WELCOME TO MODELBUZZ!

The beta test is underway, and we're already finding and squashing bugs ... making Modelbuzz run smoothly.
Thanks to all the early sign-ups for their invaluable assistance ... your suggestions have really helped!
Here's some basic instructions for using the site's features ... getting the most out of your membership.

SIGN-IN and PASSWORD:
Is my username or password case-sensitive?
You may choose a combination of upper and lowercase letters to customize the way your username will appear on your portfolio and with your thumbnail avatar, but it is not necessary to input your username in case sensitive fashion when you sign-in. Your password is case-sensitive.

What characters are allowed?
All standard characters are allowed, and we suggest a combination of upper and lowercase letters and characters for a more secure password.
 
How to change your password?
Go to Admin Home > Edit Profile > Change Password.
 
Can I change my username?
Currently no, but yes, we will be adding this feature.

I just logged-in ... where is my portfolio page?
When you first log-in, you arrive at your Admin Home page, where all the tools you need to create and edit the look of your portfolio are available to you. Simply use the View my Portfolio or the My Profile link at the upper-right of the page.

CREATING EDITING YOUR PROFILE:
Profile types:
There are currently six profile types: Model, Photographer, Makeup Artist, Hair Stylist, Wardrobe Stylist, and Agency/Manager. You selected your profile type when you first joined Modelbuzz.
 
How many profiles can I have?
You are allowed one profile.

How do I create and edit the content in my portfolio?
You have all the tools you'll need at your Admin Home page ... located in Edit Profile (see below).

Which tools do what?
The My Admn section of the website contains 1o links: Admin Home | View My Profile | Edit Profile | Manage Friends | My Favorites | Messaging | Blog | Photos/Video | Manage Calendar | Alerts.

Since the first thing you'll want to do is create a profile and upload pics, we'll deal with those tools first.

Edit Profile:
This link takes you to the profile editing toolbox where you can edit the five main areas of your profile:
General | Location | About Me | Credits & Experience | Rates

General:
Select your Gender, add a link to your website, and select your specialties.

Location:
Selecting your country will load the appropriate state or provinces menu, from which you can make a selection. Selecting your State or Province will load the appropriate menu of cities. Selecting your city will load the appropriate menu of zip-codes. Fill out your location completely so that the Search tools as well as the Locate Me mapping tool on your profile will allow other members to locate you. It's not recommended that you fill in your residence street address, as this will display in the Locate Me map tool.
Your street address will not display on your profile page, but your city, state and country will. If you have a business location that you wish to promote, filling in the street address is recommended so that potential customers can more easily find your business.

About Me:
Tell the world about yourself. The WYSIWYG editor allows you to change font style, size and color and customize the look of this section.

Credits & Experience:
List your work experience and education. The WYSIWYG editor allows you to change font style, size and color and customize the look of this section.

Rates:
List your rates for accepting work. The WYSIWYG editor allows you to change font style, size and color and customize the look of this section.

UPLOADING YOUR PICS:
How do I upload Pics?
The Pic Uploader is located in your My Admin links, just go to Photos/Video. You may upload up to 10 pics at a time. (See MORE ABOUT PICS below for details about optimum size, copyright, etc.)

Where are the pics I've just uploaded? I can't find them.
When first uploaded, your pics are temporarily stored in your Holding Area, where they are not yet visible to the public. After uploading, you will automatically be transferred to the Manage Photos in Holding Area. The Holding Area has tools to add titles and credits to your pics, as well as to assign them to your Galleries.

ADDING CREDITS TO YOUR PICS:
Credits inform everyone who views your pics who were the talents involved with the creation of that image. You should always give credit where credit is due.

Use the Enter/Edit Credits tool to give credit to the image creators.

Required credits:
Copyright, Photographer, and Model are the three required credits for each photo.

Crediting other members:
When other members of the site are credited in your images, those credits become links to the other members profiles.

Crediting non-members:
Even if a contributing talent is not a Member of MB, you should always give them credit. Non-members credits currently don't link to anywhere.
After saving your credits, you'll be returned to your Holding Area.

ADDING CREDITS TO BATCHES OF PICS
You may use the Bulk Processing tools to assign an entire batch of photos to a gallery, making the work of moving pics easy and fast. Select the Bulk Processing box on each pic that would share identical credits, and then click Edit Credits for Selected.

OK ... I'm ready to assign my pics to a gallery. I can't find them. Where are my galleries?
They are in Manage Existing Galleries/Photos, but you must first go there and create some galleries.

CREATING GALLERIES:
Click Add New in Manage Existing Galleries/Photos to create a new gallery. Give it a name and hit Save.

CHANGING GALLERY DISPLAY ORDER
This is a drag and drop feature, drag your galleries into a different order to display them any way you want. Try it!

MOVING PICS TO YOUR GALLERIES:
You'll notice that the Move to Gallery tool is not available on a photo until AFTER you've assigned credits.
The Move to Gallery tool becomes available on each pic with completed credits. Click it and a pull-down gallery menu appears allowing you to select the gallery destination you want to move that pic to ... or you may use the Bulk Processing tools to assign an entire batch of photos to a gallery, making the work of moving pics easy and fast ... and you can move entire batches to a gallery as well.

CHANGING PICS DISPLAY ORDER:
Arrange photos in any order you desire with the convenient drag & drop feature. Changes are instantaneous!

CHOOSING A PIC FOR GALLERY THUMB:
In your Manage Existing Galleries/Photos area, use the Edit Photos tool. You can rename pics, change their display order, and move them between galleries. Click Profile Pic to display that photo as your large representative image on your main profile page. Click Gallery Thumb to display that photo as the representative thumbnail of your Gallery. These may be changed at any time, and changes are instantaneous.

ADMIN HOME TOOLS (My Admin)
Admin Home:
This link takes you to the main Admin page, which is where you arrive first after signing-in. On the Admin Home page you will see a list of links to the profiles of the most recent visitors to your profile. We're planning to add a list display which will inform you of how many new Friend Requests, Messages, Tags, and Pic comments you've received. (Wherever you are on the Modelbuzz site, you can easily return to your profile or to your Admin Home by using the links located in the main ModelBuzz Header at the top right of every page)

View my Profile:
This handy link takes you directly to your profile's main page, for quickly viewing any changes you've made to your profile with the tools in Edit Profile.

Manage Friends:
This link allows you view any Pending Friend Requests, view and manage your Existing Friends, and access your Blocked Members list. Click on Existing Friends to view friends, then arrange them with Drag and Drop into any order you desire, with changes displaying immediately on you profile page. You may also delete or block Friends. (a separate Block Members from Contacting Me tool is currently in the works, where you'll simply input a member number to block all tags, pic comments, messages, etc)

My Favorites:
This link takes you to tools for organizing your Favorites. As you browse profiles, when you find one you'd like to bookmark for future reference, you can click the Add to Favorites link on the profile, saving and placing that member into a General (not yet assigned to your custom folders) folder in your Favorites. Click on the word General or anywhere on the title bar to open and view it's contents. Favorites can then be organized and moved into customizable folders and displayed in any order you desire. Simply use the Add Folder tool to create a new folder. Drag and drop folders into any order you desire.

Messaging:
This link brings up your Messaging Inbox. displaying all recently received messages. You may create organizational folders to move your messages into.

Blog:
What is Blogging?
Blogging is a great way to encourage people to keep up with your interests, hobbies, preferences, etc. You can start blogging by clicking My Admin > Blog > Add New Entry. The WYSIWYG editor allows you to change fonts, add pictures, video, and more to your blog. Click save, when Done. A link to your BlogS is displayed on the main page of your profile.

More instructions to follow soon! More info is available in the FAQ section. Please report bugs and enhancement requests to the forums section under the respective headings.