digg

Frequently Asked Questions

Using Digg

1. How do I find stuff a user Dugg, submitted, and/or commented on?
   Whenever a user submits, Diggs, or comments on a submission, the activity is bookmarked and stored within their profile. Your friends' profiles are linked with yours; just visit the "Friends' Activity" tab in your profile, and you'll see your friends' submissions, Diggs, comments, and more. To visit the profile of a person who's not a friend, click on their icon anywhere on the site or enter the address manually: digg.com/users/username
2. Can I customize which stories I see?
   Yup, you can customize the stories you see by adding and removing topics. In your profile, click "Customize Topics" in the Settings section. Don't want to see any sports or stories about the Wii? Just remove those topics and you won't see them anymore.
3. How do I remove the video section altogether from Digg?
   To get a news-only view of Digg, click the "Customize" button at the top of the Digg homepage to go to the "Customize Topics" under Settings in your profile. On that page, set "News" as your default homepage. Doing so will take you to the News page, not the All page, when you visit digg.com or click on the Digg logo across the site.
4. How do I change my Digg homepage to a different topic?
   Rather have World & Business as your homepage? You can always change the default view of your homepage by clicking on the "Customize" button on any category or subcategory page on the site. Any category or subcategory can be set as your default homepage.
5. Can I change the way Digg opens external links?
   You can decide whether to open external links in the existing window/tab or to have external links open in a new window. See the "Viewing Preferences" page within the "Settings" section of your profile.
6. After I Digg a story, why does it say "Favorite" where the bury button used to be?
   Favorites are a way for Digg users to indicate which stories they like best. They are kept separate from stories you Digg so as to give them more prominence in your profile and for easy reference later. After Digging a story, click the "Favorite" button and it will automatically be added to your list of favorites. Unlike the previous "My #1" feature, you can select as many favorites as you'd like. To remove a favorite from your profile, click the "remove" button next to the story you've listed as a favorite.
7. What is a shout?
   A shout is a message that can be sent between two or more users on Digg. Rather than having to send an email with something you want to share, shouts enable you to quickly communicate with other Digg users. You can send a shout by clicking on the "Share" button below any story on Digg or by posting a shout on a friend's Profile page. If someone has sent you a shout, click the "reply" link below the message in your profile to send a shout back. If you want to manage who can send you a shout or view your shouts, change your preferences on the Privacy Settings page in your Profile. Also note that you can easily delete shouts from your profile by clicking the "Delete" icon next to each message.
8. Why does some profanity get hidden when I'm logged out of Digg?
   Digg provides a filter for profanity. When the filter is activated, profane words are replaced with asterisks. To enable/disable the profanity filter, see the "Viewing Preferences" page within the "Settings" section of your profile. You can also toggle the profanity filter in the comment settings on any page with comments.
9. How do I activate/deactivate the profanity filter?
   Digg provides a filter for profanity. When the filter is activated, profane words are replaced with asterisks. To enable/disable the profanity filter, see the "Viewing Preferences" page within the "Settings" section of your profile. You can also toggle the profanity filter in the comment settings on any page with comments.
10. Can I report a bug/problem/abuse?
    If you encounter a bug or problem, please send us a bug report using our handy form. We really appreciate your help improving the site. If you encounter abuse, please email us at abuse@digg.com. Please be sure to include the URL of the page where you found the bug or abuse occurring and any other pertinent details.

Accounts

1. Is it ok to have more than one account on Digg?
   Unless you exist in two parallel universes at once, unfortunately no. To protect the integrity of the system, our policy is one person, one account. This is to help prevent users from artificially inflating Digg counters, which is explicitly against our Terms of Use.
2. I want to change my user name, how do I do that?
   Having an identity crisis? First make sure the new username you want is not already in use. You can do that by logging out and going to the registration page and checking for the new user name you desire by entering it in the form and tabbing to the next field. Then you can request a change to your user name by contacting support@digg.com. Make sure to email us from the email address associated with your Digg account.
3. I want to delete my account, how do I do that?
   You can request for your account removal by contacting support@digg.com. Please keep in mind that this action cannot be reversed. Also make sure to email us from the email address associated with your Digg account. If your email address has changed since you created your Digg account, you can change it in the Email Preferences settings in your Profile.
4. Why did you delete my account and remove my history?
   Digg takes a firm stance against users who violate our Terms of Use. This is in order to protect the integrity of our system for the good of our community. Example violations include spamming, hate speech, pornography, etc. If the abuse was severe enough, then it will warrant an account removal.
5. Why are you not allowing my email domain to register on Digg?
   First make sure you're using a valid email address, and you're typing it in correctly. Certain domains are not allowed to register on Digg due to serious Terms Of Use violations. Some domains will be blocked from registration if they have been used consistently for abuse. If you believe your account or domain was blocked in error, please email support@digg.com.
6. I am getting a bad IP address warning when I try to login. What can I do?
   Please check digg.com/iptest/ and email us back the result at support@digg.com with your Digg user name. Make sure to email us from the email address associated with your Digg account.
7. How do I change my email address?
   You can change your email address in the Email Preferences settings in your Profile.
8. I've asked to hide certain fields in my profile but they still appear.
   If you've chosen to display information such as your age or location to nobody, then you will be able to see it when you're logged in and viewing your own profile. However, it won't be shown to anyone else on the site. You can confirm this by logging out and viewing one of your profile pages.

Comments

1. How do I change the display options for comments?
   At the top of every comment list is a handy link that says "settings". Click this and select the option that you want to modify. The options include the ability to turn the profanity filter on and off, to choose the default sort order of comments, to expand and collapse all comment threads, and to set the number of comments to display upon the initial page load.
2. How do I block a user's comments?
   Really don't like what someone says in the comments? After you bury a comment, there is a block icon next to the name of the comment submitter. Clicking the block icon will allow you to block that person's comments, which means that you will no longer see their comments when you view comments across the site. If you've accidentally blocked someone and wish to unblock them, you can do so in your profile account settings. If you don't want to necessarily block the user completely but you want to report them for being inappropriate, choose the report feature after burying a comment. If enough people report someone, that person will not be able to participate in the comments for a period of time.
3. How do I unblock a user's comments?
   You can unblock a user by going to the "Viewing Preferences" settings page within your profile.
4. How do I manage the comment threshold?
   The comment threshold allows you to view comments within a specific range of positive or negative Diggs. You can adjust your comment threshold by going to the "Viewing Preferences" settings page within your profile.
5. What happens when I bury someone's comment and report them as being abusive?
   Reporting people is a way to deal with persistent trolls in the comments. If enough people report a user for being abusive, that user will be unable to comment for a period of time. Inaccurately burying or reporting abuse is monitored and, if detected, may result in action against the offending user(s).
6. Can I change my vote on a comment?
   Yes, if you've mistakenly Dugg or buried a comment by clicking the thumbs up or thumbs down button for a particular comment, simply click the opposite button once and your initial vote will be removed.
7. Can I see how many times people have Dugg or buried a comment?
   Yes, you can see how many Diggs and buries a comment has received by clicking on its Digg count.
8. Why can't I see who buried my comment?
   Similar to how we handle stories, we don't display who buried comments as we're concerned about fomenting user wars. What you Digg or bury is your own personal decision. Also, users feel uncomfortable sharing negative actions with others.
9. What are the different methods for sorting comments?
   You can change the sort order of comments by changing the sort order pulldown at the top of any comments list. The default approach for sorting comment is to display the oldest comments at the top of the page with the newest at the bottom. Choosing 'newest first' will reverse this order. The 'controversial sort' displays the threads with the lowest ratio of Diggs to buries at the top of the page. Finally, the 'most Dugg' option shows the comments with the most total Diggs first and comments with fewer Diggs descending down the page.
10. Is it ok to put my website link as a signature in comments?
    No, it is not okay to advertise anything of any kind in the comments section. We ask that, as a story commenter, you keep your comments on-topic to the story you're currently on. Any irrelevant links, spam, etc. could result in an account ban for the offending user.
11. Why do you limit how many comments I can post over a certain amount of time?
    You might have really fast fingers, but we limit the number of comments you can post. This is to help prevent comment spammers. It's just one of many features we use to stop abuse. Take a deep breath, drink a cup of delicious green tea, and come back and join the conversation again.
12. I don't see my comment. Where did it go?
    You should see your comment immediately after posting it to the site. If you go back to the page and don't see it, hit reload since it may take up to 60 seconds to be saved. You can also easily find comments you posted by going to the "History" tab in your profile and filtering by "Comments".

    Note that any comment that is in violation of Digg TOS will be removed without any prior warning or notice. Also, when a spammer is banned from Digg or a spam/abusive comment is removed from a story, all replies to that comment are also removed as they clutter the comments of that story and confuse users.

13. A user insulted me, what can I do?
    Did you insult the user first or did you provoke that person into insulting you? If you didn't, then make sure to send us the story URL, Digg username and/or the direct link to the offending comment on Digg. You can do that by clicking on the date of the comment was made to get the direct Digg URL comment, and email us at abuse@digg.com from the email address associated with your Digg account.
14. How can I delete a comment I made?
    You can delete your comment within the 5-minute editing window after your comment was initially posted to the site. Click 'edit comment' and then click on the 'delete' link in the bottom right corner of the comment edit window.

    If you want a comment deleted after the edit timeframe has passed, please send us the URL of the comment you want to delete. You can get the direct URL by clicking on the date of the comment. Make sure to email us at support@digg.com from the email address associated with your Digg account.

Digging, Burying, & Promotion

1. How many Diggs or buries does it take to promote or remove stories?
   The promotion and burying of stories is managed by an algorithm developed by Digg. There is no hard number of Diggs/buries to promote or remove a story. It's based on a sliding scale that takes several factors into consideration, such as number of Diggs, reports, time of day, topic submitted to, Digging/burying diversity, etc.
2. There are stories in the upcoming section with hundreds of Diggs. Why haven't they been promoted?
   This is evidence of our promotion algorithm hard at work. One of the keys to getting a story promoted is diversity in Digging activity. Until the algorithm gets the diversity it needs of users Digging the story, it will remain in the Upcoming section. That way, the system knows a variety of people will be into the story.
3. Why don't you show who buries stories?
   We don't display who buried stories as we're concerned about fomenting user wars. What you bury is your own personal decision — our math will take care of the rest. Also, users feel uncomfortable sharing negative actions with others. We like to focus on the positive!
4. How do I unDigg?
   If you change your mind about a Digg or accidentally Digg the wrong thing, you can unDigg any submission at any time within your profile. Just view your Digg history, find the submission you want to remove, and then click "unDigg." Note, unDigging a story does not mean that the story is removed or the story has been buried. UnDigging a story removes it only from your profile.
5. My story just got 12 Diggs in under an hour, and now it's gone. Why?
   Your story likely got buried by other users. Not all stories resonate with the community. It's neither you nor us who decides what is and what is not good content. That's up for the entire Digg community to decide whether to Digg your story or bury it.
6. Why are you so secretive about your promotional/bury algorithm?
   We don't release information about our algo to help prevent gaming, abuse, spam, etc.
7. What does it mean when a story has a message saying it may be inaccurate?
   If a story has been repeatedly buried by the Dugg community, with the reason being that it is inaccurate, we display a message next to the story indicating that it may be inaccurate.

Recommendation Engine

1. How does the Recommendation Engine work?
   The Recommendation Engine looks at your Digging activity and compares it to all the other users on the site to find the most compatible users. We call these users 'Diggers like you'. The Recommendation Engine then highlights Upcoming stories that you may find interesting based on these 'Diggers like you'. This means that as you Digg content that you like, the Recommendation Engine continuously updates to bring you more new and relevant stories. To understand more about how it works, you can also read about the Recommendation Engine in a white paper written by Digg's Lead Scientist Anton Kast.
2. How can I affect what's being recommended to me?
   The best way to affect your Recommendations is to Digg more stories that interest you. The Recommendation Engine uses your Digging history to determine what items to suggest, so the more items you Digg, the more history it has to help provide similar suggestions that you will also hopefully like.
3. How do I see the old view of Upcoming?
   At the top of the Upcoming page, there is an option to choose either 'Recommendations' or 'All'. Choosing 'All' will show you the old view of Upcoming.
4. Why is my Recommendation Engine showing 'Diggers like you' and a percentage compatibility?
   The Recommendation Engine identifies people who Dugg the same stories as you. The more stuff the two of you Dugg in common, the higher the compatibility percentage. If you want to see what stories you have both Dugg, click on the percentage graph next to the person's name.
   
   The compatibility percentages are merely an indication of the similarity of your Digging histories. If you were to crunch the numbers, you'd find that there's actually a bit more to it. It's not just what you and the other Digger have in common, but the algorithm also takes into account the fraction of stuff that you have in common. The topics you Digg in matter too. Your compatibilities are computed separately per topic and then combined into the total scores. The compatibility percentage we show on the site serves as a basic guide (if not a perfectly accurate number) to explain why the Recommendation Engine has matched you with the other Diggers like you.
5. I don't like the Recommendations from one of my 'Diggers Like You'. Can I remove them?
   While the Recommendation Engine tries to match you with users who have similar Digging history, there's always the chance that you may not like some of the stories that are recommended. In this case, you can choose to remove that user from your Recommendation Engine. To do this, select a story that you dislike and click on the percentage shown for a user displayed in the 'Recommendation via' line. Anytime you click on a Compatibility percentage, you are taken to a filtered view that displays Recommendations filtered by that specific user. From here you can choose the option to 'Remove from your Recommendation Engine' and they will no longer show up in your list.
6. I accidentally removed a Digger from my Recommendation Engine. Can I add them back to my list?
   If you change your mind later about someone you have previously removed, you can add the user back through your Profile settings. At the top of the Digg page, click on the 'My Profile' link. Click on the 'Settings' tab, and then from the right-hand menu, click on 'Viewing Preferences'. There will be a green tab area titled 'Removed from your Recommendation Engine'. You can click on the 'Reinstate' button to add the user back to your Recommendation Engine. Note that this doesn't guarantee they will return to your list of 'Diggers Like You' but instead will allow for that possibility should you continue to Digg similar stories going forward.

Submitting

1. How do I submit a URL to Digg?
   To share a URL with the Digg community, you can submit a news article, video, or image URL using our easy to use submission form. We'll give you options to provide a headline, description, thumbnail, and the proper topic for your submission. You have to be signed into your Digg account to submit stories to Digg. If you want to submit a podcast to Digg, click on the "Add New Podcast" button on http://digg.com/podcasts.
2. I submitted a URL to Digg but didn't get an option to choose a thumbnail. Why not?
   We try to ensure that you can choose a thumbnail for all sites that are submitted to Digg. We allow you to choose a thumbnail for any image provided it is at least 80 pixels high or wide and in the .gif, .jpg, or .pct format. If you are a site owner, you can follow our Thumbnail Guidelines in the Digg Tools area to ensure that thumbnails will work. If you are a Digg user and think thumbnails should be available from a particular site, please let us know by sending us a bug report using our handy form. We appreciate your input in making sure our site is the best it can be.
3. I submitted a story and now it's gone. Where'd it go?
   New submissions live in the Upcoming section for between 12-24 hours, depending on the popularity of the topic they fall under. After 12-24 hours, if the story has not been promoted to the homepage (become Popular), it falls out of the queue.

   Submissions can also be removed by users with the "Bury Story" feature within Digg. Once a story receives enough "buries," it is automatically removed from the Digg Upcoming or Popular sections. The number of reports required to bury is based on a sliding scale that takes several factors into consideration (such as number of Diggs, reports, time of day, topic submitted to, Digging/burying diversity, etc.). Buried stories can still be found in the profiles of users who have Dugg or submitted the story. You can also find them by doing a search and checking "include buried stories."

4. What's your stance on submitted blogs that provide similar content to an originating source?
   When submitting content to Digg, please link directly to the originating source of that content. Blog posts are fine, as long as they're not plagiarized (see a definition of plagiarism) and don't just summarize the content. However, if any URL within Digg is consistently flagged as spam by the Digg community, that URL may be blocked from future submissions. The community often buries blogs that are simply set up to repurpose content and collect advertising dollars. This includes embedded videos hosted elsewhere that don't provide a related story.
5. Is it a duplicate story if I submit a similar story but from a different source?
   That isn't for us to decide. Sometimes there is a better story from another news outlet. We let our users determine that aspect of duplicate submissions. It is, however, a duplicate story if you submit the same story from the same source. We strongly discourage the submission of duplicate stories as it only steals credit from the first submitter. If we find abusive duplicate submission behavior from users, their accounts may be banned.
6. Can I submit non-English content?
   Digg is currently only an English-language content site. Please do not submit non-English content. We have plans to expand into other languages so if you would like to see Digg in your language, please email those requests to support@digg.com.
7. I have a story that I want to submit, but there is no topic for it. Can I submit it?
   No, if your content does not fall under any of Digg topics, then please do not submit it.
8. Can I submit porn, pr0n, or pornography?
   Any porn submissions will result in an immediate ban and/or account deletion. Moreover, while nudity isn't necessarily porn, it still violates our TOS. A good rule of thumb: if there's nudity, it's probably not a good idea to submit it. More often than not, it will result in an account ban.
9. How can I delete a story I submitted?
   Please contact support@digg.com to remove a story. Be sure to include the Digg URL of the story you want to remove. You must be the original submitter of the story to request a story's removal and you must email us from the email address associated with your Digg account.
10. How can I edit a story I submitted?
    Please contact support@digg.com to edit a story. Be sure to include the Digg URL of the story you want to edit as well as the updated title, category, or description. You must be the original submitter of the story to request an edit to a story and you must email us from the email address associated with your Digg account.

Profiles & Friends

1. How do I change my privacy settings on Digg?
   You can control what information to display and to whom to display it in the Privacy Settings option in your Profile when you're logged in.
2. Where can I manage the emails I receive from Digg?
   Digg will notify you when certain events happen on Digg, such as when another user befriends you or sends you a shout. If you want to manage which notification emails you receive, you can do so in the Email Preferences setting in your Profile.
3. Can I control whether other users can search for my Profile by my email address?
   Yes, we feel it's important to give you control over how people can connect with you on Digg. If you don't want others to search for you by your email address, you can manage this on the Privacy Settings page in your Profile.
4. How do I add and watch my friends' Digg activity?
   Having friends on Digg is one of the greatest ways to find stories you'll be interested in. To add a friend, visit the "Friends' Activity" tab of your user profile and click on the "Add Friends" link on the right side of the page. There you can find friends already on Digg by importing contacts from your Web mail or desktop address book. You can also search for current Digg users by username, email, name, or location or send an email invite to people who aren't yet on Digg. Once a friend has been added, you can track their Diggs in the "Friends' Activity" tab of your profile. In fact, you can track of all your friends' submissions, Diggs, and comments there.
5. How do I invite a friend?
   Inviting friends is easy — just click on any user name you see on Digg to go to that user's profile. Click the button next to their icon that says "Add Friend." You can also invite find your friends on Digg by visiting the "Friends' Activity" tab of your user profile and clicking on the "Add Friends" link on the right side of the page. There you can find friends already on Digg by importing contacts from your Web mail or desktop address book. You can also search for current Digg users by username, email, name, or location or send an email invite to people who aren't yet on Digg.
6. What does it mean to be a fan versus a mutual friend?
   If you add someone as a friend on Digg but they haven't reciprocated by adding you as a friend, then you are considered a fan of theirs. If you both add each other as a friend, you are then considered mutual friends. You can tell who you are fans or mutual friends with by looking at the icon under each person's name in the Friends list in your profile. Because people on Digg often like to follow those users with whom they have something in common, we designed relationships in this manner so that you would have the most flexibility in the types of connections you make with other users. Always remember that you can control your privacy settings to limit the display of personal info to everyone, just people you've added as friends, or nobody.
7. How do I report an abusive offensive photo in another person's Profile?
   If you feel that a photo in another user's Profile violates the Digg Terms of Use, you can notify us by clicking on the "report image as inappropriate" link on the right side of any photo page.
8. How many photos can I upload to my Profile?
   Each Digg account can upload up to 25 photos to their profile to share with other Digg users. Also, make sure that each photo you upload is no larger than 1MB.

Spam

1. Does Digg differentiate between spam and spamming?
   Spam is very subjective. Many times, the spammer honestly doesn't think they are spammers, so we generally leave that up to the Digg community to decide with the report/bury feature. We may delete users who blatantly and consistently submit obvious spam. Additionally, comment spam is against our TOS and will result in an account ban or deletion, depending on the severity. Submission spamming is different because it may be quality content but the submitter is "spamming" every story from their blog/site. While we welcome users to submit their own content, overdoing it often incites the users to mark the user as a spammer, the site as a spam site, and otherwise decent content as blogspam. We recommend considering this before you engage in this activity. Remember, if domains are consistently buried and reported as spam, the site may be banned.
2. There is a user spamming Digg, either with stories or comments, where can I report him?
   Please report any/all abuse to abuse@digg.com. Be sure to include the Digg URL of the spammer's profile, the Digg URL of his or her story, or the Digg URL of his or her comment. Also make sure to email us from the email address associated with your Digg account.
3. Does Digg remove stories?
   Only if they're in violation of our TOS. Otherwise, the Digg community is responsible for removing stories that are spam, duplicates, lame, inaccurate, or submitted to the wrong topic.
4. I found an exploit on Digg, what should I do?
   We take exploit reports very seriously and would like to work with you to make Digg as secure as possible. Please do not submit your exploit as a story. Contact us at abuse@digg.com and provide as much detail as you can about how to reproduce the exploit. It would be helpful if you email us from the email address associated with your Digg account.

Other ways to access Digg

1. How can I post a story on my blog?
   Digg currently supports single-click blog posting to Typepad, Blogger, Live Journal, Moveable Type, and Wordpress. To blog any story within Digg, simply click "Blog This." If your blog isn't from one of the services above, you can manually input your blog information.
2. How do I add Digg news to my website?
   You can add two types of Digg news to your website-Digg Popular news and Digg user news. To add either, click "Digg tools" in the footer of any page. Then click "Add Digg News to Your Site."
3. How does RSS work on Digg?
   Almost every function that you perform on Digg is stored in a unique RSS feed, so you can subscribe to an almost endless number of feeds. For example, you can subscribe to an RSS for specific users, friends, topic, searches, and the Upcoming and Popular sections. Subscribe to Digg RSS feeds.
4. Is there a mobile version of Digg?
   The official mobile (beta) version of Digg can be found at diggriver.com. You may Digg stories from the app but you must create an account first on digg.com. We also have a version for Apple's iPhone at digg.com/iphone.
5. What is Digg Spy?
   Digg Spy is a realtime snapshot of Digg activity — submissions, Diggs, buries, and comments. However, because of the large amount of activity on Digg, Spy can only show a fraction of it. It allows you to watch what's happening on Digg as it happens. You can use Digg Spy in the Popular section, the Upcoming section, or both simultaneously. Remember, Digg Spy is only a sample of the activity on Digg, and by no means is a complete representation of all activity on the site.
6. What's the point of Digg labs and what can I find there?
   Digg moves very quickly, with many stories submitted every day, so good material can sometimes fly by before you know it. Digg Labs projects, including Big Spy, Stack, Swarm, and our newest app Arc, enable you to look beneath the surface of the Digg community's activity.

   Big Spy provides a visual representation of current stories being Dugg as they drop from the top of the screen, showing more popular stories in a larger text size. Big Spy is a flash version of Digg Spy, which is a Web-based tool that highlights Diggs, buries, comments, and submissions on the site.

   Digg Stack shows Diggs occurring in real time on up to 100 stories at once. Diggs fall from above and stack up on popular stories. Brightly colored stories have more Diggs. The visualization has three modes: all activity, popular, and newly submitted stories.

   Digg Swarm draws a circle for stories as they're Dugg. Diggers swarm around stories and make them grow. Brightly colored stories have more Diggs. The visualization has three modes: all activity, popular, and newly submitted stories.

   Arc shows the latest Digg activity across stories and topics. On the outside of the animation are individual stories, with thickness indicating the relative popularity of that story against its peers. Arcs are generated between stories as the same user Diggs multiple stories — highlighting the types of stories that each individual user is interested in. Arc is unique because it provides a view of the topic and subtopic-level activity and the stories below that topic, presenting a dynamic pie chart of activity on Digg.