FAQ for Place Owners and Managers

Thank you for your interest in adding your place to the iOverlander database. Below are some guidelines and frequently asked questions for owners or managers of establishments.

In addition, please read our General Criteria and Category Specific Criteria

Owner Guidelines

Owners or managers of a place are welcome to create an account and add their place, but ONLY if you make clear in your description and check-ins that you are posting as the owner. Owners should not pretend to be travelers. We recommend you use your place name as your blog name, so it is clear to others who is making updates. Also, please make sure that your place meets our General Criteria and Category Specific Criteria for new Places, or it will be removed by moderators without further notice. Please see additional guidelines below:

We DO NOT ACCEPT:

  • Room or apartment rentals that must be booked in advance. We recommend that you list rental units on Airbnb.
  • Any type of vehicle rentals (cars, campers, RVs). iOverlander is NOT meant for advertising for pre-trip planning.
  • Places that are NOT of interest to the majority of overlanders (such as hair salons, advertising agencies, spas, gyms, fortune tellers, couch-surfing, etc…)

Photo rules:

Please make sure your photos are relevant to your place, and do NOT add excessive amounts. We recommend adding 5 photos of the facilities, surrounding scenery, goods or services. As well as photos that show restrictions, especially height/weight or difficult driveways.

Keep in mind that most overlanders don’t have a fast or free internet connection. They shouldn’t have to waste time downloading irrelevant images.

Admin and Moderator notes:

Our moderators will on occasion add a note to the top of the place description to let travelers know that your place or description has been added by the owner. Please do not remove these notes when updating your place.

Place Description:

Be brief and concise, a maximum of 200 words will help users find relevant information fast. On some views we can only display a limited amount of characters, longer place descriptions will be cut off.

Replying to users’ comments and check-ins:

We encourage owners to reply to user comments, if others have posted incorrect information. Please follow these guidelines when leaving a check-in as a reply:

  • Do address the issue or error you are concerned about.
  • Be brief. A long reply might hide other check-ins because of screen size.
  • Do not leave a check-in to “Thank” every traveler for their reply. It is unnecessary. Only add a check-in if you have something to change or correct.
  • Do NOT pretend to be a traveler or overlander.
  • Do NOT be callous or rude to travelers in the check-ins
  • Do NOT "sign" your check-in. The name/website of the submitter is automatically added to every check-in

Owner FAQs

I am the owner or manager of a place. Am I allowed to add it to your database?

Yes, we encourage owners and managers to add their places to our database, but under two conditions.

  1. Your place must be relevant to overlanders. Please read our General Criteria and Category Specific Criteria.
  2. You must make it clear that you are the owner adding the place, and must not pretend to be a traveler. We recommend that you make your username (blog name) the same as the name of your place. We also ask that you are completely honest. If you are found misleading travelers, they will leave negative reviews, and we will remove your place.

How do I add a place?

Using the App

Download and log into the iOverlander app on your mobile device. Click on “Check-In”, then “Add New Place”. Follow the steps to add your new place.

Using the Website

Go to ioverlander.com. Then register or log-in. Right click on the map where you need to add your place and click the “Add New Place Here” button. Follow the steps to add your new place.

All new places will take up to 24 hours to show on the website and may take up to three weeks to appear on phone apps.

I have an Airbnb rental unit, can I add it to iOverlander?

No. iOverlander does not allow rental units that need to be pre-booked.

There are bad reviews of my place, what can I do?

iOverlander does not remove bad reviews unless they are malicious or contain profanity or other inappropriate content. You can sign in and leave a check-in on your place to address the user check-in. But please be brief and courteous. For example, if a traveler wrote something incorrect (like your prices, or that you don’t have wifi, but now you do), you are welcome to leave a comment to clarify. Please do NOT pretend to be a traveler. Do not leave very long comments. And do NOT thank every single person who leaves a comment.

If a traveler left a malicious comment (unnecessarily rude or containing profanity), please hit the report a problem button, select something else, and leave a note as to the issue. A moderator will review and remove the comment if necessary.

My place is closing for the season, what do I do?

Using the App

Download and log into the iOverlander app on your mobile device. Click on Check-in. Add a short comment of 40 characters or more, explaining when and why the place is closed. After leaving the check-in comment, you will have the opportunity to change the place description. Again, add a note to the top of the description that will inform travelers that you are only closed for the season and when you will be open again. Do NOT mark the place closed, unless the closure is permanent! When you are done click save changes.

Using the Website

Go to ioverlander.com, register and log-in, then go to your place. Click the “I’ve been here check me in” button. You’ll have to write a short comment of 40 characters or more, explaining when and why the place is closed. After leaving the check-in comment, you will have the opportunity to change the place description. We recommend that you add an additional note to the top of the description that will inform travelers that you are only closed for the season and when you will be open again. Do NOT mark the place closed, unless the closure is permanent! When you are done click Save changes.

When you are open again you can follow the same instructions and remove the note in the description that you were closed.

If you want us to permanently delete your place, please just hit the “Report a Problem” button and a moderator will read your comments and delete entirely.

I want to add photos, what do I do?

Using the App

Download and log into the iOverlander app on your mobile device. Click on Check-in. Add a short comment of 40 characters or more, and then you will also have the option to upload any images. When you are done click on save changes.

Using the Website

Go to ioverlander.com, register, then go to your place, and click the “I’ve been here check me in” button. Add a short comment of 40 characters or more and then click Check In. On the next screen you will have the option to upload any images.

I want to delete photos, what do I do?

If you added the photos:

The only way to delete photos is to delete the check-in that contains the photos. You must do this on our website, it is not possible on the app. Go to ioverlander.com and login. Then go to My Account (in the top menu), and select My Check-Ins. You will see a list of your check-ins. Click the link to the right of the check-in you wish to delete "Delete Check-in" You can then add the check-in again if you want, with or without photos.

Someone else added the photos:

If someone else added incorrect or inappropriate photos of a place, please hit the REPORT A PROBLEM button to let a moderator know what the issue is. You can also email [email protected] to delete the photos for you, but responses are sometimes delayed. Please be specific with your place name, and which photos you need to be deleted.

Another person added my place, but the information is wrong, what do I do?

Using the App

Download and log into the iOverlander app on your mobile device. Find your place on the map, and then click the check-in button. Add a short comment of 40 characters or more, explaining that you are the owner/manager and what changes you are making. On the next screen you will have the ability to change any additional details like the description and the amenities of your place. When you are done click Save Changes. Make sure that you sync the changes on your app to make sure they are uploaded. Go to Synchronize on the main menu, and hit the Refresh button to make sure everything is uploaded.

Using the Website

Go to ioverlander.com, register, then go to your place. Click the “I’ve been here check me in” button. (In order to make edits, you must first leave a check-in comment). After you leave a check-in, the next screen will prompt you to make corrections to the place. You can edit the description, amenities, or location. You can also mark the place as “closed”. If you mark a place closed, please explain why in the description or in your comment. When you are finished, click Submit Corrections.

Please note that your changes will appear within 24 hours on the website, but may take 2-3 weeks to appear on all mobile devices.

My place description is being cut off. How do I show all of it?

On some displays of the place descriptions will be truncated to fit the available space. Keep the place description brief and concise, a maximum of 200 words. This helps travelers get the relevant information fast.

Why does my place description keep changing?

Descriptions are designed to give a brief overview of the place, not advertise every single service offered. Any traveler that checks-in to your place has the ability to update the description. This is something we encourage. Our app is ultimately designed by Overlanders for Overlanders. You do NOT “own” your place description, anyone can change it. However, all description changes must be approved by an iOverlander moderator. On occasion a moderator might add a note to say the description has been provided by the owner, or they may reject the changes, if they are malicious or blatantly incorrect.

Why don’t I see any check-ins from travelers that have been here?

Most check- ins and place corrections take 2-3 weeks to appear on the app. However, this depends on when users sync their devices. Some users only sync once every few months. This means that their check-ins won’t show up for quite a while after they have visited. Please be patient.

New places and changes are reflected on the website much faster than the app because it is refreshed every 24 hours. If you have made edits to your place and want to see if they have been applied, please check the website.

I am moving locations, what should I do?

You have two choices. If you would like to keep the check-ins at your old place, simply MOVE that pin to the new location. Follow the instructions above for how to make changes to your place. Please leave a check-in that states when the move happened, so users are aware that older comments ONLY apply to the old location. This helps travelers to understand that the new location may not have exactly the same facilities.

If your new place is substantially different, you should instead create a new place, and mark the old place closed. Please leave checkin comments to let users know what is happening. Please see instructions above for how to create a new place, and mark a place closed.

I want to promote my place, so it is the first on the page when users search. What do I do?

iOverlander does not offer advertising of places nor do we give preferential treatment to any of the places submitted or in the database.

About iOverlander

iOverlander is a free website and app created to help overlanders on the road find their next destination. Please help us improve our data by updating and adding places you have been.

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