Bizwiki is a free directory of businesses that anyone can contribute to and edit. As the UK focused part of this international network, Bizwiki.co.uk aims to become the largest, most comprehensive directory of British businesses on the Web.

Apart from our very specific focus on business information, there are two key differences in the approach we have adopted for Bizwiki when compared to that of sites such as Wikipedia.

1. Users are required to register before editing. Registration is a very simple, fast process, but due to the business-orientated nature of the site's content registration is required as a basic filter against malicious editing or advertising 'spam'.
2. Bizwiki is built using Structured Data.

We view this structured approach as a vital component of our site plan, ensuring consistency, allowing bulk-updates of data and reusability of information.

The Bizwiki site is built around a self-organised and collaborative community that any of our users are invited to join. We hope to enable a thriving community to grow, and intend to add social and networking features to allow people to form groups of shared experience and expertise to collaborate with peers.

Bizwiki users are grouped as:

Public - non registered users that can read and print information.

Registered Users - registered users who can set up their own profile page, add details and information to company listings, submit new businesses, write reviews and become part of the Bizwiki community.

Editors - editors can verify additions of information or new company listings, edit the contact details of existing business listings, and help ensure the Bizwiki community remains organised.

Moderators - moderators have a special role in the site, with responsibilities including promoting Registered Users to editors and moderating in disputes.

Admin - administrators, Community Managers and technical support, working with users and behind the scenes to help make sure everything runs smoothly.

Bizwiki is focussed on gathering and publishing detailed information about the world's companies, businesses and organisations - even those without a web site or online presence of their own. Inclusion in Bizwiki is free of charge, as is adding additional information and details.

This site is dedicated to collecting and publishing business information rather than opinion. In some cases, what a user will most want to know is other peoples' experiences with a business, so we have decided to add reviews as an alternative place for users to share opinions that would otherwise inevitably filter through into the information section.

Bizwiki is owned and operated by UK registered company Infoactive Media Ltd.

Versions of Bizwiki focussed on the business communities in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are planned over the next year. Plans for multi-lingual versions and user-contributed business directories for other nations are also being explored.

How to register/create an account - Joining Bizwiki is free and easy. Simply choose a username and tell us your email address. That's it.

Forgotten password - If you need to reset your password please click on the link provided on the sign in page. A temporary password will be sent to your registered email address allowing you to login and select a new password.

Setting up your My Bizwiki page - You can tell us and other Bizwiki users as much or as little about yourself as you want by adding information to your My Bizwiki page. You can also see what businesses you've added, additions you've made to existing records and the reviews you've written in your My Bizwiki section.

How can I become an editor - Volunteer editors are an important part of the Bizwiki community. They usually have a particular interest in a specific industry or local area and are hand picked by moderators and the Bizwiki Community Manager. If you would like to know more or apply to become an editor please let us know.

Before adding a new business please use the search facility to make sure the company you want to add isn't already in Bizwiki. If it isn't simply click on the Add a Company link to be taken to a form. Please note that only registered users can add companies. Registration is quick and simple.

• Category - Please choose from the existing categories. Simply begin typing the first few characters of the category you think it should belong in and then choose from one of the categories that appear.
• Telephone number - Please use the company's primary phone number or, in the case of national companies, the branch's primary phone number.
• Address - Please list the company's actual physical address if at all possible. In some cases the PO Box address may be used. Please note that Bizwiki UK makes use of Post Office Address File (PAF) which is the Post Office's division of counties and towns throughout the UK. This means that the local parish, village or town name may not represented on the Town selection box. If this is the case please make use of the 2nd or 3rd Address lines as appropriate to include the locality.
• Fax Number - Please use the company's primary fax number or, in the case of national companies, the branch's primary fax number.
• Website - Please use either the main company website or, in the case of national companies, the branch's own website specific to this location. Please do not submit mini sites, brand and product or promotional websites here. Those can be submitted in the External Links section.
• Description - What you write here becomes the company's About section and should include what the company offers in terms of products and services, what areas they serve (town, county, several counties, nationwide), which market segments they target (B2B, B2C) and any other descriptive, factual information. Please ensure that the information does not contain any hype, superlatives, sales pitches, special offers or your own personal opinions of the company. Please feel free to use the Review section for adding opinions.
• Message from the Company - This section is for company owners/representatives only please. Message from the Company is where company owners/representatives can advertise their business. Please do not fill this section in or edit it unless you are a representative of that company.
• Citations - A citation may be a link to the business' website that clearly shows the company's address, a copy of the company's listing at Companies House with an address that matches the one you are submitting, or anything that would help us to be able to verify that this is indeed a real company so that we can approve the listing as quickly as possible.
• External Links - This is the place for brand, product and promotional sites belonging to the company as well as for links to authoritative resources that have written articles about the company.
• Additional Information - Holding company name, VAT number, Company registration number

Premium Rate Telephone Numbers - Premium phone numbers are strictly not allowed. These include phone numbers beginning with the following: 090/ 091/ 098/ 118 / 070 / 0871 and mobile sms short codes.

International Telephone Numbers - International phone numbers are strictly not allowed. These include any phone number beginning with 00. Bizwiki UK is ONLY for UK based businesses.

Can I add a business that is not based in the UK? - Bizwiki UK is entirely focussed on the United Kingdom. Bizwiki will soon be rolling out similar business wikis for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

I filled out the form but it tells me the business is already listed? - Bizwiki UK has received a substantial number of submissions to date and it is likely that we already have the company on record. If we do you are more than welcome to add to the information.

Awaiting Approval - "This record is Awaiting Approval" means that this record has not yet been checked and approved by a Bizwiki editor. An editor will shortly review, verify and, if the record meets Bizwiki guidelines, approve the record. The approval process can take several weeks, at busy periods it can take longer.

Bizwiki welcomes business submissions from all registered users, helping us to compile the UK's most comprehensive directory of UK businesses and organisations with rich data that goes far beyond standard phone book listings. All submissions are published on Bizwiki as soon as they are submitted but they are not distributed to the other sites that use Bizwiki's data until an editor has verified and approved them.

Not Approved - "This record was Not Approved" means that the record was checked by an editor and for one or more reasons it was not approved.

Bizwiki's editors review each submission and while the vast majority are approved, not all are. The most common reasons that submissions not approved are:

• It is already listed in Bizwiki - Someone else may have submitted your company's details already. Have you done a search for the company name? If you find that your company is already listed but the details aren't correct you can simply edit them.
• We cannot verify the authenticity of the record details - Sometimes it is difficult to authenticate the details for very new ventures. If you have a registered company number please be sure to include it in the submission along with your website address and any third party citations that would help us to verify the existence of the company.
• It is not based in the UK - Bizwiki UK is strictly for UK listings.
• It is of an adult nature - We do not allow records for companies, clubs or organisations that would be classed as "adult".

• Addresses - You can change the address if it is incorrect or expand it to include the locality (village, parish, town) in the 2nd or 3rd address line if it is not in the drop down Town list.
• Phone numbers - Additional phone numbers such as Sales, Customer Service and Technical Support can be added.
• About Section - You can expand the company's About section by adding factual and descriptive information such as what the company offers in terms of products and services, what areas they serve (town, county, several counties, nationwide), which market segments they target (B2B, B2C) and other facts. Please ensure that the information does not contain any hype, superlatives, sales pitches, special offers or your own personal opinions of the company. Please feel free to use the Review section for adding opinions.
• Message from the Company - This section is for company owners/representatives only please. Message from the Company is where company owners/representatives can advertise their business. Please do not fill this section in or edit it unless you are a representative of that company.
• External Links - These should be links to product or brand specific sites owned by the company or links to authoritative information and resources about the company such as news articles and publicly available company reports.

Who can make changes to information? - All registered Bizwiki users can make changes to the information but some information must be approved by an editor before the changes become public. This is to protect the information from malicious or "spam" attacks.

Why can't I see the information I just added? - Some of the information in each business record is protected. This means that depending on what changes/additions you made they may be sent for review. An editor, moderator or administrator will review your submissions as soon as possible.

What is history? - All changes made to records are logged with the time and date they were made and who made them. Keeping track of changes means that users can easily see what was done, when and by whom. We also keep an exact history of all changes so that if any were made erroneously we can simply revert to the correct version.

How can I see who made changes? - There is a History tab on each business record that tells you the user names of anyone who has edited that page.

How can I see when changes were made? - Click on the History tab at the top of the business page and it will show you a list of all changes made including when they were submitted.

Can I undo a change? - Bizwiki uses a "revert" system so any erroneous change can easily be corrected simply by reverting to the correct version.

My telephone number used to belong to a business and is listed on your site, how do I remove it? - If any personal information is erroneously listed on Bizwiki please contact us and we will remove it immediately.

What is a review? - Reviews are a means by which Bizwiki users can discuss their experiences and express their personal opinions of businesses they have had dealings with. Separate from the business' information, the reviews are intended to be a way in which other users can find out more about the company from those who have already used their services.

What do the stars mean? The Bizwiki Ratings matrix is complementary to the reviews. Everyone wants something different and what matters to some won't matter to others. Additionally, some businesses excel in one area and fair less well in others. The ratings work in conjunction with the reviews and business information to build a more comprehensive picture of the business by allowing users to praise what is worth praising and note what should be improved upon.

Who can write a review? - All registered Bizwiki users can write reviews. Simply find the company you want to review and click on Write a Review.

How do I report an offensive review? - Any Bizwiki user, whether or not they are registered with Bizwiki, can report reviews as offensive simply by clicking the Report Errors link that is next to each review. We deem a review as offensive if it contains foul, hateful or racist language, adult themes or if it includes private information about anyone other than the author.

What is the Helpful option? - If you found a review particularly helpful or informative why not compliment the author by marking the review as Helpful. This in turn helps other Bizwiki users as they can see which reviews others found to be most informative.

Can I change my review? - We will be adding in editing functionality soon but at the moment reviews are not editable. If you would like the review completely removed please contact us. However, if you have had a new experience with the company and your opinion has changed because of it we would encourage you to write a new review with a new star rating. This helps other Bizwiki users by giving them a more up to date picture as well as giving them the chance to find out how your experience with the company has changed - for better or worse.

Business Listings - If there is an error with a business listing you can simply edit it. Certain parts of the listing are protected and therefore your amendments will be reviewed before being published. If you would rather not amend the listing yourself you are welcome to contact us with the relevant information.

Reviews - There is a "Report as Inappropriate" link next to each review giving you an instant way in which to let us know if a review contains inappropriate language or references.

User Problems/Conflicts - If you are having a problem with a particular user please let us know by sending a message to the Bizwiki Community Manager via the contact form. If the problem relates to a listing or review please include all relevant details. Our dedicated Community Manager will look into the issue and, if necessary, take appropriate action.

Other - Any other errors, problems or issues can be reported to Bizwiki by using the contact form. Please try to include as much information as possible.

Linking to Bizwiki - It's easy and free to link to your own business on Bizwiki. Simply cut and paste the code on the bottom of your Bizwiki page. If you'd like to use a graphic here's a few options: