Get involved

Community - Share thoughts, ask questions, find out more…

Our members are at the heart of PluggedIn. Your views, your opinions, your experiences – they’re what makes it all tick.

You can share your thoughts in lots of ways: Have a look through the Forums, dive into Ask the Crowd Chat, make comments on articles, submit Reviews about products, add items to your Want and Own lists, and tell us about yourself on your profile or follow others’ profiles.

The main interactive areas of the site and what they do are as follows:

Forums

Forums are like the chat area in that you can post and reply to other users’ questions. Or you can use the space to contribute useful information on specific things.

Customer Reviews

Anyone can post a customer review of a product on PluggedIn.

If you own or have experience with a product that you think others would like to read about, you can write your own review and submit images and video to support it.

Click here to write a customer review now

Otherwise, you can add a review by visiting any other customer review page and clicking the ‘add your own’ button in the left column.

I want/I have

On Reviews pages you can register that you want the item being discussed, or let other users know you already own the product.

This allows fellow users of the site to see who has or wants the product in question.

Comment on a Review or Article

You can have your say on any article or review on PluggedIn. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Comment’ button.

Profile/Facebook

Each member of PluggedIn has a profile page where you can update your personal information.

You can automatically fill parts of your profile page by connecting to the site with Facebook.

Associating your PluggedIn profile with Facebook also allows you to share and see content that your friends have ‘liked’.

Badges

As you progress and interact with the PluggedIn content you will be awarded special badges.

These badges are our way of saying thank you for contributing, and can be used to see how ‘pro’ another user is.

We are constantly adding new badges and if you can think of something that you’d like to see, or you want to promote your idea or business badges could be the way to do it. Contact us for more information.

PluggedIn and best practice on the site.

We’re here to make sure the conversation wheels keep turning, and to make sure everyone’s being nice and friendly. So be nice, cos we’ll be watching. Behind every username, there’s a real person.

And remember that these are public spaces – if you’re thinking of sharing any personal details, use common sense*.

Forums, Chat Rooms and Comments

Forums, Chat Rooms and Comments are the main areas where you’ll be able to have your say.
Treat other users with respect. Nicely does it.
Don’t be mean. Harrassing, insulting or abusing other members is not on, and we won’t tolerate it.
Don’t pick on people. Making mean comments about another member isn’t on. Whether you name them or identify them with comments, it’s not allowed. This is called “calling out”.
Don’t use this area to arrange sales or auctions.
It’s against our rules to set up an alternate account (or sock puppet) in our community areas.
Don’t post private information of any kind. For example, email, customer service complaints, conversations, letters, phone numbers, addresses, full names or business transactions.
Strictly no spam. Unsolicited promotions, adverts, websites or other products are not allowed.
You should be over 16 years old to join this community.
We’ve got extra rules for our forums:
Keep posts on the topic, and in the right area of the forums. If you put something in the wrong place, we’ll just move it.
Think before you post. You won’t be able to delete after you’ve posted. In special circumstances, and at our sole discretion, we may remove content from the forums.
We reserve the right to close any forum thread for any reason. If you break our rules, we might suspend your community access. We may even delete your account.

Members

Respect is the name of the game. Members should expect kindness from other users, and from us. Your username – and all content published using it – is your responsibility.

When you join PluggedIn, you agree to all of these policies listed on this page.

Choose your username carefully. Unless you provide us with documented legal action (like trademark infringement) you won’t be able to change it.
Choose your own name! PluggedIn is our property, and you can’t use it as part of your username unless we say you can.
You have to be at least 16-years-old to have a PluggedIn account.
If you’re under 16, you need the permission of a parent or legal guardian – and that person has to be at least 18-years-old. They’ll be responsible for everything you do and say on the site.
If you’re under 16, you can’t use the community areas of PluggedIn.
If you’re under 16, you have to get permission and supervision from your parent or legal guardian every time you use this site.
You must not swear, blaspheme or use racist or otherwise offensive language or images in your username, avatar, and/or public profile.
You must not use the community to discuss or demonstrate disputes.
You can’t give or sell your PluggedIn account to anyone else.
You mustn’t use your account to redirect traffic to another website or location. Please let us know if you want your account closed or you don’t use it any more.
Keep your account information up-to-date. It has to have a valid email address, and we’ll use it from time to time to contact you.
Please resolve your own disputes. We’re not mediators and we’re not going to get involved in arguments.
If you don’t follow our rules, we may suspend your account, and block your access to the site.

*Common Sense

PluggedIn is a safe place, and we want to keep it that way. These are sensible precautions to take when you’re in any online community:

Personal information: Be careful about posting personal information. You often can’t delete it. And there are loads of things you don’t want the world and his wife to know. These could include your credit card details, your full name, your address and passwords. If you’re posting about someone else, make sure you’ve got permission to do so.
Where you are: Think carefully about posting information that would make it easy for a stranger to work out where you live or work.
Embarrassing information: If you don’t want your mum, boss, friends or kids to know certain things about you, or see particular pictures of you, then don’t post them on PluggedIn.
Real life: Connecting online can be fun. Be careful if you decide to meet online buddies in real life. People aren’t always who they claim to be. If you’re going to meet, do it in a public place and take a friend or trusted adult with you. Take your mobile phone too.
Abuse: Treat people with respect. If you see harassment, hateful speech or inappropriate behaviour, report it. Always trust your gut: if you feel threatened, stop all communication. If you feel unsafe, go to the police.
Email and internet connection: You can keep your computer safe from viruses and spam email with a bit of know-how and software. A spam filter can reduce the number of unwanted emails you get. Anti-virus software and firewalls can be helpful too. Spyware looks for programs that have been installed on your computer to see what you’re up to. And if you don’t recognise the sender of a downloadable file, don’t open it. Delete it.
Passwords: Chose a password that uses a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use obvious words like your last name or nickname – or dates like your birthday. Avoid using the same password for many websites.
Remember, anything posted in this community is indexed, and can be searched for by major search engines.
If you can think of any other helpful safety tips, please post them here.