Tired of Signing Up? Login Using Facebook Connect!

Filed under YaDig for You

We at YaDig understand how annoying it can get for an active internet user having to sign up again and again on different websites. This is why we’ve equipped YaDig.com with Facebook Connect that makes it easier for you to take your online identity with you to YaDig.com. Without having to sign up on the site, you can login to YaDig.com using your Facebook account details and start using all features of the site right away.

As you login via Facebook Connect and allow YaDig.com the access to your Facebook account, your basic Facebook profile info – such as profile picture, name, friends, photos, events, groups, and more – gets automatically loaded to your YaDig account and you are able to skip the tedious process of signing up and updating your profile information altogether.

As you land on your YaDig profile using Facebook Connect, you’ll also be able to interact with all of your Facebook friends. They’ll be able to see some of the same profile information they can see on Facebook, which is fully controlled by your privacy settings. More interestingly, you can also choose whether or not to share your YaDig activity with your Facebook friends. For instance, when you write a review for a restaurant, you’ll have the option to publish that story back to Facebook, where your friends can see it too. This also makes finding your friends’ reviews on YaDig.com a snap.

Facebook Connect is an effort from Facebook to give all its users the ability to take their identity and friends with them around the web, while being able to trust that their information is always up to date and always protected by their privacy settings. On YaDig.com, you will be able to authenticate and connect your account in a trusted environment with total control of the permissions granted.

So don’t let the sign up process hold you back. Login via Facebook Connect right now and start using YaDig.com instantly. Rest assured all your private info and privacy settings are in your total control!

Win Yummy Rewards with YaDig Belts

Filed under YaDig for You

YaDig Belts bring YaDig’s active reviewers a unique opportunity to win yummy rewards from participating businesses. Starting as a White Belt reviewer by default, you review your way up through to the Black Belt with seven other colors of Belts in between. The higher you go, the offers get yummier and you get entitled to more discounts and offers from restaurants, bars, clubs, malls and other participating businesses. Here’s an insider’s look at how YaDig Belts work for you.

How it Works

Like it or not, you take off as a white belt reviewer once you sign up on YaDig.com. As you progress with reviewing, your belt colors change and your ultimate goal is to win the coveted black belt.

Subscribed businesses on YaDig.com keep introducing delicious discount offers and such other rewards for reviewers of certain Belts. For example, think about 75% discount reward from your favorite Italian restaurant as you jump to the Purple Belt!

There are total nine colors of belts with three levels (black stripes) for each belt. To reach the next level (black stripe) you need to post 27 reviews, and to win the next belt, you need to clear all three levels by posting total 81 reviews.

Example: When you sign up, you are a white belt reviewer (by default) with no black stripe. You start reviewing, post 27 reviews and win one black stripe on your white belt. You keep reviewing, post 27 more reviews (54 so far) and win the second black stripe on your white belt. As you go on with reviews and post 27 more reviews (81 so far), you win the third and last black stripe on your white belt and are all ready to jump to the next belt (yellow).

As soon as you post your 82^nd review, which will be a Jumper Review, you’ll jump to the level zero of yellow belt with no white stripe. The review following the Jumper Review (i.e. 83^rd) will be the Pusher Review which will win you the first black stripe on your new yellow belt. And so you’ll move down the line following the same rules until you grab your Black Belt with three black stripes!

So what are you waiting for? Sign Up now, start reviewing and win yummy rewards!

6K Facebook LIKES for YaDig – Time to Show Some Real Love People!

Filed under YaDig for You

YaDig’s Facebook LIKES have almost reached a whopping 6000 as of today, Jan 17, 2011. We thank you all for LIKING us and SUGGESTING our page to your friends. We hope you keep spreading the good word and cause the numbers of LIKES to double, triple and quadruple in the coming months.

But all the while you promote YaDig on Facebook, why not show some real love and take a step forward from being just a fan to becoming an active YaDig user?

From Fan to User – It’s Easy, It’s Fun!

Sign Up or Sign In Using Facebook Connect

Just log on to YaDig.com and Sign Up for a free account in seconds! The Signing Up process is as simple as it’s on your favorite social networks and you’ll be using all ‘User’ features on YaDig.com before you know it!

And if you want to keep the Signing Up part for later and want to use YaDig.com right away, simply sign in through Facebook Connect and start sharing your YaDig experience with your Facebook friends. It’s that simple!

Some Mirror Showing for Businesses

Make YaDig.com your Hyde Park on the web – a place where you can call a spade a spade. Visiting a restaurant which serves food coming straight from your worst dining nightmare? How about using your mobile to reach m.YaDig.com right away and posting a review that reads something like, ‘I just had the worst steak of my life and now looking for a place to puke and start feeling better again?’ Loved a cigar bar that you visited lately? Why not post a review about it and let others know? The moment you post a review, all your YaDig friends are instantly notified and can alter their plans accordingly.

Your reviews not only help your friends make wise choices about the places they visit, but also let businesses know where they went wrong.

Win Rewards with Changing Belt Colors

YaDig.com brings an innovative concept of YaDig Belts for reviewers in which participating businesses give offers and discounts to certain belt status users. So YaDig Belts can become a fun way to get all the great discounts you’ve dreamt of – delivered straight to your inbox. Starting as a white belt reviewer, you’re in the pursuit of obtaining a black belt and being entitled to the most rewarding offers on YaDig.com. Click here to learn more about YaDig Belts.

Stay Connected to Friends

At the same time that you enjoy the power to influence YaDig users as well as businesses, you can connect to your friends the way you do on today’s top social networks. You can dig friends, invite friends, search friends, and maintain a growing network of friends and keep in touch with them from any place at any time. Managing your user profile with personal info, videos, photos, messages, places you like and follow also comes very handy with YaDig.com.

So let all the fun begin by Signing Up right now and becoming an active YaDig user!

And the most popular restaurants, clubs and bars in UAE are…

Filed under YaDig for You

Arabian Business on Sunday, Feb 13 revealed YaDig’s top five most popular restaurants and entertainment outlets in the UAE, as picked by YaDig users. According to the article, YaDig’s pick of the best hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, nightclubs, and bars in the UAE was based on 1,500 user reviews.

Here’s the list of YaDig’s top 5 places that are most popular among UAE nationals and expats:

Hotels
1. Jumeirah Beach
2. The One & Only Royal Mirage
3. Shangri-La
4. Le Meridian
5. The Address Dubai Marina

Restaurants
1. Zuma
2. Okku
3. Bice
4. Buddha Bar
5. More Café

Coffee Shops
1. Starbucks
2. Vivel Coffee Shop
3. Costa
4. Paul Café
5. The Flying Kiwi

Nightclubs
1. Boudoir
2. 400 Night
3. Trilogy
4. Chi@ the Lodge
5. People by Crystal

Bars
1. Barasti
2. Caramel
3. Jambase
4. Rock Bottom
5. McGettigan’s Irish Pub

Read the full Arabian Business Article.

YaDig Blog Becomes Mobile Friendly

Filed under YaDig for You , YaDig Mobile

We have just made YaDig Blog mobile friendly so you’re able to catch the latest YaDig updates while on the move. You can reach the blog at the same old address i.e. www.YaDigblog.com from your mobile phone and enjoy an enhanced mobile viewing experience that is fresh and easy on the eyes.

No more zooming in, zooming out and the irking horizontal scrolling required to make the blog content legible. Reaching YaDig Blog via mobile, you’ll find the latest blog posts listed in a plain and simplistic layout, placed in the classic ‘newest to oldest’ order. Every post has a ‘Read the Post’ button which takes you to the detail page of the news which also is enhanced for mobile viewing.

So no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you won’t miss any YaDig update anymore thanks to our new mobile friendly blog. Test www.YaDigblog.com on your mobile now and share your experience with us in the comments.

How Obsessed Are You With Facebook?

Filed under YaDig for You

Here’s a fascinating infographic from SocialHype and OnlineSchools.org showing highlights about Facebook usage, 2010 trends, adoption numbers and much more. Hope you enjoy this!

YaDig.com 101 – Know Your Favorite Website Better

Filed under YaDig for You

 

YaDig.com Embraces Mobile Tagging

Filed under YaDig for You , YaDig Mobile

We have brought further ease and practicality to your time spent on YaDig.com by equipping the site with Mobile Tagging technology. Every single place listed on YaDig.com now has QR (Quick Response) codes containing business information and location map.

Let’s have a cursory look at what QR Code is and how we use the Mobile Tagging.

What is QR Code?

A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

How Does YaDig Use the QR Code?

YaDig.com compresses all the data within a business profile into QR Code(s) which you can then access and scan/save using your mobile phone camera.

Where Can I Get a QR Code Reader?

There are many free Multicode Readers available online. Simply Google it and find a free QR Code Reader that’s compatible with your handset. Once you find one, download and install it to your mobile.

How Can I Use the QR Code?

Scanning a QR Code is easy.

1. While browsing places on YaDig.com, click on the QR Code icon given with each place. A pop up screen will appear showing the QR codes.
2. Start the reader.
3. Point the phone camera at the QR Code – and shoot!
4. The code will be detected and you’ll be prompted for further action.

How Will it Benefit Me?
YaDig.com gathers all the important information about a place in the QR Codes. Once the code is detected, the data on the business can then be saved to your phone in a multitude of ways that will allow you easy access to these business details in the future.

Dubai Eye 103.8 Interviews Johnny Huntington, YaDig.com Cofounder and CTO

Filed under YaDig in the Press

Richard Dean, the popular presenter of Dubai’s favorite radio channel Dubai Eye 103.8, interviewed YaDig’s cofounder and CTO Johnny Huntington Wednesday, Dec 29, at 5:30 in the evening. Richard, with his classic inquisitive approach asked Johnny many intriguing questions about what YaDig.com is all about, how and why it came into being, and what the site is up to.

We learnt how YaDig.com could potentially become the next big thing on the web with its real time reviewing and social networking capabilities. Listeners were also informed that the five categories the site presently deals in (hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, nightclubs and bars) are gradually going to expand to include sports & activities, salons, spas, gyms, hospitals & clinics, cinemas & theatres and real estate etc. YaDig’s geographical expansion plans and its business model were also discussed at length. Johnny also revealed many exciting upcoming features for general users as well as businesses on YaDig.com.

Hear the full length interview below and get insights into what YaDig.com is up to.

Taste Our New and Upgraded Homepage – www.YaDig.com

Filed under YaDig for You

Hello YaDig users! Our homepage recently underwent a major upgrade which made it simpler and more user-friendly than ever before. Our expert UI design team is constantly working to deliver you the ultimate user experience and the current upgrade is a major result of the team’s efforts.

Here are some features of the upgraded homepage making it different and better from the old one. Let’s start from the top left:

The first design change, though not noticeable on the surface, is the addition of Keep These Settings button in the Change Your Location dropdown box on the page’s top left. Going down, we find the new Popular Locations having replaced the previous main navigation which contained such tabs as Search Places, Hot Places Now, Latest Reviews, Most Followed and New Deals. This old navigation has now been replaced with Popular Locations which contain Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Beirut, Manama, Doha and More Cities tabs.

Going further down, the upper half of the page’s main body space, previously occupied by a flash banner about YaDig’s services such as Real Time Reviews, Mobile Acces, Hot Places Now and New Deals, now holds two new things: 1. A comprehensive search box with separate searches for Hotels, Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Nightclubs and Bars. 2. A high-tech map-based regional search marked with YaDig listings.

Below it we find two slim banners replacing the old banner about YaDig Mobile. The left one of the two current banners is for Facebook LIKE with a counter, while the right one is for YaDig Mobile.

Down this area, we previously had two boxes for the latest reviews which now have been replaced by two new boxes: Hot Now and Latest Reviews. The Hot Now box contains the latest top-rated places in your selected location containing Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Coffee and Clubs. The Latest Reviews box on the other hand contains up-to-the-minute reviews on places in your selected location.

While the main body of the previous homepage ended at the above point, the new homepage is extended further below to accommodate some vital calls for action including Write a Review, Add a Place, Talk to Us and Visit Yadig Blog.

The Popular Searches area in the footer has undergone some tiny changes as well and now it’s distinguishable from the main body of the page thanks to the use of white fonts on the dark grey background as opposed to previously blue fonts on white background.

We hope you like our new and upgraded homepage. Please take a look below and fill us in with your valuable feedback.