Forums

Useful contributions earn 10 XP when the owner marks them useful. Information confirmed as used in a published guide record earns 50 XP in total, replacing the 10 XP rather than adding to it. Posts and comments can both qualify. Ordinary forum votes and posting volume do not earn XP. Place reviews use the voting rules below.

1. Level 1 · Neighbour · 0 XP
   Read, post, comment and vote with a free account.
2. Level 2 · Scout · 50 XP
   Bronze Side Street styling and contributor badge.
3. Level 3 · Local guide · 150 XP
   Silver styling and private notes on your saved places.
4. Level 4 · Streetwise · 400 XP
   Gold button styling.

XP can be corrected if information is removed, edited or no longer qualifies. Existing notes stay readable and can be copied or deleted if you drop below Level 3. Diamond and admin tools are not earnable. The guide and normal account saves stay free. There is no subscription.

Place-review XP: each eligible upvote earns 2 XP, up to 50 per review. If eligible downvotes exceed upvotes by 5 or more, that review instead loses 2 XP per net downvote, capped at 20 XP lost. Your total XP never falls below zero. Votes qualify for XP only when cast by an active account at least 24 hours old; all votes still show in the totals. Changing or clearing a vote recalculates XP; it cannot stack rewards. Only current published reviews earn or lose XP. Editing, removal or moderation resets or pauses their contribution. Reports let the owner investigate coordinated voting.

Keep it about useful savings, places, access or improving Side Street. Say where an offer applies, what it costs, when you checked it and any catch. Add the original source when you can. Community posts are leads, not verified guide listings.

Review a place only if you have visited it, and declare any connection to the business. One review per account per place; edit yours when your experience changes. Reviews and their comments automatically mask common foul language, including common disguised spellings. This filter can miss context or new spellings, so human moderation and reporting remain in place.

Be civil. No scams, illegal offers, hate, harassment, sexual content, dangerous advice, private personal information, referral codes or repetitive promotion. Declare any connection to a business. Do not post health details, benefit documents, passwords or someone else’s contact details.

Posts and comments are reviewed before publication, including edits. There are no direct messages, image uploads or automatic link previews. The owner can hold, edit, remove or lock discussions, reverse rewards, and suspend accounts for abuse. Owner-edited wording is labelled on the post; changing wording clears its votes and XP. A downvote means the information was not useful, not a personal attack.

Your username, approved contributions, contributor level and vote totals are public. Individual votes, reports and saved notes are private. You can edit or remove your own contributions through My contributions. Edits leave public view until reviewed and reset votes and XP for that contribution. Replies are temporarily hidden while their discussion is under review. Removing a discussion leaves a blank marker where needed so published replies remain readable.

Deleting your account removes your contribution text, votes and private notes. Reports are retained without your account link; moderation records and resolved reports are cleared after 90 days during moderation maintenance. The owner alone reviews reports and awards XP. Use Report for a problem, or Appeal on your contribution if you disagree with a decision. Anyone, including visitors without an account, can report illegal content, privacy concerns or a moderation complaint to hello@sidestreet.guide with the discussion link. Reports do not appear publicly.