Making Gling Work For You: Part Four

Welcome back to Making Gling Work for You! Today we will open the doors on the Home page and explore the finer points of finding and posting recipes. This is great stuff, so grab your flashlight and magnifying glass and let’s go!

Home

When you click on the house icon it is like clicking your heels three times, suddenly you are home! Okay, you got me, Gling is not THAT advanced, yet :) It does take you to your home page though.

This page offers information on your current profile, when you joined Gling and when you last posted information. There is a link (right next to your name) to view or edit your profile.

Below that is a box that says “What are you doing?” This is your tweet box. Anything you type here will go to the tweets page. You have 140 characters to make your voice heard, give a shout out!

Under the tweet box is a streaming list of things you and your friends are up to. It shows who is making new friends and who is posting helpful tidbits.

Down the side, the screen shows the latest articles, helpful news and Gling top five recipes.

On the top of this page are three tabs. They are: Your Activities, Your Friends Activities and All Activity. Clicking these tabs will keep the top part of the page the same (profile and tweet box) but will change the activity stream to reflect what is shown on the tab. (i.e. Clicking on Your Activity will show only your activity in the stream.)

Finding Recipes

Clicking on the recipe card icon will take you to the main recipe page for Gling. There is a lot going on here, so lets go through it piece by piece.

The tabs at the top (Your Recipes, Your Friend’s Recipes and All Recipes) help you sort through information quickly. Clicking on these tabs will show you exactly what the tab suggests. This is handy when you know that one of your friends has posted a recipe for stew and you want to find it.

Along the side of the page are the other options for sorting through recipes. You can search by category or date posted. There is also the option to sort by gluten free rating. My favorite way to search is by using the tag cloud.

Each recipe in the listings has a wealth of information contained in the little box. Key points are:

Title- The name of the recipe. Clicking on the title will take you to the recipe itself.

by- Tells the name of the person who posted the recipe to Gling. Clicking on the user name will take you to the user’s profile.

Description- This gives helpful information that users may need to know. It can either be a full description or include dietary information (i.e. dairy free, egg free)

Votes- Shows the number of votes a recipe has received. You can vote for your favorite recipes by clicking on the top triangle next to the recipe name. Use the bottom triangle to vote against recipes you didn’t like. Click on the heart to add a recipe to your favorites list. Voting is a great way to show your support to hard working chefs out there. The five recipes with the most votes will be featured in the Gling top five list on your home page.

It also contains the Date Added, gluten score and picture.

Each recipe has a place at the bottom for comments. Don’t forget to spread the love and let people know what you think!

Posting Recipes

Posting recipes to Gling is fast fun and easy. You won’t need your magnifying glass to show you how to do this! Click on the +Add Recipe link on the main recipe page to get started. Here we go-a-posting, one step at a time!

Title- Try to think of a creative title for your recipe, something that sets it apart. There are a lot of different ways to make stew, you want people to know what is special about yours.

Summary- This is a great place to add helpful information such as main course, super quick, etc. This information will show as part of the recipe description and helps people to quickly find what they are looking for.

Description- Use this box to add the juicy details of your recipe. Tell where it came from, what it tastes like, anything that will entice people!

Prep Time, Cook Time, Servings- This is important information that is often overlooked. Please do your best to fill these in.

Ingredients- List your ingredients in this box. My personal preference for doing this is to enter one ingredient per line. Example:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

Instructions- Be as detailed as possible with your instructions. It is also helpful if you number them.

Diet Choices- Label your recipe for certain dietary needs. (i.e. dairy free, vegetarian, vegan, egg-free)

Gluten Score- Rate your recipe for it’s gluten content. Please remember, only recipes that contain all certified ingredients should be listed as Certified Gluten Free. All others should be listed as safe.

Tags- See Making Gling Work for You: Part Two for tips on tagging.

Image- Upload a tasty looking picture of your recipe!

Category- Choose the most appropriate category for the recipe you have posted.

Cuisine- Is your food Asian, North American, Cajun? Choose the best fit here.

When you are finished entering your information, click the ‘UPDATE’ button to post your recipe!

Alright, Glingsters, time to give the flashlight batteries a rest. Join me next week when we explore the huge wing known as “FOOD”.