FAQs

• Where do I start?
• How do I register?
• What about copyright in my contribution?
• How do I add a memory?
• How do I find the date that relates to my memory?
• What is meant by ‘specific date range’ and ‘approximate date range’?
• How do I add keywords?
• How do I add location information?
• How do I include weblinks?
• How do I include links to photos and video?
• How do I add a comment?
• How do I complain about a memory?
• How do I edit my memories?
• How do I delete my memories?
• How do I remove my details from Memoryshare?
• How is Memoryshare run?
• How do I complain about information I have seen on Memoryshare?
• I've seen some incorrect information on Memoryshare, what should I do?
• How do I find Memoryshare?
• There’s a technical glitch, what do I do?
• I've lost my password, what do I do?
• How do I contact the Memoryshare team?
• Who can register on Memoryshare?
• What are people using Memoryshare for?
• What kind of memories are we expecting to see?
• And what contributions are not right for Memoryshare?
• So can I get my memory broadcast on the BBC?
• Why is the BBC doing this?
• What will happen to my contributions to Memoryshare?
• What are the rules for the site?
• Will I be able to submit photos to the site?
• What will happen to my personal details?

Where do I start?

You can start by reading some of the recently submitted memories, by searching for memories against a particular day or by searching for memories of a particular event by entering a key word into the search box. If you want to add a memory, or comment on someone else’s memory, you need to register as a BBC user (See How do I register with Memoryshare?)

How do I register with Memoryshare?

• Creating a bbc.co.uk membership - The BBC registration system means that you only need to register once for all services. When you visit other BBC message boards or services you may be asked to supply additional information required by that service but your Member Name and password will remain the same.
• Member Names and Nicknames - When you register for bbc.co.uk membership you will be asked to create a 'Member Name'. This will act as both your sign-in name and your default nickname. Member Names must be unique so you might not get your first choice. After you have registered, you can create a new 'nickname'. Your nickname is the name that appears above your messages. Currently nicknames do not have to be unique, but you should try to ensure that your name is recognisable as your own, to avoid the confusion that would arise from having two people posting with the same name. If you would like a different nickname, you can change it to anything you like, as long as it doesn't break the House Rules. If you change your nickname on Memoryshare do remember that all your memories will be listed under your new nickname.

What about copyright in my contribution?

Please take care to read the Terms of Use and House Rules which govern your submission of any content to Memoryshare. By submitting or sharing any content you are granting the BBC a licence, or permission, to use your work, but you will retain copyright in the content. Further, the rights to use your content granted to the BBC are non-exclusive which means that you can continue to use it as you like including the ability to also allow others to use it.

How do I add a memory?

If you have registered with Memoryshare (See How do I register with Memoryshare?) and if you are signed in, click on the ‘Add a Memory’ button.

• Your Memory is an account of something that happened to you at a certain time and in a certain place.
• You need to give your memory a ‘Title’. Write up ‘What happened’ (you can include web links and links to images and video here if you wish, see ‘How do I include web links’), ‘When it happened’ and ‘Where you were’.
• Giving this information, together with keywords, will let others find your memory when they are searching memories by dates, places and events.
• There is no spell check on Memoryshare so you may want to write it out first to make sure you are happy with it and then you can copy and paste it into Memoryshare. This way you will also have a copy of your memory.

How do I find the date that relates to my memory?

Memoryshare aims to create an enormous library of people’s memories, and we want to be able to show what was happening on any day, week, month or year from 1900 to the present day. In order to be able to show this we need to ask you to be as specific as you can about the date or dates to which your memory relates.

If you have never kept a diary you can still use letters, postcards and photo albums to jog your memory of important events in your life. Old passports contain date stamps for that first holiday on the Costa del Sol, letters, postcards, even bank statements sometimes have a story to tell. So work out a brief chronology - a timeline for yourself. What year did you go to Secondary school? What was the first holiday you can remember? What was your first job? When did you meet the person who is now most important in your life? And what can you remember of that meeting?

What is meant by ‘specific date range’ and ‘approximate date range’?

You can enter your memory against a Specific Date (e.g 14/10/1984) or a Specific Date Range (e.g from the 10/04/1972 to 16/04/1973) or if your memory relates to a day or days in longer period you can enter it against an Approximate Date Range (e.g between 10/04/1972 and 16/04/1973 for a duration of x days). If you cannot remember anything about the date or date range that your memory relates to then please note that it will not be shown on the timeline view and will only be seen in Your Memories, or following a key word search.

How do I add keywords?

Keywords are a means of indexing your memories, so that others can find them easily. When you are adding keywords try to think about the terms others may use when searching for your memory. Keywords may relate to a place or event or activity. When you add keywords or keyword phrases, separate them with a comma e.g. Glastonbury,festival,rain,mud puddles.

How do I add location information?

To identify the location of your memory of UK events you can use the flash map, or use a list of BBC UK Regional sites. By clicking on the relevant region you will automatically add that particular location. Then you can be more specific, and add more location information to the ‘tell us more’ field. If you click on the wrong part of the map you can clear your selection by clicking on any part of the map which is not defined. If your memory covers multiple locations (if you were travelling for example) then include any locations within the ‘tell us more’ field.

How do I include weblinks?

All you need to do to include a weblink is type in the website address, including http:// at the start. E.g. to add a weblink to the BBC’s Points of View homepage you just need to type http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview

How do I include links to photos and video?

If you have posted your photos or video to another website e.g. flickr, YouTube, you can include links to relevant images within your memory. See How do I include weblinks? and How can I join the Memoryshare flickr group?

How do I add a comment?

In order to comment on a memory, you will need to be on the memory page.

• If you have registered with Memoryshare (See How Do I Register with Memoryshare?) and if you are signed in, you can add a comment by clicking on the “Comment on this memory” link. Then, add your memory in the comment box and publish it.
• If you have registered, but are not logged in, Memoryshare will invite you to log in before up can add a comment.

How do I complain about a Memory?

In order to complain about a memory, you will need to be on the memory page. First you should read the House Rules and if the memory breaks these rules, then click the “Complain about this memory” link. This will alert BBC Staff.

How do I edit my memories?

If you want to edit your memories, you will need to sign in and then go to Your memories. This page lists all the memories you have written. Against each memory, there is an “edit memory” link. Click on this to make your changes and then select the publish button when you have finished.

How do I delete my memories?

If you want to delete one of your memories, you will need to sign in and then go to Your memories. This page lists all the memories you have written. Against each memory, there is a “delete memory” link. Click this link to delete your memory, you will be asked if you are sure you wish to continue. Please note, once you have deleted a memory there is no way of retrieving it. So please make sure you really want to delete it if you select this option.

How do I remove my details from Memoryshare?

If you want to cancel your bbc.co.uk membership you can do this by logging in to Memoryshare and following the ‘Retrieve my details’ link at the top right hand side of the page. Once you have entered your password you will be taken to a page where you can cancel your membership; click the ‘cancel your entire membership’ link at the bottom of the page.

How is Memoryshare run?

Memoryshare will develop as a web service across a number of sites on bbc.co.uk. The individual sites are managed by local teams who will set the agenda for some of the calls for specific memories of local and national events. Memoryshare has a team of BBC editorial, design and technical people who maintain the site. You can contact us as we are always keen to receive feedback on the service.

How do I complain about information I have seen on Memoryshare?

The site is moderated 24 hours a day. If you read something which you think breaks the Memoryshare House Rules, please use the ‘complain’ link nearest to the content and a member of the Memoryshare team will look at it as soon as possible.

I've seen some incorrect information on Memoryshare, what should I do?

Memories are necessarily subjective, and no two people will remember the same event in exactly the same way. So if you think that someone has mis-remembered an event at which you were also present the best thing to do is to add your own memory of the event. But if you can add more detail to the memory, or if you have spotted a factual error then please submit a comment. (See How do I add a comment).

If you have seen an inaccuracy or omission in a BBC authored Memoryshare article please let us know by emailing us via the contact us form. Please give us the URL of the article where you saw the incorrect information and a source for the correct information so that we can investigate further.

How do I find Memoryshare?

You can find Memoryshare through www.bbc.co.uk/memoryshare. We have launched Memoryshare on a number of BBC sites, BBC Bradford and West Yorkshire, BBC Cumbria, BBC Derby, BBC Humber,

BBC Isle of Man, BBC Leeds, BBC Lincolnshire, BBC Liverpool, BBC London, BBC Norfolk, BBC Oxford, BBC South Yorkshire, BBC Radio 1 , BBC Radio 4 - Today , BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live and BBC Radio 4 - Writing the Century . It will also be released to other BBC local and bbc.co.uk sites in due course.

There’s a technical glitch, what do I do?

Please contact us via the contact us form, providing us with as much detail as possible. This includes describing exactly what you did before the fault happened and the URL of the page you were on.

I've lost my password, what do I do?

You can reset your password by going to the BBC's forgotten password page and answering a security question.

How do I contact the Memoryshare team?

You can contact us by using the contact us form.

Who can register on Memoryshare?

Memoryshare registration is open to anyone over the age of 16.

What are people using Memoryshare for?

People contribute memories and use Memoryshare to store and show their accounts of the memorable days in their life. People are also commenting on other peoples’ contributions. People are using Memoryshare to read memories, research events and link to context material relating to any date back to January 1st 1900.

What kind of memories are we expecting to see?

Memoryshare is designed to collect first-hand accounts of public and personal events or memorable days. This could be your first day at work, your wedding, or it could be your memory of a music, news or sports event. It doesn’t have to be a memory of a specific day; it could be of ‘a summer day when I was seven years old’, or it could be of a week’s holiday in 1986. Across Memoryshare you will see some memories with ‘BBC Memoryshare on behalf of….’ in the title. These memories have been collected from members of the public by the Memoryshare team.

And what contributions are not right for Memoryshare?

We are interested in your memories. So we would not expect to see accounts of other people’s experience submitted in your name (although you may see some memories gathered on behalf of Memoryshare by the BBC hosts). And we do expect you to give a flavour of your impressions of the event you are describing.

So can I get my memory broadcast on the BBC?

You need to indicate that you are happy to be contacted by the BBC in regard to your memories (see the Your Preferences page) by ticking the check box when registering with Memoryshare. If you have agreed to be contacted and if your memory is of specific interest to a BBC programme maker you could be approached to contribute to a programme.

Why is the BBC doing this?

The BBC wants to build an open and collaborative approach with audiences in order to deliver programmes built on audience participation. Memoryshare is a means for the BBC to connect with individuals who have stories to tell about their own lives, and gives everyone a simple tool to search and discover contemporary news and social history content.

What will happen to my contributions to Memoryshare?

We are hoping that the BBC Memoryshare will be a lasting archive of people’s memories. If the service is decommissioned by the BBC we will ensure that the memory content will be lodged with a research organisation and will continue to be accessible for public use. We will endeavour to inform you if a transfer of this kind will take place in the future. Only the information that you have made public during the trial (your memories and comments) would be transferred in such circumstances.

The personal details you submitted during the registration process will only be held and used by the BBC for the purposes of the Memoryshare service. The BBC will only contact you for administration purposes relating to Memoryshare or where you have otherwise consented. For more information, see the bbc.co.uk Privacy Policy.

What are the rules for the site?

Please see the House Rules

Will I be able to submit photos to the site?

At the moment, memories can only be submitted as text. But you can provide links to photos and video content already posted on the internet providing that it satisfies the House Rules on including links. See How do I include weblinks.

What will happen to my personal details?

Your personal details will only be used by the BBC and its service providers. For more information, see the bbc.co.uk Privacy Policy.

BBC Memoryshare flickr group

The BBC Memoryshare group on flickr is a group where anyone registered with flickr can add images related to their memories and see other people's pictures. (The link will take you to the flickr website.)

What is flickr?

Flickr is a photo sharing website where you can post your images. There are lots of features on the site to help you organise and share your pictures, as well as enjoy other people’s. Find out more about flickr here. Find flickr Terms of Service here.

How can I join the Memoryshare flickr group?

To join the group, first register on flickr and follow the 'Create Your Account' link. Registering is quick, free and easy to do.

Once you have registered and signed in, go to the BBC Memoryshare group page and click on the ‘Join This Group’ link.

How can I contribute pictures to the group?

Upload your photos to flickr using the uploading tool. Find instructions and tips on how to do this here.

Open up the photo page. Click on the icon that says ‘Send to Group’ – you will find this between the title and the top of the picture.

Once your photo has been approved, it will appear in the group for other group members to enjoy. You can include links to relevant images you have uploaded to flickr within your memories on Memoryshare.

Can I upload other people’s photographs to flickr?

No – the photos must have been taken by you or you must have the permission of the person who took the photo. Find flickr FAQs here.

Can the BBC use these pictures?

By adding your photo to the group, you give us the right to use this on a BBC webpage. If we use one of your photos we will attribute it and link back to your flickr photostream. Where appropriate we recommend that you seek the permission of anyone who is identifiable in your photo.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Memoryshare RSS feeds

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. For more information about RSS feeds and RSS readers please see the ‘What is RSS’ link at the bottom of any View Memories page.

In Memoryshare the RSS feed link allows you to stay up to date with new memories that have been recorded against a specific date or date range. You can get a RSS feed for all new date-based memories i.e, new memories recorded against a specific decade, year, month within a year or a date. You can even get new date-based memories for selected keywords or added by a specific author.

Will RSS feeds include all the different types of memories in Memoryshare?

RSS feeds will only contain memories that are recorded against a specific date or date range. Unfortunately, if the memory has an approximate date range or no date, it can not be captured in the RSS feed. This is because the RSS feeds are based on dates and memories without firm dates can not be accurately recorded against a date or date range.

What RSS feeds are available in Memoryshare?

• RSS feed for all the latest date-based memories – To get the latest memories, just click on the View memories button, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for all memories. Clicking this will display an xml list of the last 20 memories that have been added to Memoryshare and you can add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader.
• RSS feed for memories in a particular decade – go to the View Memories page and using the browse section, click on the decade drop down list and choose the decade that you are interested in (if you are viewing the memories as a list and not the timeline, you will need to click 'Go'). When the screen displays memories from that decade, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for memories from that decade. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that have been added for that decade. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader. Even if there are no memories, you can still add this web address to your RSS reader. When you next check your RSS reader, any new memories for the decade will be displayed.
• RSS feed for memories in a particular year – go to the View Memories page and using the browse section, click on the decade drop down list, choose the decade and then go to the year drop down list to select the year that you are interested in (if you are viewing the memories as a list and not the timeline, you will need to click 'Go'). When the screen displays memories from that year, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for memories from that year. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that have been added for that year. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader. Even if there are no memories, you can still add this web address to your RSS reader. When you next check your RSS reader, any new memories for that year will be displayed.
• RSS feed for memories in a particular month – go to the View Memories page and using the browse section, click on the decade drop down list, choosing the decade, then the year drop down list to select the year, and next the month drop down list to choose the month that you are interested in (if you are viewing the memories as a list and not the timeline, you will need to click 'Go'). When the screen displays memories for that year and month, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for those memories. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that have been added for that month. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader. Even if there were no memories, you can still add this web address to your RSS reader. When you next check your RSS reader, any new memories for that month and year will be displayed.
• RSS feed for memories on a particular date – go to the View Memories page and using the browse or search section, enter the date (if using search enter your date in dd/mm/yyyy and click ‘Go’). When the screen displays memories for that date, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for those memories. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that have been added for that date. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader. Even if there are no memories, you can still add this web address to your RSS reader. When you next check your RSS reader, any new memories for the date will be displayed.
• RSS feed for date based memories in a particular location – go to the View Memories page and using the search section, click in the keyword search box, enter the name of the location and click ‘Go’. When the screen displays the memories recorded for that location, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for those memories. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that have been added for that location. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader. Even if there are no memories, you can still add this web address to your RSS reader. When you next check your RSS reader, any new memories recorded against that location will be displayed.
• RSS feed for date based memories relating to a particular subject or keyword – go to the View Memories page and using the search section, click in the keyword search box, enter the name of the subject or keyword (seperating multiple keywords using a comma ',') and click ‘Go’. When the screen displays any memories that have been recorded with that keyword, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for those memories. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that have been added with that keyword. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader. Even if there were no memories, you can still add this web address to your RSS reader. When you next check your RSS reader, any new memories with that keyword will be displayed.
  
  
  
  If you have no luck finding memories this way you can also try using the search memory content option which appears down the bottom of the Advanced Search page.
• RSS feed for date based memories written by a particular author – go to the View Memories page and click on the Advanced Search link on the right hand side of the page. Then click on the author tab, add the author name to the search box and click ‘Go’. An author or list of authors names will then be displayed. Click on the author you are interested in and when a list of their memories is displayed, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a RSS link for their memories. Clicking on this link will display an xml list of the latest 20 memories that the author has added. You can then add the web address for this xml page to your RSS reader.