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Joining WebShots as a Free Member

Becoming a member on Webshots is easy. Simply provide a few basic details—your name, location, and email address. After a quick email verification, your membership is active.

Once you’re a member, you can either explore the free features or upgrade to a Premium account by paying a subscription fee.

Throughout this series of tutorials, we’ll explore both Free and Premium Webshots accounts. For now, let’s keep it simple—first things first, here’s how you can sign up as a free member and get started without spending a dime.

1. Visit the Webshots site and click on the Sign up for free link, on the top right corner of the site, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: The Webshots site
2. Doing so brings up a login form, as shown in Figure 2, below. Fill all the fields, and make sure you enter a valid email address. Next, click the Join Now button within the Free section. You can also click the Join Now button within the Premium section—but that’s something we will explore in a later post.
3. 
   Figure 2: Join now
3. If the details you filled in the form are valid, you’ll see a modified version of the Webshots site. You can upload your pictures now, and that is something that we will explain in more detail in a later post.
4. Do check your mail inbox for a confirmation link. Follow the instructions within the email. Also remember to save your user name and password in a safe place.

In the next blog post, we’ll explore what the free account allows you to do, and we’ll also briefly look at the Premium account.

Filed Under: W
Tagged as: Pictures, Share, Webshots

What is Webshots?

Webshots is a photo sharing and storing site from CNET that allows you to do more with your visual content than what would have been possible by just storing them on your computer. In many ways, it is like other photo sharing sites like Flickr, MSN Photos, Kodak Gallery, etc. It does have some features that set it apart from these other sites.

At the most basic level, Webshots is a simple area on the Internet where you can store and share pictures. Webshots also provides a desktop application that you can download from their site. This application lets you change your desktop wallpaper at regular intervals.

In future blog posts, we will show you how you can use all the Webshots features to your advantage.

Filed Under: W
Tagged as: Pictures, Share, Webshots

What are Flickr Tags?

In the last post, we explained what Flickr sets are. Now, we’ll explain tags in Flickr.

Tags are like associated keywords for any picture. Thus, for a vacation picture from Japan of Mount Fuji, you could use these tags:

japan, vacation, mount fuji, snow,

The next time, what do you do when you need to search for one shot in the 21,894 pictures you have uploaded to Flickr? You should have added these tags to your photos while uploading. These then act as search keywords, and you’ll find the picture you are searching for.

Not only can you search for tags that you have provided to your photos, you can also search for tags that other Flickr users have applied to their uploaded photos.

Adding Tags

Most of the time, there are options to apply tags when you are uploading your photos to Flickr. But there might be times when you want to add tags to photos already in your Flickr account. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that you are signed into your Flickr account. If you don’t have a Flickr account, create one, as explained in our Signing up for Flickr page.
2. Click the picture for which you want to add tags. This will open the Flickr page for that picture as you can see in Figure 1, below.
3. 
   Figure 1: The Flickr page for any photo
3. On the bottom right of the photo, you’ll find an option called Add a tag, as shown in Figure 1, above. Click this option.
4. Doing so will show a text box where you can enter your tags. Type in your tags. Separate tags with spaces. If you are using a double word with a space such as water lilies, enclose them with the space within inverted commas (double quotes) like “water lilies,” as you can see in Figure 2, below. You can also separate your tags with commas if spaces confuse you (We always use commas).
5. 
   Figure 2: Add your tags
5. If you want to choose from tags you have already applied to existing, uploaded photos, click the Choose from your tags option that you can see in Figure 2, above.
6. When you are done, click the Add button.

In upcoming posts, we’ll teach you how you can add the same tags to all photos in a set. If you don’t know what Flickr sets are, look at our What are Flickr Sets? post.

You May Also Like: Flickr Tutorial Series

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

What are Flickr Sets?

Before we discuss more about uploading and sharing photos on Flickr, there are two things that each Flickr user should know. These are sets and tags. We explain sets in this post, and will teach you more about tags in another post.

Flickr sets are a way to group your photos so that they are easy to organize and identify. Figure 1, below, shows a few sets in our Flickr account.

Figure 1: A few of our Flickr sets

Think of sets as folders in your computer. You might have a different folder for your business correspondence, another for your spreadsheets, and yet another for presentations. Even then, sets are a little different than folders–let us explain this concept in a different way:

Why sets are like folders?

• Because you name them like folders to identify what’s inside the set.
• Because they make it easy for you to find something later. A set named Singapore Vacation August 2005 is so self-explanatory that there’s no way you don’t know which photos you placed in that set!

Why sets are not like folders?

• Because unlike folders, sets don’t contain the photo itself–just a link to the actual file you uploaded to Flickr.
• Also, one photo can be placed in more than one set without being uploaded more than once–since Flickr sets are basically only shortcuts (aliases) to the actual uploaded photo.

Viewing your sets

To view your sets, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you are signed into Flickr.
2. In the top navigation bar on the Flickr site, click the You menu, shown in Figure 2, below. Then, choose the Your Sets option.
3. 
   Figure 2: Finding Your Sets in the Flickr menu
3. Doing so will open a page that contains thumbnails of all your sets. Figure 1, shown previously on this page showed some sets on our Flickr page.
4. Here’s what you can do now:
• The number of photos in a particular set are mentioned below the set thumbnail.
• To edit the sequence of photos in the set, or to add more uploaded photos to an existing set, click the Edit button to open the Flickr Organizer interface.
• Just double-click any set thumbnail to view the photos in that set.

In later posts, we’ll explain how you can organize and view photos on Flickr.

You May Also Like: Flickr Tutorial Series

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

Who is Scooby Gooseberry?

Yes, this question has come up often since we use Scooby’s Flickr account to create all the screenshots.

Scooby Gooseberry is an imaginary, fictitious character with a real Flickr account. We created that account for Scooby so that we could use this account as a case study to learn more about Flickr in a fun environment.

Flickr likes Scooby too. In fact, today morning Scooby wanted to upload some photos to his new account, and Flickr asked him to come back later. Why? Because it was massage time for Flickr, as shown in Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Flickr’s massage time

You May Also Like: Flickr Tutorial Series

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

Creating a Flickr Web Address

Before you ask people to see your photos on Flickr, spend a minute to create your own Flickr web address. A Flickr web address is an alias that you can specify for yourself so that it becomes part of the URL to your Flickr page.

For example, Scooby Gooseberry’s Flickr web address is:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scoobygooseberry

Not only will it be easy for you to send an alias-based Flickr web address to others, it will also be simpler for you to remember your address!

To create your own web address on Flickr, follow these steps:

1. If you haven’t already signed into Flickr, do so now.
2. You’ll find an option on the Welcome to Flickr page to Choose your Flickr web address, as shown in Figure 1, below. Click this option.
3. 
   Figure 1: Choose your Flickr web address
3. You will now get to the page where you can choose your web address, as shown in Figure 2, below. Ensure you choose something that you can live with since Flickr web addresses cannot be changed once they are associated with an account.
4. 
   Figure 2: Choose your Flickr address
5. Your Flickr web address, as you can see in Figure 2, above, includes the alias you choose–the chosen alias gets suffixed to the https://www.flickr.com/photos/ URL. Your alias cannot contain any spaces, and may contain alphabet letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens–normally a combination of these works well too. Choose something easy–if that alias is already taken, Flickr asks you to choose something else.
4. Next, Flickr asks you to confirm if you are sure you want to choose this alias, as shown in Figure 3, below. This is your last chance to choose another alias.
5. 
   Figure 3: Are you happy with your alias?
6. If you are happy with the alias, click the OK, Lock It In button–or alternatively, click the I need to choose a different alias hyperlink to start the process of choosing an alias again.
5. Once you have created an alias, you can send your Flickr web address to anyone–and people can see your public photos even if they are not Flickr members. We discussed the distinction between public and private photos in an earlier post.

You May Also Like: Flickr Tutorial Series

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

Uploading Photos to Flickr–01

Now that you know what Flickr is, and how you become a Flickr member–it’s time to learn how you can upload your first photo!

To cook up this task, make sure you have all the right ingredients:

• Some photos on your computer–or just upload your desktop wallpaper!
• A Flick account–we already have Scooby Gooseberry’s account!
• A browser and internet connection–you are reading this, so you already have that!

And here’s how you put all those ingredients together:

1. Open your browser, make sure you are connected and log into your Flickr account.
2. Click the Upload your first photo link, as shown in Figure 1, below. If you cannot find the upload link, click this link. If you are not signed in, Flickr will prompt you for your login and password info.
3. 
   Figure 1: Upload your first photo
3. Eventually, you will land on the Upload photos to Flickr page, as shown in Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: Browse and choose the photos you want to upload
4. Click any of the Browse buttons to find the photo on your computer that you want to upload. You have six Browse buttons on this page, so you can choose six photos at a time to upload. Wait, don’t click the Upload button yet–there are some options you must first examine.
5. Right below the Browse buttons is a text box that allows you to type in some tags–think of these tags as keywords for your photos. For example, if the photos you are uploading are from your secret vacation to the North Pole, you could use these words as tags for the photos:
6. north pole, cold, freezing, secret, vacation, december 2009,
7. At this point in time, adding these tags might not be high on your list of priorities, but a few years from today, when your Flickr account has a gazillion photos, you’ll appreciate that you tagged all your photo uploads. Why? Because these tags will allow you and others to search photos easily. So, for now, just add those tags–and separate those tags with commas.
6. Next, choose your privacy settings. We explained these in an earlier post, but here they are again, as shown in Figure 2, previously on this page:

Private

7. Unless you also check the Visible to Friends and/or Visible to Family boxes, all Private photos will only be visible to you. In fact, even you will have to sign into your Flickr account to see them. This is a great option if you want to just backup your photos.

Visible to Friends

8. These photos will only be visible to you and those contacts whom you identify as Friends.

Visible to Family

9. These photos will only be visible to you and those contacts whom you identify as Family.

Visible to Friends and Family

10. Just check both the options.

Public

11. This means anyone can see your photos–just anyone and they don’t even have to be Flickr members.
12. We normally just mark all photos without any human faces as public, but you’ll want to decide what works for you. Whichever option you choose, these privacy settings can be changed for each uploaded photo anytime.
7. Now click the Upload button. The resultant screen will ask you to wait until your photos are being uploaded, as shown in Figure 3, below.
8. 
   Figure 3: Photos being uploaded
9. Unless you have a very slow internet connection, you can open another browser window and do something else until the photos are uploaded.
8. When the photos are uploaded, Flickr asks you to add descriptions for each uploaded photo, as shown in Figure 4, below. Add descriptions as required and then click the Save button at the bottom of the page.
9. 
   Figure 4: Add descriptions for photos uploaded to Flickr
9. That’s it–you’ve uploaded your photos!

In upcoming posts, we’ll show how you can drag a bunch or even an entire folder of photos to your Flickr account using other uploading tools available from Flickr.

And no, we haven’t forgotten this–here’s a link to Scooby Gooseberry’s photos on Flickr.

You May Also Like: Flickr Tutorial Series

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

Signing up for Flickr

Think of Flickr as a giant digital art gallery—you can stroll through the halls, marvel at breathtaking photos, and soak up the creativity without paying a dime. But just like any exclusive club, there are perks reserved for members only.

Without a Flickr membership, here’s what you can’t do:

Upload Your Own Photos

Imagine walking into an art exhibition with a blank canvas, eager to hang your painting… only to be told you need a membership badge first!

See Private Collections

Your friends and family might have their own secret exhibits—invitation-only albums that stay hidden unless you’re a member.

Link Photos to Your Blog

It’s like owning a treasure chest of beautiful images but having no key to share them with the world.

Comment on Photos

Ever wanted to applaud a photographer’s work but found your voice silenced? Membership is your backstage pass to start conversations.

Obviously, the first thing you want to do is become a member.

In this post, we’ll walk you through the simple steps to becoming a free member (think of it as getting through the gates). Later, we’ll explore the perks of upgrading to a Pro account—like moving from the kiddie rides to the thrilling ones with VIP access!

Here’s the cool part: Even if you stick with the Free account, you can do almost everything—just with a few limits, like riding the carousel instead of the giant Ferris wheel. But hey, sometimes the carousel is all you need, right?

Stay tuned, because we’re about to dive into the simple steps to unlock your Flickr adventure!

Here’s how you can sign up to Flickr:

1. Once upon a time, signing into Flickr was like entering a VIP club—you needed a Yahoo! account as your golden ticket. But things have changed, and that old rule has gone the way of floppy disks and dial-up internet!
2. Yahoo, the company behind the requirement, went poof—dissolved into the corporate cosmos. As a result, Flickr found itself traveling through a game of digital hot potato. First, Verizon picked it up, then passed it on to SmugMug, where it happily resides today. The good news? You no longer need a Yahoo! account to get in! It’s like being told you don’t need a secret handshake to enter the clubhouse anymore. Just hop in, sign up, and start sharing your snapshots with the world!
2. Just head to Flickr and opt to sign up using the convenient button/link on their homepage, as shown in Figure 1, below.
3. 
   Figure 1: The Sign up link on Flickr’s homepage
4. OK, Flickr does not look like what you see in Figure 1, above. However, you will still find the Sign Up button.
3. Doing so will take you to the Sign up for Flickr page where you provide some details, as shown in Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: Login to your Yahoo! account on Flickr, as in 2006
5. The interface looks a lot more different now, as can be seen in Figure 3, below. Click the Sign Up button, highlighted in blue within Figure 3.
6. 
   Figure 3: Sign up for Flickr, as in 2025
4. You will see a Sign up for Flickr form. Fill in all the details and click on the Sign up button, as shown in Figure 4, below.
5. 
   Figure 4: Sign up form
5. Once you sign in, there’s one more step still left. You’ll get an option to change your screen name on Flickr, as shown in Figure 5, below. Your screen name can be different from your Flickr login. Although by default, your screen name is your Flickr login, it’s a good idea to change it here since the changed name can have spaces. It’s always better for an audience to know that they are seeing Scooby Gooseberry’s photos on Flickr than from someone called scoobygb2006!
6. 
   Figure 5: Change your screen name
6. That’s all you need to know to sign up to Flickr. In subsequent posts, you and me will use Scooby Gooseberry’s account on Flickr to search and comment on Flickr and upload our first photo.

You May Also Like: Flickr Tutorial Series

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

Starting with Flickr: The First Steps

Flickr (pronounced Flicker) is a site that lets you store and share photos. Think of Flickr like your digital shoebox for photos, but way more organized and way-less dusty. Instead of stuffing printed pictures into an old cardboard box under your bed, Flickr lets you store, sort, and share your photos online—without the risk of them fading away or getting lost during a spring-cleaning frenzy.

Now, imagine you’ve got a magic album that automatically backs up your photos, lets you tag them for easy discovery, and even gives you the power to share them however you like—publicly for the world to admire, privately for your eyes only, or selectively for friends and family. That’s Flickr in a nutshell.

Since we’ve been using Flickr since 2005, we will share a few tricks along the way. So, if you’re just starting out, stick around—we’ll help you navigate the ins and outs of this photo-sharing wonderland. Let’s get flicking!

Having said so, don’t worry if you are new. After so many years, there’s so much that we still need to discover about Flickr! If you have a favorite tip, please mention it in the Comments section so that together, we can help others to get more from their Flickr accounts.

Flickr does so much; let us look briefly at what you can expect if you are new or are just starting with Flickr, as shown in Figure 1, below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials

Flickr Tutorials Series

You’ll find a variety of tutorials on this site to help you make the most of Flickr—from getting started with the basics to exploring more advanced features. This page serves as an index of all our Flickr tutorial posts, and we’ll keep it updated as new content is added.

1. Starting with Flickr
2. Signing up for Flickr
3. Uploading Photos to Flickr–01
4. Creating a Flickr Web Address
5. Who is Scooby Gooseberry?
6. What are Flickr Sets?
7. What are Flickr Tags?

Image: Klimkin | Pixabay

Filed Under: F
Tagged as: Flickr, Images, Photos, Pictures, Tutorials