Tag Archives: App Tips

Battle of the Tastemakers: New Twist in Points & Influence

29 Nov

It’s been about a year since we first introduced influence points in Forkly, and in February we started awarding the title of Tastemaker to the most influential user at a place.

Since then, we’ve been watching how people use and interact with those features; there have been millions of accumulated influence points, fierce battles over Tastemakerships, and yes, even some cheating. Based on our learning, we’re announcing several important changes today on to how points and Tastemakerships will work going forward.

Fairer Tastemaker Battles

The idea behind the Tastemaker status at places has always been to give some special recognition to the users who are the most influential for a given place. It’s not about how many tastes they post there, but rather how many other people they influence to get interested in a place, and hopefully entice them to go and eat there.

In order to do this, we used to give the title of Tastemaker to the person who had the most points at a place. However, we found that this heavily favored early adopters who had simply been using Forkly longer, and made it very difficult for newer users to catch up. Don’t get us wrong: we love our early adopters! But is it fair that somebody who might have been very influential about a restaurant a year ago trumps somebody who has been a more enthusiastic advocate for the restaurant recently?

In order to make Tastemakerships more competitive, we’re now only taking into account the influence points you’ve earned at a place over the last 3 months.

Don’t worry, you’re not losing your influence points, but if you haven’t posted things from a given place lately, you might lose your Tastemaker status (time for another visit?). But, you now also have a much better shot at ousting the Tastemakers who have been resting on their laurels for too long. ;)

Verified Tastes

In the fight over Tastemakerships and influence, some people have been trying to game the system by posting tastes for things that they didn’t actually have (yes, we know, it’s inconceivable!).

Whenever you start a new taste, add a photo and post it, Forkly is now checking how far away you are from the restaurant to see if we can “verify” the taste.

We won’t prevent you from posting unverified tastes, but going forward there’s a chance that you might not earn points for it. We’ll usually give you the benefit of the doubt, but if we consistently see unverified tastes from a user, we’ll be more strict when it comes to awarding points.

Oh, and our verification system is smart enough to work with tastes that are posted later when you’ve already left the restaurant, and photos that you took using a third-party camera application. And don’t worry, all the processing happens on your phone, so we’re not sending any sensitive location data over the Netz :)

More to Come

We hope that the changes that we introduced will improve your Forkly experience, and as always, we’d love your feedback! We’ve got some other exciting changes and improvements in the works, and can’t wait to share them with you soon.

The Forkly Team

How to Invite & Search for Friends on Forkly through Email, Facebook, Twitter & Location

18 Jul

Here are some quick tips for those of you that want to invite your friends to start using Forkly–or to see if they already have an account!

Invite Friends

There are two locations where you can find the “Invite Friends” button: in your profile and on your feed.

  
Once you tap the icon it will take you to the “Find Friends” page. This is where you can invite friends from your contacts.

  
Tap “Invite From Contacts” and your email contacts will appear.

  
You can select as many people as you want all at once. Once you’ve chosen your food lovin’ friends, tap “Invite” and this will bring you to an email. We’ve already entered a message to let your friends know you’re on Forkly and give them a little info on the app just to make your life easier–so feel free to tweak or just click “Send” and you’re done!

Want to see which Twitter and Facebook friends are already on Forkly?

This is just as easy as inviting friends from your contacts! You’ll start pretty much the same way as we did to invite friends.

  
Once you’re at the “Find Friends” page, you’ll see that you have the option to look at your Facebook Friends, Twitter Friends, and even people in your area. By selecting one of these options, Forkly will bring up your Twitter (or other) friends who already have Forkly accounts. Just click “Follow” and you’re all set!

  
 You can also start following people in your area or search for them by their username.

  
 Now that you’ve been briefed on how to invite friends and search for them, keep spreading the Forkly love!

So, You Want to be a Tastemaker?

10 Jul

Now that we got you excited about the Forkly 2.1 update, let’s look at how you can become the Tastemaker of your favorite restaurants!

What is a Tastemaker?

A Tastemaker is an establishment’s most influential Forkly user. Tastemaker status is based on a number of contributing factors including:

  • You have the highest number of points at a venue.
  • How many “wants” you received on items you rated there.
  • How many people are talking about it within the app, on Facebook & on Twitter
  • How frequently you dine there, etc.

You can see the places you’re the Tastemaker at in your profile:

I want more Forkly points! How do I get them?

The most obvious ways to gain more Forkly points:

  • When someone wants your tastes
  • When your tastes become popular i.e has received enough wants, we’ll give you bonus points
  • When someone tastes and rates something that they discovered through you (by wanting it) we’ll give you points if they end up liking it or loving it

There are other ways to increase your Forkly influence & to become a Tastemaker, but we’ll leave it up to you to discover them.

What do I do with all these points?

Soon enough, Tastemakers will actually receive perks from certain restaurants/bars for being a Tastemaker– so start building up those points, connect with other users, and support local businesses! Share your triumph (literally, if you turn on the sound, you’re in for a treat when you become Tastemaker of a place!) by posting your Tastemaker status on Twitter and Facebook.

Happy Tasting!

App Tip: How To Add a Taste Later and How to Post Without a Location

9 May

We’re aware of the increasing number of food fans getting poked and prodded by their dining companions to quit Fork’n around at the table. So, in the name of world peace–or really, dining out peace–we wanted to let you know about Forkly’s clever design: you can always post later.

How to Add a Taste Later

If you want to take a photograph of a dish or drink, do so quickly and then put the phone away. When you get home or have a moment later on, go to Forkly’s “Add Taste” and you’ll come to the “Where are you?” page with a list of nearby places.

In the blank box at the top, you can type the name of the establishment you dined at, e.g. ChoLon Bistro IN Denver, CO. The “IN” is very important for the search engine, so be sure to include it.

At this point, the restaurant will appear and you can continue posting as usual (and any glares from non-Forkly dining companions have been successfully averted…though you may want to suggest, as many of our users have, that they join in on the Forkly fun!).

You also don’t have to be at a restaurant or bar to post a dish…

How to Post Without a Location

On this same “Where are you?” page, there’s the option to post your homemade meals, picnics in the park, office lunches, etc. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page to “Elsewhere.” Tap on “Elsewhere” and you’re good to go– and if needed, you can put more details of your whereabouts in the “Taste Notes” section on the rating page.

 

There you have it, two quick and easy options to be able to use Forkly at your convenience. Happy tasting!

App Tip: Customize your Forkly Tweets & Facebook Posts

26 Apr

You can easily customize your Forkly tweets and Facebook posts. This is particularly helpful for users who want to tweet the post at a particular restaurant or chef, or to include a hashtag– like for gluten free folks (#gf) or for special events, like today’s national Dining Out for Life (#DOFL) fundraiser. Take a look…

When you add a new taste and get to the rating section, look for the “Customize” button next to the Twitter and Facebook icons. 

 Tap on “Customize” and your message will appear:

You can add any additional characters here, including taste notes, Twitter handles, and hashtags, keeping it within Twitter’s 140 character limit. Tap “Done” and then post your taste. Et voila! Your own customized Forkly tweet & Facebook post.