‘MuseumsWA’
User Guide
What can
you do on MuseumsWA?
As a Member of MuseumsWA you can interact
with others through the site in lots of ways.
You manage everything from you’re “My Page” tab or from the Green
Welcome box on the Front Page. (as
pictured below)
Please take a moment to familiarise
yourself with the features available on the MuseumsWA network through these
options.
Let’s start with an overview of the
Features available on My Page
Here is what a typical page will look like
You’re “My Page” is the starting
point for you to add content (including photo’s videos, discussions, blog
entries, personal messages, add your profile photo and manage your MuseumsWA
site preferences. From here you can personalise your page, manage the emails
and notifications you receive from the MuseumsWA website and upload information
you want to share with the MuseumsWA Community.
For step to step guides on all of these
features, click on any of the links below, otherwise feel free to explore site
and follow the prompts provided in each section and just refer back here if you
get stuck or need help from time to time.
Everything you need to
now about Blogs
Start and respond to discussions and Exchange information about MuseumsWA
Control your email settings and messages
Create, edit and attend events
Join and start common interest groups
What Can I do with Text Boxes?
When you join the
network, you create your own profile page on that network. One of the easiest
ways to get started on a new network is to make your profile page your own -
add a profile photo, change the appearance of your page, and add some content.
Let people know what you're about! Check out the guides below for a few things
you can do to customize your profile page:
·
Change the layout of
your profile page
Your profile page on a
network automatically takes the site's theme and appearance settings. By
default, you can change the theme and appearance of their profile page.
MuseumsWA comes with a number of appearance themes available to you, ranging
from simple color schemes to advanced themes. You can apply any of these
standard default themes to your profile page.
To change your profile page's theme, go to your profile page and click the
"Change Theme" link underneath your profile photo. This is a setting
that Network Creators can turn off, so if you don't see the "Change
Theme" link under your profile photo on your page, it's likely the site
Creator has turned off this ability.
In the top portion of the page, you can browse through the themes currently
available and test them out on your profile page.
You can further customize your page's appearance by changing the font and
colors of the theme you've chosen. Select the theme you'd like to customize and
scroll to the "Theme Settings" section of the page.
Here you can change
the font style, color, and size, change the colors of your theme, and upload
your own header background. The header background image you upload here will
appear in the top section of your page, above the tabs, and will stretch to fit
the area. It will replace the site's header background, but not the site name
(or logo, if one has been uploaded).
Add your own
To further customize
your page's appearance, you can add your own
If you're interested in learning more about
When join the network,
you have the option to upload a profile photo as you join the site. Uploading a
profile photo is a great way to let other members know a little bit about you.
It's always nice to put a face to a name, but it doesn't have to be a photo of
you - it can be an image that represents you, like a photo of your favorite
vacation spot or your pet. Any image you upload will represent you on the site,
so be creative!
To change your profile photo, click on the "Settings" link in the
right column of the page. Next to the "Profile Photo" field, click
the "Upload a photo" button. Click the "Browse" button to
find your image on your computer. Photo
should be sized to 175 x 175 pixels square.
Change the layout of
your profile page
You can rearrange the
layout of your profile page and place the features however you'd like. Using
this option, you can highlight your favorite feature on your profile page -
maybe you've uploaded a few awesome new photos or wrote a blog post you want
people to see when they first land on your page. Just move that feature to the
top of the middle column and visitors will see it right away!
To move content around on your profile page, head to your profile and locate
the feature you'd like to move. Put your mouse in the title bar of that box. If
it can be moved, a small crosshair icon will appear to the left of it.
Click and drag the box
to its new location.
Drop the box where
you'd like it to be, and keep going until you have the perfect layout!
Some elements on your
profile page - like your profile photo, basic information, and the My Friends
box - can't be moved, but other than that have fun!
One of the easiest
things you can do to make your profile page your own is add content to your
text box. Text boxes are one of the most flexible features on MuseumsWA, and you
can add anything you'd like to the text box on your profile page - including
text, images, features, and links. For more ideas on using your text box, check
out What Can I do with Textboxes
Control your email settings and messages
There are many
types of notifications to allow you to receive emails about new activity on the
site. You'll receive email notifications when you have new private messages,
new friend requests, or when the MuseumsWA Creator or group creator sends a
broadcast message. You can follow any blog post or forum discussion, and by
default you'll follow those you participate in. You can choose whether you want
to receive any, all, or none of these notifications from you "Email
settings" page. You also have full control over who can send you a private
message, and can block any member from doing so at any time. Read on for more
information on controlling your email settings and messages.
Private messages
When you join the MuseumsWA Network, you'll automatically
be able to exchange messages with the site Creator and Administrators. In order
to exchange messages with any other member of the site, you'll need to first
become friends with that member. When accepting friend requests, keep this in
mind. You might not want to accept a person if you wouldn't feel comfortable if
they contacted you privately.
If you'd like to prevent someone from sending you private messages, you can
block messages from any member on the site. To block a sender, go to your inbox
and locate a message they've sent you. Open the message and click the
"Block messages" link.
Network notifications
There are a number of different types of notifications
you'll receive from the MuseumsWA network by default. This includes messages
sent to only you, to groups you belong to, to your events, to the whole
network, or messages people sent to all of their friends, and the notifications
you receive when you have new friend requests, when people you've invited join,
and when you have new comments to approve.
You can turn off any or all email notifications coming from the MuseumsWA
network from your Email Settings page.
To get to your Email Settings page, click on the "Settings" link in
the right column of the page.
Next, click the
"Email" tab. This page displays all of the different types of
notifications you'll receive from MuseumsWA.
In the "Network Messages" section, you can control the
email notifications you receive when messages are sent on MuseumsWA.
In the "Member Activity" section, you can control email notifications
generated by activity on the site.
In the "Following discussions and blog posts" section, you can choose
whether or not you automatically follow discussions and blog posts you add to
the site and those you reply to. If you're already following blog posts and
discussions, you can stop following all at once by clicking the "Clear My
Follow List" button.
Turn off all notifications
Finally, if you don't want to receive any email
notifications from MuseumsWA, you can check the box next to "None: I don't
want to receive emails" at the bottom of the page. Keep in mind this means
you will not know when you've been sent private messages on the site until you
log in to the site, and you won't receive broadcast messages from the site
Creator and Admins
The
Photos feature on MuseumsWA allows you to upload photos and share them across
the web. You can use the bulk media uploader to add up to 100 photos at a time
to your profile page, or import photos from your Flickr account. You can even
create albums of photos that have been uploaded to the site.
MuseumsWA
comes with a branded photo slideshow feature. MuseumsWA's branded photo
slideshow feature is a great and easy way to spread the word about MuseumsWA,
and you can embed it externally into almost any other website out there. You
can share it on Facebook or MySpace or add it to one of 15 other services in
just one click, or you can grab the embed code and paste it into your own
website or blog.
Read
on for more information on using the Photos feature on MuseumsWA.
·
Add a slideshow to
another page or website
You
can browse all of the photos everyone has uploaded to MuseumsWA by heading to
the Photos tab. You'll see the thumbnails and titles of the photos along with
who uploaded each, sorted in order of those most recently uploaded to the site.
You
can change the order of the photos to view them by top rated, most popular, or
in random order by selecting from the "Sort by" drop-down.
Any photos the site Admin has featured will appear in the top section of the
page under the "Featured Photos" heading.
To learn more about a photo, click the title or thumbnail of it from the photos
tab. You'll be taken to the photo detail page, where you can see information
like when the photo was uploaded, its rating, tags, number of views, and
comments people have left on the photo.
From this page, you can rate or comment on the photo. You can also add the
photo to your "favorites," which means you can easily find it again
in the future.
To rate a photo, locate the "Rate" section underneath the photo on
the right side. You can rate the photo out of five stars.
To comment on the photo, scroll down to the "Add a comment" section
below the photo. Type your comment in the box that appears. You can format your
text or add links, images, or files using the toolbar.
To
add a photo to your favorites so you can find it again later, click the "Add
to Favorites" link below the photo.
To
see all of the photos you've added as your favorites, click the "My
Favorites" tab under the tabs on any photo page.
You
can also view any albums people have made on MuseumsWA by clicking the "All
Albums" link. This link appears below the tabs on any photo page.
The
fastest way to add content to the site is to use the bulk media uploader to add
photos, videos, and music. Adding media to MuseumsWA is a great way to share
content related to the topic of the site. On a network for outdoor music festival
fans, you might want to upload photos or videos you took at a festival.
Using the bulk media uploader, you can add up to 100 photos at a time. We
support photos the following formats: .jpg, .png, and .gif
To upload photos, go to the Photos tab and click the "Add Photos"
link.
Here's what the bulk media uploader looks like:
The left pane shows the file hierarchy on your
computer. Use it to locate the photos you want to upload. Drag them to the
right pane to add them to the upload list.
You
can edit any photo once you've uploaded it. You can rotate the photo, add or
edit the tags you've given it, change the title, description, location, and
change the privacy settings of the photo.
To edit a photo you've uploaded, head to that photo's detail page. On the right
side under the photo, you'll see the options you'd like. Directly from the
photo's detail page, you can rotate it or add or edit your tags by clicking the
"Rotate photo" or "Edit your tags" links.
To
edit the title, description, location, and privacy settings of the photo, click
the "Edit photo" link. You'll be taken to a page where you can make
any or all of these changes to your photo.
A
unique email address is assigned to your profile on that network. You can use
this email address to send photos and videos in one at a time to MuseumsWA. If
your cell phone has a camera and email, this is a great way to add camera phone
photos to MuseumsWA on the go! Any photo or video you send in to your unique
email-in address will be added to the site as uploaded by you.
To find your email-in address and to get started, click the
"Settings" link in the right column of the page. At the bottom of the
page, locate the "Useful addresses" section. You'll find your
email-in address under "Add by phone." it should look like a
combination of your name on the site and a few numbers, and the domain will be
the URL of MuseumsWA.
When
you email in photos using this address, the subject of your email becomes the
photo's title and any text in the body of the email will become the description
of the photo.
You
can create a photo album on MuseumsWA that includes any of the photos on the
site, even those you didn't upload. To create an album, head to the Photos tab
and click the "All Albums" page.
Next,
click the link to "Add an Album" in the right corner of the page. On
the album creation page, you can select whether you want to choose from just
your photos or from everyone's photos on the site. You can also choose from
only photos with a specific tag.
The photos matching your search options will appear in the left page below.
Drag the photos you want to be in your album to the right pane. Give your album
a title and a description, and add an album cover.
Click
save and admire your new album.
Add a slideshow to another page or website
You
can embed MuseumsWA's branded photo slideshow feature from the "Badges and
Features" page onto any website out there. Just click the
"Badges" link in the footer of MuseumsWA. Next, scroll down to the
"Photo Slideshow" section. You can choose from your most recent
photos, photos from the site, or any albums you've created. You can also choose
from three sizes.
From here, you can share the branded photo slideshow of your choice on Facebook
or MySpace or add it to 15 other services, including Blogger, iGoogle, and
Friendster, in just one click.
You
can add any albums that have been created on the site another website. If a
slideshow of photos appears on the main page of MuseumsWA, you can also add this
slideshow to another website. Any slideshow you embed will appear in MuseumsWA's
branded slideshow player feature.
To add an album externally, go to the album's page and click the "Get
Embed Code" link.
You
can paste the embed code anywhere that allows you to add HTML, including the
text box on your profile page!
To embed the main page slideshow, go to the main page and hover your mouse over
the upper right corner of the music player to see the < >
"Embed" icon.
Click this icon, then copy the code and paste it anywhere you'd like.
The
discussion forum is a great way to interact with other members. It is also a
great place to share experiences, and voice your opinions.
Getting started is easy. You can reply to an existing discussion or start your
own. You can also choose to follow any discussion, which means you'll be
notified by email when there are new replies to that discussion.
·
Participate in the MuseumsWA
forum
Participate in the MuseumsWA forum
An easy way to start participating on the MuseumsWA site is to check
out the discussion forum. You can interact with other members here.
To use the forum, just go to the MuseumsWA Tab. Check out the existing
discussions, or start your own by clicking the "Start Discussion"
link.
If you find an interesting discussion you'd like to participate in, just type
your reply in the "Reply" box.
Once you've added your reply, it will appear at the bottom of the
discussion thread, so scroll down to see it.
If the forum on MuseumsWA is threaded, you can also reply directly to someone
else's reply on a discussion thread. Just click the "Reply to this"
link under any post and a reply box will pop open.
Follow a discussion
By default, you'll automatically follow all discussions you
participate in. This is a great way to stay on top of the discussion and make
sure you see all replies.
If you find an interesting discussion you'd like to keep track of, you can use
the built-in feature to follow it. When you follow a discussion, you'll receive
an email whenever there is a new reply, with a link to the new reply.
To follow a discussion, go to the thread's (discussions) page and click the
link to "Follow - Email me when people reply."
You
can also choose to be notified of new discussions in the Forum. You'll receive
an email notification whenever a new discussion is started in MuseumsWA.
To choose this option, go to the Forum tab and click the link to "Notify -
Email me when there are new discussions."
Groups
If you don't see a group you'd like to join, create
your own! Groups are a great way to meet other members with the same interests
as you. You can invite anyone to join your group, even people who haven't yet
joined the site!
To create a group, go to the Groups tab and click the link at the top right of
the page to "Add a group."
Next, fill in information about your group. Give your group a name and be sure
to upload a group image that's roughly square in size. Fill out a description
for your group, which members will see when looking for groups to join. If your
group has another website, or a location, you can add it here!
In the right side of the page, choose which features your group will have. You
can add a comment wall, discussion forum, text box, and RSS reader to your
group.
Don't forget to choose the privacy settings for your group! You can allow
anyone to join the group, or moderate membership. If you choose to moderate
membership, new members will have to apply to join and you'll be able to review
their request before they can join. You can allow members to invite other
people to join and allow people to request membership if you'd like. If you
turn off both of these options, the group will be invite-only - and you'll be
the only one who can send invites to join the group.
Finally, choose whether or not members of your group can send broadcast
messages to the whole group.
Click "Add Group" and your group will be added to the site!
Joining a Group
Joining a group is a great way to get started on a network and to meet
new people. Depending on the size and age of the site, there could be groups
for all sorts of different interests, types of people, and locations!
To join an existing group, go to the Groups tab. You can browse existing groups
by most active, or sort them by latest activity, most members, or latest
created. Just choose your option from the "Sorty by" menu.
Once you find an interesting group, click on its title. If the group is public,
there will be a link in the top right of the page to join the group.
If the group is private, you can apply to join the group from the group's page.
What’s
a Blog?
A
blog is a personal diary and can be a collection of your own private thoughts and memos to the
world.
Your
blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes
and sizes, and there are no real rules.
In
simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write things on an ongoing basis.
Your latest additions to your blog shows up at the top, so your visitors can
read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.
(what’s a blog description
courtesy of Blogger)
Your
profile page on a network comes equipped with your very own blog on the site.
Your blog is all about you, and you can write about anything you want.
Check
out the guides below for helpful information on writing and managing your blog
posts.
·
Manage comments on
your blog posts
·
Choose the display of
blog posts on your profile page
Write a blog post
Blog posts are a great way to share stories and express yourself right on your
profile page. While threads in MuseumsWA's forum are about community discussion,
your blog is about you. On a network for outdoor music festival fans, you may
want to write a blog post detailing your first concert, complete with photos,
or a post about your favorite concert venues.
To get started, go to your profile page and locate the "Blog Posts"
module in the middle column. Click the "Add a Blog Post" link.
You can add text, links, images, and files to your blog post using the blog
editor toolbar. You can also select the privacy of your blog post to allow
anyone on the site to view it, just your friends on the site, or just you.
Manage comments on your blog posts
You have full control over the comments that other people post on your blog
posts. By default, any member of a network can comment on the blog posts you
write on that network. You can change this default setting so only your friends
can comment on them, or allow only yourself to comment on them if you'd like.
You can also choose to approve comments on your blog posts before they're
published. This means that when someone comments on a blog post you've written,
it will not appear right away for them. You can review the comment and choose
to approve or delete it - before anyone else sees it.
To choose who can comment or to turn on comment moderation for your blog, click
on the "My Settings" link in the right column of the site. Head to
the "Privacy" tab to locate these settings related to comments on
your blog posts.
Categorise your blog
post
You can categorize any blog post you've written by adding tags to it.
Tags will allow you and other members to easily see what the post is about and
find related posts.
You can add tags to your blog post when you're writing it. You can also add
tags once you've published a blog post by clicking the "Edit post"
link next to it.
Your tags will appear under the text of the blog post, and also in the
right column of the "All Blog Posts" page.
Choose the display of
blog posts on your profile page
You have control over how your blog posts appear on your profile page.
You can decide how your blog posts are displayed on your profile page, and how
many are displayed. You can show just the titles of your blog posts, or you can
show the "detail view," which contains the title and a bit of text
from the beginning of your post.
To control how your blog posts appear on your profile page, go to your profile
page and locate the My Blog box. Click the "Edit" button.
You
can definitely edit your blog entry after you've posted it! Go to your My Page
tab. Click the "My Blog" link at the top of the page and then click
on "Manage Blog" on the right side of the page. Drafts will be
indicated by a pencil icon in the column to the left of the post title.
Click "edit" next to the post you want to change. This will bring you
to a screen where you can make tweaks to your post.
It's easy to create an event on MuseumsWA!
1. Sign in to the site.
2. Click on the Events tab, or click on the events tab on you
“My Page”
3. Click on the "Add an Event" link.
4. Fill in the required fields for your event. Required fields
are marked with a red bar. You will need to upload a photo for the event and
even duration can not be longer than two weeks (although this may change in the
future, so feel free to try it if your event does go over two or more weeks,
alternatively you can upload mulitiple events (of the same event) covering the
duration of the event to get around this.
5. Click on the "Create Event" link.
You can then invite friends, import your web address book and
spread the word about your event.
The "Admin
Options" box makes editing your event a breeze. You can edit your event,
send messages to your guests, edit the location of the event, even edit the
event type and corresponding tags on your event! Here’s how:
1.
Sign in to the site.
2.
Click on the "Events" tab
and find the event you created.
3.
On the event detail page, look for
the "Admin Options" box, and click "Edit Event."
Here you can click on a
variety of different options including editing your event title and
description, editing the event location, editing the event type, or deleting
your event!
One of the most flexible features on MuseumsWA is your text
boxes. You can add anything you'd like to your text boxes, including text,
images, features, and links - it's just another way to make your profile page
your own. Your text box will stretch to fit the content you place in it, so get
creative! Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Features are a great way to spice up your text boxes. Features
are small bits of code that offer you even more features and functionality. You
can quickly copy and paste them into you text box on you’re my page.
You can add features to bookmark your favorite links and share them with your friends, to keep track of the latest movie news and reviews, to poll your members or friends, or to play fun, addictive flash games right on
your profile page. But these are just the beginning of what you can do with
features on MuseumsWA.
Once you've found a feature you like, copy the HTML embed code
and paste it into a text box on your “My Page” Click save, and you've just
added a feature to your page. It's that easy!
You can easily add interesting links to a text box to share
them with your friends. Adding links to the text box on your profile page is a
great way to show off your interests, your favorite websites, and your
profile page on other social networks you belong to.
To add a hyperlink to your text box, begin typing in the text
box. Highlight the text you want to be linked and click the "Insert a
link" icon in the text editor toolbar. This icon looks like a chain
linking.
In the box that pops up, type in the URL you want the text to
link to.
Once you've saved your text box, people will be able to click on
the text you hyperlinked and be taken to the new URL you linked it to.
Another way to personalize your text box is to add a photo to
it. The text editor toolbar has a built-in image upload feature that allows you
to easily upload a photo to your text box or link to a photo that's uploaded
somewhere else. This is a great way to show off a photo that you want
anyone visiting your profile to see right away.
To upload a photo to your text box, click the "Edit"
button in the upper right corner of the text box. In the text editor toolbar,
click the "Add an image" icon, which looks like a framed painting.
To add an image from your computer, click the "Browse"
button. To insert an image that's already online, paste the URL into the
"Insert an existing image" field.
Text
boxes are a great way to share files with your members or with your
friends on a network. You can upload Word Documents, PDFs, and even PowerPoint
presentations to your text box. Once you've uploaded a file to your text box,
people will be able to download that file to their computer to look at it. This
is a great option for sharing presentations from a conference or distrubuting a
PDF flier.
To
upload a file to your text box, click the "Edit" button in the upper
right corner of the text box. In the text editor toolbar, click the
"Upload a file" icon, which looks like a piece of paper.
You can
upload a file from your computer by clicking the "Browse" button, or
you can add a file that's already online by pasting the URL into the
"Insert an existing file" field.
- Go to the Videos section.
- Click the "Add Videos" link in the upper right corner.
- By default, you'll be able to use the bulk uploader to add up to 30
movies at a time to the site. The first time you use the uploader, you'll
see a pop-up window that says "This applet was signed by Ning Inc and
authenticated by VeriSign Inc. Do you trust this certificate?" Click
the "Trust" button to proceed.
- In the left pane, find the videos on your computer. To upload them,
double click on a video or drag and drop a video or a whole folder to the
right pane titled "Videos to Upload."
- You can drag and drop the videos within the right preview pane to
re-order them. To remove videos, you can drag and drop them outside of the
preview pane or highlight them and press the "Delete" key.
- Once you're ready to upload, click the "Next" button.
- Add information about the videos and select who will be able to view the videos. To apply the same information to all of the videos in the batch, fill out the top portion under "Edit Information for All Videos." Then click the button to "Apply this info to the videos below." You can individually override this information by filling out individual video information below the batch edit.
-
If you're experiencing issues with the bulk uploader,
you can always use the simple uploader by clicking the link to "Return to
our simple uploader" at the bottom of the "Add Videos" page.
If you would like to add videos from YouTube, Google
or most other video sites, navigate to the site with the video you want and
grab the HTML "embed" code to add the video to MuseumsWA. Click on the
"Add Video" link at the bottom of the "Add Videos" page
that's under the headline "Add videos from YouTube or Google."
Then paste the HTML code in the box:
You can also add videos by phone or email.