Tips and Tricks to Enhance Your Profile

One important thing when building your profile on Pi is to have a user image. Your user image will show up pretty much anywhere you generate content, such as the region above your blog and event entries, and even in the talent directory, when someone hovers over your portfolio image. Your image will set you apart from all the other wonderfully talented users on Pi and provide a connection to the community that goes beyond what a username offers.

 

So how do I do it? Simply click "Edit Profile" link located in the left sidebar on your Profile.

A pop-up will appear and select "ACCOUNT" from the top of the new pop-up. In the Account Settings section, you'll be able to modify your password and customize notifications from Pi as well as upload a user image. Your image will appear first in the left sidebar on your profile. Further down the pop-up, you will see a section for "LOCATION". Your location will also appear in the left sidebar, below the user image when filled in. Remember, none of this is required, but it will give you a distinct and recognizable presence on Pi. 

 

If you'd like to see a demonstration of where the user image is displayed, just look above at the "Published by" information underneath this entry's title. Hover over my name to read my bio.

 

 

Back in the Profile section within the pop-up, you may customize what "MY TALENTS INCLUDE". That section is reserved for what you'd like to be known for or classify yourself as from an occupational perspective. If you do not find a selection that describes what your talents include, then enter anything you'd like within the "OTHER" section. 

 

So with a new badass profile picture, location and your talents displayed you're almost ready to take on Planet illogica by storm. The last few steps on customizing your identity includes adding your biography, also known as the "ABOUT YOU AND YOUR WORK" section. Whether it is novel-length or a simple catch phrase, you share a little bit of yourself to the rest of the Pi community. Similar to how your user image will appear sitewide, same with your biography. 

 

If you'd want a name to be displayed other than your username, such as you know, your real name, then you can enter it in the "Personal Info" section and enter in the name you'd like to be displayed. 

 

Additional things to enhance your profile include adding links to other websites you have and customizing and creating your own Pi resume, all of which will appear in the left sidebar of your Profile.

 

One of the most unique features on Pi is that artists can show of their work in an online portfolio with a very easy to use interface. Create a portfolio through the create links, found near the top of your profile, or through the upper right hand corner links. Portfolios consist of a cover image (this is the image that will be used to represent your portfolio and the content within), a title, description and the portfolio content. Descriptions for portfolios are optional but help explain your work to the viewer, if necessary. After you've created your portfolio, you may add content to it, or "add media". You can upload multiple images in bulk at once quickly through our media uploader. To include videos, you may use "Web" section within the "add media" pop-up. Currently, the Web feature integrates with YouTube and Flickr, so you just enter in the url or web address of the video (not the channel link) or image and click "submit". Within the portfolios, you may drag and drop your media to change the display order to your liking. You may also directly edit or delete the media or portfolio item by hovering over the media item. 

 

The latest portfolio you create will automatically become your "Featured Portfolio". Your featured portfolio will serve as the main attraction of your profile, displayed at the top.

  

You may have noticed an empty feed upon the creation of your new account. Filling is up is easy. The first way is to use the "Linked Accounts" feature and the second is to create content on Pi and the third is to join groups, connect with other artists, or just follow other artists.

 

The linked accounts feature allows you to pull in information automatically from your accounts on other sites and link to and display them nicely in your user feed so the community may stay up to date on what you're doing. You can connect your Pi account to your Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr and your blog feed. All you have to do is add in your username from each of the sites mentioned and that's it! To access the Linked Accounts page, you can click the "Edit Profile" link from your profile on the left hand side and select "Linked Accounts" in the top menu of the pop-up, or hover over "My Account" from the upper right hand corner of the browser and select "Linked Accounts". 

 

Upon the creation of blog entries or events, a new "Content" tab will appear next to the "Featured" and "Portfolio" tabs in the top section of your profile. Events can also be created within groups, and will also show up in your "Content" tab. 

 

Pi has a new groups feature so users can collaborate on likeminded projects or share ideas together. Group members have the ability to message all of the members and view their contact information; this information is not available when you're not a member of the group. To show the groups that you're a part of on your profile, just click "Show on Profile" in the top right side of the group. 

 

 

By creating a portfolio with a cover image, you will automatically be brought up in Pi's front page slider, which randomly displays Pi talent, and along with a user profile image, you'll be added to the Talent Directory in the "new" section and under the talents you have classified yourself under.