Topic: A (Rambling) Guide To Polyvore:

Jackie Sullivan

Date: 2013-07-25 23:16 EST
As we all know, polyvore.com has become a very valuable tool for RPers around the site. It?s a great and simple way for people to be able to put their ideas into visual terms for all to see without a lot of hassle.

While I am far from being knowledgeable in all things Polyvore, I do get asked questions on how to do certain things often enough that I figured I might put my techniques and discoveries from three years of tinkering somewhere for all to see. Again, I am in no way saying that my way is the only way on Polyvore. There are probably other ways to do the things I explain, but these are my methods and so far they have done well for me.

If you have a question you would like covered or have a comment on anything I post don?t hesitate when it comes to PMing me or dropping a line in the OOC thread of this folder. I love answering questions or being told there is an easier/better/faster way to do anything!

I hope this is useful to someone.

Jackie Sullivan

Date: 2013-07-25 23:30 EST
Posting From Polyvore to the RDI Forums:

Step One:
From your main landing page get to the individual page of the set you want to post. This is the page that displays your set on the left and has the details about the set on the right.

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/guides/01_01_zpsacca1303.jpg

Step Two:
Right click directly on the set to bring up the ?Post to your blog? window. Select the very last box which is all grey and doesn?t have anything beneath it (this makes your code much easier to sort through). Here you can also adjust your Image Size (doesn?t really matter for the RDI since everything is scaled down to 350 pixel width automatically) or if you want to you can make the canvas square.

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/guides/01_02_zps039fa3ad.jpg

Step Three:
Your code is now ready to sort through. Personally, I like copying and pasting the code into notepad because I find the Polyvore code box to be a little finicky when it comes to selecting one bit of code. Paste all of the code into a blank notepad and look for your image source URL. This is within the image tag (img) and after the title (alt). You want to select from http all the way to jpg. That?s your image URL!

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/guides/01_03_zps323057c3.jpg

Step Four:
Take your newly found image URL over to the RDI forum and open a new post wherever you want to share your creation. Here you can drop the URL between BBCode image tags. You can even click the handy button at the top which will give you your open tag, you can paste your URL, then click the button again for your closing tag. So easy! Add text and whatever else you want or just keep it the image alone. Click the preview button to watch your work as you go and remember the image will come up small because the forums automatically resize things down to 350 pixel width. But if people click your image they can view it full size!

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/guides/01_04_zps8c21d82f.jpg

Step Five:
Once you?re satisfied with your post press submit (you know that part). Don?t forget to high five yourself for making such a great post, tell everyone to look at it, then go make more Polyvore sets and do it all over again. You?re a professional now!

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/guides/01_05_zpse72169c6.jpg

Jackie Sullivan

Date: 2013-07-26 00:44 EST
Finding Clothes For Male Characters:

Anytime I talk up Polyvore to someone with a male character I hear a lot of ?but Polyvore is only for giiirls.? Not true! I know it can seem that way because when you search from clothes while creating sets all that really comes up is female clothing and accessories, but there is a huge selection of guy clothes on the site if you look. Shopping before you create your sets is the way to go!

Start with collections:
Shopping collections is great for finding guy clothes or ANYTHING in particular that you are looking for. People make amazing collections on Polyvore and you should utilize them! In the upper right hand corner of the site you?ll see a search box that says ?Products.? Using the drop down menu select ?Collections? then type in something as general as ?guy clothes.? Press enter and BOOM! There you go, guy clothes! You can also play around with your keywords? guy shirts, male clothes, men?s clothing. Tons and tons of collections will come up for you to shop through!

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/02_01_zps1ef78627.jpg

Join some groups:
Joining groups in general is an amazing way to find people who have similar interests as you (I?ll cover them more in another section). In this case simply searching the groups from the same drop down menu as before will bring up a slew of groups full of members just like you who want to dress dudes in hot clothes. All I typed in was ?men,? but once again make sure you play around with keywords. Join some groups, find new members to follow from them, search their sets, see what other groups they follow, submit your sets, interact, hot guy on guy action!

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/02_02_zpsefd7fc19.jpg

Clip your own items:
When all else fails, clip your own items! You can find the Polyvore clipper HERE! This page will quickly explain how to install the clipper on your browser and the best techniques for clipping. When you can?t find what you?re looking for on the site your best bet is to find and save it to Polyvore yourself. Search out some good men?s fashion sites in the style of your choosing. Sites that have the clothing alone on a white or similarly simple background work best (there is more to clipping, but that will be covered in a section all its own later on).

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r719/meetthesullivans/02_03_zps4da2e992.jpg