I have found a new interest addiction. Perhaps you can relate?
If Pinterest is new to you, you might be wondering why all of these people you’ve never met are following you and how to pin things. Here is my attempt to chat about the basics so that you too can enjoy this new interest addiction.
What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a website that is loaded with pictures that people have uploaded themselves or have pinned from a website or have repinned from other people who are also on Pinterest.
What is a Pin? Pinterest is an idea collector’s heaven. Each picture or video pinned represents a link to a website or a blog post. If you click on the pictures (also known as pins), in a perfect world, it should take you to the recipe, blog post or place where you can get more details about the pin like where to buy it, how to make it or other information.
What is a Repin? A Repin is a pin that someone has placed on Pinterest and what you do when you choose to place it on one of your boards. To repin a pin, just hover over a picture and choose “Repin”.
Next, choose the category, fill in a description and click “Pin It”. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, you can click the boxes to have it post there as well. But it’s best to use this rarely as not to overwhelm your friends on your other social networks with links and pictures.
Why Pinterest? In a perfect world, we would complete all of these projects, make every recipe and buy every cool car we pin. More realistically, pins inspire us and are a never-ending to-do list.
Search: The search box is in the upper left corner. You can put anything you want to find in there and then will be able to pin the items you like. Using one word works best. If you would like to find a liver and onions recipe, then place quotations around the phrase like this: “liver and onions” to narrow your search. In case you’re curious, at this time, there is only one liver and onions recipe on Pinterest.
Add +: Just to the right of the Pinterest logo, you’ll see “Add +”. Click on that & you will see this pop up in the center of your page.
- Add a pin: This button isn’t very handy in my opinion for two reasons. The first is because you have to type the website address into the box and there’s a much easier way to do this. The second is because even when you do find the image this way, it will only take other people to the main page of the website instead of the direct link. What does this mean? It means if you want to pin Martha Stewart’s liver & onions recipe but used this option to do it, other pinners would be sent to Martha’s starting home page rather than directly to her best liver & onions recipe. That will leave other pinners frustrated. Except me. I’ll be fine. I don’t like liver & onions.
If you do use this option for pinning, be sure to find the direct link. Copy the link from the top of your web browser and paste it into the box.
- Upload a Pin: When you click here, you’ll be taken to a pop up window that allows you to browse for a picture on your own computer. First choose your picture, next decide which category it fits into best. Place a description in the “Describe your pin…” box. and then click pin it. After it posts, you will see your pin. If you’d like to add a website link, you can click on “Edit”. You can also change your category choice & edit your description here.
- Create a Board: Click here and you’ll be whisked away to create a new board for your pins. Some great board name choices might be “Recipes”(for that liver and onions recipe), “Sports” or “Quotes”. These boards are like files for your pins. Naming your boards is nothing to stress over since they can always be changed at a later date.
To organize your pin boards, click on the Pinterest logo on the top middle of your page. Then on the right side, click on “Rearrange Boards”. This will allow you to drag your boards in the order you would like them to appear. Alphabetical, by topic or favorites on top? Choose your own poison.
To find other handy tools, click on “About” and then from the drop-down menu, choose “Pin It Button”. On the left side, click on “Goodies”.
- Pin It: Scroll to the top of this list and drag the “Pin It” button picture right up to your web browser’s toolbar.
Now you’ll be able to pin from any website by clicking “Pin It”. This will be your Pinterest BFF. When you use it, remember to be sure that you are on the exact page you want to be on. You can often be sure about this on blogs by clicking the title of the post that interests you. This will lead you to the page of that exact post and you can pin it.
This will be especially handy when you finally find that perfect liver and onions recipe that you are anxious to share. You won’t even have to go to Pinterest to pin.
- Pinterest for iPhone: If you have a smartphone, you’re familiar with apps. This just tells you there’s free Pinterest app available for you.
- “Pin It” for Websites / Pinterest Logo: Some blogs or website might like to use a “Pin It” button to make it easier for you to pin their cool items or articles. The Pinterest Logo option is a similar item. It can be made into a link that leads to the writer’s own Pinterest page. These are both is for website designer’s use. If you don’t have a website, you can skip these two items.
Click on your name in the top right corner for more drop-down options.
- Invite Friends: This page allows you to invite friends via email addresses.
- Find friends: This page is connected to your Facebook account and gives you the opportunity to invite friends one at a time who aren’t on Pinterest on the left or to follow Facebook friends who are already on Pinterest on the right. You can choose them one by one or “Follow All”. It’s best to check back often since Pinterest is still pretty new and you will find more friends from Facebook who have joined Pinterest all the time.
- Boards: We covered rearranging your boards already but you can also edit your boards here. Just click on any board. Then click on “Edit” and you’ll be able to rename, add a description of the board, choose if the board is open to just you or to everyone for pinning (None of my boards are open to other pinners. They can see them but cannot pin on to them.) and then choose the category that best describes the board.
- Pins: This page is simply a view of all of your pins with your most recent pins at the top of the page. You can also see how many boards, pins and likes you have created.
- Likes: If you don’t have time to organize a pin, you can just click on “Like” instead of “Repin”. You always have the option of clicking “Unlike” later or repinning it onto the appropriate board.
- Settings: This is where you can update your email, change your email settings (great if you don’t want an email for everything that happens on Pinterest) and more.
Finally, there is the social side of Pinterest.
One of the best ways to communicate on Pinterest is by commenting on friend’s pins. Just hover over the picture and click on “Comment”.
Make your comment in the comment box and click on “Comment”.
No worries, pinners, you can delete comments that are not nice by clicking on the pin the comment was left on and then hover over the comment with your mouse. Look for the “x” on the right side. Click the “x” to remove. You can also remove your own comments if you change your mind about how awesome you thought you were being when you first typed them.
Not unlike Facebook, you can tag a friend on a pin. When you choose “Repin” you can then place an @ symbol (This is now called the at sign – If you remember life before computers, like me, you’re probably amazed at how often we now use this symbol which has gained a whole new meaning since we were kids.) in the description box and start typing your friend’s name. Choose the person you’d like to tag and finish pinning. This only works if you and your friend are both following one another.
On the left side, you will see your most recent activity. The more you get into Pinterest, the less helpful these postings become though because they are buried quickly and so far there is no way to look back further than the most recent 15 or so interactions.
One of the areas that Pinterest is probably working on behind the scenes is the social aspect as it is easy for friends to miss your tag and, for that matter, your comments as well. I’ve decided it is their weakest function but I’m sure it will improve. Until then, remember that your friends love you and aren’t ignoring you.
At the top center of your Pinterest page, you will see a few more links.
- Pinners You Follow: Simply the people you chose to invite or connect with from Facebook or random people on Pinterest already whose pins you enjoyed & decided to follow. Click here and you will only see their pins.
- Everything: If you click on Everything, you’ll see pins from everyone Pinterest, not just your own friends. It’s a fun place to explore. You can also choose to look by category from the drop-down menu. To follow anyone who has similar interests as you do, just click on their name and click “Follow All” under their picture or to be more specific, click “Follow” on their boards that you like most. You can always go back and “Unfollow” later if you want.
The other three options are pretty self-explanatory. Click to see “Videos”, “Popular” or “Gifts” specifically.
Interested in helping shoppers? using your new “Pin It” button on your toolbar, you can pin an item on a website and then add a price by starting with a dollar sign then type the cost in the description box. Hot pink gloves on Target for $3.98. Yes, please.
And there you have it. Let your addiction begin. Be sure to look me up. Let’s be Pinterest friends.
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