Written by Philip Roy | 18 July 2008
Posted in News - Site

Welcome to the revised and re-launched (after 'slight technical difficulties' with a different system) review section of NZiPhone.com....and what a relaunch it is!! The new component that has been used brings about far more functionality and review-y goodness than I could have hoped for, meaning that users will be able to interact and comment on all the listings appearing in the review section, as well as add their own listings that include web links, summaries, descriptions, images and more.

Here is an example of a listing. Listing information provides all users with details of the product and how to find and/or buy it on the web. Each product can have up to 4 images uploaded to be viewed by users. The review information provides a summary of both individual and cumulative evaluations, with users able to search by type (iPod Touch or iPhone), price, popularity of votes and more (additional features will appear shortly).

 

The screen shot below shows how images can be clicked on and viewed in greater detail...

 

 

Not only is every registered user able to add their review to an existing listing, but users can vote as to the usefulness of user's reviews.

 

Placing a new product in the Reviews section

The whole process is incredibly easy, but the first important part is getting the information about the product entered into the review section.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THE PRODUCT YOU WISH TO REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN PLACED IN THE REVIEW SECTION ALREADY.

Your initial entry for a new product will include an opportunity for you to review the product (the submission form has two sections, as seen on the right). Others who wish to review an existing listing, can just add their review to form a cumulative evaluation of the product.

Anyone who is a registered user of the site can enter a product in to the Reviews section, but it is important to emphasise that this section of the site has not been established for product developers (please see the FAQs at the end of this article).

Start by going to the Reviews section and looking through the listings already available (you'll note that you can search, navigate or search alphabetically to check)...

Once you are happy the item isn't listed, find the"Add new listing" link (this won't be visible if you are not logged in)...

A page appears where you can put a lot of detail (as seen in the image on the right-hand side of this page discussed previously) about the product, including its name, the company/developer that made it, the version, a link to the product website, a link to its listing in iTunes, the cost, currency for that monetary value and a product summary.

This form has two areas...the product detail section and an opportunity for you to review the product. Please understand that this entry will represent this product to others. Try and put as much detail in the entry as you can for the benefit of all site users. Entries lacking a lot of detail will not be published. Note that the summary field is limited to 80 words. When reviews are published on the main page, the summary information will be listed as the introductory text.

It is also possible to upload up to 4 images that will be listed with the product. This is very handy if the product is an iPhone or iPod Touch application as users can see what the application looks like.

Finally, submit the entry for the product and the administrator of the website will be notified, will review the entry and then publish it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I rate and/or review a product that is listed?

Log in to the website and go to the listing of that product in the Reviews section. At the bottom of each individual listing you will find an area for rating and reviewing the product. Click on the "Write review" link to rate and comment on the product...

Your comments will be sent to the site administrator for review and publishing.

How do I get the URL for an iTunes link?

You need to open iTunes and navigate to the screen that lists the product in detail, as you can see in the example below...

Then, right-click (control-click for Mac users) on the name of the product and a small pop-up option "Copy iTunes Store URL" will appear and can be selected as you see below...

Can I (as the owner of a business that makes iPhone and/or iPod Touch related products) enter my products into the review section?

No. That would be free advertising and an attempt to generate reviews from the users of this site. If you would like to get users of the site to review your product you should read this page that provides a way to get free reviews on NZiPhone.com. Note that products reviewed under this process will be given promotion within the Reviews section by being listed as a "Featured Review"

Can I (as the owner of a business that makes iPhone and/or iPod Touch related products) review my own product (that someone else has entered) or products made by others...even if they have nothing to do with the business I run?

No. It is not appropriate to review your own product. Reviewing other products may also be seen as a conflict of interest, so therefore, this is not permitted.

Someone has entered product details but I'm the owner/creator of that product and have noted mistakes. Can the entry be altered?

The owner of the NZiPhone.com is prepared to correct important factual information about products. However entries are created by users of the site and are not there for companies to critique. Please do not contact NZiPhone.com if simply do not like the summary or a review of your product, if there has been a minor versions change or change of price. At the time the entry was submitted, it is assumed the users provided the correct factual information and have reviewed the product appropriately. Please use the contact form if you are overly concerned about your product listing. If you are interested in getting your product reviewed for free, see http://www.nziphone.com/the-review-process.html.

The software I entered has been updated to a new version. How do I get the entry updated?

You don't. Many of the applications are being updated regularly as bugs are discovered. If you feel there has been such a significant change to a product such as a new version bringing in new features, then please submit an entirely new entry, putting the version number in the product title (e.g. "Product v2").

In software terms, it would be expected that a product will be listed as one entry for versions 1.x (e.g., 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 etc) and perhaps listed a new entry for version 2.x and so on.

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