If you are new to ActiveRain, first of all, we'd like to welcome you. ActiveRain is one of the best places to Network with other Real Estate Industry Professionals online, and it's a great place to start your Blog. If you have recently joined the community, but have not yet had the chance to setup your profile, create your first Blog post, or have not learned how to get around and navigate the neighborhood, this post IS for you.
This is a short 8 minute video tutorial that will take you on a journey through three main areas of the ActiveRain Online Network. These areas include: the tabs and links on the main home page, the links and navigational tools on your "My Home" page, and lastly, the hidden tools and links on AR that can get you extra points and more information about your Blog. This is a large video file, please be patient, it may take 15-20 seconds to load.
Here are some links to other pages we recommend if you're a new member here:
Inter-Active Video Tutorial - ActiveRain Navigation (8:30 min)
With Inter-Active Video, you can click on any of the links at anytime.
Disclaimer: This tutorial was created on the quiet side with the intention of not waking up the families of any "New" or existing Midnight Blogging Members. :-)
81 Comments on ActiveRain Navigation - For New Members
thank you, thank you, thank you, I learned to bookmark!! Wish I had read this weeks ago. Good thing about trial and error is when you see how easy it is to do things correctly it looks easy. I am thinking I CAN DO THIS! Note for later- lissen to the rest of the videos. thanks again. cheryl
Brad this is Awesome - Great Effort put forth into this video. Love the Inter-Active links on the Video and You have Superb Video Editing Skills . This is Top Notch, 5 Stars *****!!! Excellent Resource for the newbies, wish I had this before but better late than never :) BOOKMARKED!
Hi Brad, a beautifully done tutorial. It will help anyone that is new and I have bookmarked it for when I invite someone, I will be sure to share. A very busy week and I didn't set up the call to you about MIXPRO but I will and I thanks you again for the generous offer.
BRAD, I have bookmarked this post so I can forward it to new members when I see them. I don't have time to watch now but it looks like it will be something good for all of us to watch. I know that I am constantly learning new things.
since you obviously were reading my mind when you just 'threw' this little tutorial together can I add to the wish list of "wanta knows" or is half the fun the brain fog of figuring it out on one's own? - cheryl www.ozarkcastle.com
Brad, thanks for the tutorial. I just leaned about how to contact AR. I was trying to figure what was the best way to suggest to have an "opt out" for the spam type adds in the comments we are not getting. Thanks AJ
Man, if my wife wasn't asleep next to me right now, I would definitely be watching the video to see what cool stuff you did now..but I will have to do that later.
So for now I will just say thanks for the cool post that i can send to the newbies!!!
Brad- Great for newbies! I was left on my own to navigate. I can see how some people would be afraid to do that. Oh, thanks for the quiet side as I am one of those midnight bloggers.
Brad: What a great newbie post. For quite a long time now, whenever I have found a newbie on line, I have given them a link to one of your older newbie posts to get them going. I will start sharing this with them, too. Thanks for sharing.
Brad, what an amazing job! How great for a new member! Do we have a "welcome wagon" - someone that emails every new member when they sign up? If so a link to this needs to go with the email!
Hi Brad - great video for everyone! I watched the WHOLE thing watching for those "hidden tools and links"...... wwwaaaahhhhhh, I already knew about those.... ;-)
Any previews of next month's that you mentioned?? ;-)
BRAD - This is a great start for newbies. I would also suggest that they just go back and read your catalog of posts if they are looking for helpful hints to become all that they can be.
I'll tell you although navigating AR in a dense fog through trial and error was fun, I think I can become much more productive now that I have a clue. Thanks once again, as always your tutorials are just what we need.
thank you, thank you, thank you, I learned to bookmark!! Wish I had read this weeks ago. Good thing about trial and error is when you see how easy it is to do things correctly it looks easy. I am thinking I CAN DO THIS! Note for later- lissen to the rest of the videos. thanks again. cheryl
Cheryl - trial and error is a good thing and yes, you CAN DO THIS! Enjoy!! :-))
Brad this is Awesome - Great Effort put forth into this video. Love the Inter-Active links on the Video and You have Superb Video Editing Skills . This is Top Notch, 5 Stars *****!!! Excellent Resource for the newbies, wish I had this before but better late than never :) BOOKMARKED!
Justin - thanks alot my friend. You are certainly no newbie here, I have been following your Blog here for quite some time. I loved your Myspace, Facebook, Twitter oh My post. Your Blog looks great!! You'll be seeing me stopping by more, I'm always looking for great new content and writers here for AR members and guests to read.
Hi Brad, a beautifully done tutorial. It will help anyone that is new and I have bookmarked it for when I invite someone, I will be sure to share. A very busy week and I didn't set up the call to you about MIXPRO but I will and I thanks you again for the generous offer.
Hey William - thanks for being so willing to share this post with new members, hopefully it will help make a difference in the community. I even stumbled a couple times doing the video, just goes to show you, we all have a little newbie inside. haha!
Call me anytime regarding Mixpo (Now called AR Video) or for any reason whatsoever, I look forward to your call. Thanks for taking time to comment on this post, I wasn't sure how it would be received. I really do hope it will help new members feel more comfortable getting around in the rain.
Terry - sorry I didn't have this done sooner. Nice thing about new members here on AR is that they are signing up everyday and some weeks by the hundreds. I know it may be too late for us few, but hopefully it will benefit the many in the future. Glad you're up and running and didn't need this post, but please tell a friend or fellow new member if you feel they may benefit. Thanks Terry, have a great weekend.
Missy - clap, clap, clap... I loved that! Thank you, so I guess it's ok then, I'll take a bow? haha! ROFL...
Thanks for the applause, but really not necessary. I have been thinking about these tutorials, seems like forever now, and just haven't had the means to provide them. Thanks to Jon and Bob at AR, I now have the tools and platform to really try and help out the new members with these types of posts.
IMO, my tutorial here has a bit to be desired, but it will get better with practice and time. This is the first one I have ever done using this application with ActiveRain Video. (formerly Mixpo)
I am doing an entire "New Member" series as a part time project in my new roll here. Any ideas from the pro what you'd like to see next? I am planning a "Profile Setup" and then "Creating A Blog Post" is there anything you feel would be useful to new members after those? Thanks Missy. :-)
Mike - thanks, it was great talking to you on the phone yesterday, I see you are doing more video on your posts, keep up the good job, don't get discouraged for any reason, video is a great tool and awesome way to communicate your message regardless of the results you may think you're getting. :-)
BRAD, I have bookmarked this post so I can forward it to new members when I see them. I don't have time to watch now but it looks like it will be something good for all of us to watch. I know that I am constantly learning new things.
Marchel - thanks for sharing this with new members, I hope it will inspire more of them to dive in knowing how to navigate the neighborhood a bit better. There's more to come in this tutorial series for new members.
Gonna have to check this out later whan I'm in the office as it will definitely bog down my dialup even worse. Cant wait to see it, thanks for taking the time to do it.
Diane - Dial up internet access can certainly pose some restrictions with any media, flash, or video. By the same token, there is such a wide variety and range of users with everything from dial-up to High speed Optical access, we just have to try and meet the needs of ALL subscribers and viewers. It's a constant challenge trying to provide tools and posts for ALL levels of internet access.
I hope you'll enjoy this when you do get the chance to view it. It should work ok with dial up, it just may yake a few seconds to load once you click on the play arrow. :-)
Yvette - welcome to AR, I do hope this post will help yo feel a bit more comfortable knowing your way around the community at large. I am working on a couple more that will hopefully be helpful for you and other members. Coming soon to a Blog near you...lol~ Thanks!! :-)
since you obviously were reading my mind when you just 'threw' this little tutorial together can I add to the wish list of "wanta knows" or is half the fun the brain fog of figuring it out on one's own? - cheryl
Cheryl - feel free to add any "wanta knows" you'd like. The next tutorials I am working on are "setting up profiles" and "creating Blog posts" but you are welcome to add anything to the list you'd like to see. There is something to be said for the "Brain Fog" you are referring to, that's how most of us learned everything we know here in the rain.
Looking forward to your ideas and suggestions. Thanks! :-)
Patty - thank you very much, I have to say these video tutorials take much longer than a typical post, and because I am still learning different applications and experimenting, they of course take even longer. As long as they are helping ANY member, I am happy to try and provide them. Thanks for viewing it and for taking the time to comment. :-))
Kathleen - I hope this will help any new member feel more comfortable with their navigation in the rain. Thanks for helping get this out to them, that's very sweet of you. :-)
Brad, Thank you so much for all of the information you provided and the assistance you gave me. It is greatly appreciated. I am excited to be a new part of this community.
Christine - thank you, and we are just as excited to have you as part of this community. Let me know if you ever need any assistance here. It was really great talking with you today. Thanks again. :-)
I know this video may be a bit long, but the time it will save you learning all the places to navigate on AR could be days, weeks, or even months. I have met and talked to members who have been on AR for months and didn't know some of these links were even available. Hopefully it will save YOU some time and frustration as well. Thanks for watching and for all your comments.
Freddy - took me a couple months to find and figure out all these locations and links and what they do. Hopefully this video will knock off a couple months for anyone who watches it. Thanks, glad it was helpful to you, makes it all worth it. :-)
Thanks, Brad for putting stuff like this on AR. I'm so new to all this and it's overwhelming when you are getting started. I'll take your advice and work through the newbie stuff. I notice that you post a lot of stuff to help people get going - keep it up! It's very much appreciated!
Debbie Fiskum, Perfect Transformations staging in Denver, CO
Debbie - thanks for checking in and for your comment. Just FYI, you should login first before commenting or doing anything on AR. Your comments earn you 25 points when you're logged in. Look forward to seeing you around, don't hesitate to call me if you ever need any assistance here. :-))
This was very informative. I am still somewhat new and have a lot to learn. I guess that I need to keep looking for and learning from posts like these.
What is the best way to find out how to do something without having to go through a lot of info to find it? For example, posting pictures. I've done it a few times but my pictures are usually much larger than I would like. Any instructions out there about how to make my pix smaller so I can add several instead of one gargantuan one?
Rebecca - there are many members who write these types of "how-to" tutorial posts. Use the search tool, or also the link at the bottom of this page that says "Help/FAQ" you will find many of them there. I also have categorized all the posts I have written which you or any member can access from my profile page here on AR. Please feel free to do so anytime.
To post pictures, use the little green tree icon on the toolbar above the comments or new post box. To adjust the size of the photo, either use your mouse or the appearance tab, and set your width and height parameters. Hope that helps. :-)
Brad: Great Video for New members but also a great refresher for everyone. Glad to see it featured in the daily email today. All the new features are so cool... love the outside blog feature! Have a blessed day.
Jan - thanks, I just noticed it in the news letter, very cool. I've had a full plate getting the outside blogs launched, but didn't want you to think I didn't appreciate your comment here. I do! Thank you, and you have a blessed day as well.
Vera - I know the video is a bit long, but this 8 minute video will save you hours weeks, maybe months of trying to learn all the places to navigate on AR. Many of us old timers here had to learn this stuff without the use of posts and tutorial videos. This is just one of the ways we give back to the community for all the things the community has done for us. We call it "Paying it Forward" :-)
Maya - not sure this will keep you on track, but it should help you find the track you want to be on with all the different tools and areas available on AR. Thanks for the comment. :-)
Sally - here if you need me. One tip: Make sure you login before you do anything on AR, you're missing out on points and your signature (name) on comments will have no link. Just an FYI.... :-)
Thank you for this tutorial, now I at least know where to start. I felt a little over whelmed when I open up ActiveRain for the first time. This presentation was really well done and informing.
Sarah - you are so welcome, I'm glad you had the chance to watch this, sometimes we walk around in the dark trying to find our way, then the light goes on and has a way of "Making Our Day!" Thanks. :-)
Scott - Once you watch it a couple times, you'll no longer need it. You'll get to the point where you feel comfortable with where everything is on ActiveRain and how to use the network effectively. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, I really do appreciate it very much. :-)
If you are new to ActiveRain, first of all, we'd like to welcome you. ActiveRain is one of the best places to Network with other Real Estate Industry Professionals online, and it's a great place to start your Blog. If you have recently joined the community, but have not yet had the chance to setup your profile, create your first Blog post, or have not learned how to get around and navigate the neighborhood, this post IS for you.
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thank you, thank you, thank you, I learned to bookmark!! Wish I had read this weeks ago. Good thing about trial and error is when you see how easy it is to do things correctly it looks easy. I am thinking I CAN DO THIS! Note for later- lissen to the rest of the videos. thanks again. cheryl