Here are some answers to user's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
VOM Questions
Question: What is a VOM? Answer: It is an acronym for Virtual Open Microphone. A play on the term "Open Microphone" which is an event held in many cities and towns around the world that allows people to jump up on stage and perform, this is it's virtual counter-part. The event is held on the second Sunday of every month at the Harmony Central Acoustic Guitar (HCAG) forum. You can get more information on how to participate from the "VOM Primer" section available from the menu at the left side of this screen.
Question: What does VOM1T mean? Answer: It is an acronym for Virtual Open Microphone One Take. It's a principal that some adhere to when participating in the VOM. It simply means that the performance was recorded in "One Take" and not pieced together. The rules of the VOM lists this as guideline and not a rule.
Archive Questions
Question: I am logged in, but I cannot see registered areas. Why? Answer: The archive site uses session cookies. These are non-persistant cookies that expire as soon as you log off. But in order for these to do their job, the client computer (that's you) must have cookies enabled for this web site.
Question: I've noticed that sometimes the avatars all disappear. Why is that? Answer: We're heavily integrated with Harmony Central. The avatars are in fact pulled directly from Harmony Central. Harmony Central has many periods where service is interrupted for database maintenance or some other temporary condition. During these periods of "down time" avatars may not be pulled from their server and therefore come up blank here on the VOM archive site. That condition does not affect our link lists to the music.
Question: I've noticed that there are many songs that are no longer available. What's up with that? Answer: Several things could be happening there. First, we have had a number of public posting services that went belly up in recent months. Services like Putfile.com for example have sold out and the new owners have chosen not to maintain existing links. Another issue is the original poster that deletes their own music. Sometimes this occurs by accident, or in some cases they chose to delete it. The VOM archives is just that, an archive of a VOM session. We record what has occurred in a VOM session and is accurate at the time of posting. What happens with materials after that is beyond our control.
Services Questions
Question: I tried to register for the extended services on the Archive site and it does not provide a place to enter my name, and my name doesn't appear on the list. What gives? Answer: Extended services are in support the HCAG VOM and as such are only open to persons who have participated at least once in the VOM. So to qualify, you must sign up at Harmony Central and play in a VOM. You'll then discover your name automatically appears on the list and you can then complete registration.
Music Hosting Questions
Question: Are files that I upload to my personal library automatically put into the next VOM session? Answer: No. The files you upload to your library may be shared with others in anyway you see fit, but to enter into the VOM, you must still post the share link directly into the VOM thread at the HCAG or use the absentee posting utility.
Question: Do files that I upload to my personal library automatically replace my music from previous VOM Sessions? Answer: No. You must do that yourself from the Update My Links menu item at the left of the screen. Find the session you want to update from the 'Update My Links' section, and use the drop down box to select the new location and then save your changes.
Question: If I delete a file from my personal library that is used in a previous VOM session, is that file then marked as out of service? Answer: Yes. The Archive site will recognize that music file no longer exists and will inform the viewer of this fact.
Update My Links Questions
Question: Is this section only for music hosted at the VOM archive site? Answer: No, it is not. It does not matter where you host your music file. Special provision do exist for selecting music from your VOM Archive library, but you can also elect to use links from any online hosting service.
Question: Can I use embedded video as a link? Answer: No, and please DO NOT try as it will make a mess in the sessions list.
Question: There is a checkbox that is labeled 'Check here to take this music out of service'. Does this mean I can delete myself from a previous VOM? Answer: Yes and no. What this means is you can take the music itself offline if you needed to. But the record of your playing in the VOM session can not be deleted. We would encourage everyone to keep their music in there for everyone to enjoy.
Question: So I can use this tool to update the performance of my submission to an earlier VOM session? Answer: This WAS NOT the intention of this tool. The spirit of the VOM and the VOM Archive is to take a snapshot in time of our playing and recording talents at the time of a session. To use the tool in this way would not support this spirit of the VOM and we deeply discourage that. This tool was designed to allow people to make a change to their linked music location in the event that they have changed hosting services, lost music when other free hosting services failed, or might be re-arranging their personal music libraries. Please use this tool in the spirit it was provided.
