Photo Hosting Sites for New Members

Hopefully this'll help people who are new to Flickr. This is just my guide to commenting, adding notes, trying to get more views, etc.

Flickr

Profile Info:

The first thing you should do once you've set up your account is fill in your profile. This is good way for other members to find out about you and what type of person you're like. Try to use your best English, don't post stuff like: 'hai guiz i wuv flickr!!1!', as people will think you're a noob. When filling it out try to write a good decent paragraph, but give away too much info, just post general stuff like what state/country you live in, what music you like, etc.

Avatar:

One of the important things on Flickr is your avatar. It's the first thing people see and will often judge you by it. If your avatar is a blurry picture of a rubbish figure then people will simply ignore you. On the other hand if it's a brilliant photo of an amazing figure then people will (Hopefully) think: 'Wow! That avatar looks awesome; I wonder what their MOCs are like?'. Good photo and good creations: Yes. Blurry/crappy photo and rubbish creations: No.

Uploading Your First Photo:

Once all the profile and avatar stuff is out the way you'll probably want to upload your first picture. In case you haven't figured it out yet you need to click on Upload Photos & Video which is located just above Flickr Blog. From there click on Step 1: Choose photos and videos. Next you need to choose the photo you want, browse through your files until you find your picture. To upload more photos just click Add More at the bottom of the white box. When your done click Upload Photos and Videos. Once it has finished uploading your pictures you'll need to add a description and title. Just like your profile you'll need to fill these out using proper English. Add a suitable title that generalises the MOC and a description to tell the viewer more. Click save once you are done.

Photo URL:

To post a picture on CABG you'll need the URL. To get this right click on your picture and you can choose the size of your photo, go for one of the mediums. Once you have chosen the size right click again and click Copy Image Location (The URL will then look something like this when you paste it: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4431910807_59787f8b7c.jpg ). To post it on CABG you'll need to click on the Tree button when posting a reply or PMing someone. The tree button is on the same line as B I U and S. It's the 16th picture across, right before the picture of a link. Click on the Tree button, paste the URL and click OK. The code for your picture should appear in the comment box.

How To Get More Views:

You've uploaded your photo, added a good title and description, but no one's commented on them. You need people to see it. The three main ways to get views is this: Links, Comments and Groups. Links: You can get loads of views just from you linking your creation on a site like CABG. People will see your post; click on it and ta da! More views and comments. Of course someone else might link to your MOCs, it could be one of your friends posting it on MSN or someone blogging you (Getting blogged by TBB can get you way over 1,000 views and a lot of comments). Comments: Another good way to get people to look at your photostream is comment on their work. If someone comments on my MOCs and I've never seen them before I always have a look at their photostream. Groups: The main way to get photos is adding them to groups. This is the best and easiest way to get more views. For more info see my Group tutorial below.

Commenting:

Comments are a great way to tell someone what you think of their MOC and to see what people think of yours. When commenting try to be polite and friendly. Try not to insult anyone and cause unnecessary arguments. A good comment should include at least one good thing (Something you like/love about their MOC) and one piece of constructive critique (Something they could do to improve). With the good thing try to be detailed, don't just say 'Nice!', explain why you think it's nice: 'Nice, I really like the ____ on this, it really adds to the MOC!' When posting critique try to be as detailed as possible. 'I don't like the engines :-/' is a rubbish bit of critique, try to expand and say why you don't like it and what they could do to improve: 'Wow, I really like the wings, but the engine doesn't look that good. It's too big and blocky in my opinion and spoils the smoothness of the build. Maybe you should use hinges to create a better curve and make them look less blocky. :-)'

Adding Notes:

Notes are a good way to highlight certain parts of a build. Try to use the same thing I use for commenting (All that stuff in the paragraph above this one). Once you've got your message you need to check where your note is going to go. Try not to post something about the cockpit then post it on top of the engines. Also try to avoid BUNs (Big Unecessary Notes). I hate it when people post a note that covers up the whole picture. If it does cover up the whole picture then minimize it and put it in the corner or just post it as a comment.

Groups:

Groups are a fun way to interact with fellow Flickr Members. They have fun discussions and contests. It's a great way to socialize and an excuse to build. To join a group click Join? or Join This Group. Once you're a member you can post and upload photos. To upload photos to a group click Add Something? (Next to group pool) and select the photos you want to upload, but remember, you can only upload six photos a t a time and some groups will only let you upload a certain amount of photos a day. One last time: DO NOT INVITE ALL YOUR CONTACTS. In the last week I've been invited to at least 12 pointless groups and in every single one of them there's a topic saying 'We need more members' or 'Invite all your contacts'. If it's a good group people will hear about it and join when they want to. On the other hand if you keep getting invited to groups, don't decline or accept it. Actually clicking "No" means someone else (or the same idiot) can invite you again. Leave the invitation in limbo and that prevents you from getting more than one invite, ever.

Quality of Photos:

A wise Admin of FBTB once wrote:

�A good picture of a terrible model will look better and be more appealing than a terrible picture of a good model.�

Posting blurry photos of MOCs on your carpet with your cat in the background is, IMO, extremely noobish. A tripod is an easy way to keep your camera still, you can position it to take pictures from any angle. Getting a good background is easy. A simple bit of white or coloured paper is so much better than a carpet. I'm sure you all have paper somewhere, but if you don't just go and buy some. I use a black A2 sheet of card I bought for junst under $.50. A word of advice if you do use paper: Get a big sheet and curve it to avoid that gap/line you get when you place two sheets together. If you do upload a photo to Flickr, but then realise it's too light/Not cropped enough then you can use Picnik. To get to Picnik click Edit Photo which is underneath the title. In Picnik the main things I use are Auto-Fix and Crop. Auto-Fix fixes the lighting for you, if it's too light or dark it'll make it nearly perfect. Crop is a good way to get rid of those pesky edges were there's no paper. If you use GIMP then you may want to look at these tutorials.

NOTE: Picnik is only available to those who have Pro.

Plagiarism:

Recently there's been alot of people uploading photos that aren't theirs. They pick MOCs they like, upload them and say they made it. If it isn't your photo then DO NOT UPLOAD IT! The last two plagiarists on Flickr got spammed until finally Flickr deleted their accounts. So to summarize: Upload your own photos and only your photos.

I hope this helps! :grin:

Can we sticky this topic?

(Us MODs don't have that power)

Well that's just embarrassing...

I can't find what button it is apparently.

Thunder-blade wrote:Can we sticky this topic?

(Us MODs don't have that power)

Yes we do, just edit the original post, scroll down, and check 'pinned'.

Ah... so that's how it's done.

*goes into the corner of shame*

Shhh, DP, you'll ruin the humiliation magic.

VERY VERY Helpful for my future plans. Thanks Tac.

I really needed to read this though I think I knew some of this by trial and error, I think you helped fortify what I thought I knew.

Moar tips...


Don't have blurry clone wars stuff...anywhere...AT ALL

Don't have blurry military stuff...anywhere...AT ALL

You know what? Just don't have blurry stuff....

<.<

>.>

Most helpful Tac. I thank you very much.

Added a 'Quality of Photos' one too.

Tac wrote:Added a 'Quality of Photos' one too.

Apparently not only the new members learn something here

>.>

<.<

I was not aware of the Photo edit button...

PhiMa wrote:

Tac wrote:Added a 'Quality of Photos' one too.

Apparently not only the new members learn something here

>.>

<.<

I was not aware of the Photo edit button...

Nor was I. But I'd never use it anyway, seeing as I always edit my pics before uploading.

Added another piece of advice: Don't invite all your contacts into pointless groups.

I find this article very useful. Contains some good, helpful, tips.

PhiMa wrote:I find this article very useful. Contains some good, helpful, tips.)

I read most of that. But I really disagree with #8. People do like seeing that kind of thing.

Thunder-blade wrote:

Tac wrote:Added another piece of advice: Don't invite all your contacts into pointless groups.

I read most of that. But I really disagree with #8. People do like seeing that kind of thing.

Are you talking to me or PhiMale?

D'oh. Wrong quote

It's now edited.

Tac wrote:Added another piece of advice: Don't invite all your contacts into pointless groups.

Yea, I've been invited to a Brickworld group like 3 times already.

DarthPineapple wrote:

Tac wrote:Added another piece of advice: Don't invite all your contacts into pointless groups.

Yea, I've been invited to a Brickworld group like 3 times already.

Up there I wrote:On the other hand if you keep getting invited to groups, don't decline or accept it. Actually clicking "No" means someone else (or the same idiot) can invite you again. Leave the invitation in limbo and that prevents you from getting more than one invite, ever.

That's what I do.

Yea, but they were 3 different ones.

I think PicNik is only open for paid users though. I have tried to use it in the past and it asked me to pay.

eclipsegrafx wrote:I think PicNik is only open for paid users though. I have tried to use it in the past and it asked me to pay.

Works fine for me. But if I want to replace the existing picture, I have to have Pro.

Interesting, then I am not too sure on what it was I was trying to do a while back that it said I needed to purchase pro for...

eclipsegrafx wrote:Interesting, then I am not too sure on what it was I was trying to do a while back that it said I needed to purchase pro for...

Having Flickr pro makes no difference. Picnik also has a pro scheme, you have to pay something like $4 a year to use some of it's features IIRC.