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del.icio.us 101
Apr. 10th, 2007 01:18 pmAt the Muskrat Jamboree (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
muskratjamboree) in late March, I offered to give a couple people a tutorial in using del.icio.us, which came up as a way to find things in small/rare fandoms (although it's also great for big fandoms). We didn't really have time at the con, so I figured I'd write something up.
If you're reading this and wondering what all the del.icio.us fuss is about, here's very fast overview, before I get into the tutorial part.
At it's most basic, del.icio.us is... bookmarks. *g*
The bookmarks are spiffy, mind you -- they sit on the del.icio.us servers, not on your computer, so they're available to you anywhere, if you have a browser and a connection; no more worries about "oh, crap, I bookmarked that at work. At my last job. CRAP."
There's also a section to add notes or a description to any bookmark, which is really cool (you can put a quote from a story, for example, to remind yourself about it). And best of all, there are tags, which make finding things so freaking much easier than trying to scroll through 800 random bookmarks that you forgot to stick in folders, or figuring out which folder you stuck something into. Personally, I think it's cool just on that level, but trust me: there's more.
Okay, now on to the real reasons for fans to use del.icio.us: it will bring you stories and vids and suchlike that you might not find on your own. There are two main ways to do this: the Network, and the Subscriptions.
Network
The network is sort of like a Friends list. You find people whose bookmarks interest you, and you add them to your network, and then any time you go look at your network page, you see all the bookmarks from all the people in your network.
Subscriptions
The subscriptions are... not like anything on LJ, I don't think. *g* They're how you track different subjects across the entire del.icio.us network, by subscribing to tags. I use these for pretty much all my fandoms, but they're crucial for small fandoms, so you don't miss anything. You can subscribe to any tag you can think of; if someone uses that tag on a bookmark, you'll see it show up on your subscriptions page.
This is really the strongest feature for fans, because it gives you access to everyone's tags, regardless of whether you know them, or whether they're really in the fandom or just doing a flyby one-shot bookmark on something.
There are some other cool features, too.
search
del.icio.us comes with a search, which lets you search either all of del.icio.us, just your own bookmarks, or the web. I don't use this often, but when I need it, it's a lifesaver (usually when I remember a keyword in a story that I neglected to use as a tag, but stuck in the description somewhere).
Links for...
del.icio.us lets you send links to specific people, as long as they also have a del.icio.us account. You just tag something for:username and it shows up in a private section called "links for you" in their account. No one else (not even the person you tagged) can see that you used that tag; the for: tag is only visible to the person who actually uses it.
privacy
del.icio.us allows you to save things privately, so that only you can see them, and it gives you a little indicator on any privately saved link so you know it's safe. This is fabulous.
If you want to see what someone's bookmarks look like, mine are here:
http://del.icio.us/arduinna
and you can see my network and subscriptions here:
http://del.icio.us/network/arduinna
http://del.icio.us/subscriptions/arduinna
If all of that sounds good and you're an intrepid sort who likes to figure things out completely on your own, go get an account at del.icio.us, and start bookmarking and tagging. Yay!
If you want a more info, read on below for a basic tutorial, or go to my website for a far more detailed version.
( On to the tutorial )
( Getting an account )
( Bookmarks )
( Tags )
( Subscriptions )
( Network )
( Privacy )
( Egoboo )
( Advanced stuff )
And again, if that wasn't enough information, I put a far more detailed version up on my website, covering more features, and with step-by-step instructions on a lot of things, including screencaps.
muskratjamboree) in late March, I offered to give a couple people a tutorial in using del.icio.us, which came up as a way to find things in small/rare fandoms (although it's also great for big fandoms). We didn't really have time at the con, so I figured I'd write something up.If you're reading this and wondering what all the del.icio.us fuss is about, here's very fast overview, before I get into the tutorial part.
The basics
At it's most basic, del.icio.us is... bookmarks. *g*
The bookmarks are spiffy, mind you -- they sit on the del.icio.us servers, not on your computer, so they're available to you anywhere, if you have a browser and a connection; no more worries about "oh, crap, I bookmarked that at work. At my last job. CRAP."
There's also a section to add notes or a description to any bookmark, which is really cool (you can put a quote from a story, for example, to remind yourself about it). And best of all, there are tags, which make finding things so freaking much easier than trying to scroll through 800 random bookmarks that you forgot to stick in folders, or figuring out which folder you stuck something into. Personally, I think it's cool just on that level, but trust me: there's more.
The cool stuff
Okay, now on to the real reasons for fans to use del.icio.us: it will bring you stories and vids and suchlike that you might not find on your own. There are two main ways to do this: the Network, and the Subscriptions.
Network
The network is sort of like a Friends list. You find people whose bookmarks interest you, and you add them to your network, and then any time you go look at your network page, you see all the bookmarks from all the people in your network.
Subscriptions
The subscriptions are... not like anything on LJ, I don't think. *g* They're how you track different subjects across the entire del.icio.us network, by subscribing to tags. I use these for pretty much all my fandoms, but they're crucial for small fandoms, so you don't miss anything. You can subscribe to any tag you can think of; if someone uses that tag on a bookmark, you'll see it show up on your subscriptions page.
This is really the strongest feature for fans, because it gives you access to everyone's tags, regardless of whether you know them, or whether they're really in the fandom or just doing a flyby one-shot bookmark on something.
The extras
There are some other cool features, too.
search
del.icio.us comes with a search, which lets you search either all of del.icio.us, just your own bookmarks, or the web. I don't use this often, but when I need it, it's a lifesaver (usually when I remember a keyword in a story that I neglected to use as a tag, but stuck in the description somewhere).
Links for...
del.icio.us lets you send links to specific people, as long as they also have a del.icio.us account. You just tag something for:username and it shows up in a private section called "links for you" in their account. No one else (not even the person you tagged) can see that you used that tag; the for: tag is only visible to the person who actually uses it.
privacy
del.icio.us allows you to save things privately, so that only you can see them, and it gives you a little indicator on any privately saved link so you know it's safe. This is fabulous.
Checking things out
If you want to see what someone's bookmarks look like, mine are here:
http://del.icio.us/arduinna
and you can see my network and subscriptions here:
http://del.icio.us/network/arduinna
http://del.icio.us/subscriptions/arduinna
If all of that sounds good and you're an intrepid sort who likes to figure things out completely on your own, go get an account at del.icio.us, and start bookmarking and tagging. Yay!
More info
If you want a more info, read on below for a basic tutorial, or go to my website for a far more detailed version.
( On to the tutorial )
( Getting an account )
( Bookmarks )
( Tags )
( Subscriptions )
( Network )
( Privacy )
( Egoboo )
( Advanced stuff )
And again, if that wasn't enough information, I put a far more detailed version up on my website, covering more features, and with step-by-step instructions on a lot of things, including screencaps.
