About | Frequently Asked Questions
Last update: October 01, 2011
- Registering
- Navigating
- Uploading an Image
- Uploading a Complementary Image
- Uploading a Panorama Image
- Creating a Theme
- Creating a Series
- Creating a Travelogue
- Adding a Workshop
- What do the icons below the image in the gallery mean?
- Text Format
- Images on the Index Page
- Internal Message System
- Types of Accounts
- Rating System
Registering
How do I register?
Click on “Become a Member” on the top right above the menus. Fill in the form with the information required – email address, username desired, password, country and city are mandatory - and check the free or premium account type box. The next step is to read the Terms of Service (TOS) and check the appropriate field. Press “Submit” and you will be forwarded to “My Photofolia Account”, from which you will have access to innumerous areas of the Site. From then on, use the “LOG IN” option.
Only one account per member is allowed. We expect our members to be honest and open about this.
What if I forget my password?
If you forget your password you just have to go to the very right top corner and click on "forgot your password" and follow the instructions.
Navigating
I want to change my intro page. How do I do it?
Go to “My Profile” >> “My Intro”
How do I change my profile photo?
Go to “My Profile“ >> “My Pic“, choose the image in your files and click “Upload”. Make sure the file is not bigger than 150 x 150 pixels.
Uploading an Image
What kind of images can I post?
Photofolia is quite eclectic with regards to content. Nude photos and photos with offensive content (prejudice, criticism of others´ culture, religion, moral values, and pedophilia) are not acceptable and will be removed.
How do I upload a photo?
From the menu at the top of any page, click on “Add New” >> “Photo”. Choose the image in your files and click “Upload Photo”. Please provide as much technical information as possible. Members are requested to provide an explanatory note about the image. It can be factual information, the reason why you took this shot, a question regarding technical issues related to this image, etc.
How do I delete a photo?
Go to “My Menu” >> “My Gallery”. You can either edit the information you provided or delete the image. Please bear in mind that, by deleting an image, the whole content (EXIF, your text, critiques and replies) will be deleted too.
I uploaded a photo but changed my mind and I want to post another photo. Can I upload the desired photo immediately after having deleted the first one?
No. Once you have uploaded one file, you will not be able to upload your next image until 24 hours later, Pacific Standard Time. In the case of workshops, you can upload one image per day if you have a free account and for premium members the sky is the limit.
How many images can I upload?
Any PF member is allowed to upload one image per day (Pacific Standard Time).
Which size should I upload?
If your image has a horizontal orientation, the width must be 800 pixels. If the orientation is vertical, the width must be 600 pixels.
If it has a perfect square format, the width should be 800 pixels. Please bear in mind that the site will resize any other different width to fit the frame, and in such cases there will be a loss in sharpness.
Uploading a Complementary Image
How do I add a complementary image to my main post?
The upload process is very easy and intuitive. Once you have downloaded your main image and filled out the note, EXIF, location and so on, at bottom of the page you will encounter the option "Complementary Image". Click “Yes” and the space to browse and upload will open. The size regulation is exactly the same as the main image.
The complementary image will show up as a small thumbnail below the main image and to see it just click on it.
Panorama Images
How do I upload a panorama image?
Go to Add New >> Photo and upload the smaller version with a maximum width of 800 pixels.
Further down, on the same page, check the button "yes" for panorama and a box will appear for you to search for your panorama file, with a maximum of 2500 X 800 pixels.
The panorama image will show up as a small thumbnail below the main image and to see it just click on it.
What if I uploaded the wrong panorama file?Go to My Menu >> My Gallery >> [Edit] and upload the right version of your panorama file. It will overwrite the previous file.
Creating a Theme
How do I create a Theme?
- Go to Add New >> Theme;
- Choose Personal or Group;
- Give the theme a title of your choice;
- Describe your theme;
- Finish it by clicking on 'Send'.
Important detail: Your new theme will only become visible to other members once you have added an image to it.
How do I add an image to the theme?
- Open the image you want to add to your Personal Theme or to a Group Theme;
- In the case of a personal theme or a group theme you set up yourself click on Add (title of the photo) to "Themes";
- You will be forwarded to your theme gallery;
- Find the relevant theme and click on "Add to this theme";
- In the case of a group theme set up by another member, click on "Add (title of the photo) to Themes";
- You will be forwarded to the ALL THEMES gallery;
- You can either type the title of the theme in the search bar or scroll down until you find the theme to which you want to add the photograph to;
- Once you have found the desired theme, click on [Add to this Theme].
Creating a Series
How do I upload a Series?
- Go to Add New >> Series
- Upload the first image and fill the blanks as you would when uploading a single image;
- After you click "send", you will arrive at your Series gallery;
- Click on "Series" under the thumbnail and you will be redirected to the upload series page;
- Fill each blank with the title for each image;
- Search and upload the image;
- Choose the sequence of your uploaded photos;
- Click "SEND" and you will be forwarded to the main gallery.
How do I review my Series?
You can review your series at any time and as often as you want. You can delete and also add images (up to 10) for each series.
You can also change the title and note for each image in a series.
- Go to My Menu >> My Series
- Click on [Edit] to review the data and note of your first image;
- Click on [Delete] to erase the whole series;
- Click on [Series] to edit the images and to write a note for each image in the series.
- Click on [Edit] by each image for which you want to edit the title and the text. Below the image you will see the space for the title and note. Keep the description as short as possible. Click on SEND when finished. You can only edit one photo at a time.
- To change the order of the images in a series, simply drag and drop the image to the desired position click SEND and you will be directed to the main gallery;
- You cannot move the main image within the Series.
Creating a Travelogue
How do I create a new travelogue?
- Go to Add New >> Travelogue
- Set the dates of your travelogue
- Complete the text which describes your trip
- Fill all blanks
- Press "SEND" and you will be forwarded to the Gallery page
How do I add a new image to my travelogue?
- Add New >> Image
- When you upload a new image, the process is exactly the same, with the additional step of choosing one of your created travelogues from the drop down menu "Your Travelogues"
Can I add an already posted image to a Travelogue?
- Yes! Open the image you wish to add to your travelogue;
- Click on Add (title of the image) to "My Travelogue";
- You will be forwarded to your travelogue gallery;
- Find the relevant travelogue and click on "Add to this travelogue".
Additional infomation:
With a travelogue you will share with everyone else your very own experiences during a special trip. Thus, you can only add your own photos to your travelogue.
Be attentive to the dates of your travelogue. The starting and ending dates should be respected.
An image can only be attributed to one travelogue.
How do I add a workshop to an image?
First of all, you will only be able to do a Workshop (WS) after you have written a comment/ critique for the particular image.
After you press "send" you will see on the right top corner of your critique: Edit | Reply | Workshop.
Click on the "Workshop". You will be redirected to a page which will allow you to download the image.
WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU TO READ THE MESSAGE THAT COMES WITH THE IMAGE VERY CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD IT.
The very same page will allow you to upload your WS image when you have finished editing.
Important notice: If the photographer chose not to allow a workshop on her/his image you will not be able to download the image and edit it.
Members with a basic account will only be allowed to do one WS per day. Premium account members do not have a limit.
What do the icons below the image in the gallery mean?
There are several icons below each image in the gallery.
The first thing you should bear in mind is: gray= off (no such option); orange= YES! (there is an extra something for you to enjoy). Itīs just a matter of clicking on it. Here we go:
- means there
is an extra image explaining/complementing the main one;
- means there is a HUGE
file showing a panorama image, which may or may not be the same image as the main one;
- means there is a sequence
of up to 10 images in total that tell a story beginning with the main one, or up to 9 alternative images of the same subject or
occasion;
- means there is also
a slideshow of an unlimited number of images that tell a story about the memberīs trip and/or experience;
Text Format
How do I add a hyperlink to my intro, notes, critiques and replies?
- Insert the following HTML code into your note: ‹a href="http://www.the-site-that-you-want-to-connect-to.com"›your-text‹/a›
- If you want the hyperlink to open a new page, use: ‹a target="_blank" href="http://www.the-site-that-you-want-to-connect-to.com"›your-text‹/a›
- If you want to change the font of the hyperlink to make clear to everyone that this is a link you might place ‹em› at the front and ‹/em› at the end of the above cited HTML codes.
How do I add colored text to my intro, notes, critiques and replies?
- Insert the following HTML code into your note: ‹span style="color:#color-code"›your-colored-text‹/span›
- Some color codes: Red= FF0000; Green= 00FF00; Blue= 0000FF.
- You can use any color as long as you use the RGB system which always entails 6 digits.
Images on the Index Page
How does a photograph get selected to be part of the index page?
- You have to be a PREMIUM member.
- Your image has to be marked as a favorite image by at least three members.
- The photograph has a 3:2 or 4:3 proportion. Panoramic images are excluded.
Internal Message System (IMS)
What is the IMS?
As the name already suggests, it is an internal message system that works like an email to a specific PF member who you want to contact privately. You need to log in to PF to send and receive messages.
How do I activate the IMS feature?
- Proceed to your profile page (My Menu >> My Account);
- Check the "YES" button in "Allow Contact?" (otherwise you will not be able to send nor receive any messages).
How do I send a message?
Let us assume that the potential receiver has her/his IMS activated:
- Go to the receivers profile page and click on "Contact Me";
- Write your message and click "Send".
How do I RECEIVE/ REPLY a message?
- 1 - As soon as you are logged into PF, a darker layer with a list of new messages will appear on your screen;
- 2 - To reply to a message, just click on "more details" and you will be forwarded to the message page.
- 3 - Click "Reply", write your reply and click "Send".
If you check a message "Mark as read", the reply does not appear in the alert overlay the next time you log into the site.
If you want to reply to your messages later, just navigate to My Menu >> My Messages (Sent/Received).
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The IMS is intended to offer a fast and reliable means of communication between members. It`s NOT an on-line chat. Thus, you will not receive a new messages alert while you are already logged in (browsing or writing comments/texts in the forum), but you can check your messages at any time by navigating to My Menu >> My Messages (Sent/Received). The new messages alert appears only when you newly log into the site. We recommend that you check your received messages as soon as you log in.
What if there is no the "Contact me" link on the members page who I actually would like to contact?
If you do not find the "Contact me" link on the potential receiver`s profile page it simply means that this member does not want to allow contact or she/ he forgot to activate it. You might write a critique of one of her/ his image and add a short line asking for other means of contact.
Types of Accounts
What are the differences between free and premium accounts?
Free account:
You will be able to upload one image per day and a total of 120 images. You may write 20 critiques and perform one workshop per day. Your pages will have active advertisement links. This account is completely free.
With a premium account you will be able to upload one image per day and an unlimited total amount of images. You will have the possibility of writing an unlimited amount of critiques and performing an unlimited amount of workshops per day. You will be able to build files with favorite pictures as well as mark your favorite photographers. You will have a statistics page to view activity on your gallery. Travelogues and Series are popular features available to Premium members only. Others new features are being developed. Your pages will not have any advertisement links. This account has an annual fee of US$ 25/year.
The differences of these two accounts can be seen here.
Rating System
Is there a point system?
No, there is not. Photofolia´s goal is to allow its members to engage in a learning process about the world and photography and not to support any kind of competitions. However, premium members have some statistical features to allow him or her to reach some conclusions regarding the popularity of his or her individual photographs.