Making the most of your Profile

The first page you'll see when you enter your Login / My Account area is My Creative Home, from which you can see the top rated content on the site, view your profile once published, view your reviews, and check to see if you've been sent any messages by other site members.

The first time you enter the site you'll see a link that says Create a profile to publish - start by clicking on that. This will take you to My Profile from where you can add more information about yourself or your organisation. (You can get back here at any time by clicking Login / My Account to return to My Creative Home then clicking My Content to adjust your basic profile information in My Profile).

Some of the features you might want to take advantage of when adding your basic profile are:

Title - The title will appear next to your display name, so try not to make them the same. The best approach is to use the display name as your business name, or your own name, and the title of your profile as a description of what you do, for example Gallery, Architect, Fine Artist or Theatre Technician etc.

Text/Description - Use this field to explain about yourself or your organisation and what you do.

Profile Picture - This picture will appear next to any content you post on the site, so it's a great place to put your logo if you have one, or a picture that represents you or your work. We recommend that every profile should add a picture, as without one your profile will look a bit plain, and if your content is featured on the home page it's much more likely to get clicked on if there's an image associated with it. If you are struggling with uploading images see the images help page.

Website Link - We want your profile to drive traffic to your own site, so make sure to include a link to your website if you have one!

Profile Categorisation - You can select up to three categorisations for your profile, which will help people find you in the directory.

Profile Location - Here you can include information about where you are based and your contact details. As the site is about making connections between local individuals, businesses and places, it's well worth filling this section in so that others who use the site know how to contact you. Importantly, also:

Map View - If you enter a postcode in the Profile Location section, then your profile will show up on the map view in the directory.

Once you've filled in these fields, simply click the Add Profile button.

To view your profile as it appears in the directory simply click Creative Home and then View Your Profile.

You can view your profile at any time by clicking Login / My Account to get back to your creative home.

To personalise the way your profile looks and to get the most out of it, click My Profile Settings (from My Creative Home) where you can set a display name for your profile, customise its visual appearance and link to your Twitter account if you have one. The various fields are explained below:

Display Name - This is how you want yourself or your organisation to be described in the Directory, as distinct from your contact name.

Profile Type - Simply choose the most appropriate of the three options.

Publish My Content - Make sure this tick box is selected to make your profile visible in the Directory. To note, you must also add some basic Content to your Profile before it can be published. Do this by going to My Creative Home, and choosing My Content then filling in the basic My Profile information. For more guidance on this see the Registering on the site section of the User Guide.

Profile Address - This is a unique URL for your profile entry in the directory. It will be automatically filled in for you, but you can adjust it if you like.

Profile Template - You can alter how your profile appears, for example how any images you have uploaded appear. Simply choose from one of the three options. You can see examples of how these each look by having a browse at other people's profiles in the Directory.

Profile Colour Scheme - You can personalise your profile using one of the three colour options. Note that the text colour is the most prominent, so base your choice on which of those you prefer.

Twitter Name - If you enter your Twitter Name here, your tweets will be automatically pulled through to your profile for people to read!

If you make any changes to these fields simply click the Update User button to see those changes appear in your profile.

If you have any questions that aren't answered here, you can always email us on support@creativehertfordshire.com