That’s the starting point on Vinix. Here you can check the latest subscriptions and classifieds and use the functions 'search' and 'advanced search' to add contacts to your personal address book.
Adding contacts to the address book is the first step to take to nurture work-relations, send personal messages, be informed of newly published classifieds or contents, ask for appointments, make or take offers, etc.
It is very easy to use. Once your search is through, several names—along with an icon—will appear on your page. The icon changes according to whether the contact has already been added to your contact list or not.

The address book is your personal archive on Vinix. It helps you getting in touch with wine-and-food professionals and lovers. You can choose to get in touch with each one of them singularly, ground a discussion group or post information to them all (we suggest, though, to limit the use of this option to occasions when you really have something useful to say; try to put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself: would it be of any interest to me? If it would, then post it; if you are not so sure about it, then avoid it.)
From the address book, you can select users to see their details, get in touch with them, organise a mailing list, get to know their contents, news, classifieds. You can even get to know how many contacts they have in their own list and a lot more. Remember that, apart from being an occasion to make friends, Vinix is mainly meant as a work tool. So, please, try to use it properly and avoid spamming others. If you do, you would be immediately deleted from the system.

Relation area allows you to keep an overview of all connections you’ve established on Vinix. It is your message board, where all personal and system-related messages are posted to you. Here, for instance, you find all your contacts’ updates since you logged in last (it is rather useful to keep an eye on freshly-inserted classifieds, contents and news) and can check whether somebody added you in their own list.
‘Connections’ allows you as well to invite friends and colleagues to join Vinix. You just insert their name and e-mail address in the appropriate box and click on ‘send’: all those you invite will receive an e-mail with the instructions on how they can sign up.

Share area is Vinix vibrant core. It allows you to create and store a limitless amount of contents (i.e. videos, photo-albums, wine tastings, restaurants reviews, articles of any kind) through a free-of-charge blog. Should you store personal data (like your on-line pictures), you can set its sharing level yourself allowing anyone to look at it, restricting it to your contacts or refuse access to anyone.

From Profile area you can keep updated all your details on Vinix, i.e. your personal data and (if registered under the ‘Pro’ plan) the description of your business. In order to optimise your presence on Vinix and the interaction with other network’s users, keep your profile always updated and pay particular attention to your personal data, your e-mail address and web-page.

The Tags area represents the voice of Vinix. Large and small words correspond to the richness of contents (text or multimedia) on a specific topic. The larger the word appears, the greater is its relevance to a certain topic. By clicking on a tag you can access the new area "My Vinix" that allows you to interact with Vinix more smoothly, or to create your own custom page according to your interests.

Here is a useful list of things to avoid doing on Vinix.
Far from being exhaustive, it includes a basic set of tips & rules that we ask all participants to follow strictly.

1. Rule # 1
   The internet is not a place where you can do what you want. Much as the off-line world, it is made up of real people, able to make up their own opinion of you based on your behavior and what you write. Always keep this fact in mind.
   
   
2. Double registrations
   Before you submit a company, make sure it is not already registered, if you do not remember your password, request it from here or write to: info@vinix.it . We check almost everything here, but a little extra attention from you means a lot less work on the other side of the wall. :-)
   
   
3. Classifieds flooding
   Yes, classifieds are free OK?, But do not post the same ad up 200 times. If there is no response to your first classified, wait for the expiration of your listing and possibly try to reinsert it writing differently, or trying to engage people who you think might be interested in your service / object / event, in a different way. Using moderation, you can publish as many classifieds as you like and whenever you want. Otherwise you may risk becoming identified immediately as a spammer (not very desirable if you intend to build up business here).
   
   
4. Interest conflict in wine tasting notes
   If you have a winery, you can include photos, restaurant reviews, listings, open a blog. But please do not review your own wines. The posts will be removed and you'll lose credibility.
   
   
5. Interest conflict in restaurant reviews
   Same as above: if you have a restaurant, you can publish your photos, wine tastings, classifieds or just open a blog on Vinix but please do not review your own restaurant. Those posts will be removed as well and you will lose credibility.
   
   
6. More on interest conflict
   If you are a wine merchant the rules are the same. Publish whatever you like, but please do not review your own products.
   
   
7. The blog is about commitment and relationships
   When you open a blog, remember: this is NOT a site where to cut-and-paste your company brochure. You will receive only negative comments. People want to speak with YOU, not with a Company, they want to know YOU, they whant to be engaged by YOU. Trying to address your target with informal language, by telling your true story, describing your job and/or speaking of your true passions you will succeed.
   
   
8. It's easy to say blog...
   Some time ago, a company that quickly started blogging on Vinix told me: "I'm listening to all your suggestions but the fact is that it is very hard to talk as producer to a consumer with passion without allowing some obvious interest to transpire". Perhaps this is the most difficult thing for you to understand. It's not that you should not talk about your Company. The important thing is HOW you do it. The true commitment and the desire to engage other persons in your story. A personal approach does matter. The desire to speak with a person and not to an undefined and impersonal mass of people as you normally do with a cold brochure makes the difference. Better to be known for whom you are and what you believe in, rather than only for what you aim to sell. When you engage a person, his/her interestyou’re your products and services will almost certainly follow.
   
   
9. I do not see my photos!
   You've created a photo album but can't see it on Vinix? Are you sure you set it as public album? Log in, access your photo albums and check it.
   
   
10. Titles (and headings)
    Regardless of what you publish on Vinix, always take the time to add a relevant title. Titles are the most important information on the page for search engine spiders. Titles help Google to archive your content better and faster and allows Vinix users to easily locate it.
    
    
11. Duplicate classifieds / posts & time–sensitive events.
    If you have just published a classified telling about an event, it makes no sense to open a blog and duplicate the same content with a post, especially if you think it is the only blog post you're going to publish here. It's always better to use the classifieds only to promote your events. If you like, use your Vinix blog to tell the people how the event went or if was a success from your perspective.
    
    
12. Wine tasting notes on Vinix: writing wine names properly.
    Wherever possible we try to write the name of each wine using the same criteria. This way everybody can enjoy the effectiveness of the search engine and the results can be based on relevant keywords. Most of all: don't include the harvest year in the wine name field but use the specific field. For Italian wine names, follow this pattern: Wine VDT or IGT For IGT's, put the fantasy name (if applicable) or the grape variety first, then the name of the IGT. For VDT's only the name of the fantasy name of wine or grape, followed by VDT and (optional) the color of the wine. Eg: Fantasy name Chardonnay Toscana IGT Eg: Chardonnay Toscana IGT (if you don’t have a fantasy name) Eg: Fantasy name VDT Eg: Grape name Vdt DOC or DOCG wines First of all, put the Doc or Docg complete name, then the name of the grape (if variety), then the fantasy name of the wine and/or the vineyard (easier said than done) Eg: Colli di Luni Vermentino Doc Fantasy name or vineyard Eg: Amarone della Valpolicella DOC Eg: Barolo DOCG Eg: Barolo DOCG name of the vineyard
    
    
13. Wine tasting notes, please, submit your notes with full details!
    You spent10 minutes writing a tasting note? Invest 2 more minutes to enter complete data for firm, wine and tags. The label goes first, but then also the year (except of course in the case of wine without year, eg.: non-vintage sparkling wine).
    
    
14. Capitalization
    If possible, use capital letters only when necessary. Even the titles, for consistency, write small with only initial capital letters. Thank you.
    
    
15. Multiple Tastings / Symposiums
    If you had the chance to taste many wines at once, please don't use the “Various” heading when publishing a single wine tasting note, telling the whole story, It could be that you have several posts in your hand. Open a separate post on your Vinix blog reporting on your symposium; then follow by publishing your notes separately in the appropriate area. This way you'll get the maximum exposure, indexing and traceability for your content.
    
    
16. Local time-sensitive events, use the classifieds area
    With the aim of streamlining our efforts to maintain the blog area as much as possible devoted to discussions and debates, we've created this additional rule. If you need to submit an event, especially when this event is only of local importance (eg, a dinner, a little wine tasting, a small meeting) always use the classifieds area and not the Vinix blog tool. Using classifieds is good anyway. Remember: each time you publish something on Vinix - whatever it is - all your following contacts receive a notification, so you generate the same buzz, but you will make best use of space and common tools. Only those event very special and relevant worth to be announced using the blog tool, but in principle, the classified area should be preferred. You should use the blog area whenever you want to tell the story once the event has taken place.
    
    
17. Network special events, grouping of conversations
    As on many respected social networks, even on Vinix live sessions and meetings happen. In those particular situations, Vinix users are asked to leave feedbacks on these initiatives using comments. If you want to support us, please use comments and never answer a question or give your feedback opening a new separated blog post. In some case, to rationalize the participation in these initiatives, Vinix reserves the right to move or remove your content if placed in the wrong place or without following the directions hereby provided.

If you haven’t found the right answer to your questions or you still have doubts, please, do not hesitate to contact us at info@vinix.it