Rounds - F.A.Q.
Before You Begin
- What is Rounds?
- Rounds is a live meeting point, offering users a variety of experiences that they enjoy together using a combination of webcams, real-time games, social activities and media engagements.
- How do I join?
- If it's the first time you're here, go to the Rounds homepage and enter your full name, e-mail account, desired password, birth date and your gender and press the "Log In" button to enter the website.
- Do I need a webcam to join?
- While the experience on Rounds is much more fun if you have a webcam installed, it is not necessary in order to start Rounding and in order to meet new people. Users can text chat with each other and use microphones to talk.
- What are the system requirements?
- You need to have a browser with Flash Player 10 installed (get it here) and we also recommend having an Internet connection with at least 500kbps upload to enjoy the video experience without any delays.
- Where can I learn more about Rounds before registering?
- Check out our pages on the different social networks to learn more about the service and get feedback from people who are already enjoying it.
Interacting with Users
- One on one (1 on 1)
- You can invite any user on the site to a one on one Round. You can invite users to a general chat or to a specific activity or game Round and you can limit the Round time to 5, 10 or 15 minutes. For example, you can invite Steven to a 15 minute YouTube Round and after he approves, you both enter the video experience with the YouTube activity already opened and ready to browse videos together. You can always switch to another activity during the Round (games, facebook, etc) and do the same things that you can do in the general Round. When the other party accepts your invitation, you will receive a pop-up notification on your screen, but if your invitation is declined, no message appears.
- Send a message
- You can send a message to any user on the site. Users who opted-in for email will be sent an email when messages are received, as well as see them in the "What's New" box (near the "Search" field) and in the "Trails" page on Rounds.com.
- Add friends
- You can request any user to be added as your friend. If the other party accepts your invitation, you can have one on one Rounds together with no time limitations and see each others' friends list. Your list of friends is open for every user to see.
The Lobby
- What is the lobby?
- This is where it all starts. You can see who's online and who recently joined Rounds, you can join a random Round, test your webcam and invite your friends to join you.
- What is a random Round?
- As the name implies, after joining this Round, our system will match you with another user interested in a random Round for a one on one Round. Talk about whatever you want and get to know the person on the other side. This is a great way to meet new people, make friends, share your thoughts, and just have fun!
- What's the difference between a 1 on 1 and Rounds?
- When users invites you to a 1 on 1 Round, you will be notified about it and will have the chance to see who they are before accepting their invitation. When you join a Round, you don't know who you are about to meet until you are in the video experience.
- What is the webcam and mic test?
- This is where you can check if your webcam is ready and if your sound works. This is also a great chance to see yourself in the mirror and get ready before someone invites you to a 1 on 1 Round...
- What is bring your friends?
- As Rounds is a place for friends and for meeting new people, we encourage you to invite your friends to join you in the action. You can bring your friends through facebook or e-mail. If you choose by e-mail, just enter their e-mail addresses and maybe even add a personal message to let them know what you think. Rounding is much more fun with friends!
Who's Here?
- How to do a basic search?
- In order to find interesting new people to Round with, just use the filter buttons according to what you're looking for. "Here for" searches for users on the site for games, socializing, relationships and networking. The "Age" criterion is pretty self explanatory and the "Proximity" filter uses your profile information to find other users from different geographical locations.
- How to filter the search results?
- You can filter your results to show only women or men, to show only online users and also to screen only your friends. If you have many friends, this is a great way to find someone from your long list, but you can also use the simple "Search" field on the upper right end of the screen to search by user names.
- What can I do with the results?
- With each result you can do any of the following: go to their profile, invite them to a 1 on 1 Round (if they are online), send them a message or send a request to add them as your friend.
Trails
- What's incoming and outgoing?
- Put simply, incoming are messages, 1 on 1 invites and friend requests you received from other users, while outgoing are messages, 1 on 1 invites and friend requests you sent to other users. These are the trails that you've left on the site and the history of the interactions you've had with other users.
- How do I filter results?
- After you have used the website for a while, you will most likely have a lot of incoming and outgoing notifications. In order to filter the results, just press on the "Show Me" box dropdown and choose what you want to see. Of course, you can also delete notifications and browse through the pages.
Your Profile
- How do I add a picture to my profile?
- You can add a picture to your profile by uploading a picture, fetching an image URL or by taking a snapshot from your webcam. Just go to "Your Profile", click on the default image on the left and choose one of the ways described above.
- How do I add movies, TV shows, music and books?
- When you're editing your profile, you can easily add keywords that represent your taste in music, movies, TV shows and books. Just go to "Your Profile", click "Edit Profile" and go to the desired tab. Here, just start typing names of your favorite things and press enter when done. After a few seconds, you will get pictures for that keyword. Press the arrow buttons to scroll through the images until you find a one the fits you.
- Can I add more pictures to my profile?
- Of course you can. Rounds has integrated an import system from facebook, myspace and flickr to get your images and display them on your profile. Just go to "Your Profile", click "Edit Profile" and go to the "Import" tab. From here, click your favorite social network and start the import process. You'll have your pictures ready for you in a few seconds.
- Can I see how my profile looks to others'?
- If you are in "Edit Profile" mode, just click on the "View Profile" to see how your profile will be seen by other people. Users visiting your profile will have three buttons below your profile picture, indicating the interaction options - invite to 1 on 1, send a message and add to friends.
Friends
- How to add friends?
- You can request any user you see on Rounds to be added to your friends list, as well as invite your friends using the form in the "Lobby" page. Users registering to the site after you invited them will automatically be added as your friends.
- How to remove friends?
- Just go to your friend's profile and press the link "Remove from Friends" that can be found beneath the friends list on the right side of the screen.
- How to block someone?
- A user who isn't your friend can be blocked from your system, meaning you won't receive any messages, friend requests or 1 on 1 invitations from them. In order to block a user, just go to their profile and press the link "Block this User" that can be found beneath their friends list on the right of the screen.
*Please note you cannot block someone if they are your friend so remove them as your friend first. - Someone is being inappropriate. What do I do?
- Inappropriate behavior is not accepted or tolerated on Rounds. We ask that you report any user that you feel is acting inappropriately to your community manager.
What's New Box
- What is the what's new box?
- This box is a summary of the recent notifications you've received from other users on the site. After registration, you'll probably see that you have "Nothing New | 0" displayed in the box, but as soon as you start browsing the site and interacting with other users, the number will rise as you receive 1 on 1 invitations, new messages and friend requests. You can respond to these notifications from the box, or go to the "Trails" page to see more information about them.
- How can I stop it from flashing?
- When this box flashes, it means there's a new incoming notification you have to respond to. This can either be an incoming message, a 1 on 1 invitation or a friend request. You can either press the flashing box to open it and respond to the new notifications, or just go the "Trails" page and check everything as read.
The Video Experience
- What is the video experience?
- The video experience is the window that opens up after you receive a confirmation to your 1 on 1 invitation or about a match found for you when you join a Round. In the video experience, you and the other user can both do stuff together - watch videos from YouTube, play different board games, use the tips machine to get personalized ice breakers and advice about your chat partner, try out the video effects and send each other gifts. The video experience was built and designed with fun in mind. There's a lot to do there and one chat is usually not enough to explore all the options presented to you. It's the most interactive, live environment you will ever experience.
- What are the gifts?
- Gifts are visualized presents you can send your chat partner during the conversation. When you press any of the gift buttons, you and your chat partner will see the gift visualized on their webcam window.
- What are the video effects?
- Video effects are filters on your webcam stream that change the way you are represented in the video experience. There are many effects to choose from and each one has a different outcome. Try all of them out, they can be really funny and add a new dimension to your chats.
- What are the activities?
- The activities are applications that both parties can enjoy together. In all activities, you and your chat partner will see each other's mouse and your window activity will be synced. For example, if you're using the YouTube activity, every video you choose, your chat partner will see and will also be able to pause, stop or close the activity all together.
- What are the games?
- Like activities, games are applications that both parties can enjoy together. In all games, you and your chat partner will see each other's mouse and your window activity will be synced. For example, if you're playing Truth or Dare, when you're spinning the bottle, your chat partner will see the bottle spinning and you will both be able to choose "Truth" or "Dare" for yourself or the other party.
- What are the skins?
- The skins are wallpapers for your video experience. If you and your chat partner are talking about the beach, for example, why not switch the skin to a beach and enjoy a sunny conversation near the sea?
- What does the tips button do?
- The tips button opens up a new window under your chat box and gives you personalized ice breakers and advice about your chat partner. The more details your chat partner filled in their profile, the more tips we'll be able to offer you. The tips can be questions about their favorite music, the movie they liked, quizzes about the books they've read and just random questions that everybody loves to be asked. You can either ask the questions verbally, or use the "Send" button to send the question to your chat partner's screen.
- What are the view modes?
- During the conversation, you might want to change the default view of the video experience. By pressing these buttons, the view mode will change from quarter view, half and half to full window mode. During activities and games, there's a default view mode that can't be changed.
- What is the report button?
- If you've encountered a user that acts in any inappropriate way during your video chat, please report them. In the video chat experience, press the report button and choose the type of report you would like to submit. After reporting the user to us, you have the option of staying or leaving the conversation. If you leave, the window will close automatically and you will be returned to the website. We will process all claims of misuse and take appropriate action where necessary.
- What are the badges?
- After the Round ends (either by exiting the video experience, or by time running out) you will have a chance to give your chat partner a badge that you believe best describes your experience together. These badges will later appear on the user's profile page to show other visitors what this user is like.
- How do I use the Rounds Google Wave extension?
- All the information you need about our extension can be found on our blog post about it.
Troubleshooting
- What can I do if my webcam doesn't work?
- While we tried to make our platform compatible with every webcam on the market, there may be a few rare scenarios where your webcam isn't supported. In this case, please contact us with the details of your webcam and we'll do our best to support it as well.
- Why can't I hear the other person speaking?
- In the video experience, you have the button "Settings" in the upper right side of the window. Click it and move the speaker volume all the way to the right. If you still can't hear the other person speaking, ask them to do the same, only with the microphone volume.
- How do I allow my webcam to automatically turn on?
- Just go to the "Lobby" and choose "Webcam and Mic Test". From here, click on the "Settings" button and in the pop-up that will open, press "Allow" and mark "Remember".
- Why can't I see major parts of the website?
- This is probably because you have an older version of Flash. In order to see all parts of the website, you need to have a browser with Flash Player 10 installed (get it here).
- What can I do if I'm using a Mac and my webcam isn't connecting?
- Control-click anywhere in the flash video and go to your settings. Check your webcam settings and make sure that the USB camera (iSight) is the one that's selected. Sometimes you have to deny and then allow in order for it to kick in.
Tips and Suggestions
- How to meet new friends?
- Don't be shy. That's about the most important tip we can give you. Ask people to one on one Rounds, join activity and topic based Rounds, send messages and add people as your friends. Users on Rounds want to meet new people and you are surely one of them! Be as active as you can and keep the Rounds window open, so you will show up first on search results.
- How to increase the quality of the video chats?
- Rounds video experience takes a lot of network and computer resources. We encourage you to keep only the essential Internet applications running on your computer, and to free up as much connection bandwidth as possible, in order to maximize the quality on the conversation.
- How to help my chat partner break the ice?
- Your chat partner can use the tips button to get personalized ice breakers about you, which will help him start a conversation about topics that interest you. In order for this to be successful, you should fill in as many details about your favorite things as possible. Add your favorite music artists and bands, write down the books you most enjoyed reading, add TV shows you like the most, and also a few movies that you liked. This will help our system find mutual interests between you and your chat partner and will help you break the ice quickly and easily during any video experience.
Support and Feedback
- How can I show how much I love this website?
- We always love to hear feedback, especially if it's good... You can show us your appreciation and give us your feedback and comments by joining our community at any of the social networks we are active on or by pressing the feedback button on the left.
- What if I still have questions?
- Natasha Shine, your community manager, is your first friend upon signing up. She will be glad to answer any and all of your questions. Just go to her profile and send her a message.
- I got a killer idea for you, who do I tell?
- We really want to hear your every thought and idea. Our platform can be used in many ways and for a variety of different purposes and we want you to tell us where do you think it should be going and what it is we should develop next. Please don't hesitate to contact us and tell us your ideas.
