Welcome to the Unofficial Cuusoo User's Guide.
This is a Part 5 of a short series of articles about Cuusoo for beginners through super users. It is derived from the presentation I gave at Brick Fiesta earlier this year.Part 1: What is Cuusoo?
Part 2: Finding Projects
Part 3: Supporting a Project
Part 4: Comments, Reporting, & Feedback
Part 5: Monitoring Activity and the My Page
Part 6: Creating Projects and Verboten Subjects
Part 7: Creating "Successful" Projects
Bookmarking Projects
The activity of a bookmarked project will show up in your Activity Feed. You permanently bookmark any project that you make or that you support. You may choose to bookmark any other project.To bookmark a project, click on "Bookmark this Project" on the project page. The phrase will then change to "Bookmarked". If you want to unbookmark a project just click on "Bookmarked" again.
There are generally four reasons one would Bookmark a project instead of supporting it.
- The project is not quite up to snuff but it "could be"
Many projects post before they are fully ready with statements like, "I will have pictures next week." Bookmarking these projects will notify you when they are updated, allowing you to postpone your decision to support.
Also, many people will leave a comment giving a suggestion for a change to a project with the leverage that they will support if their request is fulfilled.
- Just curios
This is a catch all. Lots of people will keep tabs on projects that are very similar to their own or that they think may break the rules a bit and they want to see how it plays out.
- The project is too popular!
Experienced Cuusoo users with a lot of elements in the activity feed will sometimes follow a really good project instead of initially supporting it. The reason for this is that sometimes a project will really catch people's attention like the Eve Online Ship, the Winchester, or Portal 2 and many people will support the project all at once...which can clog up a users Activity Feed. If you have done bookmarks instead of a support, then you may "unbookmark" the project and wait for the activity to slow back down.
- Jumping in at the end
Remarkably, some people want to be the 10,000 supporter. Who knows why? Some are extreme examples of the "project too popular" crowd, others fight over the number.
Following Users
You follow someone by clicking on their "follow" button. This button is located under the name of the project's creator if you are on a project page. Alternatively, if you click on someone's avatar or their name it will take you to their profile. A follow button will be located under their avatar and username on the right side of their profile page.When you follow someone, you will be notified, via your activity feed, of many of the actions they preform in Cuusoo. These specific activities are noted in the Activity feed section below.
If you want to unfollow someone, then all you need to do is click the "follow" button again, which will have changed into an "unfollow" button. You can also unfollow someone in the Friends section of the My Page (see below)
The user being "followed" will be notified, via their activity feed, when you follow them, but they will not be notified if you choose to unfollow.
People are generally followed for one of three reasons:
- They find projects that the follower likes
- They leave comments that the follower appreciates
- They create many projects that the follower likes
The My Page
The My Page is where you can monitor projects and creators. It also happens to be where you initiate and update projects but there will be more on that in the next section.Activity Feed
The activity feed tells you what is going on with projects and people you are following. Items that will show up in the feed include:
- A user has supported a project that you have bookmarked.
- A user has posted a message to a project that you have bookmarked.
- A user has started following you.
- A project creator adds or deletes an image from a project you have bookmarked.
- A project creator alters a project you have bookmarked.
- A person you are following does any of the above actions.
Friends
The friends section of the My Page gives you access to two lists: Following and FollowersFollowing is a list of all the people you are following. This section will also display their avatar and their web page, if they have chosen to post one. You have the option to unfollow them here.
Followers indicates who is following you. Like, the following section, this also displays their web page if they have chosen to post one in their profile.
Projects
This is a simple interface allowing for a basic overview of the projects you have some correlation with. This interface divides these projects into those you have created, those you have supported, and those you have bookmarked.The interface provides the following details:
- Title
- Main image
- Creator
- First 100 character
- Number of Views
- Number of Comments
- Number of Bookmars
- Number of Supporters.
Account Setting
This section lets you set your profile and account settings.Account Tab
Every site with any social aspect has one of these. This is Cuusoo's.Under the "Account" tab you have your very basic site support elements: Avatar, Email address, Username, and Password update.
You also have two social posting options here: Facebook feed and Twitter Feed. If you set up either of these options then you can automatically post your support activities. When you support a project, if either of these is set, then a check box will show up at the bottom of the support window. If this box is check when you finish your support, then a default post will be sent to the indicated site.
If you set the "Auto Post" then this check box will default to being checked. You are still free to uncheck it to prevent sharing your support activities.
Special Note on Avatars:
You cannot use the Lego logo or any "clever" variation of it as your Avatar. Cuusoo will delete your avatar if they find that you have done this.
Profile Tab
The profile has the basic elements you expect to find: Name, Gender, Country, & Profession.
It also has a place to post your twitter, flickr, facebook, website of choice, and Bio. This tends to be the more interesting elements.
If someone goes to your profile page, they will see the Bio and these links. If you have created any projects you should heavily leverage these aspects of your Profile.
