FAQ’s

Members

• Are there any restrictions for membership?
  You must be an Australian resident, and you must be at least 16 years of age to register as a WDYT Panel member.
• Can I hold more than one member account?
  We only allow one account for each member. Furthermore, the system rewards you for your honesty. Any member who is found to provide false information may have their privileges and reward points revoked as per our terms of service.
• What will you do with the information I provide you during the registration process?
  We only wish to send you information that will be pertinent to your lifestyle and preferences at any given time. The information that you provide us is one way of ensuring we can do this effectively. To improve the relevancy of information, you may wish to consider editing your profile regularly as you move in and out of purchasing considerations.
• What will you do with the information and opinions I volunteer for the surveys?
  Your information and responses to surveys are compiled along with other Panel Members who have responded. This information is distributed to researchers in aggregate so your individual responses are offered anonymously. WDYT does not sell or reveal your contact details to third parties.
  
  For further information, please read our privacy policy.
• I received my registration email, but there was no link to click on. Why?
  Unfortunately, there is no universal format for emails. Some security filters strip links from emails. You may need to use a different email account.
• If I unsubscribe/resign from the WDYT Panel, will I lose my points?
  Yes, and we’d be sorry to see you leave :-(
  
  We may be able to hold on to any points you have accumulated prior to notifying us of your cancellation of membership for up to 15 days, in case you have made a mistake or changed your mind.
  
  Please contact Member Support on 1300 784 477 immediately if this is the case.
• What kind of promotions will I receive?
  In addition to receiving surveys, you are likely to receive information on new and current products and services, new releases, sneak previews, special offers, invitations to events and competition entry forms.
• How often should I expect emails from whatdoyouthink.com.au?
  We believe you should only receive emails that will be of relevance to you. Your email frequency will therefore depend on many factors including, but not limited to your specified interest profile, your location and the sponsorship partners who are looking to promote to you.
  
  We promise, however, that we will send no more than one (1) survey invitation or email promotion to your nominated email address per day. In most cases, you will only receive about 2-3 emails a week excluding Member Administration enquiries or ‘Poll Published’ notification messages which will be delivered as needed.
• How can I identify a WDYT promotion from my standard emails?
  WDYT emails will be sent via a specific email address and will be distinctively branded, often addressing you be your username. If your email program supports HTML, your username and your current points balance should be displayed in the top right hand corner of the email.
  
  To ensure you always get your emails from whatdoyouthink.com.au you should add our email address to your address book.
• Do I have to receive surveys/email promotions from WDYT?
  Yes and no. WDYT Panel Members are required to receive survey invitations as a minimum to ensure that your account remains active. You can, however, choose to opt-out of email promotion offers from our sponsors.
  
  We encourage you to keep your email promotion options open or you might miss out on some great offers, and the opportunity to earn some quick Reward Points! As an alternative, you may wish to amend or limit your interest categories from your member profile if you feel that you are receiving too many emails.
• I don’t seem to be receiving many surveys/email promotions. How can I improve my chances?
  Please be sure to answer as many questions as possible throughout our registration process and lifestyle survey. The more information we know about you the greater the chances we have to send you information that will be relevant to you.
  
  You might also like to consider broadening your considerations for email offers you would like to receive. Your family or friends might appreciate some of the offers that are sent to you
• Do I need any special software to participate in surveys/email promotions?
  For the majority of cases, all you will need is an internet connection, a working email address and a reliable web browser to read our surveys and email promotions.
  
  From time to time, you may also receive special surveys or promotions such as movie trailers or a sneak peak of a TV or radio commercial so a working sound card and appropriate software may be required. This might include web browser plugins and/or software for rich media, video, audio, flash animation and portable document files (PDFs). Programs such as Macromedia Flash Player, Apple Quicktime, Microsoft Media Player, Real Player, and Acrobat Reader are readily available for free online.

Reward Points

• How can I earn more Reward Points?
  You can only earn Reward Points for responding to email promotions and participating in surveys that you have been invited to take part in. It pays to be open minded about which products or services you are interested in to improve your chances of receiving emails more frequently.
  
  In the case of “invitation only” surveys, researchers often have sizeable, but limited response quotas and time frames to report within. As a rule of thumb, if you respond as soon as you receive a survey invitation, you’ll have a stronger chance to reap the maximum amount of Reward Points allocated for completing a survey.
• Do I earn Reward Points for voting in the QuickPolls?
  Reward Points are not awarded for voting in QuickPolls. Reward Points can only be awarded as described above.
• Will my Reward Points expire?
  Your Reward Points will not expire! And furthermore, as our catalogue of rewards grows, you’ll have more opportunities to spend those points. The points in your balance will be automatically deducted as you purchase items from our Rewards Catalogue and Auctions.
• Will I be penalised for not responding to an email promotion or survey invitation?
  You will not be penalised if you are unable to respond to the emails sent from WDYT. Please be wary of closing dates advertised on some of our email communications. If you choose to respond after the date indicated, then you may not be eligible to collect the reward points related to a particular email.
• I responded to a survey invitation, but the survey was full! Why?
  Survey invitations are very popular amongst our members. Some surveys will have set quotas for responses and in most cases, they will also specify a closing date for responses. From time to time, we may have survey response quotas filled well before the closing date.
  
  The people who respond quickest have the best chance to accumulate the maximum amount of reward points allocated to that survey, so it pays to be vigilant of your WDYT emails.

QuickPoll

• I have submitted a Poll suggestion – how will I know when it will be published?
  You will receive an email notifying you of when your suggestion will be published on the site. We encourage you to forward this email to your friends so that they can take part in the voting process.
• I suggested a QuickPoll but it hasn’t been published. What can I do to improve my chances?
  Your suggestion may simply be in the process of approval and editing, or, it may have been denied for any number of reasons. To improve your chances, read our Tips for Writing Effective Polls.
• I suggested a QuickPoll, and it looks like it has been published with someone else’s username! Why has this happened?
  We publish polls on a first-come, first-served basis. Where we receive similar poll suggestions, the author who first submits a publishable poll suggestion will be credited for the idea.
• Can I publish QuickPoll results in my report/article?
  Yes, the information has been provided free. But please ensure you read and abide by our publishing guidelines and our terms of service.
• Can I suggest a QuickPoll without becoming a member?
  No. This feature is a benefit for our members.
• Why do you include a security code in your QuickPolls?
  The codes have been incorporated to ensure that your vote is recorded securely and to prevent technical tampering. Our aim is to provide you with an accurate representation of attitudes and opinions of thinking Australians and ensuring the integrity of that data is critical.

Technical

• I’ve registered with the wrong email address! What should I do?
  Log in to the Member’s section of whatdoyouthink.com.au using the incorrect email address you registered with and password, then follow the instructions to amend your email address.
• Help! I've forgotten my username/password!
  Don't worry! Click here and we'll soon get you active again. Please be prepared to answer a few questions in order to verify your account details.
• Can I change my screen name?
  As a preventative measure, we generally do not allow this. If you have a compelling reason for wanting to change your username, please call Member Support on 1300 784 477.
• Can I change my password?
  Yes, you can change your password from the member’s section of the website.
• My email address/contact details/interest profile has changed. How do I amend my details?
  Your details can be amended at any time through our member’s area. You will need to login to the system using your current email address and password.
• How do I unsubscribe/resign from the WDYT Panel?
  You can unsubscribe/resign as a WDYT Panelist from the members section of the website.
  
  Additionally, at the bottom of each email promotion we send to you, we have included an unsubscribe function. If you wish to resign your status as a WDYT Panel Member, you can use these links located at the bottom of each email.
  
  Please note that your Reward Point balance will be deleted from you account when you unsubscribe/resign.
• My browser won’t accept cookies. What do I do?
  Cookies are small text files placed on your computer by a website’s server for the duration of your session on the site. They are useful components that help computers remember the information you have supplied to it in order to create a personalized and seamless web experience. Non-persistent cookies are often only active for individual sessions until you exit the relevant website, at which point, the cookie will ‘crumble’.
  
  Today, most popular browsers accept cookies by default. In most cases, when your browser tells you it can’t accept cookies, you probably have a full cache. To address this, you will need to delete your temporary internet files and/or flush your cache, before restarting your web browser. If you are still having difficulties, please contact customer support on 1300 784 477.

Forums

• What is a post?
  A post is any entry submitted to the forum.
• What is a thread?
  A thread is a linear series of posts and its subsequent replies.
• How do I enter the forum?
  The forum system is organic and is linked to quick polls.
  
  Each quick poll has its own forum for participants to further discuss the issue raised.
  
  To enter a forum for a particular quick poll topic, simply answer the quick poll, and you‘ll be directed to the standing results for that quick poll and its forum.
• How do I post in the forum?
  To create a new post directly to a quick poll, click on the “Add your own thoughts” link located at the bottom of each answered quick poll.
  
  To reply to a post, simply click on the 'reply' link for the post you wish to respond to. A dialogue box will appear for you to enter in your reply.
• How do I search for forum/quick poll discussion topics?
  You can browse from the selection of available topics located in the left hand 'Quick poll Categories' submenu. Alternatively, use the search function in the 'Quick poll Categories' submenu.
• How do I post a new quick poll discussion topic?
  All forum topics are linked to quick polls published on the WDYT site.
  
  To start a new discussion topic, you will need to suggest a quick poll, and if our editing team is satisfied that it is suitable for publishing, it will be published.
  
  Quick Polls are generally published once a day, but you will receive an email if you are successful in your request.
  
  For further details on submitting a quick poll for publishing, please consult the “Suggest a Quick poll” page and the 'Quick Poll FAQs'.
• Who are the moderators?
  You! WDYT forums are “community moderated” based on member‘s interaction. It stands to reason that for a website focused on archiving public opinion that we should allow every member of the community to have a say on the standard of comments posted on the site. In this way, we eliminate “moderator bias”.
  
  You can help moderate the forums by rating posts high (up to 5/5) or low (1/5). This will have an impact on how posts are viewed in the WDYT forums. By default, posts that rate highly will appear first.
  
  In addition members have the power to submit 'report abuse' requests in order to engage the community to vote on whether or not a post is to be retained or deleted.
• Why should I rate posts?
  Rating posts is simply a polite way of acknowledging to a poster that you enjoyed (or didn‘t enjoy) what they have written.
  
  We have incorporated a post rating system into the forum to de-clutter the flow of dialogue so that people can give thanks without stretching out threads unnecessarily with short messages of appreciation, and can stay on topic.
  
  By rating posts, you make the environment more comfortable for yourself, and for other readers. People browsing forums can see which posts rate highly (and inversely which rate lowly) and can therefore allow members to be more selective about what they choose to read or respond to.
  
  If all members rate posts regularly, posts that are deemed to offer high value for members will be “bumped up” towards the top of the forum. In this way, regular readers of the WDYT forum can skim through the best of the posts at a glance.
• What is the Geniality rating?
  Geniality is a summary of how other WDYTers perceive your behaviour and opinions on the WDYT forum. For instance, members with very high geniality (e.g 4 or 5 stars) are perceived as highly valued opinion makers by other WDYTers.
  
  We have included geniality to assist readers to formulate conclusions about whether or not they should post a reply to that person‘s post, and also the type of responses they can expect.
  
  Geniality is compiled through a complex algorithm based on the aggregate of all a members rated posts, and also through their exposure to the report abuse function
  
  Use of the report abuse function will affect your geniality rating positively or negatively depending on the outcome. To protect your geniality rating, we advise members to use the report abuse function, only if they feel that other members feel the same way about a post‘s deletion.
  
  Please note, as geniality is affected by how other members respond to your posts, ratings may take some time to be calculated. By default, all members start with a geniality rating of 2.
• I rated a post, but it doesn‘t seem to have made a difference to the posts overall rating? Why?
  Your vote is counted along with votes from other forum users. A single vote may not have an immediately noticeable impact, however, if enough votes are cast in a similar way, you will begin to see a change.
• Why was my post removed?
  From time to time, posts are removed if they are in breach of the WDYT forum rules. Typically members will nominate posts to be removed using the “report abuse” function. Other members will vote on whether or not to retain or delete that post.
  
  WDYT administration staff may, from time to time also take a more direct role in deleting posts that do not meet.
• When should I report abuse?
  You should only report abuse if you feel that the post your are reporting has breached the forum rules or WDYT‘s terms of service.
• My post has been flagged for abuse. What happens now?
  The WDYT Community will now need to vote on whether or not your post will be retained. Depending on the outcome, this will affect your geniality rating positively or negatively. If the votes favour retention of the post, the post will remain. If the votes favour deletion, it will be deleted. In either circumstance, posts will no longer have the capacity to be rated.
• I submitted a 'report abuse' request, and the community disagreed with me. Can I submit another report abuse reques?
  No. Once the community has voted, the decision is final, and the report abuse function is no longer accessible for that post.
• My post was deleted, but I believe it shouldn‘t have been. Can you retrieve it?
  No. Once posts are removed they are deleted from the archive.
• How many votes does someone need before a post is deleted/retained?
  We cannot reveal this information to you as knowledge of this information may affect the outcome.
• Does reporting abuse affect your Geniality rating?
  Yes. We believe that submitting a “report abuse” request should never be considered lightly.
  
  If you submit a “report abuse” request, and the community votes to retain rather than delete the post - this may affect your geniality rating negatively. If however the community agrees with you, this may affect your geniality rating positively.
• Does having a post flagged for deletion, lodged against my name affect my Geniality rating?
  Yes. We therefore advise that you are vigilant about what you post and the manner in which you conduct yourself in the WDYT forums.
• Can I post HTML or images in my posts?
  No. HTML has been removed from the WDYT forum technology to discourage inappropriate conduct in the WDYT forums, and to keep the opinion archives as clutter free as possible for the comfort of readers.
• Can I delete my own posts?
  As WDYT is a widely accessible resource, we wish to encourage a community that thinks before they post comments. Members should be vigilant about what they post, and to be considerate of other readers before they post.
  
  You can submit a “report abuse” request for your own post, but like all requests for deletion, this will require other members to vote on deleting your post, and the outcome will affect your geniality rating.
  
  As a general rule of thumb, do not post anything unless you are prepared for the repercussions, including the fact that your content may not be deleted. Never submit personally identifiable information in the WDYT forums.
• I can‘t view the forums!
  The forums have been designed using some of the latest web-programming technology, to minimise loading lag time.
  
  It is viewable by the more recent versions of popular web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. If you cannot view the forums, you might wish to update your browser and reap the benefits!
• Where can I send feedback for the forums?
  The forums will be in “beta mode” or “testing mode” for a few months. We encourage and welcome your feedback so that we may improve this service for you.
  
  Please click this link to submit your feedback.

Premium Membership

• What is a Premium Membership and how does it differ from a Regular Membership?

  Premium Membership means you have agreed to receive more than one email promotion or survey per day and differs from a Regular Membership where you receive a maximum of one email promotion or survey per day. With both Premium and Regular Membership there is no obligation to respond to all emails but it's important to remember that the more you respond the faster you earn points.

• Are there any restrictions for Premium Membership?

  No. Premium Membership is available to any of our members (and is 100% free). To be eligible for membership, all you need to do is comply with our Terms & Conditions.
  
  You can choose Premium Membership when you sign up, or switch at any time by logging into your account details.

• What are the benefits of Premium Membership?

  Premium membership is designed to reward you faster by giving you more opportunities to receive email promotions and surveys and earn points more quickly. The more of these you respond to, the more points you will earn and therefore the more quickly you will be able to redeem your points for rewards.

• If I change my membership from Regular to Premium, will I lose my points?

  No. Any transfer of membership will involve your current points balance being carried across.

• Will the promotional emails I receive with a Premium Membership look the same as the ones you send to people on a Regular Membership?

  Yes. As with a Regular Membership, all promotional emails and surveys sent from us will be immediately identifiable. They will always have the word WDYT in the senders name and be distinctively branded, often addressing you by your name. If your email supports HTML, your screen name and current points balance should be displayed in the top right hand corner of the email.

  To ensure you always get your emails from us, you should add our email address to your address book. 

• I have switched over to a Premium Membership but I don't seem to be getting many more surveys/email promotions. How can I improve my chances?

  Please be sure to answer as many questions as possible throughout our registration process and lifestyle survey. The more information we know about you the greater the chances we have of sending you information that will be relevant to you.
  
  You might also like to consider broadening your considerations for email offers you would like to receive. Your family or friends might appreciate some of the offers that are sent to you.

• How many promotional communications will I receive per day on a Premium Membership?

  You may receive anywhere up to 5 email promotions and surveys from us per day on a Premium Membership.

• Is 1 point on a Premium Membership the same as 1 point on a Regular Membership?

  Yes. All points earned on a Premium Membership will be equal in value to points earned on a Regular Membership. However you will have greater opportunity to earn points on a Premium Membership.You must be an Australian resident, and you must be at least 16 years of age to register as a WDYT Panel

• Can I change my account back to a Regular Membership if I change my mind?

  Yes, you can change your account from Premium to Regular and vice versa at any time. To do this, all you need to log into WDYT and go into your account details.