Frequently Asked Questions


This page is the joint contribution of many members - those who asked the questions and those who answered them! There are too many to mention individually, but I'd like to give special thanks to GoAskAlice, the Admin, and to PhredWreck ("The Lamb") and MysDianaIT, all of whom have made valuable contributions (whether they were aware of it or not!)



Where do I find my earnings?
Your total earnings to date are displayed at the top left of the page, next to your avatar. They are updated at intervals, several times a day. When you click on the figure shown, you are taken to a page which shows a daily breakdown. Days which are not shown are days on which you earned nothing.
Toward the bottom of the Earnings Detail page, there is a link to the Earnings Program FAQ. This answers most of the questions people have about earnings but, for clarification, I have added the answers to a couple of the more commonly asked ones here.
How do I earn money here?
The first thing to understand is that MyLot is NOT a 'pay-per-post' site!
There is NO set amount for a Discussion, Response, Comment, Like or View.

Unlike a number of other sites, what you earn is based on your total 'activity' and participation - posting discussions, responding to others' discussions and commenting in your own and other people's discussions. It is also influenced by how other members interact with you. The more interaction from others (Responses, Comments and Likes, for example) you get, the more it will increase your earnings.

The most effective way of earning from MyLot is to:  
  • develop your circle of friends by responding intelligently to discussions which interest you; 
  • post intelligent and useful discussion topics which encourage others to respond with at least a couple of lines of relevant information and 
  • comment on the responses you get with more than just "Thanks for responding".
 The Earnings Algorithm is complex (and secret) and the exact details of how it works are not divulged.  Any discussion on how it works is discouraged, at least, and may result in the discussion being removed. The basic information (as given above) is all taken from the published FAQs.
Where do I enter my Payment Information?
In the box containing your username and avatar at the top left of any page, click on Settings (and then on Account, if it is not already on that page). In the second field, marked PayPal Email, enter the email you have chosen as your login for PayPal. This need not be the same as the Email you use for the first field, which is for communications from MyLot.

In order to be paid, you MUST have a PayPal account. If you haven't got one, it is easy and quick to set one up and you can be assured that PayPal is a very safe and secure method of receiving and sending money. It is best, especially if you want to access your money (!), to have a 'verified' PayPal account. This means linking your PayPal account to a bank or credit card so that you can transfer funds between them. This is very simple and completely safe and involves PayPal making, usually, two small deposits (of less than one unit of your currency) into the account you specify. You will then look at your statement, see the deposits and enter the two amounts as a four digit number into the appropriate Verification screen. Depending on your country, the Verification procedure may be different from above: always follow the instructions given on the PayPal Verification screen.

NOTE: There are some countries where PayPal is either limited or not available. Unfortunately, MyLot will not be able to pay you if you live in one of these countries. In that case, MyLot will hold your balance until such time as PayPal open a facility in your country. Please note that it is strictly illegal to provide false information (either to PayPal or to MyLot) in order to open a PayPal account. MyLot is able to see which country you are from, even if you enter false information when joining!

How do you add friends so you can message them? In this new MyLot, it seems that the default setting is that everyone can message us. Is it risky to keep it open? Will I be vulnerable to viruses?
By default, any member may now message any other member unless one member is blocked by the other. However, if a member has selected " Only those I follow can message me " you will not be able to send them a message unless that person has clicked " Follow " on your profile. If they have selected " No one can message me ", then the only way of communicating with them is through responses and comments in the Discussion area.
It is no more risky to leave the option at the default (" Anyone can message me, except for those I've blocked ") than it is to use the site in general. The messaging system is a simple, text-based one and cannot carry code or viruses of any kind. Even URLs are not (currently) automatically converted to hyperlinks, so there is less risk of clicking on a dangerous link than there is in a discussion, response or comment in the main Discussion area. As with any social networking site of this nature (including, of course, Twitter, Facebook and others), you should always have a reputable, up-to-date Antivirus program installed and you should always be wary of clicking any link which you do not know to be trustworthy.

When you 'like' a post, does it benefit anyone?
The value of 'liking' is that the person posting it and others can see that the post was, presumably, helpful to the person who 'liked' it. The 'likes' rating is one of the factors used in deciding where a post ranks in the "Explore - Top Rated Posts".'Liking' a discussion, response or comment also has some effect on earnings. It is probably true to say, however, that intentional and repeated abuse of the 'Like' button will be detected and will be punished!

Does 'liking' and tagging (even without responding or commenting) mean those discussions will show up in your activity or in the interesting section?
'Liking', as mentioned above, affects how a post ranks in the Top Rated Discussions. It also increases the total of the "Likes [received]" shown on any person's profile.

Tagging affects the discussions which YOU see under " Interesting Posts ". That list is based on the tags you have entered most often (and which are listed when you click on " Me ")

What is the 'Suggest' button for and how do you use it?
'Suggest' is used to recommend a post to someone who is "following" you (to the best of my knowledge, it does NOT include people you are following, as, perhaps, it should!). When you click on it, you will see a list of eligible people in alphabetical order of username with a 'Suggest' button next to each one. If someone else has already 'suggested' that post to a person on your list, you will see 'Suggested' against their name and you won't be able to send a suggestion again.

How are responses and comments organised on a discussion page?
Responses are listed as 'Most recent first' (and the 'time ago' or date, if earlier than today, are shown in grey to the right of each). Comments are listed, first, under the response or comment they relate to and then in 'reverse time' order. 
How do I see all the comments under each response box? I don't always see the "Show all comments" underneath a response.
If you don't see "Show all comments", then you are already seeing all the comments there are. To see any comments which are hidden, simply click on "Show all comments" where it appears.


How do I view a person's activity? 
Simply click on anyone's username anywhere to view their profile. By default, this shows all of the posts, responses and comments they have made in reverse date order. You can select to see only posts, responses or comments they have made, and also lists of what 'Likes' and 'Mentions' they have received (a 'mention' is when their username is referred to in any post preceded by an '@' symbol).

Why does the Menu Bar cover the top few lines of a page?
 This usually happens if you have an Ad Blocking plug-in installed. You should turn off your Ad blocker, at least for MyLot pages. You may well find ads irritating but remember that MyLot earns its money from displaying ads and if you block them, you are depriving MyLot (and therefore yourself) from a small amount of income. It is not difficult to learn to ignore the ads and you don't have to feel you have to click on them (unless one really interests you): MyLot earns money from displaying them and clicking ads simply in an attempt to make them 'pay more' may actually do more harm than good!

25 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info. I greatly appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great resource for MyLot newbies. Appreciate your comprehensive online guide. Tah

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank You this has been very informative in answering some questions I had.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am not able to use the 'discussions', feature of Mylot. It is supposed to be accessed through a grey pencil on the right of the search box. but I am not able to even see the complete search box on the toolbar. Any help on how to 'unravel', the 'grey pencil', will be gr8.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What device, operating system and browser are you using? If you are using a smart phone, it sounds as if you need to adjust the browser to the screen size or scroll across. MyLot can be used on a small screen but it is at its best on a PC. If you have an ad blocking plug-in, there is a known 'bug' and you should turn ad blocking off for MyLot pages.

      Delete
    2. I am using a PC, the feature is being covered by a Googleads ad!, Wonder how I can block it?

      Delete
    3. If an ad is misplaced and covers part of the menu bar, your browser is not functioning correctly.

      Try the following:
      1) Check your display settings
      As Red Rocker 16 August 2015 at 11:15 commented:

      Also many people have their display settings wrong. Shrinking the page to 100% (some people have it at 125%) will help, also display resolution should be 1280 x 720 or higher. I have had several people say this solved the problem when I suggested it to them, but definitely shut off the adblocker.

      2) Use another browser. If you have the same problem, then (1) above is the likely problem.

      3) Check that you have the latest version of your browser. Updating to the latest version may solve the problem. Completely uninstalling the browser and reinstalling it may also be necessary.

      MyLot will NOT display correctly if you are using an ad blocker. If you are blocking some ads and not others, then it is impossible to predict what will happen!

      Delete
  5. Excellent resource. I will spread this around a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Also many people have their display settings wrong. Shrinking the page to 100% (some people have it at 125%) will help, also display resolution should be 1280 x 720 or higher. I have had several people say this solved the problem when I suggested it to them, but definitely shut off the adblocker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Red Rocker. This was clearly a reply to 'Anonymous' above, so I'll copy it there.

      Delete
  7. Always seem to find something I don't know or are not sure of.

    ReplyDelete
  8. i cant find anywhere on mylot page pencil to start my topic descusion .... it say click on the grey pencil in the upper right-hand corner of this page ... but i cant find it there :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Miha! If you are on a PC, you need to make sure that your screen resolution - in Windows Display Settings - is set to no more than 100%. If it is higher than that, the pencil icon is off screen.

      Delete
  9. Hey,
    Is there a way to delete messages? I have some from years ago. I had forgotten all about the site. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Trenna. If you open the message and pass the cursor over the OPPOSITE side of it to the small avatar/icon, you will see a rather small and faint trash can. Click on that and the message will be deleted.

      Unfortunately, you will have to delete every separate message individually. There is no way of deleting a whole series of messages from one correspondence.

      Delete
  10. I'm not sure if I'm asking the right person on here about this question but here it goes
    there's a extra window that keeps popping up after a few mins being on the site is
    there something I need to do to make it stop it don't happen on any other site I'm on
    but this one I was just wondering what was up with that email me with reply please thanx

    ReplyDelete
  11. very informative.It should solve the issue many of us are facing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Still a useful resource, this one, praise where praise is due - Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Very useful for a new comer on My Lot... Thanks for the effort.!

    ReplyDelete
  14. If i delete a Discussion will i lose my earnings made from that discussion?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No earnings are deducted when a post is deleted.

      Delete
  15. Hello.

    Could you please tell me how to slough off myLot members who are following me? There are a lot of them who have never spoken to me and I see no reason for them to be following me. (It actually appears that they come to myLot thinking the site is like Fb where the more followers you have the more popular? you are. I won't follow them back unless I like interacting with them.)

    Thank you for your reply.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The only way to remove 'Followers' is to go to each profile individually, click on 'Block', refresh the screen and click on 'Unblock' (assuming that you don't really want to block them, just stop them following you).

    Strictly speaking, unless you often want to suggest discussions to those who are following you, there's no real need to cull your 'Followers' list. They do no harm (especially if they are not involved in your discussions) and there is no need to follow anyone back, of course, unless you like interacting with them.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave a comment. Comments are moderated to prevent spamming. Please do NOT post a link to any other site unless it is relevant to this topic!