Mr & Mrs Smith and our sister site 71Miles. (d) We have a Blogger and Publisher Program, a 100% free service for writers and publishers who have already staked out an area of expertise on a blog or website. For example, Tasting the Best Pesto in Your Life in the Mission, San Francisco. (e) We also work with tourism bureaus whose job it is to get the word out about the region they represent.

5. Where do your photos come from?

Some of our photos come from Flickr users who give us permission to use their photographs. Some come from authors. Others come from the places we write about, for example, hotels and restaurants frequently make photos available to us. We occasionally use stock photography. You can see the photographers' credits and links back to the source of the image at the bottom of each trip. If you have a photo that you would like to see published on Trazzler, sign up to become a writer and create a trip about it.

6. Can I submit a photo that I didn't take?

We're sorry, but we do not allow this. Our policy is that Trazzler Writers can only upload photos that they have taken. We take intellectual property rights very seriously. We would prefer that a trip be submitted with no photo at all than take the risk of not having the proper permission for a given photo.

Once we decide to publish a trip as a Trazzler trip, our photo editor does one of the following:
--uses the photo the the writer uploaded—crediting the user
--replaces the writer's photo with another photo
--finds a photo (in cases in which there is no writer-submitted photo)

7. How do I write for Trazzler? Do you pay?

Want to take a crack at writing your own trips? We are hiring writers and we encourage bloggers and CVBs to join too. Every month we hire at least 10 freelance writers to write blocks of trips. We also award freelance contracts every month to the winner(s) of our contest. As positions become available, we hire Community Managers or Content Wranglers from our freelancer and contest winner pool for more regular, part-time monthly positions.

As we grow over the next year, we'll have more opportunities to expand the number of writers working for us. Since Trazzler is different from anything else out there, the best way that we have found to scout out new writers is to get a few sample trips. We will be reading them all. While you are free to submit as many sample trips as you would like, we won't be purchasing individual trips or articles. You are always free to republish anything that you submit to Trazzler or to submit previously published (copyright friendly) material. Published Trazzler trips come with a prominent credit/byline for the author and they look professional (we think), so please use them to promote yourself and your writing.

8. So you expect some people to write for free?

The short answer: yes (and no). Trazzler is going to be fun and our users will want to be a part of it by contributing their own trips.

The long answer is that many newspapers and magazines, staffed with a selective number of paid writers, are getting smaller, both in terms of revenue and readers. At the same time, user-generated sites where the content is supplied by lots of unpaid writers are growing. At Trazzler, we believe that both paths provide unique benefits and our goal is to straddle the old and new. We also believe that writing is a profession. A consistent percentage of our budget will always be carved out to pay for meaningful travel writing so we can compensate the best contributors. At the same time, we want to provide incentives for knowledgeable and enthusiastic travelers to contribute at their leisure (for free) about places that they really know and mean something to them. Trazzler is going to be more than just an informational site. There will be a huge interactive, community component. While we don't pretend to have all the answers, we enter into this with the intention of creating a new model that rewards and takes advantage of the best of both worlds.

Thousands of the trips on our site were written by paid freelancers. You can check out the trips that our latest bunch of freelancers are working on here: http://www.trazzler.com/trips/tags/freelancer

9. I just read a Trazzler job posting... Now what do I do to apply for the job?

Here's a breakdown of the process:

1. Create a Trazzler account (Facebook Connect preferred) so that you can write trips.
2. Log in (if you haven't already)
3. Click on "Write a Trip" at the top of the page.
4. Under "Write a Trip" enter the name and location of the place you are writing about and click "Search."
5. On the next page you will be prompted to select the place (if it is in our database) or add a new place (if it isn't).
6. You will then be able to create the trip page by filling out the information on the following "Write a Trip" page.
    >> See Writing Nuts and Bolts: Anatomy of a Trip Page for more information.
7. Add the tag "freelance".
8. Including a photo is entirely optional. Please feel free to write trips for places for which you don't have photos.
9. You are free to edit your trips as much as you like by clicking "edit" on the Trip page or under Write a Trip.
10. Once you have added a trip, you can also add a biography to your profile (html allowed, if you want to add links).

You are free to submit previously published, copyright-friendly material as your sample trip(s).

Once you apply, we promise to read each and every trip that you submit and you will automatically go into our pool of potential paid freelance writers. We will consider you for one of our other positions. As our funding grows in the next few months we'll be adding more writers so don't despair if you don't hear back from us right away. In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy browsing Trazzler and send any trips that you write to friends and family.

10. Are all trips made public? Why is the layout of some trips different from others?

All trips published on Trazzler are public and accessible to the Trazzler audience, and you can always send your trips to a friend (by clicking "tell a friend") and access and edit your trips under "Write a Trip." But while all trips are publicly available, the Trazzler editors are always reading through new trips to cherrypick those that stand out. The layout of the trips we hand-pick -- Running Ten-Mile Rapid With Wet Socks in Silverton, Colorado -- is different from those that we don't -- Walking On the Roof of an Underground School in Reston, Virginia. It takes us a while to read them all, so thanks for being patient with us.

11. I submitted a trip to Trazzler and it got published. Are you going to pay me now?

If we hand-picked your trip, we liked your writing. We reserve the right to select, edit, and re-publish any trips that are submitted. While we don't pay for individual trips (at least not yet), we're keeping track of all of the writers we single out. As our funding increases, our ability to commission trips and hire community managers will increase. If you want to speed that up, tell your friends and family about Trazzler. More users and contributors equals more funding which, in turn, equals more paid writers.

12. How do your recommendations work?

Our goal is to provide you with relevant, personalized trips when you sign in to Trazzler. Factors we use to make recommendations include your location and intent (e.g., are you looking for skiing trips or wine country trips?). Soon, we'll look at your social graph to determine if your friends and other users have useful recommendations and we'll use information gleaned from your Wishlist. Right now, the Trazzler development team is small and our algorithm is pretty simple. We have big plans for early 2009 — so stay tuned. (In the meantime, check out this blog posting for tips on finding interesting trips.)

13. How does 'Skip to Next' work?

As you advance from trip to trip, we try to show you relevant ones. Factors we use to construct your trip stream include:
1. Location: Local travel is the secret mainstay of the industry, with 90% of travel taking place within driving distance of the home. Location awareness is the first foothold Trazzler uses to introduce relevancy and determines the trips we recommend. Location of the originating trip play a role in the trips you see when you click 'skip to next'.
2. Intent: Trazzler recalculates your TripStack if you have changed your browsing mode (e.g., by an interest such as “skiing,” or a destination such as “Sonoma, California”). Location of the originating trip continues to play a role. For example, if you clicked on a ski trip in Lake Tahoe, California, we'll show you another ski trip in Lake Tahoe when you click 'Skip to Next'.
3. Algorithm: As you save trips in your Wishlist, Trazzler learns about the kind of trips you like, allowing us to create your Travel Personality and further tailor the TripPages we present to you.

14. I have a Trazzler account on Facebook. Do I also have an account on Trazzler.com (or vice-versa)?

Trazzler recently received a grant from the fbFund to launch a complete online travel experience on the Facebook platform. Our first Facebook application launched at the end of September. In January 2009, we launched Facebook Connect on Trazzler.com. By clicking the Facebook Connect button, you can sync your existing Trazzler on Facebook account with your Trazzler.com account (provided you have one). From here on out, the easiest way for you to sign on and save your wishlists and trips will be to use Facebook Connect. Note: Trazzler.com will never have access to your Facebook Login information.

15. How can I delete my Trazzler Account?

Send us an email at deleteaccount@trazzler.com with your account name and email address and we'll delete it right away.

Still have a question? Get help from the Trazzler community and staff on our discussion forum or tweet us @trazzler