Behind the Listings

A listings guide looks effortless from the outside: a date, a title, a few lines on why something is worth your time. Behind each entry on Tofu Watch there is a little more going on. This page explains who does what, where ideas come from and what happens before an article appears in the listings.

Three desks, one guide

The team is small and writes under pen names. Each of us looks after a group of subjects, and everyone reads everyone else's drafts.

• Fiametta handles screens: internet television, streaming apps, home networks and the movie side of the guide. If an article mentions buffering, subtitles or a remote control, it probably passed across her desk.
• Teodric handles the outside world: concerts, local events, cinema trips, city breaks and food. He is the one who reads venue rules for fun.
• Columba handles the home and the small business: lighting, plumbing, sensors, awnings, cleaning and advertising, plus the practical paperwork that comes with property and services.

Where the listings come from

Ideas reach us in a few ways. Readers write in with a question they could not answer elsewhere. One of us runs into a problem at home or on a trip and wants to understand it properly. Sometimes a business proposes a topic it knows well, and we look at whether it would be useful to readers. We also check which questions people commonly search for, so new guides answer what visitors actually want to know rather than what we assume they want.

From idea to published guide

1. Scope. We decide who the article is for and what they should be able to do after reading it.
2. Research. We read official pages, venue and provider policies and general guidance, and note where rules differ by country or company.
3. Draft. The desk owner writes in plain language, leading with practical steps and leaving out anything we cannot stand behind.
4. Second read. Another team member reads the draft as a newcomer and marks anything unclear, missing or overstated.
5. Listing. The article goes up with its date visible, filed in the sections where readers will look for it.

What we leave out

We do not publish invented figures, made-up quotes or studies we cannot point to. We avoid telling readers which provider to buy from; instead we explain what to check. Health, legal and money questions get general guidance and a nudge towards the people who can advise on a specific case.

Keeping the archive honest

Streaming services change their menus, venues change their bag rules and prices move. Older articles keep their original date so you can judge how current they are. When a reader tells us something has changed, we look at it and update the piece if needed. If you notice anything, the tip line is the quickest way to reach us. For the longer story of what the guide covers, see About Tofu Watch.