Are you considering Pinterest for your museum?
Brenda Feist, the
Education Coordinator at the
Kelowna Art Gallery, has put together this helpful guide to get you started.
How to Join
1. Sign Up
Go to
Pinterest and join.
When you sign up, you’ll have the option to link either your Facebook or Twitter account with your Pinterest account. If you prefer to start with just your e-mail address, you can always connect your social accounts later. (I just used my email address and a password – I have the app on my ipad, so I am always signed in, but if I go to pinterest.com on my laptop, I can click on the right upper corner to get into my profile and boards).
2. Create Your Profile
Try to stick with a consistent username if you already have a Twitter orInstagram account. That will make it easier for anyone who follows you to find you via searching on Pinterest. It also helps to use the same profile photo—that way people know it’s you.
3. Check Your Settings
Once your account is active the first thing you should do is take a look at your e-mail settings. Luckily, Pinterest’s options are straightforward and easy to understand. When you first start pinning, keep all the e-mail notifications on. It’s a great way to find new people to follow by seeing who likes, comments, or repins ideas from your boards. You can turn them off later if they are clogging your inbox.
How to Pin
1. Install the Pin It Button
The easiest way to add content from any site is to add the "Pin It" button to your web browser. Visit the "Goodies" page on Pinterest to learn how to install it. You can also add pins via the Pin It button on your favorite sites. It will usually be close to the Facebookand Twitter share buttons. (I’ve never used this option but it could be useful).
2. Add a Pin
To add a pin to one of your boards, click on either the "Pin It" button in your bookmark bar or on the website you're reading. If you’re on your IPad, just click on the image, and then ‘Pin it”. Choose a board (folder) you already have started by selecting the board using the drop down menu in the window. If you want to add your pin to a new board, you can create one directly from the drop down menu as well.
3. Create a New Board
To create a new board on your account, click the "Add +" button in the upper right-hand corner of your main Pinterest page. Select the option to Create a Board (more on the other two options on the next page). Give your board a descriptive name so your followers know what types of pins they'll find on it. The category options are set by Pinterest, so select whichever is closest or choose "other" for those wildcard boards.
4. Repin from Your Feed
If someone you're following has added a pin that you like, you can save it to one of your boards as well. Simply hover over the image on Pinterest and three buttons will appear—repin, like, and comment. To add that pin to your account click repin and follow the same steps you would to add a pin.
5. Upload a Pin
If there is a photo you've taken that you want to upload to Pinterest, you can do that by using their upload feature. Go to your main Pinterest feed and click the "Add +" button in the upper right-hand corner (the same one you used to create a new board). From the screen that pops up you'll be able to add a pin by pasting in the URL of a website or by uploading a photo from your hard drive.
Here is a picture of my homepage on my iPad…
These are what ‘boards/folders’ look like. The numbers up top mean, left to right, how many ‘images or pins’ in total, so 14,000. Lol, how many times you’ve ‘liked’ something, (which for me has only been accidentally), how many people are following you, and finally how many people/ boards you are following…
Here’s what it looks like when I log in on my computer…Your browser will save your password so you always see your profile picture in the right hand corner. When you click on it, you’re into your files.
and finally…
These are a few boards you may find things of interest in…activities, etc. They are all under Gallery. The ARTlab file is full of ideas for our open studio, then 2d, 3d, Ideas for inside the gallery, for outside, for seniors, and for events. The best piece of advice I could offer for using Pinterest is that as you use it, you’ll find yourself getting closer and closer to what you were ‘actually’ had in mind. Because of this it is essential to randomly cull your pins, as if the folders get too full, each time you scroll down to the bottom to find something, you’re bumped back to the top. A glich I’m sure will work itself out.
I’ve never actually ‘looked’ for myself but I assume it’s as easy as searching for my name…
Pinterest is a great way to daydream and brainstorm. It’s full of ‘how to”, ‘diy’ and ‘been there, done that’. In my experience, most people post their successes so anything I’ve tried has worked and been as easy as claimed.
