Del.icio.us handout

Using Del.icio.us At Work del.icio.us tips AT A GLANCE Web site: http://del.icio.us/ Login information – Your Account Username: Password: To bookmark a page, click on “TAG” or “post to del.icio.us” The “tags” or categories you assign to your bookmarks are the labels you will use to find them again. You cannot have too many! It’s better to use too many terms than too few. What Is Del.icio.us? Del.icio.us is a Web site where you may store links to Web sites. They call these links “bookmarks.” It also called a “social bookmarking” site. We’ll talk more about what that means later. What are the benefits of Del.icio.us? There are several benefits to using Del.icio.us. 1. Because you are able to store links to useful Web sites in one place, you can free up space on your computer’s desktop. Sometimes we may have so many icons on a desktop that it becomes difficult to find a link. Because of this, the same site might be saved on the desktop several times! With Del.icio.us, you can give one link several “tags.” Tags are keywords or names you assign to the Web site to help you find a link again more easily. 2. Because your bookmarks are saved on a Web page, you can access them from any computer! This means you do not have to go through the trouble of saving links to helpful sites on every computer you use. 3. Another benefit of Del.icio.us is that it is a “social bookmarking” site. This means that you can see what Web sites other people are bookmarking on topics of your choosing. This may lead you to discover additional sites that may be helpful to staff and patrons. What do I need to know? Installing the del.icio.us buttons on your browser is very easy. After logging in to your account at http://del.icio.us, click on “help”. If using Internet Explorer, click on “internet explorer buttons”. If using another browser, click on “bookmarklet buttons for any browser.” Simply follow the directions provided. I Depending on the browser version you are using, the buttons might look a little different. The “del.icio.us” button below will take you straight to the del.icio.us page.  The “my del.icio.us” button below will do the same thing: If you have trouble finding the del.icio.us buttons on your browser after they have been installed, there is a helpful little video on how to find them at: http://del.icio.us/help/video/ielinks So What Do I Do With These Del.icio.us Buttons? I’m so glad you asked! As mentioned earlier (p. 3 & 4), the “del.icio.us” or “my del.icio.us” button will take you to the main del.icio.us Web site. From there, you may log in. Once you are logged in, you may view the list of items you’ve bookmarked, edit your tags, etc. You may also search the Web and add sites to your del.icio.us account with just a few clicks! When you find yourself on a Web site you would like to bookmark on del.icio.us, click on the TAG button in Internet Explorer. A new window will pop up. From here, you may change the name of the bookmark by editing the “description”. You may type a note in the “notes” field indicating potential uses for the site, and most importantly, you may assign subject categories to the bookmark in the “tags” area. If you do not wish to share a bookmark publicly, you may select the box beside “do not share.” Anyone with access to the Web will be able to view your list of bookmarks at http://del.icio.us/”yourusernamehere” with the exception of those you select not to share. In order to view the bookmarks you are keeping private, you must be logged into your account. If you are saving a link to the intranet, or to the staff email Web client, you may select the box beside “do not share” to keep them private. If others have bookmarked the same site, Del.icio.us may offer recommendations for the tags you might include. You may add them by simply clicking on the words themselves. If you are using a different browser, and if the del.icio.us tags mainly appear as text on your toolbar, you may bookmark the Web site by simply clicking on “post to del.icio.us.” Viewing Your Del.icio.us Page To view the bookmarks you have saved and the subjects you have assigned to them, you may go to http://del.icio.us/”yourusernamehere”. You do not have to be logged to simply view your public bookmarks. However, if you wish to see the bookmarks you have decided not to share, or if you wish to save additional pages on your list of bookmarks, you will need to log in to do so. Why Social Bookmarking? As we know, the Web is growing every day. By using a site like del.icio.us, you not only keep track of sites that are helpful to use, but also see what others find worthwhile and worth bookmarking! In fact, you may search for other sites by the “tag” or subject others assign to their bookmarks. It sounds complicated, but is actually quite easy to do. First, click on “subscriptions” at the top of the page. We will find ourselves on our “subscriptions” page. Let’s take a little tour of it, shall we? For instance, if we click on the top username we have circled, we can go to the list of public links they have saved! If you come across a user who repeatedly saves useful sites, you may want to add them to your “network” so you can find them again easily. Your network essentially saves a list of del.icio.us users you would like to find again easily. You may also view another user’s network, as that, too, may lead you to other useful sites. 1 Your “not shared” bookmarks appear only when you are logged in. Create a few terms to search on. You will be subscribing to the “tags” people create when they bookmark Web sites. The default view shows all of the results for all of the terms entered in the “your subs” box. To see the results for any one of the terms in the “your subs” box, you need only to click on it. You may add, subtract, or modify any of the terms in the “your subs” box by clicking on “edit”. You may also view the username of the person who bookmarked the sites.