We're now doing a duet with Yahoo! Since the acquisition, you'll need to sign in with a Yahoo! ID (hey, getting one couldn't be any easier). In fact, if you already have a Bix account, you can quickly move your Bix content to Yahoo! by linking the account.
FYI: Feel free to keep using your Bix name on the site.

Yes we do, and it's bursting with comments from the Bix community. Go to the Bix Message Board.

In each contest, the top 10 list is your ranking of favorites for that challenge (the top 10, obviously).

Fans are people who've found you interesting. After catching their eye, they saw your profile page and clicked the "become fan" button. Fans' pictures show up in your profile page, and you can send bulletins to them.

Favorite people are people you express interest in by visiting their profile page and clicking on the "become fan" button. Favorite people's pictures appear in your profile page and you may receive bulletins from them.

When you have favorite people, they can leave you a bulletin message on your profile page. You can also broadcast a bulletin message to all of your fans' profile page (simply click the "post bulletin" button on your profile page after signing in).

Hey, it happens. To obtain your password, please try the following page: https://edit.yahoo.com/forgot?.
If that does not work, please contact Yahoo! customer service at: http://help.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/edit/cgi_feedback.

To offer prizes, contests first have to get the nod from our Bix Business Development Team at bd@bix.yahoo.com. These contests will then have a "prize awarded " indicator on the page. When members don't play by the rules, we react like a pitbull. If that doesn't work, we'll sick the legal eagles on them too.

We want Bix to be appropriate for all age levels. To see mature content, first sign in or create a new Bix account. Then go to your profile page (by clicking on your user id in the header). On your profile page, click the "edit profile" button, and then click the "mature" button to verify you're at least 18 years old.

Heck yes, you can preview an entry (and re-record it) as many times as you like. Once you submit your entry, you can delete it by going to the entry page and clicking "remove entry" link up until the contest ends (you need to be signed in to see the link). Once the contest ends, however, you won't be able to delete your entry -- since it may alter the results of the contest.

Some pages, like edit profile and create a video entry, use special software. We've created our own custom software that dramatically improves the quality of recording and playback. But the only way to get the benefit of this special software is to download it this way.

When you accept the download, you'll enjoy much better recordings and graphics. You can reject this software and still use Bix, but you'll need an alternate recorder.

While our site does support Firefox and we wish them all the luck in the world, you can get a much better quality recording by using our Internet Explorer recorder. This recorder uses technology that's just not available in Firefox.

You should have Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher, Windows Media Player 10 or higher, and DirectX 9 or higher.

That's not good. First make sure your computer microphone volume is loud enough (on your PC, go to the control panel and click "sounds"). If you're using Internet Explorer, our handy recorder has these controls built into the page.

You may also see a checkbox on our page that reads "Mic Boost". This can be especially useful if you are using a desktop computer. If you can't hear your voice at all, make sure the microphone is plugged in and working (duh!). To test it, try a different program or use Microsoft's Control Panel sound tools.

Most web cameras and digital video cameras work with Bix. Make sure to plug in your webcam BEFORE going to the recorder page. Also make sure another program isn't using your webcam.

If you're still having problems, please email us details (including your operating system and webcam make and model) to help@bix.yahoo.com.

Most computer microphones work just dandy with Bix. If you don't have a microphone built into your computer, you can always get a webcam that has one built-in. Or just buy a separate microphone and plug it into your PC.

Sort of spoils the fun, eh? OK, first make sure the webcam is plugged in and working. Then make sure that no other program is using the webcam at the same time.

Ouch. Please make sure that you have Windows Media Player 10 and DirectX 9 installed.

If you're recording on Firefox, we use Flash technology that can cause a connection slowdown. For the best quality, please use Internet Explorer and the Default Recorder. If you still see problems (like your voice is out of sync or the lyrics of a song are off), please contact us at help@bix.yahoo.com.

Yikes! If your video doesn't process pretty darn quickly (within a few minutes), then there may be a problem. Please send us an email at help@bix.yahoo.com.

Head-to-head, baby. A faceoff is a contest format where voters choose between two entries. Once the Bix system determines a clear-cut winner, that entry gets the winning nod (or moves on to the next round, against another entry). Nerve racking, eh?

Voting varies slightly by the format of the competition:

Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down format:
For Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down contests, you can vote for as many entries (and contests) as you like. However, you can only vote once for an entry in a contest (no stuffing the ballot).

And remember, once you vote there's no changing it. What's done is done. Plus, only two people can vote on the Bix site from the same computer.

Faceoff format:
With Faceoff contests, in the beginning you can keep voting until your finger cramps. The Bix system guides the competition by gradually sorting all entries (from best to worst). After enough votes, the order will be set (the number of votes required to complete the sort depends on the number of entries in the contest).

After this the Bix system lets you know that the "over-all" voting has ended. You can then continue voting on random pairs of entries (one vote per contest). These votes will override existing votes, if it conflicts with your existing vote.

Winning varies slightly by the format of the competition:

Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down format:
For Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down contests, the winner is based on the number of total votes received. It's pretty simple: The person with the most votes wins. And yes, if more than one person has the same number of votes, they do tie (who are we to be the tie-breaker?). In some cases, the contest organizer may choose the winner of a tie.

Faceoff format:
For Faceoff contests Bix uses a "Ranked Pairs" voting method that picks a lucky winner based on "expressed relative preferences" for contest entries (that's easy for you to say). The process for deciding the winner goes like this:

• Voting on pairs of entries (faceoffs) is tabulated.
• A sorted list of preferred pairings is computed.
• The winner is the entry that is preferred over the other entries (when compared in turn with each of the other entries).
• For an entry to be ranked, it must have a minimum number of voters. For example, an entry entered on the last day of a thirty-day contest may not receive enough attention from voters to rank. Entries that are unranked will be marked as "not enough votes".

Granted it's a little complex to digest. But trust us, it works.

Currently, points are only for fun. Although who knows, someday they may replace bills as the standard monetary unit of the world? Plus they're also a good way for Bix to show the top voters for a faceoff contest.

By default, contests start immediately and end on the date that you specify (at 4PM Pacific time). You can specify when voting begins.

Unless you make your contest private, anyone can see it. People find contests by going to the Bix home page and browsing the list of contests. For private contests, you'll need to email users info about accessing to your contest (don't worry, we help automate the process). If they haven't done so already, they also need to register with Bix (only takes a second) to view or enter your contest.

The contest creator is the only person allowed to invite people to a private contest.

Spread the word. Send them an email with a link to the contest (we make it all a breeze). You can do this by viewing your contest, then clicking the "email this contest" link in the page.

You can edit a contest if, and only if, it has no entries. Once the ball is rolling, the momentum is just to much. If your contest doesn't have any entries, you can do this by viewing your contest after signing in, then clicking the "edit contest" button in the page. If your contest already has entries but you really, really, really need it edited or deleted (read: you decide it's best NOT to make fun of your boss), contact help@bix.yahoo.com.

Please do. Contest organizers can delete entries and comments you feel are inappropriate.

Sure can. From your profile page click the "create practice entry" button (you need to be signed in to see this button). Follow the flow to create an entry. Later if you're signed in, you can choose this entry from the enter contest flow.

Want to bring the fun of Bix to your website? It's fine with us. You can add a faceoff style contest to your site by going to faceoff and clicking the "put on website" link in the page.

This will result in a top-secret code that you can paste onto your site. To customize the look and feel of the contest, you need to change the parameters of the Bix widget as follows:

locale: language to localize in (e.g. en_US, fr_FR, es_SP, it_IT, de_DE)
contestId: contest id (number)
_tc: primary text color (hex number, e.g. 000000 = Black)
_ttc: title text color (hex number, e.g. 000000 = Black)
_ff: font face (string with encoded spaces e.g. Times%20New%20Roman = Times New Roman)
_bgc: background color (hex number, e.g. ffffff = White)
_bc: border color (hex number, e.g. 000000 = Black)
_bt: border thickness (number, e.g. 2)
_bgcp: background color of panel (hex number, e.g. ffffff = White)
_bcp: border color of panel (hex number, e.g. 000000 = Black)
_btp: border thickness of panel (number, e.g. 2)
_bs: button style, use light if your background color is dark, or dark if your background color is light.

So the final URL would look something like this:

<embed src="http://bix.yahoo.com/static/47.0.0/flash/faceoff/skins/bix/bix.swf?
host=http://bix.yahoo.com/xml/faceoff&locale=en_US&contestId=1541&_tc=ffffff&_ttc=ffffff&
_ff=Times%20New%20Roman&_bgc=000000&_bc=ffffff&_bt=3&_bgcp=000000&_bcp=ffffff&
_btp=3&_bs=dark" width="700" height="300" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed><br>
<a href="http://www.bix.com/contest/1541">Go to this contest on Bix</a>

We're always adding to the jukebox, and like any eager-to-please entertainer we'll do our best to take requests. For new tunes to be added to our song library, send an email to feedback@bix.yahoo.com and we will try to get it in. And yes, our song library is legally licensed from the owners of the music.

Call us old-fashioned, but we think all contests should be fair. With that in mind, we'll aggressively thwart any funny business by members who don't play by the rules. In many cases, we'll sick our legal team on the individual.

We're constantly on the look-out for crude and creepy stuff too. You can help by reporting inappropriate entries using the "flag inappropriate" link on the entry page. You can delete comments on your own profile, entry, and contest pages.

You can delete comments on your own profile, entry, and contest pages. If the user is really offensive or annoying or persistent, you can report their user name to us (at help@bix.yahoo.com) and we will try to resolve the issue.