Just wanted to post this so everyone can get a sense of what VTaper is and does and the direction VTaper is going.
Interview with Bodysport.com:
What is VTaper?
VTaper is a user driven fitness community website designed primarily for the competitive athlete, fitness-minded individual or industry related officials and representatives.
What does "completely driven by the user community" mean?
The most obvious thing that you will notice about VTaper is that user activity is the core function of the site and that is what will keep users interested in the site, but we also want to know if there is a feature that you feel we are missing and ways that we can improve your experience and functionality. Just let us know so that we may quickly develop that functionality for you. This is YOUR site!
When did you get the idea and why?
We first got the idea last summer during the 2009 competitive season. The VTaper concept was conceived by listening to the growing frustrations of some competitors concerning the fact that not everyone "understands" our sport and it is very difficult when you want to network with your competition friends and industry contacts on Facebook but at the same time you may be sharing the same photos with old high school friends, parents, work colleagues, etc..
Sometimes it can be very uncomfortable getting compliments about how great you may look in a bikini from your boss or coworkers or any other acquaintance you may have outside of the sport.
After hearing such complaints from Angela and others and the fact that I have an extensive background in computer and network engineering, I decided that this was a way that I could contribute to the industry and create something for the many wonderful people that I have met in this sport, so i started developing.
Soon after VTaper was in the "development" phase I began to notice and take interest in the growing frustration of competitive athletes, both men and women, towards the actions Facebook was taking. Apparently they are notorious for deleting the profiles and/or pictures of competitors who use the site, deeming such content "inappropriate". So then I knew this was a much need void in our industry that needed to be filled. VTaper fills that void.
What can you do on VTaper once you join?
VTaper is built with the competitive bodybuilder, fitness, figure and bikini athlete as its PRIMARY focus. VTaper will allow you to pretty much do anything that you have done on Facebook and then we took it a step further by incorporating features smilier to that of youtube and Blogspot, for example. Here is an overview of some of the current features that we have implemented on VTaper so far:
EVENTS
VTaper offers a central repository for all of the events happening in our industry, and is updated by you, the user. We have added most of the competitive events that we know of and a few other training camps, etc. (As show promoters join the site please let us know so that we may transfer event ownership to you, this will allow you to control and manage the event listing now, and in the future).
VTaper will afford promoters, businesses, athletes, or any member type to add and edit their events and venues instantly to the site allowing other site members to register or "RSVP" for the event. This is great for competitions, after-parties, workshops, training camps, seminars, etc.. It is very easy to add an event, just go to the events menu, select "Submit an Event", type your info, select or add a venue, upload images and click"Save", Thats it. It's that simple. Now other site members may register to attend your event and they will be notified of any changes, updates or cancellations.
GROUPS
Groups are similar to Facebook's fan pages. I believe this will be one of the greatest features of the site, VTaper allows you to create a group for anything- contests, clothing lines, teams, camps, anything at all. If you are the group creator you can even make your group private and then moderate anyone that may request to join your group. Create announcements, discussions, upload group photos (videos coming soon), post wall comments, etc.. Anyone can create, join or leave a group.
VIDEOS
The cool thing about the videos functionality is not only can you upload videos like you do on YouTube, you can also copy and paste the "URL" (ex., www.youtube.com/v=12345) of your favorite videos from YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Vimeo Metacafe, DailyMotion, etc. and they will be added to your "channel". You can even add a video from BodysportTV!
Another way that the videos function could be very useful is password protection. We have the capability for you to create a private channel and/or "password protect" your videos. This could be a great resource for you to share videos with your trainers or choreographers when it comes to posing and dialing in your routine for the stage.
We are still developing more features and a better style for the page layout, but we needed to get something there for the launch so bear with us, we will continue to make major enhancements to the videos section.
BLOGS
Blogs are very easy to crate on VTaper. Just click on the blog link from your profile page or from the main menu, click the link for "write new entry" (under "My Dashboard") an an editor should pop up allowing you to create your blog. Now add pictures, tags, etc from the menu area, finish editing your blog, then click submit! It's that easy!
After submission, now the blog will post among all of the other member blogs on VTaper as well as under your "My Blogs" section of your profile page. This is one of the many great ways to market yourself and to let your friends and fans connect with what is "going on" in your daily life.
How long to VTaper take to build?
VTaper took about a year to develop what we have so far, but we are not even close to being finished. There was a lot of design considerations that went into the development of VTaper. It seems that anyone these days can throw up a social community using a social provider, but at VTaper we have developed a platform that will be able to scale to the highest demands and user volume so that we may continue to build many new features without any performance issues. This framework is also the reason that we are able to develop anything that the user community wants or needs as long as the technology permits.
How does someone join VTaper?
It is very easy.
1. Go to http://www.vtaper.com
2. Click Join Now or you may login with your existing Facebook Account!
(If you use the Facebook option you will have to continue to use this login method upon future visits to VTaper)
3. Choose the profile type that best represents you, your business, or your team.
4. Enter your details and upload your profile picture (must be greater than 160px wide)
5. Now go to your email and click the user verification link
(May be in your junk mail folder)
6. Log onto VTaper using the username and password you chose during registration and Have Fun!
Thats it!
Five Reasons someone MUST use VTaper?
- Network with Friends, Top Athletes, Trainers and Models
- Be a part of the hottest groups or crete your own
- Completely user driven community
- Market yourself, your business, or an event
- Unlimited Photo and Video Uploads
