#love how i've made all my pages cohesive and match my theme and edited so much stuff and yet i want to change it 🤭 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

studyfeather · 7 years

Note

I just wanted to say I love your bullet journal and ask if you have any tips for starting a tumblr in general. I've seen your studyblr intro/advice post and it was so helpful to me, but I'm just starting my studyblr and already a bit lost as to how to navigate everything. Thanks in advance!

Hey there! (and omg you’re so sweet lskdjflk) I’m not the greatest when it comes to tumblr, but hopefully I can still help you out! I’ll share some navigation tips and some starting tumblr advice!

➸ Starting a Tumblr

Make a memorable username

The more memorable and simple your username, the better!

Alongside this, a lot of people may associate you with your icon! So it can be disconcerting to some if your icon changes frequently.

It’s also best if you stick to one username. You are able to change your username, but if anyone takes your previous username, they may think it is you. (But if you do change your username, make sure your followers know about it!)

Find/make a desktop theme that is user friendly, and pleasant to look at.

There’s nothing more frustrating (to me) to come across a blog that, no matter how much I try, I can’t seem to navigate it well. Or, if a blog has a displeasing color combination.

Usually I like to see a search bar, a navigation bar, a clean theme, and a place where I can easily see how to go to the next page.

It’s even better if your theme matches what type of blog you’re running, or some of your big interests.

As you’re running a studyblr, I’ve found that lights, whites, and pastels with a minimal layout tend to be the norm.

Remain active

The best way for anyone to get the most out of their tumblr experience is to remain active. Reach out to others with similar interests, add comments to a thread, post original content, etc.

People WANT to follow other people who will be active. See it this way - it may be better to follow 5 active people, than 10 inactive people.

Interact with your followers. Host giveaways (if you can afford it), do blog compliments or blog rates. Ask questions or something to get some sort of feedback.

Maintain some sort of vibe that people know you are approachable! And kind!

Be sure to tag your posts

The best way for your blog and your content to be noticed, is to tag your posts with relevant search terms.

Quite a bit of people won’t use tags by way of people to find their posts. Instead, it will also be a place to add additional information, personal feelings, rants, if it’s a tangent to what the post is about, etc. Sometimes it can be important to read what others have to say in the tags.

➸ Navigating Tumblr

Honestly, as a major tip, making sure you become familiar with how tumblr works. Settings (and how to change your settings), how to make posts, tag usage, themes, etc - and be sure to make use of it. I’ll share some tumblr basics.

Disclaimer: I use Windows 10 for desktop, and have an Android phone, so some things I say might not be cohesive. I’m also no tumblr master (and have googled how to do things more than I’d like to admit OTL) For the most part, I will be describing how to do things on a computer, and not on mobile - unless specified otherwise.

➸ Tumblr on a Computer

Let’s start with the super basics - the bar in the top right hand corner.

Dashboard

This is where you can see the content from the people you follow. What they post and what they reblog. If you follow tags, they will occasionally show up (and will specify somewhere if they are from a tag you follow - and not from a blog you follow).

The dashboard is what you are defaulted to when you type “tumblr.com” - if you’re logged in, that is.

There will be a number that pops up above the dashboard icon. This number tells you there’s x amount of posts that people you follow have reblogged/made you haven’t seen yet. You can refresh your dashboard by pressing the icon, and it will bring you to the top.

Explore

The explore will lead you to a separate page. This will give you different options for you to explore a little bit more with posts that are more tailored to you. I haven’t used this tab, but it can be a good way to find more of what’s out there.

Inbox

This is where you will find all of your asks. A number will pop up if you have new asks, but the number will disappear if you have seen it. (So even if you have not answered the ask but have seen it, the number won’t stay - but you can still access the ask, ofc.)

If you have multiple blogs for one account, you can access asks for each blog separately, or all together (option to do so will be on the right).

If you want to add tags to your asks, you can do the following:

Post your answer and later edit the post, adding tags.

Hold alt down - this will turn the “answer privately” option into a “save as draft” option. Go to your drafts (account -> drafts). Edit post, add tags, post.

Messaging

Tumblr’s way of insant messaging! It keeps track of all the people you’ve messaged, and is a way for you to start a new conversation (messaging -> new message).

If you have a new message, a number will appear on the message icon, and will disappear once you’ve viewed it.

If you do talk to people on your computer, their icons will show up on the right and will stack up on the right side of your screen. You don’t have to have it up (just click x on the messaging box once it’s pulled up), but it can be a super quick way to frequently message someone!

Activity

This is how you will see all the activity that involves you, what you’ve reblogged (if it’s been reblogged from you, that is), asks, etc. If you click the activity icon, you’ll see a little bit of your activity.

If you click the “see everything” option at the bottom, you’ll be directed to a different page, where you can scroll down and see more of your activity. You will also see some more information you can mess around with.

You may notice some activity will be highlighted in different colors.

blue = people who you follow

purple = you’ve been tagged/mentioned

You can also see if people have added a caption and what they said. (not sure how to describe it though, but the notification will the thicker, have a bar beside what they’ve said).

You will also see what each activity notice is, and it will show in the user’s icon in the bottom right.

red/heart = like

green/arrows = reblog

blue/+ = follow

blue/speech bubble = comment on a post

purple/@ = tagged/mentioned

black/? = ask received

black/curved arrow = ask answered (you’ll only receive this if you ask publicly. if you ask anonymously, you won’t get a notification)

Account

This is where you can find different information concerning your account and some quick links.

Access your likes

See who you’re following

Settings

Help Center

See what you’ve posted on your blog (does not take you to your page)

Your followers

Activity

Drafts

Queue

Click here to manage queue options and see what is in your queue.

Edit appearance

Side blogs

Make a Post

It’s just as it says - this is where you go when you want to make a post. You will be given seven different options. You have seven different options to optimize how to share your content. (I don’t really use any option other than the text/photo - so I apologize if anything I say is incorrect)

Text

You can see different options how to to customize your text. You can have a title, header, bold, italicize, add links, make bullets, etc. If you highlight your intended text, you will find different options that will pop up. You can do that, OR type in the format manually. Here’s a guide that may help you:

@/unwrapping’s text formatting guide

Photo

Use this to add photos from your computer, or add a photo using an image url.

You can also add a photo (from your device) if you see a + on the side of your post. Click that, and you’ll have even more options, including adding a photo.

To add a photo from the web, you can also copy/paste the image. Where you would like it.

Quote

This will automatically add quotation marks, and give you a place where to supply the quote’s source.

Link

Share any link. Typically to an external source.

Chat

Uses a different font than a normal text post, meant to mimic a conversation.

Audio

Share a song via url.

Video

Upload a video, or share a video from online.

Now to the top left - the search bar.

Search Bar

As it says, this is what allows you to search tumblr.

Tumblr runs on tags. When you add a tag to an original post, this allows for it to be searchable. If anyone searches that tag, your post will end up somewhere.

To track a tag, enter something in the search bar. There will be an option beside it that says “follow.” Click that.

If you track tags, they will show up once you begin typing. You can easily find your tracked tags this way!

You can also search for tumblr accounts by searching their usernames, and they will appear at the top.

The tumblr logo on the side will lead you to your dashboard.

➸ Give yourself a URL, icon, and theme!

URLs

You can change your url/username at any given time, and how ever many times you want. To change your url:

On desktop: Go to account -> edit apperance -> click your blog on the side (it will be on the right hand side, under the separate settings tabs) -> username. You’ll see a pencil on the right beside your url, and there you can change it.

Your old url will be locked (meaning no one else can use that url) for 24 hours - but after that, anyone can take it. If you don’t want anyone to use your old url, you can always make a sideblog and leave it unattended.

If you want to see your blog, simply type (username here).tumblr.com - i.e. mine would be studyfeather.tumblr.com. If you know someone’s tumblr username (their url), you can easily find their blog by using this method. You can also use this method to see if anyone has a username you want.

Icon

To set an icon for yourself (and how to change it) go to account -> edit apperance -> click blog on right side (as described in the url section) -> edit appearance. Click the pencil that’s on top of your icon.

You will also have the option to give your icon a circle or a square shape - whichever you like best!

Theme

Desktop Theme:

In order to give yourself a desktop theme, as far as I’m aware, you’ll need access to a computer. Go to your tumblr page. You’ll see in the top right corner a button that says “edit theme.” OR you can go to account -> edit appearance -> your blog -> website theme -> edit theme.

Here you can browse themes, make a customizable theme, edit your theme, add pages, etc.

There will be a bunch of themes that you can find by browsing themes (as described above) but … it honestly won’t give you many options you might like (and some you have to purchase). Here’s some other places you can go to to find themes:

@theme-hunter

@neonbikethemes

Here you can find more free tumblr themes - but be sure to follow their rules/terms of service/guidelines/etc.

You can also find themes (or blogs that share themes) by searching tumblr.

If you want to learn how to code tumblr themes, @buildthemes helps teach how.

Mobile Theme:

Your mobile theme and desktop theme are two separate things. One is what will be seen on mobile, the other on desktop. To change your mobile theme (on desktop) go to:

account -> edit appearance -> select blog -> edit appearance.

Here you can change your banner image, icon image, background color, and choose an accent color. This will be what other’s will see when they come across your

➸ Settings

Go through your settings and be thorough in doing so. Find settings by clicking account -> settings. You have settings for: your account, dashboard, notifications, apps, labs, your blogs. Make sure everything is how you see fit.

➸ Finding your way around other people’s blogs

You’re wanting to send an ask but … you can’t find their ask page?

Type in the following: username.tumblr.com/ask . If their asks are closed, nothing may show up.

You’re wanting to search something but … there’s no search bar?

You can search their blog using a url instead! For instance, if you wanted to search for my original content on my blog, you can find it by typing studyfeather.tumblr.com/tagged/featherpost ! the /tagged allows for you to earch for a tag.

If you are searching for something with a space, a “_” (an underscore) serves as a space. For example: studyfeather.tumblr.com/tagged/monthly_spread

Want a quicker way to look at a blog?

Type username.tumblr.com/archive . This will show you all that user has posted and reblogged with some sort of image or cropped text, posts being separated by months. Can be pretty convenient when trying to find something you only remember distantly.

➸ Become familiar with ways you can access tumblr, and how each device works best for you

Once you become familiar with tumblr on one device, make sure you know how to access everything you need on other devices as well. (imo) Each device has its pros and cons - but if I had to choose, I would say a desktop/laptop as my #1 choice.

Laptop

I use my laptop mainly to make posts (I’ve found making posts elsewhere can be screwy), access posts I’ve been mentioned in, or posts to comment on. I also prefer answering any messages here!

Phone

I use my phone when I’m on the go, and, for the most part, reblog everything using my phone (add tags, and add to my queue, and check my tracked tags).

Other Devices

I don’t have any other devices, but that shouldn’t limit you either. Work with whatever suits you best!

Hope this helps? Honestly, it takes a little bit of roaming and messing around to get the hang of things, in my opinion. But best of luck Meg, you’re going to do great! ^7

#I hope I wasn't too redundant oops #or that everything I said was already common knowledge #I was so lost when I first started tumblr too lskdfjlk #still am a little bit ahaa #masterpost #text #featherpost #ask #answered #meg-is-studying #studyblrmasterposts #helpful #new studyblr #navigating tumblr #advice #tips

32 notes · View notes