FAQ
Content:
1 Questions about this website
2 Questions about registered users and user accounts
3 Questions about the Happy Birthday - guestbook
1 Questions about this website
Who is Shakira?
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is a well known and award winning popstar from Colombia. Currently Shakira is on tour and in the beginning of 2007 she will come to Europe.
What is the purpose of this website?
The purpose of this website is to provide Shakira's fans with a platform to take notice of, and to communicate about Shakira's upcoming birthday.
What is the relation between this website and Shakira?
None. This website is in no way affiliated with Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, her official website (Shakira.com), or her record label (Sony Music/Epic Records).
This is just an independent, private fan site.
Do you know Shakira in person?
No, I don't.
Will Shakira read this website?
No idea. She could read it just like any person can read this website. Hence we cannot guarantee that any greetings, best wishes, or other messages will reach her. If it turns out that a lot of people post happy birthday greetings to Shakira, then we may try to notify her in some way. However we cannot make any promises.
Will this website remain online forever?
No, this website was made for a specific event: Shakira's birthday at Februari 2, 2007. Although nothing is decided at the moment of writing (12-2006), this site may be terminated without notice somewhere in the future. When this happens all data may be erased including content provided by users and user accounts.
2 Questions about registered users and user accounts
Why can I not register a user account anymore?
As of 30-01-2007 the registration of new user accounts is disabled.
Reason:
Registering a user account has no specific benefits anymore. The main use of registering a user account was to support forum posts. However it turned out that nobody used the forums, so these are now disabled. To make a happy birthday message you do not need an account. If you need to contact the site administrator, please use the contact form.
What are the advantages of registering?
Registered users can make forum posts and comments.
UPDATE: as of 30-01-2007 the forums were removed because nobody used these. To make a happy birthday message in the guestbook you do not need a user account. Therefore registering a user account has no specific benefits anymore, and user account registration will be disabled.
Who owns the content provided by registered users?
The intellectual property rights (copyrights) of user provided content remains with the original author. Registered users should take care of not violating any copyrights.
What do you do with my personal data?
Personal data such as your e-mail address, username and password is used to make a user account available to you on this website.
Note: any information which you make available as part of your public user profile may be visible to anybody who visits this website.
Can my content be deleted without notice?
Yes, any post, comment, or other content provided by users can by deleted by the site administrators without notice. Reasons to delete content could be e.g. inappropriate use of this website, copyright violations, illegal activities, or simply to save bandwidth.
Can my account be deleted without notice?
Although we aim to treat user accounts with respect, we hold the right to delete user accounts without notice. For example, user accounts may be deleted when:
- this website is terminated
- a user severely misbehaves or endangers the operation of this website
- a user explicitly asks for the terminition of his/her account
It is up to the site administrator(s) to decide about account termination/deletion/deactivation. Such a decision is not subject to debate.
3 Questions about the Happy Birthday - guestbook
How many messages may I make?
One per person. In exceptional cases we may accept two messages, for example when it is clear that you accidentally submitted the first message before you finished typing it.
Why was my message deleted?
Reasons to delete guestbook messages (posts) could be e.g. multiple posts from the same person, or inappropiate content. Furthermore exceptionally long messages may be trunctuated (cut off). I.e. inappropriate use of the guestbook is a reason to delete the respective messages without notice.
Will Shakira read the guestbook?
We do not know and cannot promise. This website is not affiliated with Shakira, but when the guestbook is very successful we may try to inform her about it. However we cannot make any promises.
May I write my message to Shakira in Spanish?
Yes, Spanish is fine in the guestbook although we prefer English.
Is my IP-address logged?
Currently IP-addresses of anonymous messages are logged because we want to be able to block spammers.
Why do I get a message that I used forbidden words?
Unfortunately the guestbook is also a target for spammers. To prevent spam messages from ending up in the guestbook, certain words and tags are forbidden. If you use these words or tags then your message will simply not be posted and you see a warning message on the screen.
The chance that you accidentally used these words or tags is very small, but when you do you unfortunately have to retype (and rephrase) your entire message again. If you keep having problems while you are sure that you do nothing wrong, then please contact the site administrator.
Why are hyperlinks forbidden?
Unfortunately this message board is a target for spammers. They use hyperlinks to promote products or direct you to other websites. Clearly this is not the purpose of this guestbook. Therefore messages which contain hyperlinks are automatically erased even before they are published in the guestbook!
We are aware that you may not have bad intentions when typing a hyperlink, but because of previous abuse we just have no other option.