Scribd is a free, web-based, document sharing community and self-publishing platform that enables anyone to easily publish, distribute, share, and discover documents of all kinds. E-books, presentations, essays, academic papers, newsletters, photo albums, school work, and sheet music are just a few of the different kinds of documents you can publish and share on Scribd.

Scribd provides:

A simple yet powerful method of publishing and distributing your own electronic books and documents in a variety of formats - for free.
A vibrant global community of eager publishers, readers and collaborators that offer great content and constructive feedback.
A massive, perpetually growing library of open, community-generated content.
A secure, flexible private document managment system.

Scribd also provides value-added products and services for commercial publishers, educational institutions, and multi-media content providers.

What kinds of things can I do with Scribd?

Scribd is full of cool and interesting features that will transform how you work with documents on the web!

Upload documents in many different formats, including Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, plain text, HTML, PowerPoint, Excel, OpenOffice, JPEG, and more!
Embed your documents in a blog, Facebook profile, or other external website with your fonts, images, and formatting fully intact
Host a document at Scribd with its own unique URL
Unlimited storage - upload as many documents as you like
Your choice of one of four uploaders that best suits your needs
Fast indexing by Google and other major search engines will ensure that your content is easily found by just about everyone!
Keep certain documents private or share with a limited number of friends
Automatically convert published content into PDF, Word, and plain text
Analyze your viewers by location, Google referral, and more
Find documents similar to yours
Receive feedback and comments from Scribd's community
Retain full document copyright or make your documents available under Creative Commons licenses
Create a profile and make new friends and fans
Explore the hundreds of thousands of documents that have already been uploaded by Scribd's community - browse by category and tags, use our full-text search tool, or just browse by what's popular - it's up to you!

How does Scribd differ from a blog?

Scribd and blogging platforms like Blogger, WordPress, and Tumblr are all tools that enable you to publish yourself on the web. Scribd occupies the space between blogging and traditional publishing, enabling anybody to publish formatted, professional-looking content without expensive software or hassle.

Documents published on Scribd aren't confined by the formatting limits and peculiarities of HTML-based platforms. PDF documents uploaded to Scribd retain their fonts, graphics, and formatting regardless of the reader's particular computer or browser. Scribd documents compliment your blog by enabling you to embed multi-page formatted documents with a simple bit of code.

Here are a few things to consider when deciding whether to use Scribd or a blog:

Each document on Scribd is a stand-alone publication.
There is no pressure to post multiple documents on Scribd. Unlike a blog, you can post one piece of writing and then never post anything again.
With Scribd, there's no time pressure. You can publish something you wrote yesterday, or ten years ago!
Unlike a blog, Scribd allows you to display richly formatted Word or PDF documents

What's the story behind Scribd?

Scribd was started by Trip Adler and Jared Friedman in September 2006, and a couple months later Tikhon Bernstam joined as a co-founder. The idea was inspired when Trip and Jared wanted to publish some of their school papers online and couldn't find an easy way to do it. They hit upon the idea of making a website designed for people to share their documents with the world. Scribd officially launched in March 2007.

How do you guys make money?

Trip plays sax on the street corner sometimes.

How do I pronounce Scribd?

There are many ways that people pronounce Scribd, but over here at Scribd's offices we say it as one syllable with the short i sound: "skr?bb'd". Like this:

Where can I find news about Scribd?

The Scribd Blog is your one-stop source for feature news, tips, and announcements.

Do you offer an API or other professional services?

Yes! Scribd offers a broad platform of tools and services for website owners, application developers, or anyone looking for a better way to view documents on the web. Check out our Scribd Platform FAQ page.

I've found some objectionable or offensive content on Scribd. What do I do?

Scribd has a system that enables users to flag content they suspect violates the terms of service. Users that flag content must specify exactly why the content should be removed from circulation on Scribd. The Scribd team carefully reviews each flagged document and removes any that we agree violates the terms of service.

Documents that constitute egregious violations of the law (child pornography, etc.) should be immediately reported to contact@scribd.com.

How does Scribd define "abuse?"

Abuse is any activity that detracts from Scribd, or Scribd's community. Abuse includes, but is not limited to, publishing spam, harassing other users, hate speech, marketing via comments, and other activities. Abuse may result in immediate account termination without notice.

What activities result in account termination?

There are a handful of activities that can result in immediate account termination. These include, but are not limited to:

more than two reported instances of copyright infringement
uploading spam or malicious marketing
repeated violation of adult content policy
impersonating another person or user
hate speech, threats, or harrassment in documents or comments
marketing or promotion in comments

My account has been suspended/terminated for abuse! Will I get access to my documents?

All documents belonging to users that we have terminated for abuse are deleted at the point of termination. Scribd will not provide backups or access to these deleted documents.

What about re-branded e-books that I have "giveaway" rights to?

"Re-branded e-books" are little more than spam in PDF form. Their sole purpose is to entice readers to click on ads that lead to affiliate marketing sites, phishing sites, and other malicious sites under the guise of an "informative article," usually on topics such as "affiliate marketing tips," "make money off the Internet," "how to find the best free downloads," "how to be the eBay king," etc. If you currently publish rebranded e-books on Scribd, remove them now. Regardless of whether you use rebranded e-books for "legitimate business," Scribd considers them to be malicious spam. This type of content damages our ranking at Google and other search engines, which directly affects the vast majority of legitimate users on Scribd.com. Any user that uses the Scribd network to distribute spam, whether knowingly or unknowingly, may have his/her account terminated and documents deleted at any time, without notice.

Your Terms of Service say nothing about promotional material!

Section 8.19 of our Terms of Service clearly state that by using the site, you agree not to "post, upload or distribute marketing material, advertisements, spam, content designed to aid search engine optimization, content in HTML format with links or redirects, or other commercial content that detracts from the Scribd experience."

Does section 8.19 of the Terms of Service mean I'm not allowed to publish documents with links?

You may include links in your documents, but you may not link to sites that Scribd deems 'malicious.' This include, but are not limited to, advertising sites, link engines, affiliate marketing sites, fake search engines, phishing sites, and some others. Scribd management has sole discretion over sites we consider malicious.

I didn't receive any kind of notification before my account was terminated!

This is precisely what happens in cases of "immediate termination of account without notice." It is the responsibility of every user to be aware of the Scribd Terms of Service.

What is an award?

Awards are given to documents that have proven to be popular among the community or are unique and interesting enough to attract the attention of the staff. There are currently only two available awards: "Featured" and "Hot."

What is a Featured document?

Featured documents are selected by the Scribd staff as representing unique or interesting documents that stand out above the crowd.

What is the Hot list?

The "Hot List" is comprised of documents that have received a considerable views, likes, comments, and favorites in a short period of time. Documents are automatically added to the Hot List by the Scribd algorithm.

How can I get on the Hot/Featured lists?

The Hot list is generated automatically by our system. We cannot add documents manually to the Hot list. We also do not accept applications or solicitations for Featuring your document. If your document's cool, it'll get noticed.

How can the public find the stuff I publish on Scribd?

All public documents uploaded to Scribd are indexed by Google, Yahoo!, and other major search engines. Scribd also has a large and active community of readers that is likely to find your content, provided you add descriptive titles and tags.

Private documents are not indexed by search engines.

What is a 'like?'

A like is a simple way to show your appreciation for a particularly good document. A like will boost a document's community rating, and will help good content rise to the top.

How do I comment on a document?

At the bottom of each View Document page is a input box for adding your comments. You must be a logged in with your Scribd account in order to add comments to documents.

Can I turn off comments for my documents?

You can disable commenting on a document-by-document basis through each document's Edit panel. It's currently not possible to disable commenting on all documents at once.

Someone is posting harassing comments to my documents! What do I do?

Harassment of any kind is not tolerated. Report any harassing users immediately. You may at any time turn off comments for a particular document and delete comments that you determine inappropriate.

What languages does Scribd support?

Scribd supports documents in many languages and dialects. Viewdrop-down menu on the browse page to see the complete list of available languages.

I would like Scribd to support my local language/dialect.

Contact us at contact@scribd.com and we will do our best to add support for your local language as soon as possible. Please be sure to include the name of the language as its written in its native language as well an English pronunciation.

How can I see information about who's reading my content?

Scribd's unique metrics features make anonymous reader statistics available at a glance. Detailed traffic analytics are displayed on and linked from the View Document page.

What is copyright?

Copyright is the right of an author of a creative work to prevent others from copying the work, or reusing part or all of the original work in a derivative work. Copyright can cover almost any creative expression including a book, photograph, artwork, writing, or recording. After a period of time, copyrights revert to the public domain. The period for which a work remains under copyright varies from country to country.

What is Creative Commons and how does it compare to copyright?

Creative Commons is a relatively new method of licensing your content that enables you to authorize the public to copy and distribute your content for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If copyright says "all rights reserved," Creative Commons says "some rights reserved." The extent of the rights you grant the public is entirely up to you. Get more information on Creative Commons at http://creativecommons.org.

What copyright licenses does Scribd support?

You can publish your document on Scribd under standard copyright, under any Creative Commons license, or directly to the public domain.

How I change the copyright/Creative Commons license for my document?

You must change this setting individually for each document.

Log in to your Scribd account.
Choose a document and click the Edit button from the toolbar above the iPaper window.
Click More advanced options...
Select a copyright/Creative Commons license from the License section.
Click Save changes

What happens if I upload documents for which I don’t own the copyright or have consent of the copyright holder?

If we are notified that a document you have uploaded to Scribd infringes someone else's copyright, we will notify you and take down the document immediately, as required by law. If you persist in uploading unauthorized content, we will permanently ban your account and IP address from the Scribd Service, pursuant to our Repeat Infringer Policy.

What about 'fair use?'

The "fair use" doctrine is an exception to copyright law in the United States that allows the reproduction of portions of a copyrighted work for certain limited purposes such as criticism, commentary, parody, news reporting, research and teaching. Fair use is a complicated and highly subjective doctrine; you may be liable for monetary damages if you use copyrighted work that is determined not to meet the criteria of fair use.

I've found an unauthorized copy of my content on Scribd. How do I request its removal?

You must file a valid DMCA takedown request with our copyright agent. For detailed information, check out our Copyright FAQ.

I've had one of my documents removed for copyright reasons when it was wholly original. How do I contest this?

Your document may have been removed at a party's request, or it may have been flagged by our copyright filter. If this is the case, contact us at contact@scribd.com and we will investigate further.

I'm a copyright holder and I would like to make sure that my work doesn't end up on Scribd.

Scribd is committed to helping copyright holders prevent unauthorized content from appearing on Scribd. Scribd has developed proprietary text matching technology designed to identify and automatically remove certain infringing content from Scribd. If you are interested in participating in this beta program, click here.

I found a work by my favorite author on Scribd, which I'm convinced is a copyright violation. Can I demand that you remove it on behalf of the copyright holder?

Scribd can only remove content at the request of the legal copyright holder. We are committed to protecting the intellectual property rights of content providers, and we immediately respond to legitimate take-down requests from content owners. However, Scribd takes great care to ensure our commitment doesn't lead to the censorship of legitimate content because of impostor take-down notices. For this and other legal reasons, we cannot accept "Good Samaritan" takedown notices for content that you do not hold copyrights to. If you're sure that a copyrighted work has been unlawfully posted on Scribd, please notify the publisher or author's agent, and they will waste no time in relaying the message to us.

Where can I get more information about copyright?

We strongly encourage Scribd users to familiarize themselves with copyright law before creating and uploading documents. We recommend these informational resources:

Can I download the documents on Scribd?

By default, Scribd makes documents available for download in their original format, as a PDF file, and as plain text. Click the Download icon above the document window to choose which format to download. Users can choose which formats to make available for download, so some formats may not be available on some documents.

Can I download the iPaper document to my own computer?

iPaper documents are meant to be viewed over the web, much like a YouTube video. For your convenience, Scribd makes documents available for download in their original format, as a PDF file, and as plain text.

What if I don't see a download icon above the document?

Many users choose not to make their documents available for downloading on Scribd. The download icon will not appear above documents that are not available for download.

Why aren't some download formats available for certain documents?

Users can choose which formats to make available for download, so some formats may not be available on some documents.

The plain text version of the document is poorly formatted. What's going on?

The plain text version of a document is often extracted from a PDF or other rich file format. It's usually not possible to retain line breaks and other text formatting when text is extracted from another format.

Why do I get an error message when I try to download a document?

There is a limit to the number of downloads that we allow each day on Scribd. If you've reached this limit, you will receive an error message when you try to download another document. If you see this message, simply wait 24 hours to download more documents.

Help! I can't download, no matter what!

Make sure that your browser plugins, virus scanners, and firewall software are configured to allow traffic from scribd.com.

How many documents am I allowed to download each day?

The number varies based on your downloading habits.

Do I need an account to download documents from Scribd?

Yes.

What is iPaper?

iPaper is a document format built for the Web. Virtually any document format is convertable to iPaper, which is embeddable into any website or blog.

I use WordPress. Why can't I see my iPaper embed?

We've discovered that WordPress aggressively strips JavaScript embed codes, rendering iPaper unusable in WordPress blogs. We are working overtime to quickly find a solution to this problem.

What's different about iPaper?

Unlike traditional document formats, iPaper is viewed inside a Web browser and doesn't require additional software to view it. At 100 KB the iPaper application is about 1/1000th the size of Adobe’s Acrobat Reader software, making it an incredibly fast way to view documents. Despite the tiny size, iPaper integrates Scribd’s social features, like emailing and embedding. iPaper's security system protects content without clumsy DRM solutions. iPaper also builds on the rich features of PDF, including full text search, copy/paste functionality, view modes, and zoom.

Why doesn't Scribd continue to use FlashPaper?

FlashPaper was originally developed by Macromedia as a web-enabled competitor to Adobe's PDF format. Adobe discontinued development of FlashPaper upon it's acquisition of Macromedia in 2006. As useful as it is, FlashPaper is an orphaned technology. Adobe no longer provides support or upgrades to the technology. Services dependent on FlashPaper can't evolve or respond to the needs of its customers. Our experience with FlashPaper made clear that there was still a lot of cooking to do. So, armed with months of feedback from our community, we took the things we loved about FlashPaper, ditched what didn't work, and developed iPaper from the ground up - with better document fidelity, better features, a better interface, and a better all-around experience. iPaper's potential is unlimited.

Can I choose to display my documents in FlashPaper instead?

No. FlashPaper has been discontinued.

What do I need to view iPaper?

iPaper is built with Adobe Flash, so if you can watch videos on YouTube, you won't have any problems with iPaper. You must also have JavaScript enabled on your browser.

What kind of documents can I convert to iPaper?

iPaper currently supports the following formats:

Adobe PDF (.pdf)
Adobe PostScript (.ps)
Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx)
Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pps, .pptx)
Microsoft Excel (.xls, xlsx)
OpenOffice Text Document (.odt, .sxw)
OpenOffice Presentation Document (.odp, .sxi)
OpenOffice Spreadsheet (.ods, .sxc)
All OpenDocument formats
Plain text (.txt)
Rich text format (.rtf)

How do I convert a document to iPaper?

There are several different methods. Your documents and your individual requirements will determine which choice is best for you. If you're simply trying to share one or more documents, your best bet is to upload your document to Scribd. If you have your own website, you may find that QuickSwitch or the Scribd API offer options that are more suitable for you. If you have previously uploaded your document to Scribd, your document has already been converted to iPaper.

What's the best way to convert a bunch of documents at once?

The Scribd bulk uploader, the Scribd API and QuickSwitch are purpose-built to handle large quantities of documents from one or more sources. Our very large server cluster allows us to offer high performance for processing and searching, no matter how many documents you have.

Can I convert images to iPaper?

Not directly. Images convert to iPaper only when they're part of a document format, such as a PDF or a Word document.

Can I run iPaper conversion software on my own servers?

Not at this time. iPaper runs on a professionally managed, highly secure server cluster, guaranteeing that your documents will be accessible and safe at all times. Our server cluster allows us to offer high performance for processing and searching, no matter how many documents you have - at an unbelievably low cost.

My embedded document suddenly gives me an error message about a previous version of iPaper! What do I do?

We went to great length to make sure that documents already embedded with FlashPaper would seamlessly convert to iPaper. There is, however, a small set of documents that, for various reasons, can't connect with the iPaper servers. To fix this, you need to refresh the embed code. Visit the document's page on Scribd, copy the embed code, and use it to replace the code currently in your webpage. Once you publish the changes, the document will display in iPaper.

I can no longer see my document on Scribd! What do I do?

We've done our best to convert Scribd documents from FlashPaper to iPaper with as few problems as possible. If you are unable to see your Scribd document in iPaper, email us at contact [at] scribd.com. Be sure to include a link to the document in question, along with your username.

My document failed to convert to iPaper. What gives?

There are many reasons a document conversion can fail. The primary cause is when you inadvertantly upload an encrypted or password protected PDF file. Try saving the PDF again without any security protections. Word docs and PowerPoint presentations occasionally fail when there are a large number of images or corrections. Try saving the Word doc again as a .rtf file or .pdf file.

I use Microsoft Office 2007. Can I convert .docx and other Office 2007 formats to iPaper?

Yes!

Can I embed iPaper into a web page?

Absolutely. You can embed iPaper in any website or blog that permits embeddable Flash.

How do I change the size of the embedded iPaper?

Look for the height and width values in the embed code. Set those values accordingly, in pixels.

Can I resize the iPaper window?

The size of the iPaper window is determined by the webmaster. The window may increase in size if you resize the browser's window. You cannot dynamically resize an iPaper window, except to view in fullscreen.

What are the different ways I can display documents in iPaper?

There are three View Modes that are accessible through the iPaper menu on the left side of the toolbar. First is "List Mode," the default mode for most documents. List mode displays pages in a continuous scroll. You can move through the pages with the left-right arrows, by moving along the scrollbar, or by click-dragging the pages themselves. Next is "Book Mode," a 2-page display ideal for book-style layouts or documents with images that span multiple pages.The last mode is "Slide Mode," which is ideal for presentations and any document in a "landscape" orientation. The scroll bar is disabled in both Book Mode and Slide Mode.

Can I view the document in full-screen?

Yes. Click the fullscreen button at top right of the iPaper window.

How can I adjust my view of the document in iPaper?

By default, iPaper fits the full width of the document to the iPaper window, in List Mode. You can change the document's view mode through the iPaper menu on the left side of the toolbar. You can adjust your view of the page with iPaper's zoom control, represented by the "plus" and "minus" buttons on the toolbar, and the zoom slider bar that appears when you mouse over the zoom area. Use either the buttons or the slider to adjust your document's magnification. The two notches on the slider bar represent iPaper's ideal magnification settings for displaying the document's full width and height. They're slightly sticky, so it's always easy to jog back to a full-page view if you do a lot of zooming.

Can I search for text in my documents?

Yes. iPaper's search bar lets you search through any document comprised of text characters. This applies to most documents on Scribd. However, some "text" documents, particularly those made from scanned images, may not be searchable. iPaper highlights any results that it finds.

Can I copy text from a document in iPaper?

Yes. Click the Select Text button and highlight the text you want. Use Control-C or Command-C to copy the text. Note this may not work in some documents converted from scanned images.

How can I navigate around my document?

Just to the right of the zoom control are iPaper's document navigation buttons. Click the right arrow to advance to the next page and click the left to return to the previous one. A page number indicator also appears alongside iPaper's scrollbar when scrolling a standard document, and on the lower left corner when viewing a presentation in Slide Mode. You can also click the Tile Mode button to display the pages as a contact sheet. Click any one of the pages, and iPaper takes you there instantly!

Can I print a document from iPaper?

Yes! Click the iPaper menu on the left side the toolbar, then click Print.

How can I tell others about my document?

You can email your friends directly from iPaper! Click the iPaper menu on the left side of the toolbar, and select Email to Friend.

Can I edit a document in iPaper?

No. iPaper is a publishing format, not an editor. You may, however, edit a document locally and upload the changes as a new revision.

Can I download the iPaper document to my own computer?

No. iPaper is a format designed for the Web. The iPaper viewer streams document content dynamically from our server 'cloud.' Many publishers, however, choose to make the original format available for download at the document's page at scribd.com.

Can I "skin" iPaper, change the look of the buttons, or view the document without the iPaper frame?

Not at this time.

Why does the scrollbar change colors?

iPaper's scrollbar doubles as a document loading indicator. As the content streams into the viewer, the progress is shown as the scrollbar filling with color.

Sometimes the scrollbar doesn't work. Why?

The scrollbar is disabled in Book Mode and Slide Mode.

Does iPaper support fonts?

Yes. iPaper displays documents in the same font as the original document. Your readers will not have to install any files to view special or unusual fonts. iPaper automatically detects files that use fixed-width (monospace) fonts.

How can I find out more information about the document?

Click the iPaper menu on the left of the toolbar and click Document Info.

Does iPaper support interactive PDF features like forms and callouts?

Not yet. We'll constantly improve iPaper with new features, but we wanted to make sure the first version of iPaper was compatible with as many formats as possible.

Can I find out more information about the author of an iPaper document?

Click the iPaper menu on the left of the toolbar and click Document Info. Click the author link to visit the author's profile on Scribd.

I've converted a document to iPaper, but I don't see iPaper - only blank space!

Most users experiencing this problem find that it's fixed once they upgrade to the latest version of Flash. You can download it for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

I've converted a document to iPaper, but the text is all garbled or appears as little boxes!

See more details about this problem in this blog entry.

Does iPaper make use of keyboard shortcuts for easier navigation?

Yes! You can use your keyboard to more easily navigate around iPaper documents.

Page Down: Next page
Page Up: Previous page
Up or Down Arrow: Scroll up or down
Left or Right Arrow (In List/Book mode): Scroll left or right (wide pages only)
Left or Right Arrow (In Slide mode): Previous page, next page
Right Bracket, or plus: Zoom in
Left Bracket, or minus: Zoom out
Esc: Leave find mode, or close currently open dialog box if open
Ctrl+F: Place cursor in search box (not supported in Firefox under Mac OS X)
Ctrl+C: Copy currently selected text (not supported in Firefox under Mac OS X)

Can I include links in my Scribd documents?

Yes. You may add clickable links to documents displayed in iPaper. While links in iPaper are clickable, they are not indexed by search engines.

Can I make money off Scribd?

If you represent a publishing company, please see our Qualified Publisher Program for information about partnering with Scribd. If you have your own website, you can use iPaper on your site and earn ad revenue from your embedded documents. See the Platform page for details.

Do you support HTML documents with back-links?

No. We have discontinued all support for HTML documents. You may add links to documents in iPaper, but they are not indexed as "backlinks" by search engines.

What is a notification?

A notification is simple message that alerts you to an important event, such as when a new member wishes to join your group or someone has commented on one of your documents. Notifications appear in your Scribd inbox.

Can I send messages to other Scribd users?

Yes. You can send messages internally to other Scribd users by clicking the 'Send [user] a message' link on any Scribd member's profile page. You may not use the Scribd mail system for sales or solicitation of any kind.

How do I turn off notifications sent to my e-mail address?

By default, Scribd sends an email to your email address whenever an event occurs to your document, such as a comment or when someone adds it to a group. You can disable these emails through Email Preferences.

Log in to your Scribd account.
Click the envelope icon or browse to http://www.scribd.com/notifications/notifications
Select "Never" from the Email preferences box in the right column
Click "Update preferences"

How do I change my password?

Log into Scribd and visit http://www.scribd.com/people/password.

What do I do if I've lost my password?

If you've lost or forgotten your password, you can reset it. To reset your password, click http://www.scribd.com/people/reset and enter the email address that you specified in your account profile. If you cannot access email at that address, you cannot reset your password.

How do I delete my account?

Log into Scribd and click http://www.scribd.com/people/delete.

How do I edit my public profile?

Log into Scribd and click http://www.scribd.com/people/edit.

Does Scribd support OpenID?

Yes! You can log in to your Scribd with your OpenID.

What is OpenID?

OpenID allows you to log on to many different web sites using a sing digital identity, also known as "single sign-on." Once you sign up with a trusted OpenID provider (such as Clickpass, MyOpenID.com, Yahoo, Google, Orange, and others), you are given a digital identity that looks like a web address, such as http://myname.myprovider.com.

When a website supports OpenID, all you have to do is provide your OpenID URL. The site then checks with your OpenID provider to verify your identity. Your provider will typically ask that you enter your password and add the destination site to a list of trusted sites. With that done, you can then access the website at any time with your OpenID URL.

For more information, visit OpenID.net

What is Clickpass?

Clickpass makes OpenID even easier. If Clickpass is your OpenID provider of choice, you can log into Scribd with one click. However, you can log in with an OpenID from any provider by clicking the expand arrow on the Clickpass button.

Users of AIM, LiveJournal, WordPress, Smugmug, and Technorati can utilize their accounts from the aforementioned services for OpenID access through the Clickpass menu as well.

Can I use OpenID if I already have a Scribd account?

Yes. After you log in with your OpenID for the first time, we'll ask if you want to create a new account or merge your OpenID with an account already on Scribd. Of course, you'll need to provide your Scribd username and password in order to merge accounts.

How can I find interesting content on Scribd?

There are several ways to find content. The quickest way is to enter a keyword in the search box. Click the Browse button to check out our categories. Categories are especially useful when you're looking for general topics like Politics, History, or Humor. From the Browse page you can see what's most popular, what's new from your friends (if you are logged in), or the latest documents from everyone. You can also find cool content by browsing our groups and the community tag cloud.

What's a tag?

A 'tag' is really another term for a keyword. Tags provide basic, searchable metadata that help search engines to index your document with greater speed and relevance. On Scribd, tags are entered without separating commas. For example, a Scribd user publishing a document about "biscuits, gravy, chicken and dumplings" would enter the tags as "biscuits gravy chickenanddumplings." You can enter as many tags as you feel is necessary to describe your document. You can see the most popular tags in the community tag cloud.

What are categories?

Categories are high-level document topics that make it easier for you to browse for the things you're interested in. You can set your document's category at upload time. There are currently 18 top-level categories, each with several sub-categories.

How do tags and categories differ?

Tags, categories, and the search box all work together to make documents easier to find. While tags are individual keywords that help search engine users quickly find your document, categories are hierarchical topics designed to help you find documents of interest to you as you browse around the Scribd website.

May I suggest a new category or subcategory?

Absolutely. Send your suggestions to contact@scribd.com. We review submissions every couple months and add those we feel apply to users in general.

What are groups?

Groups are small communities dedicated to documents and discussions around a particular topic, user, publication, or event. Any user can create a group, and there's no limit to the number of groups users can create. The person that creates a group is also the group's administrator. You can add both documents and Scribd members to groups.

Why would I want to create a group?

You can use a group to create a collection of documents, a collection of users, or both. For example, a group can form around works by a favorite author or on an important subject of the day. Groups are useful for both teachers and students in all subjects. Writers find groups useful for workshopping new material.

What's the difference between a public group, a managed public group, and a private group?

There are three types of groups that provide different levels of access for group participants.

Public Group - Any Scribd user can join and add documents to a public group.
Managed Public Group - While documents in a Managed Public Group are visible to anyone, the group's administrator must approve new group members before they can contribute documents to the group.
Private Group - A private group is visible only to the group administrator and its members. The group's administrator must approve new group members before they can contribute documents to the group.

Do groups support threaded discussions?

Yes. Group members can contribute to threaded discussions in a forum-style message board.

What are the 'up' and 'down' triangles next to group discussion threads?

In much the same way that you can add a "like" to a document, you can add a "like" to comments that you find helpful by clicking the up arrow. If the comment is unhelpful or superfluous, you can "dislike" it by clicking the down arrow.

Can I add multiple items to a group at the same time?

Yes. Use the check boxes displayed alongside search results and document lists to select content to group together. Once all the necessary items on the page have been checked, locate the Add to Group pull-down menu, select a group, and click Submit.

What are folders?

Folders are a simple way of organizing your documents. Unlike groups, folders do not support user permissions or discussions.

I seem to remember something called "Collections..."

Collections were the forerunner to both groups and folders. All former collections were converted to Groups in mid-2007.

Do I need to sign up to publish on Scribd?

Yes. All users must register with a valid email address before publishing on Scribd. Scribd no longer supports anonymous uploads.

Which document formats does Scribd support?

Adobe PDF (.pdf)
Adobe PostScript (.ps)
Microsoft Word (.doc/ .docx)
Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt/.pps/.pptx)
Microsoft Excel (.xls/.xlsx)
OpenOffice Text Document (.odt, .sxw)
OpenOffice Presentation Document (.odp, .sxi)
OpenOffice Spreadsheet (.ods, .sxc)
All OpenDocument formats
Plain text (.txt)
Rich text format (.rtf)

What happens when I upload a document to Scribd?

After you upload, we convert the document to our slick Flash viewer format so that it can be viewed inside a web browser. We also convert it into several downloadable formats, including PDF, Microsoft Word, and plain text. Additionally, a unique document number URL is created for each document and this remains permenant throughout the life of the document, or until the title of the document is changed. The conversion process makes no changes to the content of the document.

What kinds of stuff can I publish on Scribd?

The types of documents you can upload to Scribd are limited only by your imagination (and our Terms of Service). Here are some of the things that our users have published on Scribd:

Indie 'zines
Photo Albums
Technical Manuals
Tutorials
Resumes / Curricula Vitae
Historical Documents
Conference Papers
Childrens' Stories
Novels
Lyrics
Short Stories
Essays
School papers
Song chords and tablature
Poems
Magazines
PowerPoint presentations
Academic research articles
School curricula and syllabi
Funny pictures
Free online books
Spreadsheets
Commentary on current events
Musical scores
Slideshows of photos

What types of items are not allowed on Scribd?

You may not upload content for which you do not have the necessary legal permission. Always be aware of a document's copyright status. You may be held responsible for copyright violations.
Scribd is for the publication of personal documents only. You may not use Scribd for HTML advertising and search engine optimization.
You may not upload any content considered illegal in the United States.
Scribd does not permit racist or hateful content.

If you see content that violates these terms, please use Scribd's document flagging system and the document will be reviewed. Be sure to read our our Terms of Service for more information.

Can I publish adult/erotic material on Scribd?

Adult/pornographic images are not allowed on Scribd.

Do I keep the rights to the documents I publish on Scribd?

Of course. When you upload something to Scribd, you retain all rights in perpetuity, including the right to remove it from Scribd at any time. You grant Scribd only the right to host the document until you choose to remove it. If you choose to, however, you can give other people limited rights to share and reproduce your work by publishing it under a Creative Commons license.

Can I decide the formats in which I make my document available for download?

Yes. All formats are available by default, but you can disable the availability of the PDF, Plain Text, and Word versions on an individual basis though the Edit Document page.

Can I re-edit a document once I've published it on Scribd?

Scribd is not an editing tool and there is no way to edit documents once they've been uploaded. You can, however, make changes to a document locally and upload the changed document as a new revision. The new revision will replace the old copy while retaining the document's likes, comments, and stats. You can revert to a previous version at any time.

How do I upload a new revision of one of my documents without destroying my comments and view counts?

You can upload a new revision that will replace your original document without affecting your comments, views, and such. Here's how:

From the View Document page, click Edit.
Click More advanced options.
Click Upload a new revision of this document

Can I embed a document in my web page, blog, or profile page?

Yes. On each View Document page, next to the document, is a small text box with some HTML code. Simply copy that code and paste it into your web page or blog. Click here to see what a document looks like when embedded into a blog.

Did Scribd used to offer conversions of text to mp3?

Yes. Unfortunately, due to the heavy strain on system resources, we discontinued the audio conversion service in late 2007. We hope to offer similar functionality in the future.

We continue to host the mp3 files for documents converted to audio before the service was disabled.

How do I set permissions on my document so that only certain people can see it?

There are two levels of access for Scribd documents: "public" and "private." When you mark a document private, it is immediately hidden from our search index, search engine bots, and all document listings. Private documents are accessible through a secret URL that you can either keep to yourself, or share with others.

How long does it take for a document I've uploaded to appear in Scribd's search index?

About 15 minutes.

How long does it take for a document I've uploaded to appear in major search indexes like Google and Yahoo?

Your document's appearance and ranking on Google and other search engines is determined by a number of factors. Most unique documents uploaded to Scribd appear in Google's in a matter of hours, while other search engines can take longer.