I have opened the application, now what?
When you open the application an image of what is in front of you will be shown. Possibly some tags may show up on this image. You may click on the screen to write your own message.
I have held my finger on the screen and a menu appeared, what is that?
That menu only appears if you are a registered user and allows you to select whether you want to publish a public tag, a tag seen just by yourself or by another person.
And how do I register?
To register you must enter a valid email address and a password in the Login page in the Settings. After submitting you will receive an email message prompting you to activate your account.
When I try to use the application I keep on receiving an “inactive user” message: what should I do?
In order to activate your account you should click on the link in the email that was sent to the email address that you used to register and then login again.
Most probably you did not click the activation link or you did not receive the email. This latter case could depend on the action of your anti-spam device: if you can please investigate your email spam folder to retrieve the email or insert domain opus38.register.it in your white list and login again with the old email address and password in order to receive your activation email again.
If nothing of this is possible or you forgot your password before activating your account, please contact the developer from the email address having problems so to allow him to solve the problem or to clean up. Of course, for privacy reasons, he may not operate on another email address respect the one by which he was contacted.
When I open the application after its installation nothing seems to work: what might be the problem?
Most probably the installation was unsuccessful; please delete the application from the iPhone and then copy it again from iTunes.
I registered and so I could access the Canvas panel, but I found it empty; what is the matter?
The Canvas panel lists your own tags; most probably you have not yet posted any.
I am sure I posted a message but the Canvas panel is still empty; what should I do?
The canvas page just lists the messages sent after authentication: most probably you posted your messages before registering. Try again now.
I posted a message but instead of a location it was labeled with the text ‘geotagging service non available’; what is the matter?
Virtual Tags employs the Google API’s to asses the location where a tag was posted on the base of the coordinates. Most probably your tag was posted in a remote place that google was not able as yet to target, or there was some temporary problem with the google service itself. To take into account this latter event, the application occasionally tries to automatically resolve again the unreferenced locations in the hope the problem has gone away or google has tagged the location. You will notice the fact as there will be some unexpected items in the spool.
The good news is that, if you do not want to wait, you may manually enter the missing information by opening the detail of the tag from the canvas. This will also save connection time and power as the application will no longer try to resolve it.
I forgot my password, does that mean that I lost control of all my tags?
Not at all! You may have a new password by clicking on the Reset Button in the login page by entering your email address to receive a temporary password you will be able to later change to one of your liking.
I am worried about sharing my password; may I trust?
Your password is never saved nor transferred in clear mode. Initially the https protocol warrants the secure transmission, afterward just an unreversible code - md5’ed - is exchanged and saved on our database.
I do not use any longer the email address I registered with, what can I do?
The email address my be changed in the Account page accessible from Settings panel. This page is just accessible to registered users. Once submitted you will receive an email message asking you to confirm your request. That page will also allow to change password and name.
What is the Prefetch Area slider in the Settings?
The application uses a cache area where it may store a number of tags further than those you may see. You may want to enlarge it if you are in area where you expect to find few tags, if you intend to go in an area without an internet connection or you have an expensive internet connection; you will probably decrease it when you have a unlimited and stable internet connection to reduce memory usage and be up-to-date with what happens around you, or if you are in a densely tagged area to reduce memory usage and speed operations.
Do I need to configure something to save postings where I am offline?
Not at all! The application automatically stores all messages that you post with all the information on the posting position to publish them as soon as an internet connection is available. Please note that your messages will appear in the canvas only after having been published.
What is the meaning of posting messages where there is no internet connection: who will see them?
Everyone that will be wise enough to extend her prefetch area before entering that no internet area.
The application crashed/was removed from memory: does it mean I have lost all the unsent messages?
The highly parallel nature of the application may create the conditions for occasional crashes where unforeseen conditions arise: asking you to send us informations on these unexpected terminations we reassure you that nothing of your precious tags will be lost. Messages will be saved into the permanent memory just after having been submitted, to be retrieved at the next restart.
The application crashed/was removed from memory and I am in a no internet area: does it mean I can see no messages any longer?
If you had included the tags by appropriately extending the prefetch area before the crash you have nothing to fear. The cache is regularly saved to permanent memory to be restored at the next restart.
I do not want to publish a message any longer: what can I do?
You may always remove the tag in the Canvas after it is published, but if you want to do it beforehand you may do so directly in the spool. To do that just click on the small bar that appears when there are messages to be delivered and remove the unwanted message in the window that opens. Messages in the process of being delivered may not be deleted.
I am sure I should see some tags around me, but I do not see them; what is the matter?
The most probable cause of this event is a freeze of the built in compass. Normally this should trigger the recalibrate pop-up, but this is not always the case. Empirical tests show that putting the application in the background, opening the built-in compass app, waiting for it to adjust, and then returning to the app solves the problem.
Another cause may be the impossibility of attaining the correct GPS coordinates: just check on the built-in maps app if that is the case. In that event try to find a better position or move outside.
A final possible cause may be that you have no internet connection and there is no prefetched tag in your area.
I am a political dissident/I live in a totalitarian country where there is no freedom of speech: may I use Virtual Tags to say what I want?
Virtual Tags allows to post anonymous tags of which there is no record about the author altogether, not even on your iPhone or on our databases.
Even non-anonymous messages may hide the email address of the author that will be just recorded with the message and the geographical information in a data repository in Italy and only revealed upon a request by the Italian law.
You may also use an email address that is not traceable to you, if you have this possibility, and use that to be contacted by other users. Of course, as it would be when writing on a real wall, the only care must be paid at the moment of posting when someone could see you doing the censored action. As for the transmission, that is performed using a encrypted channel (https) that may not be easily intercepted. If you fear to be extolled your iPhone, please remember to log-off from your Virtual Tags application before quitting, so to remove your personal data from the iPhone and make sure that the messages will not be shown to someone taking hold of your iPhone, if they were not anonymous and so visible in the applications Canvas.
I am afraid that Virtual Tags could be used as a way of communication for illegal business: is there this risk?
Of course Virtual Tags shares the same situation as all other free channels, and so this risk may not be totally excluded. Its paradigm, on the other hand, is that of the wall writing and I do not think anyone will be afraid that a wall might be used for illegal business: email is much more efficient! All the same Virtual Tags is of course subjected to the Italian law and so it will do whatever it will demand. In any event please let us know if you discover tags that you find objectively questionable and we will try to examine the issue by contacting the writer and possibly putting you in contact with him, if we can, or deleting the posting altogether if we agree with your point and we are not able to reach the poster.
I am disturbed/offended/slandered by a message posted in a familiar location/a location I often visit, what can I do?
Virtual Tags just offers a canvas big as the world where anyone may write, it is not a media provider and therefore is neither responsible nor in charge of revising what is posted: not having the objective possibility of assessing what is acceptable and what is not in different cultures either. It is subject just to the italian law: please read the previous point.
Anyway, as it happens in the real world, there is the possibility of responding suite by posting one or more tags in the same location so all but hiding the offending tag.
I am a fan of Virtual Tags and I would like to own objects inspired by that the way it happens with other apps like Angry Birds: it is possible?
Virtual Tags is currently developing a number of items inspired by the application and you start offering them on the web site soon. Occasionally some objects will be offered for free for specific supportive behaviours on the part of its users: so stay tuned!
When you open the application an image of what is in front of you will be shown. Possibly some tags may show up on this image. You may click on the screen to write your own message.
I have held my finger on the screen and a menu appeared, what is that?
That menu only appears if you are a registered user and allows you to select whether you want to publish a public tag, a tag seen just by yourself or by another person.
And how do I register?
To register you must enter a valid email address and a password in the Login page in the Settings. After submitting you will receive an email message prompting you to activate your account.
When I try to use the application I keep on receiving an “inactive user” message: what should I do?
In order to activate your account you should click on the link in the email that was sent to the email address that you used to register and then login again.
Most probably you did not click the activation link or you did not receive the email. This latter case could depend on the action of your anti-spam device: if you can please investigate your email spam folder to retrieve the email or insert domain opus38.register.it in your white list and login again with the old email address and password in order to receive your activation email again.
If nothing of this is possible or you forgot your password before activating your account, please contact the developer from the email address having problems so to allow him to solve the problem or to clean up. Of course, for privacy reasons, he may not operate on another email address respect the one by which he was contacted.
When I open the application after its installation nothing seems to work: what might be the problem?
Most probably the installation was unsuccessful; please delete the application from the iPhone and then copy it again from iTunes.
I registered and so I could access the Canvas panel, but I found it empty; what is the matter?
The Canvas panel lists your own tags; most probably you have not yet posted any.
I am sure I posted a message but the Canvas panel is still empty; what should I do?
The canvas page just lists the messages sent after authentication: most probably you posted your messages before registering. Try again now.
I posted a message but instead of a location it was labeled with the text ‘geotagging service non available’; what is the matter?
Virtual Tags employs the Google API’s to asses the location where a tag was posted on the base of the coordinates. Most probably your tag was posted in a remote place that google was not able as yet to target, or there was some temporary problem with the google service itself. To take into account this latter event, the application occasionally tries to automatically resolve again the unreferenced locations in the hope the problem has gone away or google has tagged the location. You will notice the fact as there will be some unexpected items in the spool.
The good news is that, if you do not want to wait, you may manually enter the missing information by opening the detail of the tag from the canvas. This will also save connection time and power as the application will no longer try to resolve it.
I forgot my password, does that mean that I lost control of all my tags?
Not at all! You may have a new password by clicking on the Reset Button in the login page by entering your email address to receive a temporary password you will be able to later change to one of your liking.
I am worried about sharing my password; may I trust?
Your password is never saved nor transferred in clear mode. Initially the https protocol warrants the secure transmission, afterward just an unreversible code - md5’ed - is exchanged and saved on our database.
I do not use any longer the email address I registered with, what can I do?
The email address my be changed in the Account page accessible from Settings panel. This page is just accessible to registered users. Once submitted you will receive an email message asking you to confirm your request. That page will also allow to change password and name.
What is the Prefetch Area slider in the Settings?
The application uses a cache area where it may store a number of tags further than those you may see. You may want to enlarge it if you are in area where you expect to find few tags, if you intend to go in an area without an internet connection or you have an expensive internet connection; you will probably decrease it when you have a unlimited and stable internet connection to reduce memory usage and be up-to-date with what happens around you, or if you are in a densely tagged area to reduce memory usage and speed operations.
Do I need to configure something to save postings where I am offline?
Not at all! The application automatically stores all messages that you post with all the information on the posting position to publish them as soon as an internet connection is available. Please note that your messages will appear in the canvas only after having been published.
What is the meaning of posting messages where there is no internet connection: who will see them?
Everyone that will be wise enough to extend her prefetch area before entering that no internet area.
The application crashed/was removed from memory: does it mean I have lost all the unsent messages?
The highly parallel nature of the application may create the conditions for occasional crashes where unforeseen conditions arise: asking you to send us informations on these unexpected terminations we reassure you that nothing of your precious tags will be lost. Messages will be saved into the permanent memory just after having been submitted, to be retrieved at the next restart.
The application crashed/was removed from memory and I am in a no internet area: does it mean I can see no messages any longer?
If you had included the tags by appropriately extending the prefetch area before the crash you have nothing to fear. The cache is regularly saved to permanent memory to be restored at the next restart.
I do not want to publish a message any longer: what can I do?
You may always remove the tag in the Canvas after it is published, but if you want to do it beforehand you may do so directly in the spool. To do that just click on the small bar that appears when there are messages to be delivered and remove the unwanted message in the window that opens. Messages in the process of being delivered may not be deleted.
I am sure I should see some tags around me, but I do not see them; what is the matter?
The most probable cause of this event is a freeze of the built in compass. Normally this should trigger the recalibrate pop-up, but this is not always the case. Empirical tests show that putting the application in the background, opening the built-in compass app, waiting for it to adjust, and then returning to the app solves the problem.
Another cause may be the impossibility of attaining the correct GPS coordinates: just check on the built-in maps app if that is the case. In that event try to find a better position or move outside.
A final possible cause may be that you have no internet connection and there is no prefetched tag in your area.
I am a political dissident/I live in a totalitarian country where there is no freedom of speech: may I use Virtual Tags to say what I want?
Virtual Tags allows to post anonymous tags of which there is no record about the author altogether, not even on your iPhone or on our databases.
Even non-anonymous messages may hide the email address of the author that will be just recorded with the message and the geographical information in a data repository in Italy and only revealed upon a request by the Italian law.
You may also use an email address that is not traceable to you, if you have this possibility, and use that to be contacted by other users. Of course, as it would be when writing on a real wall, the only care must be paid at the moment of posting when someone could see you doing the censored action. As for the transmission, that is performed using a encrypted channel (https) that may not be easily intercepted. If you fear to be extolled your iPhone, please remember to log-off from your Virtual Tags application before quitting, so to remove your personal data from the iPhone and make sure that the messages will not be shown to someone taking hold of your iPhone, if they were not anonymous and so visible in the applications Canvas.
I am afraid that Virtual Tags could be used as a way of communication for illegal business: is there this risk?
Of course Virtual Tags shares the same situation as all other free channels, and so this risk may not be totally excluded. Its paradigm, on the other hand, is that of the wall writing and I do not think anyone will be afraid that a wall might be used for illegal business: email is much more efficient! All the same Virtual Tags is of course subjected to the Italian law and so it will do whatever it will demand. In any event please let us know if you discover tags that you find objectively questionable and we will try to examine the issue by contacting the writer and possibly putting you in contact with him, if we can, or deleting the posting altogether if we agree with your point and we are not able to reach the poster.
I am disturbed/offended/slandered by a message posted in a familiar location/a location I often visit, what can I do?
Virtual Tags just offers a canvas big as the world where anyone may write, it is not a media provider and therefore is neither responsible nor in charge of revising what is posted: not having the objective possibility of assessing what is acceptable and what is not in different cultures either. It is subject just to the italian law: please read the previous point.
Anyway, as it happens in the real world, there is the possibility of responding suite by posting one or more tags in the same location so all but hiding the offending tag.
I am a fan of Virtual Tags and I would like to own objects inspired by that the way it happens with other apps like Angry Birds: it is possible?
Virtual Tags is currently developing a number of items inspired by the application and you start offering them on the web site soon. Occasionally some objects will be offered for free for specific supportive behaviours on the part of its users: so stay tuned!