New to Connect? Start here!

[Cecilita]

Tea cup and Teapot photo taken in a Tea Connection Shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina

My name is Cecilia and I am from Argentina. About 2 years ago I became Local Guide, and like everyone else, I started to upload places, reviews, photos and videos on the map.

Unfortunately, a few months ago I discovered Connect. I say unfortunately, since I would have loved to discover it and use it much earlier, since I think it is a fabulous tool to know each other, and to learn lots of things from other more experienced Local Guides.

Based on my experience of immersion in Connect, I decided to write this article that, I think, can be interesting for all those Local Guides starting on Connect, like me.

My experience…

My immersion in Connect was somewhat confusing at first. I do not remember exactly when it was that I found the forum, but what I do remember is that at the beginning I did not understand what was happening here. I had thought that I would never be able to understand how this works, and it was very difficult for me to participate, mainly because I did not know where to start. I did not know clearly what to read or where to write, and I did not know who the different actors in Connect (Local Guides, Moderators, Googlers, etc.) were, or what they do, .

Little by little and after a lot of reading, I found different posts that were incredibly interesting and that helped me a lot, as well as I started to understand who was who, and to meet many amazing people who explained and teached me how to navigate in this new world.

My proposal…

To make the life easier for newbies like me, I decided to write this article to serve as a guide and summarize the various useful post that I found, and which I think are very helpful for the "newbie in Connect", and for all those that for a while had been using the forum, but still do not understand clearly how it works.

This post is not intended to be a complete guide of the best posts in Connect. There are so many excellent posts, that it would be impossible to include them all! These are just the posts that have helped me the most in my ongoing process of immersion in Connect, and that will surely grow as I would find new posts in the future.

Here, in Connect, learning never ends!

Be free to make your comments, and to send me other posts that you have found, that you believe may be useful to improve the immersion process in Connect to others.

I invite you to read these beautiful posts and have fun with those that has a lot of knowledge to share!

Generals

Question	Post
Why be a Local Guide?	Why be a Local Guide?
Are here in Connect any Comunity values that I must follow?	The 5 core values of Connect
Where do I find what I am looking for in Connect?	How do I search on Connect?
How can I start in Connect?	14 helpful tips for using Connect
Who are Google Moderators or “Googlers” and what do they do in Connect?	Meet the Google Moderators
Who are Connect Moderators and what do they do in Connect?	Meet the Connect Moderators
How do I know if someone already responded a question that I have? Using the search and checking for a "solution"?	How do I mark comments as solutions?
What can I do if I have ideas to improve the Map functionality or Connect?	How do I use the Idea Exchange and what happens to my ideas?

Writing

Question	Post
How can I write a post on Connect?	How do I write a post on Connect?
Are there basic tips to write a posts on Connect?	Helpful tips for writing a good post
How do I write a better post on Connect?	Writing Your Way to the Top! #ConnectWritingChallenge
Are there tips to write even better posts on Connect?	Connect Writting Challenge - Basic Tips
And If I want to shine in writing?	How to write a great post - Intermediate Tips #ConnectWritingChallenge
And what about if I want to become an expert?	How to write a great post Advanced Tips #ConnectWritingChallenge
How to add contents from other people to my posts?	How do I follow the original content guidelines on Connect?
How to avoid that a post I write be marked as Spam?	Why was my Connect post marked as spam?

Photos

Question	Post
Do you have tips to upload photos on Connect?	Uploading a photo on Connect? Read these guidelines first
Do you have a guide to take food photos?	How to take great food photos for Eat Like a Local
How can I add photos to my posts using Connect Photo Library when I do not have a photo of my own?	How do I use the Connect Photo Library?
How can I upload photos on Connect avoiding exceeding the limit of 1000 photos?	Tips for Uploading Images to Connect to Stay Within Limit
How can I add dish names to the photos I upload to Google Maps?	New: Add dish names to dining photos
Do you have any tips or tricks to manage my photos in Connect?	Tips and tricks to manage the photos in Connect

Meet-up

Question	Post
What do I need to know to organize a meet-up?	How to organize a successful meet-up
How do I prepare a meet-up?	How to Prepare for a Meet up Submission
How do I write and share with others a meet-up I organized?	How do I write a great meet-up recap?

Well, it is all for now… if you want to know more, you can find other interesting and very useful posts for beginners in Help Desk.

Good luck and see you in Connect!

Ceci

PD: I want to thank @FaridTDF for reviewing my post before publishing it!

@AdrianLunsong please feel free to make suggestions and comment my first #ConnectWrittingChallenge post. 

Thanks for reading this #ConnectWritingChallenge post!! You can click here to find out more about the challenge and what it takes to make a great Connect post! And feel free to let me know what you think about my post! Do you like it? Do you think it makes for a great reading?

[ErmesT]

Looking for a feedback @Cecilita ? 

Well written, and very clear, this post is probably opening the eyes of the old members of the community. As we have followed all the evolution, all the changes, we are probably considering "obvious" what it is not so obvious.

I would like only to add one more point: how do I know if someone already responded a question that I have? Using the search and checking for a "solution"?

How do I mark comments as solutions?

Thank you for taking time for writing this post

[FaridTDF]

Gracias @Cecilita por compartir con nosotros un excelente post, muchos nuevos Local Guides estarán contentos de leerlo y usarlo de guía, para comenzar a navegar en Connect. 

@ErmesT, me ganaste de mano eres una máquina siempre adelante de todo, leyendo todo y a todos. 

La imagen que utilizaste es muy sugerente, sentemos a tomar un café tranquilos y leamos un poco como es esto de Connect 🙂

Saludos Farid.

[Raphael-Mahumane]

Hi @Cecilita this is amazing how you collected and grouped all in one. This will be easy to use and also easy to share with those who might be looking for all this information. I must say that you did a very good  job as @FaridTDF mentioned, I am one of the kind that adapt easily to new things which are useful. 

Can you please share with us on how you created the table or which feature did you use here to produce the table or software you used, if possible you can show us steps here or you can create a post about that and tag me please?

[Jesi]

Buen post @Cecilita, seguro ayuda a muchas personas. A mí también me costó entender Connect al principio, no sabía sobre que publicar ni había leído posts como los que mostrás acá así que fue más díficil de lo que debería. Gracias por compartirlo con todos!

PD: Me encantó tu portada, y que sea de Tea Connection. Aprovechando bien tu tiempo ahí cuando no funciona internet? jajajaj

[Cecilita]

Thanks for your feedback @ErmesT !!! I have already added your link!!

As you said... perhaps some things that seem to be very simple and clear, perhaps are not so clear for the new ones. In my case, it was a bit complicated to understand Connect, and that is why I decided to write this post. 

I hope, it can be useful for others!

I cannot wait to meet you in November and I hope I can arrange my flights to assist to the Clean the World meet up!!

Regards

Ceci

[Cecilita]

¡¡¡Gracias @FaridTDF !!!

¡Es cierto! Cuando ví el texto que tenía impreso la taza dije... ¡Esta es la imagen que estaba buscando para el post! 🙂

¡Gracias por tus comentarios y por tu ayuda!

Saludos
Ceci

[Cecilita]

Hi @Raphael-Mahumane !

Thanks for your comments! 

I tried to generate a post that could be useful for everyone.

Regarding the table, I generated it using Google Docs first and copied it directly in the post. If you are good writing html, you can also generate a table in the html part of the writing section. To clarify this, I can write a new post with the step by step if you prefer.

Thanks again to take time to write to me!

Regards

Ceci

[Cecilita]

Gracias @Jesi !!

La verdad que cuando vi la taza con esa inscripción tan sugestiva dije... "¡Esta es la foto que necesito para mi post!"... ¡Hay que aprovechar hasta los momentos sin internet! Jajaja...

[Raphael-Mahumane]

Hi @Cecilita thank you for responding back, I noticed that on the new updates for connect we have a table there now, which we can use directly from here. Thank you a lot!