I have had a couple of friends join 365 but they have felt a little overwhelmed and are not quite sure where to start, how to get followers, how themes work, and so on. I wanted to put this together as a “Quick Start Guide” so you can learn the basics of the site and dive into this amazing community.
1. What should you post?
Whatever you want! This is your project so do what you want with it. Maybe you are not sure what you want it to be yet. That is okay. Just start posting each day and you will find what you like to post and what makes you happy. Wanna do landscapes? Go for it! Wanna make a calendar of the meals you cook? Fine! Wanna learn how to take self portraits? Lots of people do that and you can too!
There are no real "rules" to what you can and can’t post other than this: POST YOUR OWN WORK! Don’t steal from the web and try to pass it off as your own. I know there are some here that have posted things from the web or emails they have received and that is okay because they have stated that it is not their work and typically give a reason why they are sharing it here. Really, this project should be about your pictures. People have been caught posting stolen material and it does not go over well so just skip that and stick with what you do.
2. How do you get people to follow you?
Follow other people! Comment on their photos, follow them, FAV shots that you love. Comment on discussions and participate in themes. The more active you are here in the community, the more people will reciprocate. Not sure where to find people to follow? Click Browse up at the top right of your screen and check out the Popular page or Latest.
3. What are themes? Do you have to do them?
Themes are posted weekly and are chosen by the winner of the prior week’s theme. They are not required but can be fun to participate in and can be a great source of inspiration when you are running low. To include your photos in the theme, just enter Theme- and the current theme name in the tag field when uploading your photos.
4. Love someone’s shot and wish you knew how they did it?
Check out their EXIF info and feel free to ask them. Most people here will be very happy to share how they did something and will very likely tell you if they don’t know, too.
5. There are some really amazing photos here! Is everyone here a pro?
Nope! Many people, myself included, started out with very little knowledge or experience and have grown through doing this project everyday. While there are pros here, and they are really amazing, this should not intimidate you. This is a very supportive community and an awesome place to learn.
To help you get started, here are some of my favorite 365ers to follow:
http://365project.org/bradsworld - @bradsworld is an awesome example of why photography is not about the equipment but the person behind the lens. His project is all iPhone shots and he does some pretty incredible things. Plus he is just a super nice guy and has awesome titles for his shots.
http://365project.org/jinximages - @jinximages is incredibly smart and does not mind sharing his knowledge. In fact, he has an album dedicated to “How To”s. You will see him in discussions frequently!
http://365project.org/liipgloss@liipgloss posts some of the most amazing landscapes. I have always wanted to visit Australia and her coastal sunsets have me ready to pack NOW.
http://365project.org/do11face/365@do11face has not been around in a little while but she takes the sweetest shots of her kids that always have a lovely warm vintage feel. Hopefully she will come back!
I could go on and on and on with suggestions of people to follow! Want more recommendations? Just click on my profile to see who I follow.
Anyone else have any recommendations, tips or suggestions of people to follow? Feel free to share them here!
Participate in the discussions. In particular the Browse and Pick threads and Your Favorite of (dates).
In the Browse and Pick; you go to the end of the thread, click on the last person's name (open in another thread will make this easier) and look through their pictures. Pick one you like and right click/copy the SHARE code for the picture. Then go back to the Browse and Pick and right click/paste into the next reply. Be sure to click on "reply @..." so the person knows you are refering to their picture. Then comment on why you chose this particular picture. When you click on Post Reply the picture will show up. Then the next person in line will do the same with a picture of yours.
Your Favorite of (date) is all about picking one of your own that you feel is your favorite for the week. Copy/Paste the Share code into the reply. Follow the steps above for copy/pasting the Share code.
Both of these will give others a chance to see your pictures and also for you to see what others think about yours.
Get familiar with the search box in the upper right of the screen. Type something you may be looking for, it could be a name or a tag or a word like inspiration, and then press ENTER. You will then see tabs on the left to see what was found in Photos, Users, or Discussions. It's pretty simple but most people don't or won't use it and we see countless discussions covering the same topics over and over.
Want to use the Enlarge feature? If you are looking at a picture, you will see the magnifiying glass above it. This will enlarge the picture. If you cannot see the whole image press F11. This will clear everything but the picture and you should see the whole thing enlarged. Press F11 again to return the screen to normal.
Need to locate one of your friends or followers? Once you have been here a while you will probably have collected quite a few friends and/or followers. Sometimes you will want to locate someone in particular. Click on You, located next to Upload, to bring up the list. Ctrl-F (windows) will bring up a search box. It's simple to use.
@autumnseden Great discussion. I was lucky to have someone reach out to me on my first post, but not everyone is so lucky. I hope this helps new 365ers.
The only thing I would add is: If you have any questions, ask.
@herussell I had people reach out to me right away when I started which helped me too but I have seen a number of people start and quit quickly because they couldn't get into the swing of things. It happens but I sure hope this helps!
As for recommending people to follow; I suggest clicking on Browse, located in the same area as the search box, and look through pictures. There will be a Follow button. Click on this to follow someone or to unfollow.
I say this because art is subjective and very personal to each of us. You may see thousands of recommendations here and that alone will be overwhelming. Do not feel pressured to follow anyone until you are ready. Also, do not hesitate to unfollow anyone. People sometimes do not click and you will feel no connection to them. It's ok to leave feedback on their pictures without seeing their pictures every day.
This project is yours to do with as you like as long as you are representing your own work. If you post something someone else has taken be sure to mention that because if you don't you may see a discussion about it. Nope, don't want that, do we? ;-)
how do i post pictures to a discussion?: to do this go to the picture you wish to add,at the side of it there will be the html code in a box that says share,highlight and copy and paste the link into the discussion reply box
"This tool enables you to check how many of your listed followers/followees are actually using the website.
Over time people drop out and lose interest with their project, so your counts may be over-inflated.
There's no real use for this, other than satisfying your own curiosity.
So if you are curious, enter your username from the 365project.org website below, and click Scan."
You can thank @eyebrows for this gem of a program.
You can unfollow only those on Your Friends list. There is no way to block anyone from following you. Do keep this in mind when posting anything here. This is a public site. Your pictures can be googled. If you don't want them ever made public, do not post them online.
If you ever feel there is an issue between you and someone else that you cannot deal with contact @Scrivna . Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on support/feedback/contact.
"If you've tried everything else, or the question you have is of a more sensitive nature, you can email me at ross@365project.org, please clearly state what the issue is and provide your username and any other relevant information / links. This is so I can help you as efficiently as possible."
MUST I POST EVERY DAY: Well the purpose of this project is to get you to take a photo a day so you improve as a photographer. You can take a photo every day and post when you get a chance. You can take one photo a week, do seven edits and post one for each day. If you are sick no one will judge you for putting in an older picture. This is your project and you make up the rules.
WILL I IMPROVE: It is almost impossible to not improve if you are following people, commenting and participating. You will learn more here than in a full semester class if you reach out and ask, discuss and read. I have noticed some that really do not, but they also only follow about 3 people and never participate past posting.
HOW DO I GET ON THE POPULAR PAGE: Take great photos, have followers that like to comment (they do that when you comment) and frequently use your fav button so they will fav yours. Also you may love your photo and it did not end up on the pp, it does not mean your photo was not great, it just means the magic monkeys were leaning towards something else.
DEFINITION OF ORIGINAL PHOTO: Original is your own work. Can you take a picture of a painting, edit it, and use it as a bigger photo? Probably. Can you put your name on a picture and call it yours? Never. It seems at the beginning of the year and once and a while you will see a photo that is incredible but so unlike anything the photographer has ever come near to. There are people here who can spot them quickly. Please do not do that, most everyone on here gets rightfully outraged and you will be discovered. Being popular is not worth that.
HOW DO I TAG SOMEONE IN MY COMMENTS - This is easy use the @ symbol and their screen name with no punctuation before or after (Ieave a space on either side). Also I find that in the start of a discussion, title or photo description the @name does not, so hit it in your first reply. So and example "WOW! @autumnseden , how did you get the light to shine so well in the photo" Also I can just hit the blue reply and get @autumnseden directily.
@brumbe Excellent points my dear! I love your point about improvement. I have seen this with a couple of people and you nailed it! The people that are not improving are not active in the community at all.
I'd also like to advertise my Undiscovered Gems tool, which might be a bit slow, but might also be fun. In odd-sounding news, it'll get faster the more people use it...
Hmmm. Just learned that almost half of my followers are dead accounts. No wonder I get so little traffic these days (well that, and the fact that I've been in a summer slump. :) ).
@jjsooner yeah, it's not been looked at in months, that, so most of the accounts it knows about are old. If a few people use the "dead account scanner" though, it'll get some more recent people into its database :)
@Scrivna Thanks, Ross! I have a couple of friends who have either recently joined or are considering joining and I thought this might be helpful getting them going. You have created a fantastic site with a wonderful community and I know that I have grown tremendously and have made some great friends along the way. I want that for everyone that joins up! We are quite lucky! =D
Wow, so I was actually putting together a list of stuff exactly like this and I was planning on posting it just after the new year so all the new people on here could see it. So I think that you should take your original post, add everybody else's input and re-post this then! Maybe @scrivna could post this or something similar as a sticky at the top of every discussion subject. That would alleviate a lot of repeat threads and the space they take up. I am worried though that a post like this would discourage people and scare them from posting any discussion for fear that it has been posted before and the community will come down on them for re-posting. I think that you have phrased it perfectly as a helpful post rather than a list of do's and dont's. Well put and great post.
@eyebrows Wow! 30% of my followers are dead accounts again. It sure would be nice to be able to "clean house". At least I can do my own housecleaning on who I follow. =)
To see multiple photos, discussions or other links w/o leaving a page: press the ctrl button and click the link or photo. For mac users press command and click on the link or photo. That way you don't have to lose your place on your dashboard or in the discussion to view it.
Click on photos you like, don't just view the thumbnail People including yourself feel better when their photos gets views and comments. You can comment on a photo w/o registering a view. If you have the time click the thumbnail and comment on the photo, you might see something you didn't before. If you don't want to leave the dashboard or thread, please see the viewing multiple photos comment.
ACE ACCOUNTS: It is fabulous that this is a free site to all who post and view and is not loaded with pop ups and advertisements. The benefit of getting an ACE account is to be able to have multiple albums, see your stats, show different styles, and see who is making your photo a favorite. The price of the account is $20 USD and that is less than a fancy starbucks coffee each day for a week. That money is used to help run the site, keep the speed up, allow you to store huge photos.
WHY IS 365 SLOW: Well sometimes with high traffic the internet slows down. Do not worry, Ross will get to it quickly, but remember it is a free site that has lots of large files uploaded which can also slow things down.
To see multiple photos, discussions or other links without leaving a page: Or, just middle click the links. Most mice have wheels now, and clicking links with it opens them in a new window/tab.
@shadesofgrey I agree with your suggestion about gathering everything together and posting it as a new entry again later. I will wait until it looks like everyone has put in their .02 and then will consolidate it for later consumption! =D
I'd suggest that new 365ers also seek out each other through the above mentioned methods as it really helps to go through the year together and (this bit I'm kinda guessing) sometimes people who've been on here a while will already have established 365 relationships which may not leave much time for newbies. Personally my favourite part of this whole experience is the "friendships" formed between seemingly random people. Also I would suggest people don't get stressed out or intimidated by the one picture every day per day thing. If you're struggling with it, let it go and use the odd filler or leave a gap rather than beat yourself up about it.
@eyebrows This one had me laughing out loud even though there was not a good reason to be laughing at work. Thanks for making me look like a weirdo to my peers. Because I am sure this is the *only* thing that makes them think I am a weirdo. ;)
@dmortega I have that problem on my Macbook. After enlarging I can't see the bottom of the pic nor can I scroll down to see the bottom of the pic. F11 key doesn't work on a Mac I guess.
I couldn't work out why I was getting so many new follower notifications! I thought I must have suddenly discovered a hidden horde of colour management obsessives! ;)
Awesome thread. And I definitely agree it should be stickied, or linked in the FAQ, or something!
Oh, it would be great to have something on the list about following your followers. I have seen so many discussion threads about this. While, it is polite to comment on photos of those that follow you, you do not have to follow everyone back. Follow those that inspire you, you like, or you aim to be like. Also, be nice! :)
Once you are on board with your 365 project, the challenge becomes whether or not you can keep up with work, washing, kids, cooking, cleaning, school runs etc etc etc because its just SO easy to spend a couple of hours just cruising around 365!
@autumnseden
Thank you Autumn.
This post saves me from deleting my project at this site. I planned to start over but I guess I have to go on, though not on a daily basis.
from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!!!
I enjoyed reading this 365 Quick Guide. =)
@dmortega No, that doesn't help. :-) I knew about those things already. With a "normal window" I have no problem. It is only when the enlargement window opens up that I can't see the whole pic or scroll down. I have tried everything and nothing works, but I have lived with it up til now so I can put up with it. The one thing I haven't checked is whether it also happens on my iMac. Next time I am using it I will have to check.
@arielmagyawejr Why would you delete your project??? I certainly don't want this post to pressure you to stay if you were done and wanted to go. =) As I suggested earlier in this post - the project is what you want it to be! If you don't want to post every day, don't. =)
@dmortega I tried it on the iMac and it works there but I think that is only because the screen is larger. I believe there might be something in the coding when you click on the magnifying glass. It will make it a certain size no matter what size screen you have. Just a guess. But even though it fits on my iMac's screen, if I shrink the window so the whole picture isn't visible I can't use the scroll bar to move the pic up or down. Am I the only one with this quirk of a problem?
@rayswrld --- PC. I have the same issue with pressing the magnifying glass. I cannot scroll the page up or even close the popup unless I press F11 to go full screen.
@dmortega Ah, at least you have a remedy. Perhaps there should be an investigation into this. Someone who knows something about computers, or at least more than I do, which isn't really much.
Themes and other discussions are to be found under blog at the top of the board.
@threeplusone I just have to not log in or look when I'm trying to shift work and sleep at the moment and I'm feeling so guilty for not having time to follow.
From personal preference, I suggest not to follow too many people in the beginning. It could get a bit overwhelming if you do. Also, look at who your friends follow for people you might want to add.
ok, new question ,probably the only person but I cannot find 'recently popular' page for the life of me.
Home= all the people I follow, not home page so where do I find this thing!
@voodoochild At the top of your window you will see a row of buttons: Home, You, Upload, Discuss, Browse, Blog. Click Browse and you will see Popular listed. =)
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
http://365project.org/jinximages
http://365project.org/arielmagyawejr
http://365project.org/liipgloss
http://365project.org/gavincci
http://365project.org/do11face
Sorry... I don't know why but my links in discussions never want to work but they are fine in comments so click on them here. =)
In the Browse and Pick; you go to the end of the thread, click on the last person's name (open in another thread will make this easier) and look through their pictures. Pick one you like and right click/copy the SHARE code for the picture. Then go back to the Browse and Pick and right click/paste into the next reply. Be sure to click on "reply @..." so the person knows you are refering to their picture. Then comment on why you chose this particular picture. When you click on Post Reply the picture will show up. Then the next person in line will do the same with a picture of yours.
Your Favorite of (date) is all about picking one of your own that you feel is your favorite for the week. Copy/Paste the Share code into the reply. Follow the steps above for copy/pasting the Share code.
Both of these will give others a chance to see your pictures and also for you to see what others think about yours.
as Miss Angola (Miss Universe) said.....
"RESPECT ONE ANOTHER"
people to follow:
http://365project.org/petervanallen/365 http://365project.org/wahyusp/365 http://365project.org/slava/365/2011-05-28
and many more.......... ♥♥♥
Great suggestions of people to follow, too! @petervanallen, @wahyusp and @slava are all amazing!
The only thing I would add is: If you have any questions, ask.
I say this because art is subjective and very personal to each of us. You may see thousands of recommendations here and that alone will be overwhelming. Do not feel pressured to follow anyone until you are ready. Also, do not hesitate to unfollow anyone. People sometimes do not click and you will feel no connection to them. It's ok to leave feedback on their pictures without seeing their pictures every day.
This project is yours to do with as you like as long as you are representing your own work. If you post something someone else has taken be sure to mention that because if you don't you may see a discussion about it. Nope, don't want that, do we? ;-)
(i couldn't highlight my question in bold type)
"This tool enables you to check how many of your listed followers/followees are actually using the website.
Over time people drop out and lose interest with their project, so your counts may be over-inflated.
There's no real use for this, other than satisfying your own curiosity.
So if you are curious, enter your username from the 365project.org website below, and click Scan."
You can thank @eyebrows for this gem of a program.
You can unfollow only those on Your Friends list. There is no way to block anyone from following you. Do keep this in mind when posting anything here. This is a public site. Your pictures can be googled. If you don't want them ever made public, do not post them online.
If you ever feel there is an issue between you and someone else that you cannot deal with contact @Scrivna . Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on support/feedback/contact.
"If you've tried everything else, or the question you have is of a more sensitive nature, you can email me at ross@365project.org, please clearly state what the issue is and provide your username and any other relevant information / links. This is so I can help you as efficiently as possible."
WILL I IMPROVE: It is almost impossible to not improve if you are following people, commenting and participating. You will learn more here than in a full semester class if you reach out and ask, discuss and read. I have noticed some that really do not, but they also only follow about 3 people and never participate past posting.
HOW DO I GET ON THE POPULAR PAGE: Take great photos, have followers that like to comment (they do that when you comment) and frequently use your fav button so they will fav yours. Also you may love your photo and it did not end up on the pp, it does not mean your photo was not great, it just means the magic monkeys were leaning towards something else.
DEFINITION OF ORIGINAL PHOTO: Original is your own work. Can you take a picture of a painting, edit it, and use it as a bigger photo? Probably. Can you put your name on a picture and call it yours? Never. It seems at the beginning of the year and once and a while you will see a photo that is incredible but so unlike anything the photographer has ever come near to. There are people here who can spot them quickly. Please do not do that, most everyone on here gets rightfully outraged and you will be discovered. Being popular is not worth that.
HOW DO I TAG SOMEONE IN MY COMMENTS - This is easy use the @ symbol and their screen name with no punctuation before or after (Ieave a space on either side). Also I find that in the start of a discussion, title or photo description the @name does not, so hit it in your first reply. So and example "WOW! @autumnseden , how did you get the light to shine so well in the photo" Also I can just hit the blue reply and get @autumnseden directily.
Ha! That's awesome. Nice. Very nice.
To see multiple photos, discussions or other links w/o leaving a page: press the ctrl button and click the link or photo. For mac users press command and click on the link or photo. That way you don't have to lose your place on your dashboard or in the discussion to view it.
Click on photos you like, don't just view the thumbnail People including yourself feel better when their photos gets views and comments. You can comment on a photo w/o registering a view. If you have the time click the thumbnail and comment on the photo, you might see something you didn't before. If you don't want to leave the dashboard or thread, please see the viewing multiple photos comment.
ACE ACCOUNTS: It is fabulous that this is a free site to all who post and view and is not loaded with pop ups and advertisements. The benefit of getting an ACE account is to be able to have multiple albums, see your stats, show different styles, and see who is making your photo a favorite. The price of the account is $20 USD and that is less than a fancy starbucks coffee each day for a week. That money is used to help run the site, keep the speed up, allow you to store huge photos.
WHY IS 365 SLOW: Well sometimes with high traffic the internet slows down. Do not worry, Ross will get to it quickly, but remember it is a free site that has lots of large files uploaded which can also slow things down.
To see multiple photos, discussions or other links without leaving a page: Or, just middle click the links. Most mice have wheels now, and clicking links with it opens them in a new window/tab.
^_^
Awesome thread. And I definitely agree it should be stickied, or linked in the FAQ, or something!
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080329170506AANgDjF
This is a WONDERFUL idea for the newbies!
@shadesofgrey I saw this after I had posted my discussion but I like that everyone is being able to throw in their suggestions, too.
Thank you Autumn.
This post saves me from deleting my project at this site. I planned to start over but I guess I have to go on, though not on a daily basis.
from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!!!
I enjoyed reading this 365 Quick Guide. =)
@threeplusone I just have to not log in or look when I'm trying to shift work and sleep at the moment and I'm feeling so guilty for not having time to follow.
Home= all the people I follow, not home page so where do I find this thing!