- What Are Circles?
- Circle Organization
- Public vs. Extended Circles
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Circle Organization
All of your circle management needs are on the Circles page. To access that page, locate the gray Google+ navigation bar located near the top of your screen (Figure 4.3) and click the Circles icon, which is the second from the right.
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Figure 4.3 The Google+ navigation bar makes it easy to navigate through not only the various Google+ features, but all Google products as well.
The Circles page appears. Figure 4.4 shows the general layout of the Circles page. Let’s explore this page and some of its key elements.
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Figure 4.4 The Google+ Circles page allows you to easily manage all of your connections with Google+. Here you can sort individuals into circles, view who has circled you, and import people from your computer address book.
Near the top of the screen you’ll find three main tabs—People in your circles, People who’ve added you, and Find people—that allow you to filter through the individuals that you are connected with. In the middle of your screen are the Google+ profile thumbnails, and at the bottom of your screen are your circles.
Creating a Circle
To create a circle, you have three main options:
- You can drag and drop multiple Google+ profile thumbnails into the first circle (Figure 4.5) and click Create Circle. Then click the blue Create Circle link inside the first circle to easily name and finalize the creation of the circle (Figure 4.6).
Figure 4.5 Drag Google+ profiles to add people to a new circle.
Figure 4.6 Name the newly created circle using a descriptive name that represents its members.
- You can move your mouse over the first circle (Figure 4.7), and the text inside the circle will change to a “Create circle” link (Figure 4.8). Click that link to open the box that will allow you to easily name your new circle as well as populate it with the desired profiles (Figure 4.9).
Figure 4.7 The standard view of your Google+ Circle section.
Figure 4.8 By hovering your mouse inside the white circle, the text changes to “Create circle.”
Figure 4.9 Now you can name and populate your new circle.
- When browsing through Google+, hover your mouse over a Google+ profile name. A box appears that allows you to click the Add to Circles button, which then displays a number of options. At the bottom of your Circle options is the “Create new circle” link (Figure 4.10). Click that link and add the selected profile to a brand-new circle.
Figure 4.10 After you have clicked the Add to Circles button, a box appears allowing you to add the profile to a new circle or a circle you have already created.
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Scott Jarvie: A Photographer’s Perspective
Scott Jarvie is a wedding and portrait photographer and photo educator based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. He puts a piece of himself into everything he does, which is a testament to his success as a professional photographer and the reason his images are full of personality and emotion. When he is not giving presentations or capturing a bride’s most special moment, he is partaking in his love of travel photography through various trips around the world. It doesn’t hurt that he is fluent in five different languages.
Website: www.jarviedigital.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100962871525684315897
Q Why are circles an important feature of Google+?
Circles create the foundation of our communication on Google+. Circles dictate who you’re speaking to (when you have something to share) and who you’re listening to (when you feel like seeing what’s going on). For me, circles also help me remember how I know this person, like quick labels.
Q Does organizing your circles make a difference in your Google+ experience? Why?
Yes. I have a lot of circles, and keeping them organized helps me apply the circles quicker so that it is less of a chore. I organize my circles by putting the most important or most used circles higher in the list so I don’t have to scroll down to find them. Using a number in addition to naming my circles helps me by associating the numbers and finding the circles faster when publishing content to those circles.
Q What are the top five circles you think every photographer should create on Google+?
The five types of circles I think every photographer should create include:
- Photographers by location. Especially those in your own region.
- Photographers by style. Especially those using the same style of photography as you do. For me, that’s weddings and travel photography.
- Photography business pages. Because the vendors and product makers are great to follow. My tip is to name the circle using (p) in front so you know it’s a circle of pages.
- Nonphotographer circles. This circle is probably the most important because if the majority of what you share is photography, then most times the only things you’ll direct specifically to a circle are nonphotography posts.
- Most interesting. Whether it be lists of the most interactive photographers, photographers you are friends with, or the photographers that inspire you the most, you’ll need a couple of circles that will be your go-to circles when you want to quickly and easily find helpful content.
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Q What tips do you have for maintaining your circles in the long run?
Besides all the tips I’ve already listed, I think people should
- Remember that creating circles and then adding lots of people to them later on when your circles have already been established is a lot of work.
- Make a list of all the circles (based on the five types of circles listed previously) you think you might ever use or want to use. Circle people from the get go. Users will naturally find that they gravitate to using certain circles; later on they can decide to remove the ones they didn’t use often.
- Do everything I stated in question 2.
- Most of all, don’t stress about circles, and don’t let them become a deterrent to using Google+.
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The sky is the limit when it comes to the kinds of circles you can create. Table 4.1 lists a number of potential circles that you can create and utilize.
Table 4.1 Different Types of Circles
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Circle Type |
Definition |
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Family |
This circle consists of family members. |
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Friends |
This circle consists of friends. |
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Coworkers |
This circle consists of coworkers. |
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Local Photographers |
This circle consists of photographers who are based out of your current location. |
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Clients |
This circle consists of clients you have worked with in the past. |
|
Photo Industry |
This circle consists of key players in the photo industry who work for various companies. |
|
Photo Educators |
This circle consists of photographers who teach photography classes, workshops, seminars, and webinars. |
|
Google Employees |
This circle consists of Google employees who share information and new Google+ features. |
|
Google+ Pages |
This circle consists of various business pages found on Google+ |
Renaming Circles
As you continue to become more engaged within Google+ and you begin to connect with a variety of different people, you might need to refine the names of your circles to stay accurate. For example, you might have created a circle called Colorado Landscape Photographers only to realize that you want to add Colorado Wildlife Photographers to it as well. To rename a circle, perform the following steps.
- Click the title of the circle you want to rename (Figure 4.11).
Figure 4.11 Select the circle you want to rename.
- Click the Edit icon, represented by a graphic that looks like a pencil. (Figure 4.12).
Figure 4.12 Click Edit to make any changes needed.
- Fill in the necessary information in the correct boxes (Figure 4.13).
Figure 4.13 Rename your circle and enter any descriptive text desired.
- Click Save.
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Reordering Circles
Changing the order of your circles not only allows you to customize your Google+ Circles page, but it makes filtering the content you view on Google+ that much easier. Google+ will display the first five circles you have listed in your Circles page in the sidebar on the Google+ home page. Selecting one of these circles allows you to view published content from only individuals in the selected circle. The circles you interact with the most should be first.
To change the order of your circles, follow these steps.
- Click and hold on a circle that you want to reorder.
- Drag the selected circle to the location at which you want to place the circle.
- A gray line appears (Figure 4.14) to indicate the placement of the circle being moved.
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Figure 4.14 Reordering your circles helps to prioritize your circles for easier and quicker access.
Removing Profiles from Circles
As you continue to engage and interact with more and more photographers and clients on Google+, you might find the need to remove certain individuals from your circles that you no longer want to connect with. You can remove profiles using the Circles page or the Profile page. Let’s look at both ways to do this.
To remove profiles using the Circles page, follow these steps.
- Click the title of the circle you want to remove (Figure 4.15). All of the Google+ profiles in that circle will populate the profile thumbnail area above the Circle section.
Figure 4.15 Select the circle that you want to modify.
- Click the profiles you want to remove. When clicked, the selected profiles will turn blue (Figure 4.16).
Figure 4.16 Select the Google+ profiles you want to remove, and then click the Remove link.
- Click the Remove button located just above the profile thumbnails.
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To remove profiles using the Profile page, follow these steps.
- Go to the Profile page of the individual or business you want to remove.
- Click the green box in the top right of the web page (Figure 4.17). This box represents the circles you currently have this profile in.
Figure 4.17 Click the green box at the top right of the Google+ Profile page to see which circles contain this profile.
- Deselect the check boxes next to the circles that you currently have this profile in (Figure 4.18).
Figure 4.18 Deselect all the circle boxes containing the profile.
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Sharing Circles
Circle sharing is one of the best ways to get people to circle you. If you see others asking for “landscape photographers,” and you happen to photograph landscapes, comment on their post and try to get them to add you to their circle. When they share that circle to the public or with their circles, you have a good chance of other photographers connecting with you and adding you to their circles.
To share a circle from your Circles page, follow these steps.
- Click the name of the circle you want to share (Figure 4.19).
Figure 4.19 Select the circle you want to share with others.
- Click the Share link in the circle you originally selected (Figure 4.20).
Figure 4.20 By clicking the Share icon, a box will open, allowing you to easily share your Google+ circle with others.
- Add text in the Comments section to describe the circle you are sharing, and then choose the circle you want to share this group with (Figure 4.21). Sharing to Public will always allow you the most visibility.
Figure 4.21 Add text to the Comments section of the circle shared to provide details about the circle.
- Click the green box titled Share.
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