Hi, new and veteran members alike!
This post is an important PSA (public service announcement). PLEASE READ IT! I've been seeing a ton of fabulous photos on the site (amazing and inspired work, indeed)! Thank you all for sharing.
But I'm also noticing that many of you are not classifying and tagging your uploaded clips (images, videos, and documents), and also not giving them descriptive names. Posting without doing these things will make it very difficult for others and search engines to find your work in the future.
I'm all about everyone getting maximum exposure on the site, so please read and follow these tips (also posted in the forums) for doing so. Thanks!
1. Be sure to edit the clip (photo, video, document) title so it's descriptive of the cookie (content). Many people are uploading images straight from their cameras, so the image titles are appearing as strings of numbers. Strings of numbers will not allow your photo to be easily found in site searches.
2. Be sure to select clip sets (categories or collections) to catalog all of the content that you upload. You can select multiple clip sets for any given image, video, or document (i.e., if it's a Christmas cookie and also a bridal shower cookie, then by all means, catalog it as both). The best practice is to choose at least a couple of clip sets: one that describes the cookie occasion (i.e., "Girls'/Women's Birthday Cookies") AND another to describe the technique(s) used (i.e., "Wet-on-Wet Cookies"). The worst practice is not to catalog your content or to place it in "X for Miscellany," because people will not be able to easily find it later in any of the clip categories on site. There are currently 53 clip sets from which to choose, so chances are good that one will fit your cookie. If not, then drop it in the Miscellaneous bucket.
Also, to note: From time to time, I'll be featuring the "hottest" photos in various clip sets in our Saturday Spotlight on the blog. So, if your photos never get classified, there's little chance of them ever getting featured. Not the best thing!
3. Adding a few tags to each clip is also a good thing. Tags help external search engines (like Google) find your content on the site and increase this site's ranking in searches. A good starting place is to use one or more of the suggested tags that the site displays for you, or combinations of those words. Alternatively, think of the words people might search to find your content, or which describe your content in more detail, and use them.
You can edit the title of an already posted clip (provided you posted it) by clicking the "Edit" button in the blue bar to the right of the clip and then saving the results. Likewise, click on the "Sets" icon to edit the sets and "Tags" to edit the tags! (Pretty intuitive, right?!) Again, you can choose as many sets as you want, but limiting your selections to 2 to 3 that are the best fit is a good general rule of thumb.
Here's an example of a fully and properly tagged, classified, and labeled image, with descriptive labels in the title, "Sets," and "Tags" areas. Similar labeling should be followed for any videos, documents, or blog posts that you upload.
I hope this helps! Thanks again and happy posting!
P.S. Please also avoid mass-uploads of photos and other content at one time, as people have come to expect a variety of content on the site. Click here for tips on the "right" amount of content to post in one sitting.
P.P.S. And click here to review our complete Site FAQ before you post.
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