Using the Site
Do I have to register to use the site?
Why should I register to the site?
What’s the difference between my ‘username’ and my ‘name’?
How do I change my display name?
How do I change my password?
I forgot my password!
How can I subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter?
How do I change permissions on my profile?
How do I change my notifications?
What is ‘Rough Stuff’?
How do I ‘favourite’ something?
I can’t see the comment I posted
Can I edit what I’ve posted?
Who moderates user comments?
How do I report inappropriate user content?
Can I send a private message to another user?
Why am I directed to Penguin/DK to buy your books?
Why don’t you list hotels or restaurants for each destination?
I’ve found information on the website I think is wrong – what do I do?
Do you have a mobile site?
Do you have any apps?
General
What is Rough Guides?
How are Rough Guides different to other guides?
But it’s not all books, is it?
And what’s this I hear, Rough Guides do more than just travel guides?
I think my business should be on roughguides.com – can that happen?
Fancy exchanging links?
Can I make money on sales of Rough Guides?
You seem to know what you’re doing – fancy making me a custom Rough Guide?
Why don’t you publish a guide to [your destination of choice here]?
My app/eBook doesn’t work properly. Can I get a refund?
What are you doing with my data?
Have can I work for you?
How can I write for you?
How can I contact you?
Do I have to register to use the site?
Nope. You can view all parts of the site, including our destination content, articles and galleries, without registering to the site. If you do register, however, you’ll get lots of extra benefits – and who doesn’t like those?
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Why should I register to the site?
If you register, you will be able to post questions in our Community section, interact with other users and build a following of fellow Rough Guiders. You will be able to ‘favourite’ destinations, articles and products so that you can access them in one single location in your profile. Plus, you can use your profile to tell other users about everywhere you want to go (and boast about everywhere you’ve been!).
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What’s the difference between my ‘username’ and my ‘name’?
Your ‘username’ is what you use to register to the site. It must be unique and cannot be changed. It is not displayed across the site so feel free to choose something embarrassing like ilovelegwarmers. Your ‘name’, on the other hand, is what will be displayed across the site and can be changed whenever you want. We call this your ‘display name’.
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How do I change my display name?
Click ‘My Profile’ on the navigation bar and select ‘Edit Profile’. Click in the field that holds your current display name and edit it as required. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Save Change’ button. Voila! Your display name will be changed.
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How do I change my password?
Click ‘My Profile’ on the navigation bar and select ‘Edit Profile’. Click ‘Settings’. Enter your new password beneath the ‘Change Password’ heading and then click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
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I forgot my password!
It’s okay – we’ve done it too. If you enter an incorrect password in the login page, you will receive an error notice. Click the ‘Lost your password’ link and enter your username or email. Check your inbox for the password reset email (subject: [Rough Guides] Password Reset) and follow the link to reset it.
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How can I subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter?
To get to the newsletter subscription page, click the envelope icon next to the Facebook and Twitter icon on the main navigation bar. Alternatively, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by clicking ‘My Profile’ on the main navigation bar, then ‘Edit Profile’. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select or deselect the ‘Receive the Rough Guides e-newsletter’ checkbox as appropriate. Then, click ‘Save Changes’.
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How do I change permissions on my profile?
Click ‘My Profile’ on the main navigation bar, then ‘Edit Profile’. Under Location, Description or Bio, click ‘Change’. Select the new option (either ‘Anyone’ or ‘Logged In Users’), scroll to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
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How do I change my notifications?
Click ‘My Profile’ on the main navigation bar, then ‘Edit Profile’. Click ‘Settings’ and then ‘Notifications’. Change settings accordingly by choosing either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ next to each item and then click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
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What is ‘Rough Stuff’?
This is the articles/features section of the site comprising a mixture of advice, opinion, tips, tricks and trivia – all topped off with the gorgeous travel images that Rough Guides are known for. You can comment on features and ‘favourite’ them so you can access them from your profile.
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How do I ‘favourite’ something?
You can ‘favourite’ features, destinations and products by clicking the ‘favourite’ icon. This is the white heart in a grey circle. Once you click it, the grey circle will become orange to show that it has indeed been favourited.
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I can’t see the comment I posted
By default, comments are ordered by ‘Best’ rather than ‘Newest’, which means your comment is likely to be further down the list. To reorder, click the ‘Discussion’ dropdown and select ‘Newest’. Your comment should now appear at the top (or close to it depending on how many other users have posted comments after you).
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Can I edit what I’ve posted?
Made a typo? No problem. You can edit your comments on Rough Stuff articles as well as your answers in the Community section. You can edit the body text of your questions in the Community section, but you cannot edit the title text of the question. This is to ensure that answers still relate to the question that has been posted.
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Who moderates user comments?
The user comments are post-moderated, which means that, in addition to reviewing content ourselves, we also rely on our users to report inappropriate content. If you see
anything untoward, please let us know.
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How do I report inappropriate user content?
If you see anything offensive, abusive or which otherwise gives you cause for concern, you can report it to us via the ‘Report’ link at the bottom of all questions/answers in the Community area, or the ‘Flag as inappropriate’ link in the dropdown menu to the right of all comments in the Rough Stuff area. Please report from the specific page that the offensive content appears: this gives us the information we need to take action.
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Can I send a private message to another user?
Not at the moment. You can interact with others users in the Rough Stuff and Community areas only.
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Why am I directed to Penguin/DK to buy your books?
Directing you to Penguin or DK (our parent companies) means we can tap into their slick distribution system while we focus on creating great content for you. We want users to buy our much-loved books quickly and easily, but we also want to build an excellent site full of amazing content – this system allows us to do both!
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Why don’t you list hotels or restaurants for each destination?
Rather than a directory of listings, the Rough Guides website is designed to provide fresh, inspirational content full of advice, opinion, tips, tricks and trivia to help you plan your trip. The website content is supplemented by our in-depth print and digital guides, which provide comprehensive listings.
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I’ve found information on the website I think is wrong – what do I do?
We work as hard as humanly possible to keep the information on roughguides.com up to date, but occasionally things change or mistakes slip through the net. We’d really appreciate it if you drop us an email and tell us about any inaccuracies you’ve found, so we can speedily fix them.
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Do you have a mobile site?
You can view our site on mobile phones and tablets, but it is not yet fully optimised for mobile. Please bear with us if things look a bit strange!
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Do you have any apps?
Yes, we have several. Have a look at the Apps area in the Shop to see what’s on offer.
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What is Rough Guides?
Back in 1982 four friends put the series together with a simple aim, to combine great writing with contemporary, opinionated information for the independent traveller. The result: Rough Guides. A series of guidebooks that not only give you plenty of cultural and historical background but will also tell you where the best beaches and the hottest clubs are, where to go for great music and local delicacies; in short, what it’s like to live there today.
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How are Rough Guides different to other guides?
There are many fine books out there. But we think we prioritise a few things that make us better than the rest. First, quality writing: a Rough Guide is not just a good guidebook, it’s a good read as well. Second, a contemporary, journalistic view: a Rough Guide views a destination as more than a tourist never-never land; we treat it as a place where real people live and work and our readers get to participate in that vibe. Finally, updates that matter: we bring new editions out every two to three years because our researchers re-visit every place and thoroughly check out new information. And our state-of-the-art publishing process allows us to make amendments and additions right up until press time. When we call it an updated edition, you can be sure it is.
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But it’s not all books, is it?
No, we don’t just publish books nowadays. Besides the print guides and this website, we have a selection of apps for Android and Apple devices, and we sell our guides – and, in some cases, individual chapters of our guides – in handy eBook formats.
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And what’s this I hear, Rough Guides do more than just travel guides?
Our guides have always included our famous ‘contexts’ sections full of thoughtful essays on a variety of topics, from the destination’s wildlife and history to its art movements and indigenous music. Out of those essays on music grew our first non-travel project, The Rough Guide to World Music. The success of this guide inspired us to apply our unique Rough Guide perspective to any number of categories – from music and the internet to sports and much more. Check out our reference offerings here.
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I think my business should be on roughguides.com – can that happen?
Our dedicated authors independently research all restaurants, hotels, clubs and other businesses that are listed in the guides. If you send us your details, we’ll pass them on to the relevant author, who’ll try to stop by next time they’re in the area.
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Fancy exchanging links?
We work with a select few brands and websites that we think are a good fit for roughguides.com and our users. If you’d like to be included, drop us an email and we’ll get in touch if we think we could work together.
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Can I make money on sales of Rough Guides?
Yes. If you’re based in the UK, sign up to the affiliate scheme of Rough Guides’ parent company, Penguin Books UK, and start earning commission on sales of Rough Guides through your website. Learn how here.
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You seem to know what you’re doing – fancy making me a custom Rough Guide?
We’d love to! Head over to our business to business website to see what we’ve done before and chat to us about your project.
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Why don’t you publish a guide to [your destination of choice here]?
We produce guides to hundreds of destinations, usually where we feel travellers will get the most out of the destination by using a guide, based on our experiences travelling there. But we’re always reviewing our coverage, so just drop us an email and tell us what guides you’d like to see us publish.
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My app/eBook doesn’t work properly. Can I get a refund?
Refunds can only be given by the provider you bought the app/eBook through, not by us as a publisher. Please contact the seller through the appropriate channels; there is normally a refund submission form found online under the relevant party’s support page.
If you are experiencing problems with your app, you may contact our support team at: [email protected]. Before contacting us, please make sure you take steps to verify that it is the app that isn’t working, and not the device. It is important to check that there isn’t an update to the app already available, and that you have installed the latest version of software appropriate to your device. If this isn’t the issue, it is usually a good idea to delete the problem app, and download again from your purchase history (you will not be charged again).
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What are you doing with my data?
We’re a private lot here at Rough Guides and we understand you are too, so we don’t generally disclose personal information we’ve collected from you to third parties. We may, occasionally, work with another site – but we’ll always tell you that the data we’re collecting from you will be shared if that’s the case, and you can let us know if you’re not happy for it to be. If you want to read more about this, check out our full privacy policy.
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Have can I work for you?
Our HQ in London is full of talented editors, cartographers, marketers and online gurus, plus a crack production team who put together and sell Rough Guides. They’re a tremendous group of people who work very hard and have a passionate interest in travel, music, the arts or all of the above. From time to time, we do have openings in our offices – you can view all of our current vacancies here.
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How can I write for you?
We have hundreds of writers and contributors working tirelessly day and night the world over. But the good news is that we’re always looking for talented, enthusiastic new contributors. Just take a look at our work/write for us page for more info.
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How can I contact you?
Via the ‘Contact Us’ page.
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