Frequently asked questions

A diary for the films, series and anime you watch, with a small film club attached. You log each watch with a date, rate it, write down what stayed with you, and keep lists and a watchlist. Follow people whose taste you trust and their diaries fill your home page.

I built KARE because I wanted one place that remembers what I watched, when, and how it felt, and a few people to talk to about it afterwards. So reviews have threaded replies, lists can be made together, and every title page gathers what members logged, rated and wrote about it.

One person: me. I'm a cinephile who also writes software, and KARE is what happened when the two met. There's no company and no team behind a curtain. I design it, build it, keep it running, and read what you send.

That has upsides (you can write to the person who can actually fix things) and honest limits (I sleep, and some weeks I ship less than I'd like). If something's wrong, write to me at [email protected].

Kare is Turkish for frame: one picture on a strip of film, and the square you look through. A film is thousands of them; your diary is a strip of your own, one entry at a time. That's why section headings on KARE carry a small lime frame corner.

No. KARE doesn't host or play any film or episode. What every title page does have is Where to watch: the services that stream, rent or sell it in your country. See where to watch.

No. Logging, rating, reviewing, lists, marathons, KAREs, following and messages are free, and I mean to keep them that way. KARE Pro adds extras such as a personal stats dashboard for $4.99 a month or $39 a year, and it's what helps pay for the servers. See what Pro includes.

In any modern browser, on a computer or a phone. On a phone the main sections sit in a tab bar along the bottom, where your thumb is.

I'm also building a native iPhone app on the same account, so your diary, lists and settings are the same in both. It isn't in the App Store yet. When it is, the features page will say so first.

Not to look around. Every title, review, public list and public profile is open to read. You need an account to log, rate, review, make lists, follow people or send messages.

Press Sign up at the top of any page. Either continue with Google or Apple, or choose a username, your email address and a password of at least 8 characters. Depending on how KARE is set up, you may be asked to open a confirmation link from your inbox before you can sign in. If you come in through Google or Apple, you pick your username right after.

Usernames are 3 to 24 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Your profile lives at your username (kare…/yourname/), so words that are already addresses on KARE, like films, lists or settings, are taken by the site itself. You can change yours later in Settings → Profile with the pencil next to it.

• A display name, bio (up to 240 characters), pronouns, location, website and a country flag, in Settings → Profile
• An avatar (PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 10 MB, cropped in your browser) and profile colours, in Settings → Avatar & colours
• Four favourite titles and a banner, in Settings → Favourites & banner
• Tabs for your activity, films, diary, reviews, watchlist (if you share it), lists, marathons, KAREs, likes and network, with your achievements on the main profile page

Yes. Turn off Show me in Members in Settings → Profile. You won't appear in the Members directory or its search. Your reviews and public lists still show on the titles they're about.

Press Log in the top bar and search for the title, or use Review or log… on its page. Pick the date you watched it (today by default; KARE won't let you log the future), add a rating, a heart and a few words if you like, and save. Each log becomes one entry in your diary.

Log the title again and tick I've watched this before. Every log is its own diary entry, so a rewatch never overwrites the first time: your diary keeps both dates, and rewatches carry a small loop icon.

Yes. Untick Watched on in the log dialog and KARE saves the rating, heart or review without a dated entry. It's for the films you saw years ago and can't place. Everyone has a few.

It's the Diary tab on your profile (also under Diary in the top bar). Filter it by rating, year, decade or genre, and change the sort order. As its owner you can change an entry's date, rating, rewatch mark or heart, or delete it, right from the table.

Every episode has its own page: pick a season and an episode on the series page, then rate and review it there. Episode reviews are separate from your review of the whole show, and you can point at a moment in one with a timestamp.

The series page also ticks off the episodes you've watched, season by season. On the website those ticks come from a Trakt import for now; ticking off single episodes is coming with the iPhone app.

From half a star to five stars, in half-star steps. Clear your rating from the same control if you change your mind.

Each title page shows the members' average and a small chart of how the ratings spread, once at least five members have rated it; until then it says there aren't enough ratings yet. It's always KARE members' own rating. I don't show outside scores from TMDB, IMDb or anywhere else.

A rating says how good you thought it was; a like (the heart) says you loved it anyway. They're stored separately, so a three-star film can still be a favourite. Your liked titles collect on your profile's Likes tab.

Press Review or log… on the title page, or use the review field in the log dialog. A review has a rating, an optional headline (up to 100 characters), the text itself (up to 3,000 characters) and up to 8 tags. It shows on your profile, on the title page and in your followers' feeds.

Tick Contains spoilers before you post. Your review is then hidden behind a warning until the reader chooses to reveal it, and excerpts elsewhere on KARE are replaced by a note. Unmarked spoilers can be reported, and I take those seriously: a first watch only happens once.

In the thread under a review, anyone allowed to reply can answer it, and replies can be answered in turn. Threads nest up to four levels deep, then continue flat so they stay readable on a phone. A reply can be up to 1,000 characters.

Yes. Reviews, episode reviews and the replies in a review's thread all have a heart. The author gets a notification when someone likes their review or replies to it.

Yes. In Settings → Profile, Replies can be Anyone, Friends (people you follow plus accepted friends) or No one. It applies to all your reviews.

Anything you like: a ranking, a mood, a director's run, a double bill. A list has a name (up to 120 characters), a description with basic formatting, up to 12 tags, an optional Ranked list setting that numbers the entries, a note on each title (up to 500 characters) and a public or private setting. Start one from Lists or Log → New list.

Yes. As the owner, invite collaborators by @username from the list editor. They can add, remove and reorder titles; the name, description and settings stay with you. A collaborator can leave a list at any time.

Yes, with KARE Pro: press Clone on a public list and the copy is yours to change. It starts out public, and the original shows how many times it has been cloned.

Yes, with comments of up to 1,000 characters. The list's Replies setting decides who can: anyone, people you follow, or only you. Change it in the list editor or right on the list page.

KARE's canon: a thousand films, ranked from critics' and filmmakers' all-time lists. It's a real list, owned by the official KARE account, so you can like it, comment on it, filter it, or start a marathon from it. Top rated under Films opens it, and when the rankings underneath change, the list follows.

It's there to argue with, not to obey. Your own thousand is always welcome.

Official lists come from the KARE account: The KARE 1000, the KARE 250, a KARE 100 for every genre, and rankings for world cinema, decades, themes, series and anime. They're all on official lists.

On the home page, KARE picks mixes lists I've chosen to feature with official ones. On the Lists page, KARE picks are the official lists, and member lists I feature appear under Crew picks.

A way to work through a list. Press Start a marathon on any list and KARE copies its titles in order; tick each one off as you watch, with a half-star rating and a note. Marathons are public unless you make them private, members can like and comment on public ones, and you can mark one finished when you're done. Yours are on your profile's Marathons tab.

A still you upload from something you watched: the frame that stayed with you. Each KARE belongs to a title and can note the season, episode and moment (a timestamp up to 24 hours), with a caption of up to 500 characters.

KAREs are private until you press Post to the feed. Posted ones appear on the KAREs feed, where members can like them and reply. You'll find all of yours on your profile's KAREs tab.

JPEG, PNG or WebP, up to 5 MB. KARE scales them down to at most 1,920 pixels in your browser before uploading. Please only upload stills you're allowed to share; the terms have the details.

Open one of your KAREs and press Use as diary cover: the still becomes the image on your latest diary entry for that title, and like the rest of your diary, that's public. If you haven't logged the title yet, KARE logs today's watch for you. You can also download or delete a KARE from the same view.

Press Watchlist on any title or review page, or search from your profile's Watchlist tab. That tab can also import a CSV with a Name (or Title) column and an optional Year, up to 1,900 titles per file, and export your watchlist as a CSV.

Only you, unless you turn on Share my watchlist in Settings → Profile. It's off by default. What you mean to watch is your business.

Library is one page with a way into everything you keep: watchlist, diary, lists, marathons, KAREs and your stats.

Following is one-way and public: follow anyone, no permission needed. Friendship is a request the other person accepts or declines, from Friends. Together, the people you follow and your friends make up your circle, and their latest entries, favourite titles, reviews and new lists lead your home page. When your circle has been quiet, the home page shows the rest of KARE instead.

The Members page lists the most followed members and the busiest diaries this week, and has a search. Anyone whose review you like is one click from their profile, and when you're signed in, every profile shows a quick taste match with yours. The full side-by-side comparison is part of Pro.

Yes. Press Follow on their person page. KARE remembers their filmography as it is at that moment and tells you about titles that appear after it: new projects are checked for at most twice a day while you use KARE, and when a new title by someone you follow is added to KARE's catalogue, you hear about it straight away.

You decide, in Settings → Profile under Who can message you: Everyone (the default), People you follow, or Nobody. Changing it doesn't close conversations you already have.

Messages are one-to-one; there are no group chats. A message can be up to 4,000 characters, and a KARE title link you paste arrives as a card. You can delete your own messages (they then show as deleted for both of you) and hide a conversation from your list.

New followers, friend requests and accepted requests; likes and replies on your reviews, and replies to your replies; likes and comments on your lists; likes, comments and replies on your marathons and KAREs; being added to a list as a collaborator; new titles from people you follow; Pro gifts and awards. Seven of these can be switched off in Settings → Notifications.

Block someone from the menu on their profile or from one of their reviews. It works both ways: neither of you can follow, send a friend request, reply to or like the other's reviews, marathons or KAREs, comment on lists, give awards or send messages. Follows and friendships between you are removed, their activity disappears from your feeds, and they aren't told. You can unblock from the same menu.

Use Report on a review, reply, episode review, list, marathon, KARE, comment or profile, and pick a reason: unmarked spoilers, spam or advertising, harassment or bullying, hate speech, sexual content, threats or violence, impersonation, or something else, with optional details. Reports are anonymous, and you can report the same thing once.

There's no moderation team to pass them to, so I read every report myself, and I aim to look at each one within a day.

Keep it about the films: disagree with opinions, not with people. Mark spoilers. Don't post anything you wouldn't want said about your own work. I remove reported content that breaks this, and the full rules are in the terms of use.

Yes. The Adult content setting in Settings → Profile decides whether adult titles appear in search and in content from friends, and whether their posters show.

Under each title, members answer yes or no across 23 warnings in five groups, with a severity (mild, moderate or strong) and an optional note of up to 280 characters. You can answer for a whole title or for a single episode.

A warning shows as Yes once at least two members agree with a 60% majority; a single yes shows as Some say. Who voted is never shown. Before members have answered, grey automatic warnings are filled in from the title's catalogue keywords and, where KARE is connected to it, DoesTheDogDie's community answers. Would rather not see any? Turn off Show content warnings on title pages under Settings → Home & title pages.

KARE looks up the official soundtrack album on Apple Music and shows it under the film with short previews. Members can add the songs that play in the film too, with the scene and the moment, and a Spotify link if they have one. Heard it as well? Press I heard it.

It's JustWatch data, split into stream, free (or with ads), rent and buy. It follows your browser's language and region setting (en-US shows US services; with no region set, KARE assumes Türkiye), and it changes as services add and remove titles. The links open the title's watch page on TMDB, which sends you on to the service.

When a title has an official trailer, press Trailer on its page. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press it, and then it plays in YouTube's privacy-enhanced player.

Anime pages add a panel with the airing schedule, studio, source, format and the show's other seasons, alongside everything a series page has. As everywhere on KARE, the rating you see is KARE members' own.

Yes. Nobody should have to start their film life over. On Letterboxd, open Settings → Data → Export your data (you get a ZIP file), then drop it into Settings → Import from Letterboxd. Single CSV files from inside the ZIP work too. KARE brings in your diary with watched dates, ratings, rewatches, tags and reviews, the films you marked watched without a date, your ratings, liked films, watchlist, lists (with their order, notes and descriptions), and profile details with your four favourites.

Before anything is saved you see how many titles were found, which matches need a check, and which weren't found; pick the right film from the suggestions, search again, or skip it. You choose which parts to import, which lists are numbered, and whether new lists are public. The files are read in your browser and never uploaded: only each film's title, year and IMDb id are sent to KARE to find it. If you press Look up Letterboxd links, those links go to KARE's server, which reads the pages on Letterboxd.

Importing the same export again only adds what's new and never changes what you've edited on KARE since. Deleted entries, comments, and likes on other people's lists and reviews aren't imported, and KARE keeps one review per film, so a film you reviewed more than once brings its latest review.

Yes, the same way. On IMDb, export Your ratings (and your watchlist or other lists, if you like) as CSV and drop the files into Settings → Import from Letterboxd. IMDb's 1–10 scores become KARE stars (8/10 is four stars), and rated titles can be marked as watched on the day you rated them. Episodes, games, podcasts and music videos are left out. Trakt exports (ZIP or JSON) bring films, series and episode progress.

Yes, any time, from Settings → Your data. Export CSV files gives you your diary, reviews, watchlist and ratings as spreadsheets; Export JSON includes all of that plus your lists. The diary export has each entry's date, title and rating. It's your data. I'd rather you stayed because you like it here than because leaving is hard.

Every profile shows counts and a ratings spread. The full stats dashboard is part of KARE Pro: when the films you watch were made, your top years, genres, countries, languages, themes, studios, cast, directors and crew, a world map and your last twelve months, for all time, this year or the last 90 days. Stats for any list are Pro too, and open to everyone on lists owned by a Pro member or by KARE.

A shareable card of your day, week or month in film, built from your diary. Open it from your profile, pick the period and a story or square format, then download or share the image.

Achievements are badges you earn from your activity on KARE, in bronze, silver and gold: your first film, a hundred different films, films from eight decades, one for working through each of eighteen directors' films, and more. Each has its own piece of art. Pin up to three to the showcase on your profile.

Pro is $4.99 a month or $39 a year and adds:

• A personal stats dashboard, and stats for any list
• Taste overlap with any member, and week-by-week title analytics
• Your own poster for any title, a custom profile layout, favourite actors and directors, and up to three pinned reviews, diary entries or lists (pin one from its “•••” menu)
• Challenges tracked from your diary, cloning other people's lists, activity filters, and a Pro badge

Everything free stays free. Pro is how KARE pays its way; the Pro page has the details.

Challenges are part of Pro, in Settings → Pro. Join one I've set up, or make your own: a name, a target from 1 to 1,000 titles, films, series or both, a genre if you like, and the dates. Progress counts the different titles you log on KARE between those dates. Imported entries don't count, or it would be too easy. Some of my challenges pay credits once you finish them; your own never do.

Yes. On the Pro page, choose to give it as a gift, pick the member, add a note (up to 280 characters) and pay, or send them a code. Codes and gifts add time on top of any Pro they already have.

On the Pro page, under Have a code?: type it in and press Redeem. The time is added to whatever Pro you already have.

Nothing is deleted. Your stats, pins, custom posters, challenges and layout are kept and come back when you renew; until then your profile uses the standard layout.

Credits pay for awards. Every member gets 50 free credits once. More come from codes, from some challenges, and, when they're on sale, from credit packs on the Credits page.

Small film-themed honours (48 of them, from 5 to 500 credits) you can give to a review or a profile, with an optional message of up to 140 characters, and anonymously if you like. You can't award yourself, however good the review. The recipient is notified and the award shows on their work.

Titles, people, images and trailers come from open film and anime catalogues, mainly TMDB, and where-to-watch information is JustWatch data. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

What's KARE's own: the ratings, reviews, lists, warnings and songs members add, and the posters, banners and person photos I pick.

Most title details come straight from the catalogue, so the lasting fix is to correct them there (on TMDB, for films and series) and KARE picks up the change. If a poster, banner or photo I chose is wrong, or something looks off on KARE's side, tell me at [email protected].

For a member's content, use Report on it. For anything else, like a page that won't load or an import that goes wrong, reload first; if it keeps happening, tell me at [email protected] what you were doing and on which page. It comes straight to me, and a screenshot helps more than you'd think.

Your profile, diary, ratings, reviews, lists, marathons, KAREs, follows, messages and settings are stored in KARE's database. A few conveniences, like which tips you've already seen and your last Films page, stay in your browser only. The privacy policy explains what is collected, who can see it and your rights; the terms of use are the rules for using KARE. I've tried to write both so they can actually be read.

Yes. Go to Settings → Sign-in & security, press Delete my account…, type your username to confirm and press Delete my account forever.

Deletion is immediate and can't be undone. It removes your profile and sign-in, your diary, ratings, reviews and replies, lists, likes, follows and friendships, messages, KAREs, stats and everything else tied to your account. Your avatar and KARE images are deleted too. Want a copy first? Use Settings → Your data before you delete. If you pay for Pro by subscription, cancel it first: deleting your account doesn't cancel payments. Details are in the privacy policy.