How to use Pinterest: a guide for beginners

How many times have you browsed the Internet and come across an image or product that you want to remember? All the time, right? Whether you find a great gift for someone in your life, the product you need for your home, the hairstyle you might want to try, or the recipe, Pinterest is a great way to save, organize, and share posts and ideas that you like.

Home page

Back in 2009, Pinterest appeared. Since then, it has attracted more than 20 million regular users. In fact, a recent report by The Social Habit, an international economic magazine, noted that 21% of social media users have a Pinterest account, and this number continues to grow. Forbes magazine calls Pinterest the third most popular social networking site (after Facebook and Twitter).

What makes users register and return to this network is an interesting question. The combination of a beautiful interface and attractive content is the key to success. Providing the ability to save images on one web page, the site helps users easily organize all the material and share content. Next, it will be described in detail how to use Pinterest and what is needed for this.

registration

The most common way to register is to register an email address. Before discussing the question of how to use Pinterest, it is worth considering all ways to gain access to the internal functions of the portal.

If you decide to register using your email address, Pinterest will need to provide some information. To create your account, you need to report:

  1. Username.
  2. E-mail address.
  3. Password.
  4. Name.
  5. Surname.
  6. Floor.

Then click the "Create Account" button, and you're done. Pinterest is not just for people. It is profitable for business to promote products on this resource. You can join the resource as an entrepreneur or convert your existing personal account to business.pinterest.com. Many companies use this site to increase sales and increase interest in their brand and products.

Control Guide

In order to understand how to use Pinterest, it is also necessary to consider all the internal elements of the system. In addition, it is worthwhile to understand the basic controls. New users may not be comfortable using this resource. Its controls are slightly different from what people are used to seeing on social networks.

Pin It Button (Bookmarklet)

To understand how to use Pinterest, you need to consider the main function of this portal. Once you have created your account, the first thing to do is set the Pin It button (or bookmarklet) on your browser's bookmarks bar. After installation in the browser, the “Attach” button allows you to capture an image from any website and add it to one of your necessary sections. When you attach a link from a website, the resource automatically receives a link to the source. Thus, the rights of the owner of the content are not violated.

Board selection

To get the “Attach” button, hover over the down arrow next to the “About” link on the Pinterest toolbar ribbon and click “Attach Button” or visit http://about.pinterest.com/goodies/.

Make sure the browser displays the bookmarks bar, and then drag the Pin button to the bookmarks bar. Now, when you are browsing various sites, you can click the “Pin” button on the bookmarks bar to save the image. Each pin code (in this value is meant a link to the source file), added using the Pin It bookmarklet, links to the site from which it came.

Pin / repin

When you see something you like on the pinterest.com website or in a mobile application, and click the Repeat button, you attach this image to one of your boards. When the “Repin” key is pressed (repeated publication of the source material), the following information will be indicated with your pin (a system that secures the source image on the portal):

  1. Link to the Pinterest user profile whose image you have republished.
  2. Link to the board to which the source file was attached.
  3. Links to the original pinner (a unique publication on the site) and to the board on which the user attached the file.

Board

Pinterest.com provides some default registration tips so you can get started. They include such public boards as:

  1. Products that I love.
  2. Favorite places and places.
  3. Books worth reading.
  4. My style.
  5. For home.

You can leave these boards by default, rename them, or create completely new boards.

Subscriptions

How does Pinterest work with subscriptions? The question is interesting. Keeping track of other users is a great way to discover new content. On your main pages, the portal displays the contacts of people and companies to which you are subscribed. If there are proposals of people as relevant, they will be listed on the left side of the main page.

View friends posts

To subscribe to a user, click the "Subscribe" button next to his name or click on his name to go to his profile page.

Like

The Like button allows you to save this pin code without attaching it to one of your own boards. Everything that you have in “Like” (a set of selected subscriptions), you can see on the “Like” tab on your profile page. If you are interested in the question of how to upload photos to Pinterest, you should also contact the control panel. Under each publication there is a “Save” button, it is located in the image properties. Just click on it and select the place where the photo will be copied to the computer.

Friends and search for new users

On the left side of the main page you can see a list of friends to follow (if the portal has any suggestions, depending on whether you have connected your Facebook or Twitter accounts).

Statistics window

Keeping track of someone on Pinterest is the same as following someone on Twitter or making friends with someone on Facebook. You can see their pins, boards (except Secret Boards - more on that later), comments and likes. Click the Follow button next to the username to keep track of everything he attaches to the boards he created. If you want to subscribe only to certain forums, click on the name of that person, and then choose on which boards you want to subscribe. The image cataloger works on the same principle. With it, you can select the most popular publications.

You can also invite friends or search for those who are already Pinterest users. Click the arrow to the right of your photo and name in the toolbar ribbon and select "Invite Friends" or "Find Friends." You can enter individual email addresses of the people you want to invite, or connect your Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo account. If you decide to connect an external account, the site will display a list of your contacts from it and you can choose which of those people you want to invite as new users.

Recent activity

Your Pinterest homepage displays a Recent Activity list on the left side of the page. Here you can see the notifications:

  1. When someone repeats one of your posts.
  2. When someone likes one of your pins.
  3. When someone begins to follow you or one of your boards.

If you are interested in the question of how to save pictures from Pinterest to your phone, then you should turn to the mobile application. With it, a function in the “Save” image properties becomes available. However, if the author has restricted it, it will be impossible to copy a photograph to his device.

Repin, Like and Comment

Clicking on a pin will display a full-size image of this entry. Here you can find a lot of different information about it, including information about the original image and, of course, about the original source. Click on the full-size image to visit the website from which the image was originally received.

Change the background

When you hover over a full-size image of someone else's pin, the Repeat, Like, and Comment buttons are displayed. Click on “Repin” to attach the image to one of your own boards. Click the Like button to save the icon on the Like tab in your profile.

To comment on the thumbnail view of the pin, hover over it and click the Comment button. To leave a comment while viewing the pins in full size, enter your comment in the comment box below the image.

You can mention another Pinterest user in your comments if you are subscribed to at least one of his boards. Like Twitter, enter the @ symbol followed by the username (e.g. @username), and a list of possible matches will be downloaded, allowing you to click on the person you would like to mention in your comment. If you consider the question of how to remove a board in Pinterest, then here you should also refer to the board properties. Having selected the necessary and going to its settings, you can find the “Delete” button.

New Pin Notification

Like at the top of your Facebook news feed, Pinterest notifies you if new pins have been posted since the last reload of your homepage. Click on the “New Contacts” link to view them. How to remove pins on Pinterest - the question is also relevant. It is important to select the necessary publications stored in your home. After that, highlighting them with a checkmark, go to the properties and click on the "Delete" button.

Scroll up

One small but very nice feature of scrolling through the Pinterest homepage is that it is simply endless. As you scroll, more pins are loaded onto the page, and you can continue to view beautiful posts from the people and boards you follow. If you want to return to the top of the home page, just click the “Scroll Up” tab, which appears in the lower right corner of the screen. The official instruction on how to use Pinterest, located on the portal, notes that when scrolling, the current subscriptions and entries appear first, and then the content is formed from recommendations and matches for requests.

User profile

By clicking on your name or photo on the Pinterest toolbar, you will be taken to your profile page. Here you can view and edit your own boards and pins. In this menu you can fully edit your account or deactivate it if necessary. How to save a picture from Pinterest to a gallery from your profile is also a popular question. For this action, you need to select the necessary images and place them in the properties in the desired section. It is worth noting that there should not be restrictions on the use of content.

account settings

On the settings screen, you can manage your account functions and general profile information. You can also disable your Pinterest account here. Enter the settings by hovering over the drop-down arrow next to your name on the Pinterest toolbar ribbon and clicking the "Settings" link.

In the "Change account settings" section, you can update your email address, change your password, set your preferred language and indicate your gender (male, female). If we consider the question of how to use the Pinterest application on mobile devices, then there should be no difficulties in application. After downloading from the official source and registration, a user profile will appear that is identical to that located on the official website.

Profile Information

Your profile information can be entered and changed on the settings page. Here you can change your first and last name, nickname and image of your profile. You have the option to upload a profile picture or you can click the “Update from Facebook” button and Pinterest will use your current profile picture on this social network.

Web site

If you have a website, you can use the portal confirmation feature to show that you own it on your Pinterest profile. After you confirm its availability, a checkmark will appear next to your domain in Pinterest search results, and your full website address and checkmark will be displayed in your profile.

Mobile platform support

The steps for checking a site depend on several variables. A message on support.pinterest.com says: “Currently, you can only check a top-level domain, such as www.example.com. For most bloggers, we recommend using the HTML meta tag to validate your blog. Unfortunately, WordPress users will not be able to check their blogs at this time. ” See support.pinterest.com for more information on how to check your website.

The portal recently launched The Secret Boards. These are just boards that are closed and available for viewing only to you and your authorized persons. You can currently create up to three secret boards. They are great for posting publications that you would like to limit from a large number of users. These may be family photos. But this is not the only way to use secret boards. Party planning, wedding details - these are all great “candidates” for secret tips. Private login allows you to create your own public to view such content.

Edit existing board

Although you cannot rearrange contacts in a profile, you can edit some functions of an existing board. Click on one of your boards on the profile page, and then click on the “Edit board” button under its name (or alternatively click on the “Edit” button under the board on your profile page).

Board Cover Selection

This screen allows you to edit the title, description and category of the board. You can also invite (or delete) collaborators — other people who are allowed to post messages to your board.

How to use board covers?

Pinterest allows you to choose which themes are used as the cover for the board. There are two ways to choose a design. On your profile page, hover over one of your boards and the “Edit Board Cover” button will appear. Click on it. Now you can click on all the images on this board and select one of them for the cover by clicking the “Install Cover” button. In addition, you can click on one of your boards to view all the contacts on this group of files.

Rearrange boards

Let's go back to your profile page, where all your message boards are displayed. If you want to rearrange the boards on this page, just click the “Rearrange Boards” button located next to the “Change Profile” button on the main page of the account. Now you can drag and drop your boards to change their order. Click the checkmark button when you're done to save the location.

Block another user

Blocking another user on Pinterest means that this person cannot follow you or interact with your posts. You cannot follow the person you are blocking or interact with his pins. To block a user, go to his profile page and click on the checkbox to the right of his profile.

Conclusion

Now you know what Pinterest is and why you can join it. The site is filled with beautiful photos, humor and practical tips. Use it to track interesting topics.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/B6376/


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