There are a lot of features on Fanpop. Some are well known and others are less well known (there are also a ton of others we *want* to do, but that's for another conversation). Today I thought I would highlight a few of the less-well-known features for you.
Why? Because, dammit, we spent time on these features! Sure picks and picha might be sexier, but these are the runts of the proverbial Fanpop-litter and they need some time in the spotlight too.
(side note: if wewe already know about these, then consider yourself a very knowledgeable Fanpopper. But if wewe don't...well, here's hoping wewe learn something new today...)
Feature 1: Invite a Friend
This one is new, but it's important. A lot of folks have asked us for this and we finally have launched a version of it that makes it really easy to invite your friends, family and acquaintances to Fanpop.
What does it do? Fanpoppers who use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail au AOL Mail can easily and quickly import their contact orodha and send out a fanpop invitation to all of their buddies. When those Marafiki join, they will be added as mashabiki (and we all want zaidi fans, right?). Bonus: if any of your Marafiki are already on Fanpop, wewe can add them to your shabiki orodha (we all an use zaidi friends, right?).
Everyone who registers will get to see the invite a friend feature. But for longtime Fanpoppers, wewe can still invite Marafiki by:
(a) Clicking on the "invite friends" link in the blue fanpop navigation bar (top of your screen).
or...
(b) wewe can go to your profaili page and click on the *ahem* inconspicuous yellow module below your "about me" module.
And did I mention that wewe get bragging rights for successfully inviting Marafiki to Fanpop? On your profaili is a trophy inayofuata to the ratings trophy.
Alas I have to post a screencap of Dave Lu's trophy/props collection which is zaidi impressive than mine. I guess he has zaidi Marafiki and heshima than me (*sob*...I feel...so...inadequate...).
So to all the folks who've told us "hey, fanpop is great, but there's no easy way to tell my friends", what's your excuse now? ;-)
Feature 2: Block User
So most of the time we all get along like one big happy family right? Um...sometimes...
Block user allows wewe to not have to deal with certain mashabiki that wewe don't really want to deal with (kinda like how I screen phone calls au don't answer the door when the IRS comes knocking). I know, it's sad to have to admit that one might need this feature, but folks asked for it and we listened.
Here's a real world example: Dave Lu used to private message me all the time asking when I was gonna repay the $5 I owed him. Well, I got tired of his daily *rants* so one siku I opened a message from him and clicked on the "Block User" button at the bottom of his message.
Poof. No zaidi Dlu messages, all my problems are solved. I'm less stressed out and I'm $5 richer.
Oh, and if I ever choose to reconcile with him, I can always go to my "blocked users" orodha and "unblock" him.
On sekunde thought, no - ain't gonna happen...
Feature 3: The fanpop Bookmarklet
This is one of our oldest "forgotten" features. Those of wewe who add viungo au video probably pass it kwa everyday. Poor bookmarklet - sits there waiting for someone, anyone to pat it on the head and add it to their browser toolbar. But no, wewe just ignore the little yellow bookmarklet, click on your submit button and the little fanpop bookmarklet just sits there and dies a little zaidi each day.
"But wait Papa, I want to save the bookmarklet from neglect!"
Ok, let me give wewe the scoop. The bookmarklet is a tool that streamlines adding content to Fanpop. To use it, Firefox au Safari users can just drag the "add to fanpop" button onto the browser toolbar (or right click and add to vipendwa if you're using IE). You'll find it on the right-side of the add link and add video pages.
Now whenever wewe are surfing on the internet and find something cool that wewe want to tell your buddies back on Fanpop, click on the bookmarklet button and wewe will be taken to the add link/video page on Fanpop. See? Isn't the bookmarklet useful after all?
Feature 4: pakia video au Record a Webcam Movie to Fanpop
Did wewe know that wewe can pakia video to Fanpop? au that if wewe have a webcam wewe can record and post it to the site really easily? A lot of people don't. But yes, it's all possible.
Here's how it works. Go to the "add video" page and click on the "upload au record video" button (you might be asked to install a special plugin for the video uploader, it won't harm your computer).
This will open a special window where wewe can record au pakia a video. To add a video from your hard drive, look for the "browse" button. If wewe want to record a video, click on the "webcam" tab and follow the instructions.
Once you've located the video file on your computer, an pakia button will appear. Don't forget to click this! After the video has been uploaded, click the "submit" button at the bottom of the form.
Yes, it's a lot of steps (and we'd like to make it easier to do in the future).
Feature 5: The Amazing Picks Widget
The picks widget is a great feature that allows wewe to embed a small flash widget in your personal blog au on your social network profile.
To access it, just go to the results page for a pick that wewe really like (or better yet, one that wewe created) and look for the little sliver of text above the maoni section.
Once you've found the widget module, look for the social network au blog tool that wewe want to embed the pick on. Click on the link au ikoni and the module will open to onyesha wewe a sample of the widget along with the embed code and instructions.
kwa the way, my good friend, link of link, made this widget for us. I figured I'd give him a shout-out, since he did it pro bono.
Bonus Secret: Auto picha on the Picks
Some of the zaidi perceptive picks creators might have noticed this, but if wewe create "yes" and "no" majibu for your pick we'll automatically add yes and no images.
Kinda useful if wewe are feeling lazy and are particularly fond of yes and no maswali ;-)
Anyway, that's it for this soapbox. I hope you've learned a few new secrets and tricks about the site and maybe this will help wewe discover some useful new features for you.
Why? Because, dammit, we spent time on these features! Sure picks and picha might be sexier, but these are the runts of the proverbial Fanpop-litter and they need some time in the spotlight too.
(side note: if wewe already know about these, then consider yourself a very knowledgeable Fanpopper. But if wewe don't...well, here's hoping wewe learn something new today...)
Feature 1: Invite a Friend
This one is new, but it's important. A lot of folks have asked us for this and we finally have launched a version of it that makes it really easy to invite your friends, family and acquaintances to Fanpop.
What does it do? Fanpoppers who use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail au AOL Mail can easily and quickly import their contact orodha and send out a fanpop invitation to all of their buddies. When those Marafiki join, they will be added as mashabiki (and we all want zaidi fans, right?). Bonus: if any of your Marafiki are already on Fanpop, wewe can add them to your shabiki orodha (we all an use zaidi friends, right?).
Everyone who registers will get to see the invite a friend feature. But for longtime Fanpoppers, wewe can still invite Marafiki by:
(a) Clicking on the "invite friends" link in the blue fanpop navigation bar (top of your screen).
or...
(b) wewe can go to your profaili page and click on the *ahem* inconspicuous yellow module below your "about me" module.
And did I mention that wewe get bragging rights for successfully inviting Marafiki to Fanpop? On your profaili is a trophy inayofuata to the ratings trophy.
Alas I have to post a screencap of Dave Lu's trophy/props collection which is zaidi impressive than mine. I guess he has zaidi Marafiki and heshima than me (*sob*...I feel...so...inadequate...).
So to all the folks who've told us "hey, fanpop is great, but there's no easy way to tell my friends", what's your excuse now? ;-)
Feature 2: Block User
So most of the time we all get along like one big happy family right? Um...sometimes...
Block user allows wewe to not have to deal with certain mashabiki that wewe don't really want to deal with (kinda like how I screen phone calls au don't answer the door when the IRS comes knocking). I know, it's sad to have to admit that one might need this feature, but folks asked for it and we listened.
Here's a real world example: Dave Lu used to private message me all the time asking when I was gonna repay the $5 I owed him. Well, I got tired of his daily *rants* so one siku I opened a message from him and clicked on the "Block User" button at the bottom of his message.
Poof. No zaidi Dlu messages, all my problems are solved. I'm less stressed out and I'm $5 richer.
Oh, and if I ever choose to reconcile with him, I can always go to my "blocked users" orodha and "unblock" him.
On sekunde thought, no - ain't gonna happen...
Feature 3: The fanpop Bookmarklet
This is one of our oldest "forgotten" features. Those of wewe who add viungo au video probably pass it kwa everyday. Poor bookmarklet - sits there waiting for someone, anyone to pat it on the head and add it to their browser toolbar. But no, wewe just ignore the little yellow bookmarklet, click on your submit button and the little fanpop bookmarklet just sits there and dies a little zaidi each day.
"But wait Papa, I want to save the bookmarklet from neglect!"
Ok, let me give wewe the scoop. The bookmarklet is a tool that streamlines adding content to Fanpop. To use it, Firefox au Safari users can just drag the "add to fanpop" button onto the browser toolbar (or right click and add to vipendwa if you're using IE). You'll find it on the right-side of the add link and add video pages.
Now whenever wewe are surfing on the internet and find something cool that wewe want to tell your buddies back on Fanpop, click on the bookmarklet button and wewe will be taken to the add link/video page on Fanpop. See? Isn't the bookmarklet useful after all?
Feature 4: pakia video au Record a Webcam Movie to Fanpop
Did wewe know that wewe can pakia video to Fanpop? au that if wewe have a webcam wewe can record and post it to the site really easily? A lot of people don't. But yes, it's all possible.
Here's how it works. Go to the "add video" page and click on the "upload au record video" button (you might be asked to install a special plugin for the video uploader, it won't harm your computer).
This will open a special window where wewe can record au pakia a video. To add a video from your hard drive, look for the "browse" button. If wewe want to record a video, click on the "webcam" tab and follow the instructions.
Once you've located the video file on your computer, an pakia button will appear. Don't forget to click this! After the video has been uploaded, click the "submit" button at the bottom of the form.
Yes, it's a lot of steps (and we'd like to make it easier to do in the future).
Feature 5: The Amazing Picks Widget
The picks widget is a great feature that allows wewe to embed a small flash widget in your personal blog au on your social network profile.
To access it, just go to the results page for a pick that wewe really like (or better yet, one that wewe created) and look for the little sliver of text above the maoni section.
Once you've found the widget module, look for the social network au blog tool that wewe want to embed the pick on. Click on the link au ikoni and the module will open to onyesha wewe a sample of the widget along with the embed code and instructions.
kwa the way, my good friend, link of link, made this widget for us. I figured I'd give him a shout-out, since he did it pro bono.
Bonus Secret: Auto picha on the Picks
Some of the zaidi perceptive picks creators might have noticed this, but if wewe create "yes" and "no" majibu for your pick we'll automatically add yes and no images.
Kinda useful if wewe are feeling lazy and are particularly fond of yes and no maswali ;-)
Anyway, that's it for this soapbox. I hope you've learned a few new secrets and tricks about the site and maybe this will help wewe discover some useful new features for you.
fanpop now has a Twitter Page in case wewe needed zaidi pop to your fan.~💜💙🐦
Link = link
It has reached over 12 hundred followers already!~<3
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Link = link
It has reached over 12 hundred followers already!~<3
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________