The Top 100 Help > 

Home & Zones Tabs

After choosing Home from the Main Menu, your browser will initially display the What's Hot! list. Below the main menu, you can also select tabs that display All Lists, All Groups, All People and All New Ideas.

In specific Zones, the layout is very similar. You can browse to What's Hot! (all the latest things of interest) and to Lists, Groups, People and New Ideas for that Zone. You'll also notice the Zone Forum tab, which will take you to the discussion forum for the zone.

Breadcrumb Trails

As you browse around the site you will notice a 'breadcrumb trail' is displayed on most pages below the tabs. This is both an indication of your current location and another way of 'surfing': Click any element in the breadcrumb to 'step back' up the trail.

Search

If you are looking for something specific on The Top 100 then it's worth typing a search query into the box at the top of any page.

The list of search results indicates what kind of 'item' is returned (List, Group, Person, etc.), and allows you to view more information about each result, give your opinions as in any other list, or browse directly to the item in its parent list.

Hyperlinks

There are numerous links to other parts of the site on each page.

Because of the number, the site convention is for links to be highlighted by an underline, only when the cursor moves over the link text. There are, however, some exceptions where the underline is permanently displayed.

My Top 100 Menu

The My Top 100 area has its own menu, with the options arranged on the left-hand side of the screen. Simply select each one with the mouse to view in the central panel.

(See the Quick tour of My Top 100 for more details)

Forum Pages

Forum Pages are laid out in a similar fashion to this Help Topics page. You can see Topic titles in the left-hand panel and use the double-arrows to move them into the central panel to view the posts.

Use the link at the top to start new topics, and the icon tools for adding, editing, deleting or replying to posts.

Group Pages

Like the Forum and Help Topics pages, Group pages have a left-hand summary and a central viewing area.

There are four panels for viewing, which consist of About the Group, Group Members, Lists shared with the group, and a preview of and link to the Group Forum. The group administrator will also be able to see the Group Settings section.

List Pages

The main activity screen that you will use in The Top 100 displays the List in the left-hand panel (List pane), with the currently selected Item in that List in the right-hand panel (Item pane).

You will notice that the selected Item is always bold and in the Zone colour of the List it is in.

To select a different Item in the List and view facts about it, click the blue 'Fast Facts' button.

In a list of Zones, for example, when a Zone is selected in the List pane, information about that Zone will be shown in the Item pane. In the same way, Lists can be shown in a List, and when the List is selected in the List pane, information about that List will be shown in the Item pane.

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Facts & Opinions

The Item Pane contains both Facts and Opinions about the selected item. There are four sections that can be expanded: Facts, Ratings, Reviews and List Forum.

List Filtering

A powerful The Top 100 feature is the ability to derive a huge number of 'sub-lists' from a parent list, using the Filter Bar at the top of the page. For example, select 'Action' from the filter 'Genre' to create The Top 100 Action Films.

List Paging

The default display is for all Top 100 items in a list. However, it's possible to divide this into smaller page sizes, using the list pager below the List Pane. Use the [+] and [-] buttons to choose a page size (10, 25, 50 or 100), and then click which part of the list you wish to view.

Top 100 List Name Prefixes

The prefix to a Top 100 list tells you about its status.  If it is called “My Top 100 …”, then it is a list that YOU created.  It could be a private list, or one that you may have shared with other people or groups.

A list created by someone else and shared with you will have their name at the beginning, e.g. "Dennis' Top 100 …”. You'll see that all the lists that have been submitted to the New Ideas lists look like this.

Finally, if the list is called “The Top 100 …”, then it is a Global list – in other words, it's a definitive list on that subject and belongs to everyone! Only the most popular New Ideas get accepted as Global lists, after which they are displayed in one of the public Zones.

 

My Lists

This is where you can see your own lists that you have created, and other people's lists that have been shared with you, along with a short description about each list's content. Use the New List button to launch the New List Wizard and start new lists.

You can see at a glance the status of the list - Personal, Submitted or Global - and the list owner. For your own lists you can use the Edit link to go directly to the List Settings panel.

You can remove other people's lists from My Lists, and delete your own personal lists. Global and Submitted lists are in the public domain, however, and cannot be deleted.

My Activity

In this section you can view running totals and a log of all the activities that you have performed around the site. It also shows things that other people have done for which you receive credit, such as their votes on items you have created.

These totals accumulate and count towards your Voter and Zone ranks.

My Aliases

You can have multiple aliases connected to your user account. In this way, you can manage the disclosure of your opinions, your activities and your personal information among your contacts and the wider community.

Click on the name or the Edit link to manage an Alias. You can change the picture, and set your main 'default' alias (the one that you use the most).

Most importantly, it is on this panel that you determine what information other people may see about you on the People pages. Use the drop-down lists on the form to set visibility for each of your Profile fields to 'no one', 'contacts only', or 'everyone.'

Use the Zone Settings button to assign your Aliases to specific zones - so, for example, you can be viewed as “Sport Billy” in the Sports Zone, but “Brainy Bill” in the Philosophy Zone. Your current alias will switch automatically when you enter an allocated zone.

My Messages

This is your The Top 100 inbox, where you will find any messages that have been sent to you. The main types of messages you will receive are:

• Friend Message – these are general messages that you have received from contacts in your contact list.

• Group Message – this is a broadcast message to all members of a Group

• Invitation To Be A Contact – as its name suggests, this is an invitation sent by someone wanting to make you a contact of theirs.

You can start writing a new message simply by clicking on the “New Message…” button. You can then choose which contacts you want to send the message to. Alternatively, you can choose a Contact Type (e.g. Extended Family), and your message will go to everyone in that list. You can also send a message to all members of one of your groups.

Then, give the message a Subject and type your message in the Message box. Finally, press the Send button to deliver the message.

You can also view your Sent Items by clicking on the appropriate link.

My Progression

Here you will see the Voter and Zone Ranks that you have achieved in the course of using the site. Click on an rank to display the progression history.

Remember, higher ranks mean greater weight of opinion!

My Profile

This is information about you. Here, you can add your contact details and other information about yourself (your name, date of birth and email address are mandatory fields). Not everyone can see your details. In fact, using your Alias permissions you can choose exactly who sees what. For example, you might wish to use one Alias to connect with business contacts and share your work-related information, while using another for personal connections.

In this section, you can also change your access password to the site.

My Favourites

As the name suggests, this area is where you can view links to your favourite things around The Top 100 site. Favourites are a great way of creating a shortcut to something, so that you only need to find it in “My Favourites” and click on it, to view the particular thing you want.

Any list, item, zone, group or person can be added to your favourites, simply by clicking the Add to favourites icon: where you see the thing you want to keep track of. You can even add filtered lists so you retain your desired search criteria.

By Clicking on the Edit link, you can add Tags to your Favourites to orgainse them, and to help other people find things they are looking for.

My Contacts  

This is where you can see all the people you have met around the site.  To appear in My Contacts, you would have had to add them as a contact in the first place.  This is done by

1. locating the person you wish to connect with on the People page, or using Search
2. clicking the contact tool in the Facts panel and sending a contact request
3. awaiting approval from your new contact

You may also view your contacts in the standard List format by clicking on the button at the bottom of the grid.

By clicking a contact's name or on the 'Edit' link you can assign them to your Contact Types, allow them to know you by your other aliases, and send them a message.

You can also delete the alias from your contacts list, or stop receiving messages by using the 'block' button (the other person will not be aware that their messages are blocked and any messages that they do send will be delivered to you if you unblock them).

My Contact Types

Here is where you can assign your contacts to one or more 'type.' Contact Types can be used for assigning collective permissions, such as sharing lists, or as distribution lists for messaging.

There are some contact types to choose from by default, or you can add your own. You can also determine which of your aliases each set of people can know you as, without having to make another Contact connection.

My Groups  

This is the list of Groups of which you are a member. It is also one of the places from where you can start a new group (click the New Group button). If a group listed is one that you personally founded, you'll see an Edit link that will take you directly to the Group settings panel.

My Notepad

My Notepad is exactly that - a handy place to jot down personal reminders!

Votes & Stances

The quickest and simplest way to register your view is to use the Voting Buttons that are displayed next to each item in a list (and also next to the item's name in the Facts panel). When you vote on an item, this establishes your 'Stance' - that is, your view on whether you think the item should move.

Your stance is saved automatically, so you'll be able to see instantly which items you have voted on in a list whenever you return.

If you think an item is too low in the list, relative to its neighbours, click the Up arrow on the voting buttons to give it a positive influence.

If you think an item is too high in the list, click the Down arrow to give it a negative nudge.

Finally, if you think an item is fairly ranked as it is, you can click the 'Remain' button to indicate that it should hold its position.

If you have voted accidentally and want to clear your stance, click the small 'X' to the left of the buttons.

While you can vote any number of times on an item, you only ever have one stance, and it is only your stance that influences an item's ranking. Clicking repeatedly will have no effect other than to refresh a stance (see Weight Of Opinion below).

Ratings

While votes & stances express a view of an item's relative position, Ratings are a more fundamental, subjective assessment of an item's qualities.

Each list has a range of ratings criteria on which you can evaluate each individual item. Because no two Top 100 lists are the same, these criteria are different for every list, allowing a much more detailed and appropriate measure of inherent quality.

Films are just not the same as Historical Battles!

Click the 'rate this' button to enter your own rating assessment. The higher the overall rating that you give an item the more positive effect it will have on that item's ranking.

In addition, the presence of a rating will also enhance the value of your stance.

Reviews

The third way of giving your opinion on an item is to write a free format review.

This is a space for you to make an assessment of a particular item, and you may only write one review on it. You can, however, update that review at any time, if you change your view for some reason. Note that your current alias will be displayed next to your review, and if there are numerous reviews, yours will be displayed to you in 'zone colour.'

Click on the Review button and enter a title and the text of your review. If you do go to the trouble of writing a review, this significantly enhances the ranking value of both your Stances and your Ratings.

Weight Of Opinion

There are two additional factors that influence the value of your opinion on any item:

• your Voter & Zone ranks
• 'time decay'

Voter & Zone Ranks

As your voter rank goes up with your experience around The Top 100 site, your weight of opinion increases accordingly. In addition, where you have achieved a higher zone rank in a particular area of interest, your opinions have greater weight within that specific zone.

Time Decay

As a general rule, and all other things being equal, a more recent opinion is more timely and more valuable than one given hours, days, weeks or years earlier.

Weight of your opinions therefore decrease over time, and you can see this visually in the brightness of your stance, rating and review icons. Also, if you hover the mouse pointer over the icons you will notice a "Heat: " indicator for your opinion, ranging from 10 (hot) to 0 (cold).

Different lists will have varying time decay settings - The Top 100 News Stories, for instance, will inherently age much faster than The Top 100 Wines - and the effects of time decay will be that much more noticeable.

Creating a List

To start a brand new Top 100 list go to your My Top 100 area, and select My Lists. Click the New List button to launch the New List wizard.

In the first step of the wizard enter a name for your new list (you don't need to add "My Top 100" at the beginning, the system will take care of this), and add a description if you wish.

The second step allows you to add Fact Types to your Facts Template. You will most likely have seen that items in different Top 100 lists have different information categories - this is where you start to define the structure of your new list by laying out the details to be displayed for each item.

Step 3 allows you to enter Characteristics. These are qualities about your list items that people will use to subjectively rate items on.

For both Fact Types and Characteristics there is a site library available for you to select from or just get ideas. However, you don't need to add everything at the list creation stage - you can always change things later.

The final, confirmation step of the wizard gives you the option to go to the List Settings where you can configure a variety of options. Otherwise, just go straight to your new list and start entering items!

For more advanced information about Lists, see More Detail on Lists.

 

Submitting a List to New Ideas

Top 100 Global Lists are selected from the most popular suggestions. If you think that your list would appeal to other people, and it has at least 25 items in it, you can submit it to the New Ideas list.

To Submit your list, go to List Settings and:

• 1.) Click the 'Submit this list' tab
• 2.) Select the Zone that is most appropriate for your list (if you're not sure, use the Twilight Zone)
• 3.) Click the Submit button

Please consider carefully what lists you wish to make public - by Submitting a list you are sharing it with Everybody!