Before you can add a collection you need to register and open an account (see above). Once you have joined login in to the site using the user name and password included in the email we sent you (email
admin@MyBower.com.au) if you have any problems.
Once you logon you will be taken to your own MyBower page – this page summarises all the collections you have on the site and highlights other collections that might be of interest to you. When you start this page will be mainly blank but don’t worry about that, things will soon start to appear!
To add a collection click the orange “Add collection” button, one of four buttons that appear underneath the MyCollections viewer at the top left hand side of the screen.
The first thing you need to do is decide where your collection will live. You can specify a category for your collection and a period. For example, if you collect Australian chairs from the 1950’s you might want to file your collection under the Category, Furniture>Australian>1945 to now and under the Period, 1950’s.
To start simply move your mouse over the arrow next to “Category” and a list of all the categories currently available on the site will appear. As you move your mouse fly-out menus will appear next to some of the categories to show more options with more detail. For example, if you move your mouse over “Advertising” you will see some more options appear, including “Airlines” and “Cars”.
It is up to you where you put your collection but we suggest you take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the menu structure so you can find the most appropriate place.
Perhaps your collections does not fit in a category – don’t worry we have created periods as well. If you collect Art Deco or things from the 50’s for example this classification if for you. Again simply move your mouse over the arrow next to “Period” and the list of options currently available will appear.
Select or click the most category and/or period to file your collection.
If you still are unsure where to put your collection simply email us at
admin@MyBower.com.au and we will either suggest where you should store your collection or create a new category for you.
The interests of collectors are wide and extremely varied. To start the site we have created a large number of categories and periods to cover the most commonly collected items. From the home page you can use the pull down menus on the left hand side to find a category (or period) most relevant to your collection. If you prefer you can click on the “Full Index” button on the home page and be taken to a page showing all the major categories currently offered.
As you mouse over index items a list of sub-categories will appear – so, for example, if you mouse over “Animals” a list of animals including “Bears” will appear. If you then move your mouse over “Bears” a further list of types of bear commonly collected will appear.
Once you have decided where your collection will live simply use the pull down menus at the top of the Add Collection page to specify where your collection should live. It is up to you where you put your collection and you can move it if you change your mind.
If you can’t find a suitable place for your collection don’t worry, we will be glad to help. Simply email us with your suggested category heading and we will either create a new category or advise you of where we think your collection should live.
As the site grows we expect to add more categories and a lot more sub-categories so if you find there are too many collections under one heading and can suggest a way for us to split the collections up we would be glad to hear from you.
Please note: we retain the right to move or delete any collections that have been put in an inappropriate place.
Next you can add some text about your collection. You just click in the box and start typing or you can cut and paste from your word processor. Choose a background colour to compliment your collection my selecting the “Change background” orange button on the right hand side of the “About My Collection” header. See “
How do I change the look and feel of my collection?” below for more details.
Stuck for something to write? How about when you started collection, why you started this collection or what appeals most to you about the items.
Or you can just be more factual, when and where you purchased items, what they cost, what they are worth now. How big or how heavy are they? Where were they made? Who by and what with? What was the manufacturing process? What colours, styles, varieties are available? How and where were they sold and when did they start to become collectable? How rare are they? It is up to you how much and how detailed you want to be and you can always come back and add or change it later.
Perhaps you have information already stored in pdf, word docs or spreadsheet files – you can save time by simply uploading these into the space “About My Collection”. To upload files click on the “Add files” orange button on the right hand side of the “About My Collection” header and follow the onscreen prompts.
Use this space to tell visitors about things you have in your collection that you don’t have picture of. List items or write a description of them – it is up to you.
You just click in the box and start typing or you can cut and paste from your word processor. Choose a background colour to compliment your collection my selecting the “Change background” orange button on the right hand side of the “More items in my collections” header. See “
How do I change the look and feel of my collection?” below for more details.
It is up to you how much and how detailed you want to be and you can always come back and add or change it later.
Perhaps you have information already stored in pdf, word docs or spreadsheet files – you can save time by simply uploading these into the space “More items in my collection”. To upload files click on the “Add files” orange button on the right hand side of the “More items in my collection” header and follow the onscreen prompts.
Uploading photos is easy. Simply log on to MyBower and from your MyBower page (the first page you see after you have logged on) simply click on “Add Collection”, one of four buttons displayed under the box “My Collections” on the top left hand of the screen.
When you create a collection you begin by specifying where the collection will live. You can specify a Category and/or Period where your collection belongs. You then get asked to add some text to give background about your collection and list any items that you do not have pictures of. See How do I add a collection? above for more details.
Once you have completed the basic information described above select the “Add Photos” button you will be taken to a screen giving you the option to “Add Photos” or “Finish Editing”.
Select “Add Photos” and this will launch the photo upload tool.
Please note: The photo upload tool relies on Java being installed on your computer. Java is a very popular application that an increasing number of web sites use. If you do not have Java you can download it for free at java.com
The photo upload tool will launch in a new window. At the top of the screen you get to enter the album name, this is set as a default to “album1”, simply click in the box and type you own name to replace this.
To start adding photos select “Add”. First you need to select the directory where you have stored your photos and then you can select the image you want by clicking your mouse on it. If you are not sure which image you want to load simply select an image and a thumb nail version of it will appear in the right hand side of the window. To select multiple images use the “Shift” or “Ctrl” keys as is common with many programs.
When you have finished select “Open”. The images you have selected will now be listed in the photo upload tool box. Select “Upload” and the images will get uploaded to your Collection.
Please note: if your images are large MyBower automatically resizes these before uploading them – this does not affect your original image, it just means that images can be uploaded to the site quickly.
You will now see a list of all the photos you have uploaded and your file names will be displayed in the Title box next to each picture. You can change these titles - simply by clicking in the box and typing over them. You can add more information about any of the pictures using the Description box on the right of the title.
When you have completed the titles and tags (and added descriptions if you want) select “Update Collection” and you will get a message saying “You have successfully edited your collection” and inviting you to “Visit MyBower”
Please note: you can only upload your own photos or photographs you have the permission of the photographer to upload. If there are any people in your photographs you need to get their approval before you can upload these images. You are responsible for obeying the copyright laws as they apply in your country.
Uploading photos - For an existing collection:
Go to the collection you want to edit (by selecting it form the MyCollections window on your MyBower page – the first page you see when you log on to the site).
Select the “Edit Page” option, one of four orange buttons displayed horizontally mid way down the page.
You will then be taken to a page showing the current text content for your collection. You can use this opportunity to add to the “About My Collection” and the “More Items in My Collection” sections.
To add more photos select “Add Photos”, from the top of next page select “Add More Photos”. The photo upload tool will now launch and you can add more pictures as described in the section above.
Don’t worry MyBower takes most kinds of images and automatically resizes them for the web. This makes the photo upload experience easy and fast.
A hero image is simply the main image chosen to represent a collection. Any collection can have multiple albums and images in it however only one image can be the hero image at any one time.
Hero images are nominated when pictures are uploaded by checking the small circle on the left of the image that appears during the upload process. A member can edit their collection page and change the hero image at any time. Remember selecting a new hero image automatically replaces the previous hero image.
When you select “Add a Collection” from your MyBower page (the first page you see when you logon) you will be asked to add text to the “About My Collection” and “More items in my collection” fields.
At the top right of the header for each of these sections is a button “Select Background”. Clicking this button will launch a new window and you can select the background colour to appear in that window.
To select a colour use the slide on the right had side of the coloured box to change the colour range displayed in the large box. When you can see the colour you want move your mouse over to the large box and select the exact colour you like. When you have finished click the "Set Colour" button.
Alternatively if you know the HEX value of the colour you want you can enter this in the box provided.
If you use IE as your browser you will notice a thin grey banner with a black arrow on the left hand side above where you enter text “About My Collection” and “More Items in My Collection”. Select the arrow and a text editor will appear. You can use this to alter the size and colour of the font. You also have a range of text editing functions to choose from, similar to those offered in word processors.
Have fun, spend some time personalising your collection and give it your own look and feel. (Or get the kids to help!).
Use this space to add comments or suggestions to members collections. You can access the Visitor book by selecting the orange button “Add a comment” at the bottom of the Visitor book.
Type your comment and hit submit. You will also be asked to comment on the collection when you rate a site. Comments added during this process appear in the Visitor Book.
This is the section for questions and answers and it appears on every Collection page and every Category page.
Adding questions
You can add a question either on one of your own Collection pages or on a Category page. Simply locate the collection or category of most relevance and select the “Add a question” orange button at the bottom of the Q&A viewer.
Type your question and hit the orange button, “Add a question”. When you come back you can see if anyone has answered your question as the letter A followed by the message from another member will display underneath your question.
Answering questions
If you see a question you thing you can answer select the question by moving your mouse over it and clicking. A box will open for you to type your suggested answer in. Type your answer and hit the orange button, “Add an answer”.
