Help / FAQ

The following FAQ lists are intended to answer most of your questions, if you have other queries send them to us.

New to Chowk

Chowk is a community of readers, writers, and interactors. Learn more about Chowk.

Who are interactors?

Interactors are registered members of Chowk. All members are encouraged to interact by participating in on-going discussions on Chowk.

How do I become a member/interactor?

To become a member, click on the Join Chowk link in the top header of every page and submit the form. You will receive an activation key in email along with a link and instructions to activate your account. When you fill in the activation form you can sign-in begin interacting at Chowk.

What do I get by becoming a member?

• As a member you get the privilege to interact on Chowk.
• You get an interactor page which links your ilogs, galleries, interacts, profile, and your favorite articles, ilogs etc.
• You are able to prosonalize your account by sharing your interests, vocation etc. in your profile.
• You get unlimited ability to write and manage your iLogs (like blogs).
• You get unlimited ability to post images in gallery (like photo blogs).

What is an interact?

An Interact is a reply or comment posted in response to an article. These are listed a the end of each article.

Why Interact?

The central goal of Chowk is to promote dialog, discussion, debate on issues which are important to us as people, community, and society at large. These issues sometimes challenge our social, religious, political and or moral beliefs and therefore are not always comfortable. But we believe as long as we can continue to bring them in the open and discuss them in a civil manner we make progress as a whole.

How do I interact on Chowk?

You can interact in several ways - by posting comments to published articles on Chowk. By posting iLogs and Gallery entries. And by participating in Unplugged forums.

What can I post in interacts?

We encourage all to participate in discussions. All we ask you to be is civil. If your post includes words or masked references that are offensive, crude, repugnant, or obscene, your post will be duly filtered or removed. Please also read the detailed InterAct! Guidelines. If you notice specific instances of personal-attacks, hate-speech, and other kind of harassment please flag that entry and / or send immediate feedback. At Chowk the force of your argument is more important than aggression. We have noticed that people who use poor language to express themselves are first criticized by the Chowk community than altogether ignored. If you want to be noticed, please stick to the guidelines.

What are Interact Guidelines?

Please see Interact Guidelines.

How are interactions moderated on Chowk?

All interactions on Chowk are expected to follow Chowk Interact Guidelines. To control abuse, attacks, and hate directed towards individuals or groups we enforce these guidelines by filtering specific posts. Anyone who has a post filtered will lose the privilege of immediate posting on Chowk for 24 hours. During this time their posts will be reviewed by a moderator before they appear on Chowk. This 24 hour period is a cooling off time to control a spiral reaction. If an interactor has more than 3 posts filtered they will next be banned from posting for 24 hours. If an interactor is banned for more than 3 times then their account will be suspended and they will be banned from returning to Chowk.

We require everyone on Chowk to participate by maintaining civility in discussion. We also encourage you to report objectionable posts by flagging such posts. Flagged posts are verified by the moderators and then acted upon if considered necessary.

Who are Chowk moderators?

Moderators are select members with long association with Chowk and commitment to its core values.

Writing on Chowk

How do I submit articles for publishing?

To submit material for Chowk, you must sign-in. Once you sign in, click on Write on Chowk link in the top menu bar for detailed information and link to the article submit form. The submit form is also linked at the top of the right column of every article page.

How do include an image with an article?

The article submit form allows you to upload one image (small jpg or gif) to be added with the article. If your article must include more than one image then email it to editors at chowk.com.

When will my article be published?

Usually the time taken to publish an article is 1-2 weeks. The editors exercise their judgment to maintain quality. If your article is not published in 3-4 weeks you may want to post it as an iLog instead.

What is a writer page?

Chowk writers have a separate identity than their interactor identity and for this their bio and list of articles are linked on their writer page.

How do I find my published articles on Chowk?

All articles, columns, fiction first appears on the Chowk home page, but the home page has new content daily so your previous work is linked from Articles page and from your writer's page.

How do I update my writer bio?

Writer bio and picture are maintained by Chowk editors. If you have updates then email to editors at chowk.

I do not want my real name to appear on writer's page.

If you want to be published at Chowk then we require you to provide your full name and brief bio for reasons of credibility.

The only exceptions made are if you have a known penname other than your full name. Or if the material you are publishing is so controversial that you fear persecution if your identity is revealed. In such cases please use the note to editor field in the submission form to communicate the matter.

I read a news story today and want to share it on Chowk.

You can add the news/story headline and URL with source in the News from Elsewhere section on the Chowk home page.

I want to submit an article written by someone else, what are your guidelines?

You need to obtain the original author's permission and email it to editors at chowk with full details.

How do I contact Chowk?

How do I get contact info of a Chowk writer or interactor?

We do not share the contact of registered Chowk members and writers. You can send them a messgae using the message center feature of Chowk.

I want to republish articles from Chowk?

Please email info@chowk.com a proposal with full details.

How do I send feedback about Chowk?

Please use the feedback form to send comments or ask questions.

What will happen to my information that I use during registration or submitting an article?

Please read our privacy policy for details. Chowk does not share information with any third party and does not sell or in any way use your email other than to provide you with Chowk services and features.