How To Set Up An Account On Flickr
Flickr Makes It Quick And Simple
It only takes a few seconds to register for an account at Flickr. From there, the fun really starts to roll. You can set up your personal information and preferences. You can organize your photos into sets, search for and enter your own list of contacts, and invite them to see your photos. And you can explore the rest of Flickr, including what other members are doing.
Getting excited about your new Flickr account
The first thing you'll notice is that Flickr is owned by Yahoo!, which means you'll need to create a Yahoo! account if you don't already have one. You'll create a user name and password, but you'll see boxes for more personal information such as your date of birth and your country. The good thing is these extra questions are optional.
After you submit your account details, you'll land on your Yahoo! home page. Look over to the left side of the screen and you'll see a box with a bunch of links to different Yahoo! services, including Autos, Music, HotJobs and Personals. Look for the link to Flickr and it will take you to the Flickr site.
Now you can get down to the fun stuff!
Look down the left side of your page for the yellow box indicating: "Set up your Flickr basics". This will take you to a four-step process to enter details about your account.
Right away, you can start uploading photos, or you can skip this section and set up your preferred Flickr URL. Make this something unique to you. You'll share this URL with others so they can find you.
Next, you can choose an image to use as your Buddy Icon or you can keep the gray avatar provided. (We generally recommend against using a photo of yourself for privacy and security reasons.)
Finally, you can enter more information about you, such as your birth date, where you live and any comments you like. Be cautious about revealing too much, however. Use only information that does not make you vulnerable online. For example, do not offer your financial status, and be careful about revealing your age.
You can skip any of these steps and come back to them later if you wish.
Check out the links
On the top of your main Flickr page, you'll see six blue links. These indicate all the different things you can do with your account. Each one, except "Home", has a little grey arrow beside it. Click this to see a drop-down list of all the things under that category.
You might want to start with "You" and enter your preferences. You'll be able to see all the people you've invited and any testimonials you've received on your images. From this page, you can invite friends and edit your profile.
At the bottom of each page in your account, you'll see a huge block of links. This makes it easy to navigate throughout your account.
You can have a lot of fun with your Flickr account, uploading photos, creating photo sets, joining groups, inviting people to view your images and much more. Take time to wander around Flickr and you'll soon see that this truly is a community worth joining.
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