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Frequently Asked Questions


About TiCL

Why TiCL? What's it for?
Who puts information on TiCL?
What sort of thing should I put on TiCL?
How do I contribute to TiCL?
How do I start my own story? (Contribute Headline)
Does starting your own story on TiCL cost anything?
How do I contribute to someone else’s story?
Does contributing to someone else’s story on TiCL cost anything?
What happens to my contribution once I have added it to someone else’s story?
How long do headlines last on TiCL?
What happens at the end of the free 24hours: will I be charged?
What if I decide to extend the duration of my story while it is still running?
What if I decide I want to close my story before the time I originally chose?
How many stories can I run at any one time?
What does the refresh button do? TiCL Refresh

The ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ Screen.

The TiCL Here and Now Screen: What am I seeing?
What about the photos on the ‘TiCL Here and Now’ screen?
What are the green ticks and gold stars on the photos about?

The Settings Menu. TiCL Settings (Available Options)

1. Notifications
2. Current TiCL Offers
3. Purchase Tokens
4. Report a Problem
5. View TiCL Policy Documents
6. TiCL FAQ
7. Logout

The Browse Screen. TiCL Browse (Available Options)

1. Search
2. Bookmarks
3, Hidden

How do I start and ‘run’ my own story?

How do I start my own story? TiCL Add Headline
What do you mean by running my own story?

The Articles Screen: How do I contribute to other users' stories?

What are articles? What happens on the ‘Articles’ Screen?
Can I select any photo to appear on the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ Screen?

How do I Edit Headlines, Articles and Comments?

What if I want to edit or remove articles associated with my story?
How do I edit a headline I have created?
What are my options on the Edit Headline Screen?
What is Premium Editing? How Do I enter a Promotion Code?
What happens if I press the Premium Editing button?
What does Premium Editing allow me to do?
OK now I’ve activated Premium Editing what do I do?
How do I enter a Promotion Code?

The Comments Screen

What are Comments?
How do I add a comment?

The Registration procedure

What are the criteria for my password?
How do I find my activation code?
TiCL wants to use my location: should I let it?
TiCL wants to send me push notifications. What are they?  Should I let it?

Tokens

What are tokens for?
How do I find out if I have any tokens?
How can I purchase tokens?

Troubleshooting

Where is my activation code email?
Can I enter my activation code later?
I have forgotten my password/never received my activation code
TiCL is loading ‘endlessly’.
The location the App has recorded for my story is incorrect (although it has located it in the ‘view on map’ option).
My problem is not covered by any of the above. How to contact us.



About TiCL

Why TiCL? What's it for?

TiCL is about what’s going on right where you are right now. This is why we call our main screen the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ screen.
The ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ screen is made up of lots of story ‘headlines’. Those ‘stories’ nearest to you right now are at the top of the ‘TiCL: Here and Now screen’. The further down the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ screen they are the further the stories are from you.
TiCL is about ‘news’ that is local to you right now. Little ‘news’ articles are ‘TiCLs’

Who puts information on TiCL?

You do!
Anyone can start and run a story from any location.
When you start a story about something that is happening where you are every TiCL user nearby will get to see it if they look.
A strong TiCL community informs each other about everything that is happening locally today.

What should I put on TiCL?

‘ANSWERS’ about something that’s happening where you are right now:  Anything that you think someone nearby would benefit from knowing about and is related to your location right at that moment.
Therefore for example; if you see a lost dog add a TiCL message and photo about it. That way the person nearby who has lost the dog will be able to find it quickly just by looking on the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ screen.
‘QUESTIONS’ about something that’s happening where you are right now: Anything you think someone near you might know (that you don’t) that is related to your location at that moment.
Therefore for example;‘I’ve lost my dog. Have you seen it?’
The most important thing to remember about TiCL is that when you start a story you should ‘submit’ it from where it is actually happening.


How do I contribute to TiCL?

There are two ways you can contribute to TiCL.

1. You can start your own story: (Contribute Headline)

To start your own story:
Press the TiCL Add Headline button on the top right corner of the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ screen.
When you’ve added your ‘story’ press the ‘submit’ button:
Your story will be recorded as happening at the location you are at at the time you press the ‘submit’ button.

Does starting your own story on TiCL cost anything?

No. You can start and ‘run’ a story for up to 24hours at no cost.  Furthermore you can start a story for less than 24hours and extend it up to a total of 24hours at no cost.

2. You may be able to contribute to someone else’s story

To contribute to someone else’s story:
Choose a story that has a green arrow on its right hand side. These stories are also above a ‘bar’ that appears somewhere down the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ screen.
press on the story

press  ‘Add Article To This Headline’


Does contributing to someone else’s story on TiCL cost anything?

No. You can contribute to as many local stories as much and as often as you like for no charge.

What happens to my contribution once I have added it to someone else’s story?

Once you have contributed an article or comment to another user’s story there is nothing more you can do with it.
The user whose story you contributed to will get a notification that you contributed to the story and may chose to ‘reply’ to you with a comment or add a new article to their story themselves by way of ‘answer’. The headline author may choose to remove your contribution from their story.


How long do Headlines last on TiCL?

The ‘default’ length of time your story will last on TiCL is 12 hours. You can chose at the outset whether you would like it to last less time than this (minimum 1 hour) or more time than this (maximum 190 days). You can change your mind anytime while the story is running and either ‘close’ it immediately  or extend it by anything up to a maximum of 190 days.
Please note that if you have extended your story using tokens and then chose to close it early, the tokens you used to extend it will not be refunded.


What happens at the end of the free 24hours: will I be charged?

At the end of your selected free time your story will simply end (‘close’). You do not have to do anything to ‘close’ it and you will not be charged.

What if I decide to extend the duration of my story while it is still running?

You can extend your story to a total duration of 24hours while it is still running at no cost. To do this:
Press on your story (from the TiCL: Here and Now Screen)
Press ‘extend’ in the top right hand corner of the ‘Articles’ screen
Use the white ‘Extension’ box to select how long you would like to extend your story for.
You can extend your story for any time up to 190 days in advance. To do this:
Press on your story (from the TiCL: Here and Now Screen)
Press ‘extend’ in the top right hand corner of the ‘Articles’ screen
Use the white ‘Extension’ box to select how long you would like to extend your story for.
If you want to extend your story for longer than the number of days on the extension wheel you can purchase more tokens to allow you to extend your story for up to 190 days from that moment.


What if I decide I want to close my story before the time I chose?

You can end your story at any time immediately.
Press on your story (from the TiCL: Here and Now Screen)
Press either ‘Edit’ or ‘Extend’ in the top right hand corner of the ‘Articles’ screen
Press on the yellow ‘Close Now’ button at the very bottom of the screen (you may have to scroll down).
You will be given a warning when you press this button ‘Are you sure you want to close this headline? Unused tokens will not be refunded’


How many stories can I run at any one time?

At any time you can run one story every 2.4 km. If you try to start a story in an area that you already have a story running then you will see a yellow box at the top of the Contribute Headline screen that reads ‘You can’t post any more headlines from this area today!’. If you close the story you already have running in that area you will then be able to start a new one.

The TiCL Here and Now Screen

The TiCL Here and Now Screen: What am I seeing?

At the top of the screen you will see the words ‘TiCL Here and Now’
To the left at the top you see two buttons
TiCL Settings - Takes you to ‘Settings’ Menu
TiCL Refresh - Refreshes and updates the ‘TiCL Here and Now Screen’
To the right at the top of the screen you will see two buttons
TiCL Browse - Takes  you to the ‘Browse’ Screen
TiCL Add Headline - Allows you to start a story yourself (takes you to the Contribute Headline Screen)
Below the headline you will see the 35 stories nearest to you. The story at the top will be the closest to you. As you descend the list the stories will be getting further away from you.
Beneath the ‘Headline’ of each story (in bold) is the first line of its ‘article’. To read more of the article and/or see other articles associated with it press the arrow on its right hand side
Beneath the first line of the article (if there is one) is the author’s name. Names are shown on TiCL as the ‘First name’ and first letter of the ‘Surname’ you registered with.
Beneath the author’s name is the ‘area name’ from which the headline was submitted from.
(if you have submitted a story from the place it is happening and shows in the right place on ‘View on Map’ but you believe the ‘area name’ is wrongly marked please contact us on contact@ticl.me and tell us the ‘area name’ you think it should be. We will endeavour to adjust our database and correct this)
Next to the ‘area name’ is ‘View on map’. Pressing this will reveal a map with the Headline location marked as an H, all its articles marked with A’s and any non hidden comments marked with  C’s. The map can be pinched to reveal the headline’s contribution area. This is the area within which user’s may be permitted to contribute (either articles or comments) to the headline.
 If the author of a story has supplied a weblink then a ‘www’ will appear to the right of the headline. Pressing on this www button will allow you to follow the link to the author’s chosen website. This will take you out of the TiCL App. To get back to the TiCL App simply close the website and reopen TiCL.
To the right of the article if there is one you will see an arrow. The arrow takes you to the Headline’s Articles from where you can read more about the Headline.
The arrow may be green or red.
A green arrow indicates that you will be able to ‘contribute’ an article or comment to that headline. You are entitled to contribute to it if the author has allowed you to AND if you are close enough to be a reliable witness to it. Generally speaking you can contribute to a headline if you are within 1.2km of its location.
A red arrow indicates that you will not be able to ‘contribute’ an article or comment to that headline. This is either because the author has not permitted other users to contribute or because you are neither at nor have been close enough to contribute since the headline was created (within 1.2km of the headline)


What about the photos on the ‘TiCL Here and Now’ screen?

If a headline was not submitted with a photo and no-one has since submitted an article with a photo then the TiCL logo will appear associated with the headline.
If a photo was submitted at the same time as a headline then the photo will appear associated with the headline.
If a headline was submitted without a photo and then someone adds a photo with an article then that photo will automatically  ‘feature’ on the ‘TiCL Here and Now’ screen.
The headline author can ‘select’ which photo to have as the one associated with the headline
You can enlarge a photo by pressing on it.


What are the green ticks and gold stars on the photos about?

Sometimes the photos appear with a green tick or a gold star in their top right hand corner.
A photo that was taken through TiCL will be marked with a green tick. You can be sure that the photo was taken where and when it has been claimed to have been taken.
A photo that has a gold star was taken through the App by someone other than the headline author and added as an article to the headline author’s story. The headline author then selected it for the ‘TiCL Here and Now Screen’. We mark this photo with a gold star because not only can you be sure that the photo was taken where and when it was claimed but also that it potentially ‘corroborates ‘the headline author’s story.


The Settings Menu TiCL Settings

This consists of 7 options:

1. Notifications

If someone contributes to a story you created the headline for or adds a comment to an article you added or adds a comment to an article you commented on then you will receive a notification. You can check what notifications you have received recently with this button.

2. Current TiCL Offers

Takes you to our website where you can see details of any offers for TiCL services that might be effective in your area. To get back to TiCL you will have to press the start button and then re-open TiCL

3. Purchase Tokens

Allows you to purchase more tokens.

4. Report a Problem

Allows you to enter a description of a problem you are experiencing with the App. We will endeavour to get back to you within 24 hours by email

5. View TiCL Policy Documents

Takes you to our website and our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy and User Guidelines. To get back to TiCL you will have to press the start button and then re-open TiCL

6. TiCL FAQ

Takes you to this page of the Website. To get back to TiCL you will have to press the start button and then re-open TiCL

7. Logout

Takes you back to the ‘Sign in’ to TiCL Screen and removes your 'remembered' login details from the device

What does the refresh button do? TiCL Refresh

TiCL stories are changing all the time. To ensure you are always getting the ‘latest’ information regularly press the ‘refresh button’.

The Browse Screen TiCL Browse

The Browse screen has 3 options:

1. Search        

This allows you to enter a location in the white entry box and/or select a category in the category box. Pressing search will then return the most popular headlines that best match those criteria.
To enter a location, you can put the name of a road, town, postcode, city or even point of interest.


2. Bookmarks

This button reveals those headlines you either created yourself, contributed to or have ‘bookmarked’. There is no limit to the number of headlines you can bookmark. The bookmarks are a quick way of re-finding stories that particularly interest you. You can add or remove a bookmark on the Article Screen of the story.

3. Hidden       

This button reveals those stories you have chosen to hide. There is no limit to the number of headlines you can hide.
There is a limit to the number of stories that appear on your TiCL Here & Now Screen. If there are a lot of stories near to you, you will only see the nearest 35.  If you want to see more stories you can ‘hide’ stories on the’ TiCL Here & Now’ Screen.  If there are more stories nearby you will see an additional one on the TiCL Here and Now Screen each time you ‘hide’ a headline from it.   You can hide or ‘unhide’ a story from the Article screen of the story.


Starting and running your own story

How do I start my own story?

Pressing the TiCL Add Headline button on the top right of the TiCL Here and Now Screen will take you to the Contribute Headline Screen
The box at the top of the screen indicates whether you can start a new story from where you are now.
If you are informed that ‘You can’t post any more headlines from this area today’ but you still want to contribute to TiCL you have two options
1. Close a headline that you are already running from that area so that you can start a new one.
2. Add an article to someone else’s headline instead (if appropriate to what you wanted to say)
Assuming you can post a headline from the area you are in:
Type your Headline in the box provided (up to 45 characters)
Type some more information about what you are describing (up to 140 characters). This will form your headlines first article. It is worth typing something here – if you do you can always go back and edit it later.
Select how long you would like the story to last. The default time here is 12 hours but you might chooose any time here from 1 hour to 24hours. Try and estimate here how long your story is likely to be ‘useful’ to other people for and don’t choose a time longer than that.
Add a photo either from your library or better still take a photo there and then in the TiCL App. Any photo you take using the TiCL App will also be added to your library (so you will get to keep a copy). We particularly encourage you to take a photo with our App and will give such a photo a green tick. This is because we can then assure other users that the photo was taken from when and where you submitted it.
When you are ready press the ‘Submit’ button.
REMEMBER: You should only ‘Submit’ a headline from the location that the thing you are describing is happening

What do you mean by running my own story?

TiCL allows you to do many things with your story. You can in fact ‘run it’ much as a newspaper editor runs a news story. You are at all times ‘in control’ of your story. People nearby to your story may add contributions to it (‘articles’ and ‘comments’) but only you can:
extend it, close it or edit it.


The Articles Screen: Contributing to other users' stories

What are articles? What happens on the ‘Articles’ Screen?

An article should ideally be a contribution in response to the Headline.
Pressing on any story or arrow on the TiCL Here and Now Screen takes you to the Articles screen.
On the Articles screen you will see at the top the word ‘Articles’ in a black header.
On the left side in the header is a ‘Back’ arrow. This will take you back to the last screen you visited.
If the headline is ‘yours’ on the right side of the header are ‘Extend’ and ‘Edit’ buttons. These buttons allow you to modify your headline in the way described. If the headline is not yours then nothing will appear on the right side of the header.
At the top of the Articles screen in a box will be:
The Headline you selected to read.
The approximate time left before the story is due to close
A link to the story’s website (if one has been provided by the author)
The blue ‘+ add article to this headline’ button (if the author has allowed this option) and you are close enough to the headline’s location (usually within 1.2km) of it.
The Bookmark and Hide buttons. The headline is bookmarked if the button is blue. The story is hidden if the bookmark is blue. You can bookmark/unbookmark stories and hide/unhide stories from this screen by pressing these buttons appropriately.
Beneath this box are all the articles that have been added to the headline by the author and or other users. The articles are arranged in order of ‘popularity’. The most ‘popular’ article is the article that has been read (opened) and/or commented on by the most number of different individuals. You may need to scroll down to see all the articles associated with each a headline.
On the right side of an article is an arrow that will take you to a ‘Comments’ screen
Beneath the arrow is a number with a ‘c’ attatched to it. This number represents the number of comments associated with each article.
Within each article are the buttons ‘Map’ and ‘Flag’. In addition if the headline is yours then there is an ‘edit’ button and a ‘remove’ button
The Map button shows the position that the article was submitted from on a map (marked with an ‘A’ marker)
The Flag button takes you to the ‘Flag content’ Screen from which you can describe content you find inappropriate or offensive for administrative review.
You can enlarge the photo by pressing on it.


Can I select any photo to appear on the ‘TiCL: Here and Now’ Screen?

If the headline is yours you can press on any of its article’s photos to enlarge it.  You will then see a ‘Select’ button in the top right hand corner of the screen. Pressing the select button will generate the warning ‘Confirm Selection. Are you sure you want to make this the selected image for the headline? yes/no). If you chose yes then the photo will become the photo associated with the headline on the TiCL Here and Now Screen.

How do I Edit Headlines, Articles and Comments?

What if I want to edit or remove articles associated with my story?

Find the article you want to edit or remove and press the ‘edit’ or ‘remove’ button.
Note that you can only remove other user’s articles. You cannot in any other way edit them.
You can edit the wording of articles you have written for your own story and change/remove photos associated with those articles.
Note too that if you remove an article you will remove all the comments associated with it as well.


How do I edit a headline I have created?

Find the headline of yours you want to edit. (You can only edit your own headlines).
Press on the story to reach its ‘Articles’ screen
Press the ‘Edit’ button that appears in blue in the top right of the header. This takes you to the ‘Edit Headline’ Screen


What are my options on the Edit Headline Screen?

You can change the wording of the headline. Press on the ‘Title’ box at the top of the ‘Edit Headline’ Screen and edit the wording as required.
Press ‘Update’ to confirm the changes you have made.
You can choose ‘Premium Editing’.
You can close the headline immediately. You will be given a warning if you press this button ‘Are you sure you want to close this headline? ‘Unused’ tokens will not be refunded’.


What is Premium Editing? How do I enter a Promotion Code?

What happens if I press the Premium Editing button?

You will be taken to the Premium Editing Screen. This screen has ‘Premium Editing’ in the header at the top.
Beneath the header you can see how many tokens you currently have.
On this screen you can:
1. Purchase Tokens: (to purchase tokens press the ‘Purchase Tokens’ button
2. Activate Premium Editing (press the blue ‘Premium Editing’ button. This ‘costs’ a token)
3. Enter a Promotion Code . To apply the promotion code you must press ‘Apply Prom Code’. You will be notified if you have successfully applied the promotion code.


What does Premium Editing allow me to do?

1. Give the headline a web link
2. Control the contributions that others can make to your headline
3. ‘Categorise’ your headline.


OK now I’ve activated Premium Editing what do I do?

Once you have activated Premium Editing you are taken to an ‘enhanced’ Edit Headline Screen. In fact whenever you press ‘Edit’ now from the Articles Screen for this headline you will be taken to this ‘enhanced’ screen.
The enhancements are a box for you to enter a link to your website. Please ensure that the link is appropriate for the location you have submitted the headline. Please see our Terms and Conditions and User Guidelines for more information
There is a pre-ticked box for ‘Allow Contributions’. If you uncheck this box users will be unable to add articles or visible comments to your headline. Note that if you ‘uncheck’ this box users will still be able to add ‘private’ comments ie comments that only you will see.
You can choose a category that your story can be searched under. Note that whether you select a category or not your story will still appear on the TiCL Here and Now Screen. Also if you do not give your headline  a category and a user who is searching on a location does not specify a category then the search may reveal your headline.
However if a user searches a location together with a specific category , only those headlines in that category and location will be ‘found’
If you have made any changes on the ‘Edit Headline’ screen don’t forget to press ‘Update’ for the changes to take effect.


How do I enter a Promotion Code?

You may have been given a promotion code, This can be entered at the time of activating premium editing on your story, different promotion codes have different funntionality and are only valid during pre-defined periods of dates and for stories created within certain geographic boundaries. They may include additional tokens or automatic story extension periods. These codes are validated against your current location and the date you activate premium editing against your story, if our servers determine your code to be valid then you will automatically receive these additional benefits and receive a notification to confirm their acceptance. 


The Comments Screen

What are Comments?

A comment should ideally be a contribution in response to an article.

How do I add a comment?

On the Articles screen press either the arrow of the article you want to comment on or the article text itself.
Add the comment in the ‘Your view’ box and press comment.
Note that you can hide the location of your comment by un-checking the ‘Show my Location’ box.


The registration procedure.

What are the criteria for my password?

Your password must be at least 6 characters

How do I find my activation code?

We send you an email almost immediately with your activation code. DO NOT press the ‘back’ button to get to your e.mail. Press the ‘home’ button on your phone to close the TiCL App if you are going to pick up the e.mail on your phone

TiCL wants to use my location: should I let it?

TiCL is a highly location specific news App. The stories it presents to you are arranged based on their proximity to you. To make these calculations the App must know where you are. Without allowing TiCL to know your location TiCL simply won’t work. If you want TiCL to work for you, you MUST allow TiCL to know your location.

Is TiCL telling you there is a location error and it cannot determine your location? You will need to activate the location services both for your phone and specifically for TiCL App before you register.


TiCL wants to send me push notifications. What are they? Should I let it?

TiCL lets you start and contribute  to items of local ‘news’.  In turn other users may be able to contribute to what you have written.
Push notifications are an ‘alert system’ – a beep or vibrate that will inform you if and when someone makes an addition to something you have written. If you never actually write anything on TiCL you will never be sent a push notification. If you do write something on TiCL chances are push notifications will be useful for you to receive. Either way it is ‘safe’ to allow them . If for some reason they are not suiting then you can easily deactivate them through ‘Settings’ on your phone. For the best TiCL experience though we recommend you allow them.


Tokens

What are the roles of tokens?

Tokens have two roles in TiCL.
1. A single token allows you to activate ‘Premium Editing’ for a story.
2. A single token can be used to extend your story by 24 hours  (whether you have activated Premium Editing or not)

How do I find out if I have any tokens?

You may have been given some tokens when you first registered with TiCL.
To find out how many tokens you have you can go to the Settings screen and press Purchase Tokens.
At the top of the Purchase tokens screen is the number of tokens you currently have.

 
How can I purchase Tokens?

You can purchase tokens and find out how many you have when you Press Premium Editing or if you press ‘Extend’ . You can also purchase tokens from the ‘Settings’ screen.

Troubleshooting

Where is my activation code email?.

Please check that the email hasn’t gone into a ‘spam’ folder

Can I enter my activation code later?

Close the App and open it again later when you’re ready. You will go back to the screen when you next open the TiCL App and you can then enter the activation code.
DO NOT  press the ‘back’ button. Press the ‘home’ button on your phone to close the TiCL App


I have forgotten my password/never received my activation code

email us on contact@ticl.me and we will send you instructions about what to do.

TiCL is loading ‘endlessly’.

This generally means that you do not have good mobile ‘signal strength’ or that for some other reason TiCL cannot locate you properly  (possibly because the wi-fi doesn’t permit it). TiCL is highly location specific. If the App cannot locate you precisely then it will not work properly. Try later or from a different location or via wi-fi if you had been trying through 3G network or via 3G if you had been trying through wi-fi.

Is this the first time you have downloaded TiCL? Were the GPS location services on your device turned on when you downloaded TiCL? If they were not you will have to activate these services on your phone specifically for TiCL App now.


The location the App has recorded for my story is incorrect (although it has located it in the 'view on map' option )

Apologies! We are working hard to improve our ‘area names’. Please e.mail us on contact@ticl.me with the headline you feel has been located in the wrong place and the location you feel that it should have been assigned to. We will endeavour to correct it.

My problem is not covered by any of the above.

We are continually looking to improve this App and want to deal with any problem you are experiencing quickly. 
Please contact us on support@ticl.me