No, you don’t have to become a member to enjoy the benefits of our community; however, if you would like to be granted certain priveleges, like the ability to create and edit entries, then you must first become a registered member.
Registration is free so do not feel that there is monetary obligation.
Also, if you should decide to become a member, I can keep you updated on our community and the development of our software!
If you find any information that you know for a fact is incorrect you can, and are encouraged to correct the false information; however, please make sure that the information is 100% incorrect because much of this information is varied having risen out of more than one culture, there are bound to be disparities–even between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean interpretations of each character.
Of course, our database is going to favor the Korean interpretations but there is plenty of room to explain nuances in the notes section under each entry
Contributions should not be forced–if you find that there is something missing or incorrect in this database, then you are encouraged to fix the problem. Contributing to this database, thus, assumes some degree of proficiency in Chinese characters.
Do not be discourage though, if your Chinese character knowledge is not so great, then a great way to contribute is to add vocabulary words. Let’s say you look up a word and it is not in this database; should you look up the definition in a paper dictionary or on another site please consider adding the word and definition to our database.
Many little contributions add up, so even if it is only a little bit, submitting your information is greatly appreciated.
YES, this database is fully capable of supporting all different input sets because it is encoded in UTF-8, which has become the unicode standard.
Because this site supports CJK characters, feel free to use them while making entries. However, when creating new entries please input hanja’s using a Korean IME for two reasons: 1) the people searching this site will, for the most part searching with a Korean IME, and 2) Even though some characters might look the same, the unicode code is different which causes problems while searching. So, an appropriate use of CJK characters would be for a supplemental explanation or comparison between languages, or adding abbreviated characters(略字) as a supplement to an already existing entry.
Tip: Why should I learn Chinese characters?
I have found that learning Chinese characters has greatly increased my retention of new vocabulary. Also, knowing Chinese characters has given me the ability to glance at Chinese and Japanese texts and understand the basic meaning.
I started studying Chinese characters after my first year of studying Korean language, but it might be better that you have a second or third year proficiency in Korean language before undertaking Chinese character study.