The document provides a toolkit with free resources for enhancing online profiles and engaging in public interactions, featuring tools like Gmail, blogs, RSS feeds, and social networking sites. It outlines the basics of creating and managing online content, including blogging, photo sharing, and safe online practices. Additionally, it includes tips for using various platforms effectively and suggests ways to protect personal information online.

1. Get Connected
Toolkit: free tools for
private use, public
interaction and
enhancing your profile
by Clare-Marie White
May 2007
Creative Commons Copyright: Attribution-Non-
Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England &
Wales.

2. Basic essentials: free email accounts
• Google
gmail.google.com
Features:
- threaded
‘conversations’
- good spam filters
- instant chat with
other users
- use sign in for
many other tools
- can be disliked by
library computers
• Yahoo Mail
mail.yahoo.com
Features:
- use sign in for Flickr

3. Glossary of terms
• Blogs: ‘Weblogs’ - web diaries that can be reformed for different purposes and
are very easily to update
• RSS Feeds: Really simple syndication - subscription service
• Wiki - ‘quick’ in Hawaiian - websites anybody can edit
• Twitters and Tweets - so-called microblogging. A personal mini-news feed
becoming more widely used
• Please ask about any other terms used that you don’t know and add them
here:

4. Google’s free tools: iGoogle
• A powerful way of organising
all your information eg email,
news feeds, discussions,
online documents
• Accessible through the
normal Google page -
www.google.co.uk: see ‘sign
in’ link at the top and use
your Gmail account (see
page 1)
• Right top: classic Google
next page: iGoogle,
supercharged

5. This iGoogle page displays, amongst others:
News: latest headlines from FT, BBC, most popular news stories and
specialist publications
Conversations: discussion feeds from email, Flickr, Linkedin
Tools: date/time, Google search, my documents, calendar
Blogs: global voices, T-shirts & suits
Pointless but fun: daylight viewing gadget, ladybirds, friends’ Facebook
status updates

6. How to add RSS feeds on iGoogle
• Feeds can be added from any page
displaying the RSS logo: usually
next to the feed logo there is a link
• Copy the link
• In iGoogle, go to ‘add stuff’
Select Add feed or gadget
Paste in the link, ‘Add’
• RSS feed will appear as a new box
in iGoogle

7. (Almost) universal guide to ‘web 2.0’ websites
• No technical expertise is needed, just the ability to fill in forms and the
willingness to do so. If there’s something you want to do, explore the web until
you find a way. There are free tools available to do just about anything, or at
least provide the structure (eg write, collaborate, upload images and videos)
• Basic elements are generally the same, partly because many sites have same
overall owners but also to help people navigate - it’s a good idea to use the
same conventions in your own site, if relevant:-
- Help pages will have answers to most common problems & links to forms
>>> If you get stuck, try typing your question into Google - answers will often
come up on forums (chances are if you have a problem, so do thousands of
other users)
- About pages will tell you more about the credibility of the company,
background, community size etc.

8. (Almost) universal guide to ‘web 2.0’ websites ii
• - Sign in / Register pages will normally give you a more personalised
experience.
The trade-off of imparting all this personal information when you register is that
you save time - the spooky programmers will serve up all that interests you
>>> Use the same login name and password on different social network sites
to develop a common ‘brand’ name and so you don’t get confused. However,
consider using different passwords on any site where financial information will
be given out (eg Amazon), in case someone picks up your password. And don’t
just use your pet’s name: everyone does it so it’s easy to guess...

9. Blog hosting
• Blogger
www.blogger.com
Features:
- free webspace with blogspot (eg localedition.blogspot.com)
- ‘widgets’ include slideshows, link lists, video bars
- can add Adsense to make some money with blog
- more HTML allowed than Wordpress
• Wordpress
www.wordpress.com
Features:
- free webspace
- wider range of templates
- unlimited pages - can be more flexible than blogger
- ‘widgets’ include long RSS feed lists

10. Examples of different blogs
• www.localedition.org.uk
• www.stokesounds.org.uk
• www.d-log.info
• www.icanhazcheeseburger.com
• www.ooh-pretty.blogspot.com
• Features that make a blog
interesting:
- photos
- short articles
- regular updates so if you go back
there is something new
- links to other interesting places
- expertise, humour or general
interest

11. How to create a free website with Blogger
• Go to www.blogger.com • Your basic site is done. Now do
some planning before doing too
much work on the blog - experiment
• Sign in with your gmail account with what you created using the
Layout section and play with the
• Follow the steps - very easy tools that are available to you. Plan
categories: these can be used to
organise different sections of your
• Choose a name and a design site (eg News, About, Products etc).
• If you have registered a domain
name, it doesn’t have to go to the
front page of your blog. It could go
to an ‘About’ page and your blog
could be your ‘News’ page.

12. Developing a blog
• The site template can be built by
dragging elements around - right: Local
Edition’s template
• Easy elements can be added along with
third-party pieces of code (normally
pasting in code is the most technical
thing you need to do - if it break the site,
just get rid of the page element and start
again)
• If you find your template limiting, others
are available online (try
www.blogskins.com, but build up a little
confidence with html code first or
experiment on a site that doesn’t matter

13. Some of Google’s other free tools
• All tools can be shared with other
people or make public, which makes
them useful for collaboration.
• Calendar
• Word processing package
• Spreadsheet package

14. Flickr
• www.flickr.com •
• Sign in with your Yahoo account - see friends’ photos automatically
(see page 1) - tag your photos and get spotted
as people browse
• Features: - different licensing options available
- up to 200 photos stored free - printing tools available
- A huge social community - an active and growing Stoke
- Add your photos easily with community
different tools eg by email or from
your desktop, automatically resizing
your photos

15. Flickr: wider uses
• Add photostreams to your blog (go
to Flickr’s help section for easy-to-
follow guides or use the tools in
Blogger
• Add your photos to a group: local
groups include Stoke-on-Trent,
Burslem, Local Edition
• explore photos by location, camera
used, tags and many other criteria
• very easy printing tool for cards,
sticker books and more

16. Social bookmarking: del.icio.us
• http://del.icio.us
• Features:
- Access favourite/saved webpages
anywhere
- Bookmarks can be kept private
- Share your bookmarks with friends
more quickly than by email
- See how many people have saved
a page or what has been saved
about subjects you are interested in
(eg right: Stoke-on-Trent)
- Categorise your links - create RSS
feeds for lists
- use it for quick blogging

17. Social Networking sites: best for...
• musicians: Myspace • Your own groups: Google groups or
Yahoo groups
• photographers: Flickr
• experts: Wikipedia
not an obvious networking site, but contributors to
• staying in touch: Facebook the site form communities of interest that have often
gone on to collaborate on other projects such as
(good for grassroots campaigns too) Wikinews, Wikiversity - you never know who you
might meet here.
• Jobhunters or professional
networking: Linkedin
• Film-makers: Youtube

18. Tips for networking online
• Read any community guidelines and • Never give away anything you don’t
watch the site for a while before want to: whether time, information
contributing (known as ‘lurking’) or personal details. Always
remember in many sites your details
are public, searchable and
• Be a friendly, knowledgeable and permanent (see also Safety tips).
helpful presence and most Check privacy settings - better to be
communities will be very welcoming seen only by your own contacts.
• Beware of writing in a rush and • Keep your contributions short and
remember that language can be concise - remember people have
ambiguous without all the non- limited time and sometimes limited
verbal signs we normally use: you web access.
can cause offence easily. Equally,
assume good faith with other people

19. Your own online shop
• Joining services like this takes a lot of the hassle out • Both sites use Paypal (www.paypal.com), which is free to
of handling transactions or building sites for use but takes a percentage of transactions. It is however a
simple way of creating transactions in different currencies
yourself, although building your reputation on the
and it is secure - but beware it, like Ebay, has been a
sites can also take a while. In addition, it puts you frequent victim of ‘phishing’ - look out for emails that appear
instantly in front of buyers to be from the sites.
• Etsy
www.etsy.com
- community selling handmade
items
- 100,000 members
• Ebay
www.ebay.com
- biggest online market in the world
– sell anything
- fix prices or sell by auction
- millions of sales each day

20. Small payments x lots
• iStockPhoto
www.iStockphoto.com
- well used by photo editors for its
simplicity and cheap photos
- two million photos of excellent
quality
- although rewards start small,
‘stock’ type photos that could sell
many times could build up a good • Key tip: Use your networks to
revenue determine which services you will
use - they will all take time to build
sales so there is no point in wasting
• Adsense time on sites that will not bring in
www.adsense.com rewards. Check the community
- popular way to add value to your forums to find out more about user’s
blog or website - ads are relevant experiences and problems
and targetted

21. How to get to the top of Google: a simple guide
• Add links to your main web • Building your profile on Google
presence on every profile you have takes time and patience, but
remember your business or
community name is probably unique
• Swap links with friends (ranking is and you are fairly likely to be the
based on number of links, only person in Stoke doing exactly
suggesting reliability) what you do.
• Create content-rich websites that • If you ever appear on the BBC
are updated frequently website, it will haunt you for the rest
of your life. (try Google search:
“Clare-Marie White”).

22. A few safety tips: protect yourself & your work online
• Only give away as much of yourself as you want • Be aware that creative theft is common (kids of
online - if you have a professional ‘brand’ in your today don’t understand copyright and neither do
own name be doubly cautious about what you post many journalists) - don’t upload large photos and
on discussion forums or websites and remember don’t put up any written material that you would
that Google often throws up connections you might mind very much being stolen - there’s not a huge
not expect amount you can do about it - although if a
professional organisation uses your work without
permission you should certainly charge them.
• On the other hand, Google is a good tool to check That said, commissioning editors fairly often pick up
out the legitimacy and background of people you work from sites like Flickr and will contact people to
meet online or in real life - use it and assume people ask to use it. You may get a credit or you may get
are using it on you. paid. So it is (arguably) better to give a little of your
work online and get seen than never get noticed at
all.
If you are keen to contribute something of yourself
• Never follow emails that ask for any personal to the world wide web, consider using a Creative
information or passwords - these are often Commons license. (www.creativecommons.org).
‘phishing’ attacks. Always type in the URL or use
your own bookmarks when accessing your online
services

23. More free tools you might find useful
• Skype
www.skype.com
- download required (free)
- free phone calls between
computers
- landlines can be registered in
different countries so people can
call you
- very useful for conference calling
- both useful sites. Stikipad is tidyer; Wetpaint
• Wiki providers
allows one person to run multiple wikis. Both have
www.stikipad.com
added features eg discussion boards. Neither have
www.wetpaint.com
quite the basic usefulness of the big wiki sites eg
www.wikipedia.com - you need your own server to
run a wiki like this

24. Additional services
• Flickr Pro account $19.95
• Small cards from your Flickr photos
£9.99 for 100
• Register your own domain names
and email addresses at www.123-
reg.co.uk
• Build much fancier websites with a
local team: www.jellifish.co.uk
• ...more links at
del.icio.us/cmwhite/getconnected