Setting up your profile

Your profile is where you share about yourself, your work, and what matters to you with the Factr community. If you've chosen to have a private profile, keep in mind that basic information including, your city and bio will be available to the community.

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Setting up your profile on the web browser:

• The ‘About’ tab can include your profile image, role/occupation, bio, as well as tags for the topics you’re knowledgeable or curious about.
• To edit your profile, such as your bio, profile image, interests, skills, and shared website links, click on the ‘Settings’ button below your follower count.
• This will open a dropdown menu with several options. Use the ‘Edit Profile’ option to update your bio. You can add links to your other social profiles such as Twitter and LinkedIn, or you can add links to any sites your work on. Click "Profile Privacy" to choose your preference.

Important: Remember to scroll to the bottom of the page and save your changes.

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Setting up your profile on the mobile app:

• Setting up your profile begins by clicking the “person” icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Factr mobile app.
• Click the “Edit” button.
• The Edit Profile page allows you to add or update information within your profile.
• Enter any information that you would like to share and click “Save” in the top right corner.

Setting up your profile

Your profile is where you share about yourself, your work, and what matters to you with the Factr community. If you've chosen to have a private profile, keep in mind that basic information including, your city and bio will be available to the community.

​

Setting up your profile on the web browser:

• The ‘About’ tab can include your profile image, role/occupation, bio, as well as tags for the topics you’re knowledgeable or curious about.
• To edit your profile, such as your bio, profile image, interests, skills, and shared website links, click on the ‘Settings’ button below your follower count.
• This will open a dropdown menu with several options. Use the ‘Edit Profile’ option to update your bio. You can add links to your other social profiles such as Twitter and LinkedIn, or you can add links to any sites your work on. Click "Profile Privacy" to choose your preference.

Important: Remember to scroll to the bottom of the page and save your changes.

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Setting up your profile on the mobile app:

• Setting up your profile begins by clicking the “person” icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Factr mobile app.
• Click the “Edit” button.
• The Edit Profile page allows you to add or update information within your profile.
• Enter any information that you would like to share and click “Save” in the top right corner.

Choose or update your account settings

Account settings include:

• Password
• Email address
• Username
• Email digest preferences
• Notification preferences

To access or update these settings on a Web Browser:

• Click your profile photo on the top right-hand side of the platform
• Click "Settings" from the dropdown menu
• Use the list on the left or scroll through the page to update your settings

Via the mobile app:

• Open the left-hand navigation tray by swiping right on your screen or clicking the icon to the left of Home (represented by three horizontal lines).
• Click "Settings"
• From here, you can access your account settings as well as your profile settings.

What is my Inbox?

Your Inbox is for your eyes only, and how you use it is entirely up to you.

Your Inbox is your own private place to save or post anything that matters to you. It’s a good place to post Items that you come across while working online or to hold items in digital format for later filing or adding to a Stream.

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You can save items, edit them, add notes, add tags, or organize them into Folders—your call. If you decide you'd like others to see an Item, just share it to your profile (or to any relevant Stream that you have access to).

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How can I add an Item to my Inbox from a Stream?

• You can add items from a Stream directly into your Inbox, using the “sharing” icon ↑ to “Move or copy to another Stream.”
• From there, type or select Inbox in the “Destination” bar to add to your Inbox. Use the toggle button to choose to move or copy the Item.

How can I add an Item to my Inbox from elsewhere on the web?

• You can add articles, photos, videos, and other items to your Inbox from other locations by sharing them, copying a link, or using your Factr browser extension.

What is a Stream?

Streams are a way to organize your content and conversations and share them on Factr. Streams are made up of a collection of Items.

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You can create your own Stream, follow or view a public Stream created and shared by another user, or collaborate on a Stream to which you’ve been given access.

How can I create a Stream?

Via web browser:

Once you’ve created your profile, you’re able to create a Stream. You’ve chosen a topic that matters to you and you want a place to collect Items that pertain to that topic.

• Click the + button (opposite the Factr logo) on the left-hand navigation column and select "New Stream" from the options.
• Give your Stream a name, it can be changed at any time.
• If you're a part of a group, specify the stream owner (you or a group)
• Choose a community access level, it can be updated at any time:

Private: The stream is only visible and accessible to members you invite.

Connections: The stream is only visible and accessible to members you're connected to.

Public: Public streams can be discovered and viewed by anyone via Factr's search feature (no one can’t post to the Stream without your permission).

• Click "Save"

Via the mobile app:

• Look for the gold + button in the toolbar at the bottom of the app.
• Choose what you would like to make.
• If you’re creating a post, add the photo, link, file, and/or text you’d like to post. If you’re creating a new Stream, fill in the Stream options and click “Create Stream.”

Items on Factr

An Item is any content that can be posted and/or shared on your Stream - documents, files, images, links, text, sources, etc. Items can be pulled from a variety of Sources and added to a Stream in a number of ways. A Stream in itself is a collection of items.

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Adding an Item An item can be added through the Stream’s toolbar, indicated by an gold “+” button at the top of the stream interface. After clicking on it, a menu of options will open,

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Tagging Items:

Items can be tagged for the purpose of filtering your posts accordingly. You can type in your own tags or select suggestions below the text box based on tags already existing within the stream.

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Editing Items:

To edit your Item, click on the"…" at the corner for options to edit post, change the

date, or delete the post from your stream. In the edit window, you can edit the title of the post, the text box, and replace or delete the image within the post. To change the date of your Item, select this option to edit the time the post should be displayed.

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Moving an Item:

Click the share icon to move or share a posted item at any time.

• Share will make a copy of the post to the destination you'd like to share to.
• Moving a post will move the post to the chosen stream, folder, inbox, or profile.

How to install the Factr browser extension

For Chrome and iPhone mobile app

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To get the most out of Factr, we recommend installing the Factr browser extension. Not only does the extension provide an efficient way to save web pages for later use or discussion on Factr, but it also means that you can effectively curate a Stream while browsing the internet.

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Best of all, it's really easy to install.

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Installing the Factr extension for Chrome:

To start the installation, click on this link.

• Click the button in the top right that says “+ Add to Chrome”
• Click the button in the pop-up window that says “Add extension”
• You’ll see a pop-up window confirming that the browser extension has been added.

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That’s it! Now just login to your Factr account in the extension, and you can start saving to Factr from your browser.

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Factr extension for iPhone: Good news! The extension is built in when you download the Factr app. To use the in-app extension, you can add Factr to the list of apps you share to regularly:

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• Click the “Share” button on the page you would like to send to Factr.
• Click the Factr icon, choose your stream, and click “Save.”
• If the Factr icon does not appear, click the “…” (More) icon Switch Factr “on” within your Activities (you know it’s on if you switched it from gray to green)
• Click “done”
• The Factr icon will appear as a share option. Click the Factr icon to share your content to your inbox, profile, or streams.

Adding items using the Factr Web Extension

Via the web browser

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In addition to setting up your streams to automatically pull content from websites, you can use the Factr extension to add items and content to any stream while you’re browsing online.

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Using the Factr web extension, you can save items at the moment while you’re browsing the web.

• First, you’ll need to download the extension to your favorite browser. If you haven’t already done this, click this link to download the Factr web extension for Chrome.
• Once the extension is downloaded, you can click on the Factr extension icon when visiting any public page online.
• Then select the stream you want to save or post to (including your Inbox, for sharing at another time)
• Once you click “Add to Factr,” the page will show the message “Successfully saved.”

If you do not see the Success message, the link you are adding may be either a private page that requires login or the page is unable to be shared via the site you are on.

Post an Item to your Stream, Profile, or Inbox

Add notes, links, photos, files, and imported social media posts.

For help on importing bookmarks or Tweets, see the import content article.

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Via web browser:

• Click the + button on the top of the left-hand navigation and click "new post" OR go to the Stream that you want to add content
• If in Stream, click the gold "+" button at the top of the Stream
• A menu of options will open. Specify your preliminary post choice to open a new post.
• Insert, upload, or type your post preliminary content. Additional post options will appear in the case that you have more links, images, or files to add to the post.
• Choose your post styling and attachment order
• Click "Post" when you've finalized your post content.

Pro Tip: Use the multiple file tool to upload multiple images or files as individual posts. Keep in mind, you can post up to 20 attachments to any post within it, without using this tool. The multiple file button is for those who want images and files to posted as their own individual posts.

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Via the mobile app:

• To create a new post in the mobile app, look for the gold + button in the toolbar at the bottom of the app.
• Choose "New Post"
• Choose your post destination
• Insert post text and attachments
• When complete, click "Save" on the top right-hand side of the platform

Inviting others to your Stream

Inviting people to contribute or view your Stream can be done by clicking the “Manage Access” button on the Stream header.

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Managing who has access to your Stream can be done in two spaces. Firstly, you can update the default access. This setting can keep your Stream open to the general public, private (meaning anyone on the page requires an invitation) or public to your connections only.

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When inviting specific people to a Stream, you can click the gold + button under “Who has access.” Search for people or invite them to the Stream via email address.

• Admin: A user that has access as an Editor, plus the ability to grant access to the Stream.
• Editor: A user that has permission to edit Sources, Filters, and Tags, in addition to adding content.
• Contributor: A user who has permission to add posts, links, files, and comments. Contributors are listed on the side of your Stream with the number of items they have posted.
• Viewer: A user who only has permission to view a Stream.

The Stream creator is automatically the owner and an admin for the Stream. This can be changed at any time.

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After choosing an access level, you can add a message, and share it!

Access your Network and Streams

Accessing your network and streams can be done through the left-hand side panel. You can also search for an item, stream, or member using the search bar at the top of the page.

Finding your streams:

• The left-hand side panel shares quick access to your most recently visited streams. To view a full list of your streams, the group streams you have access to, as well as the streams you follow, click "Streams".
• Streams will list in order of your streams, group streams, and others.
• Use the arrow icon to minimize or open groups to control your viewable stream list.
• When done, click the "Back" button to see the home side-panel.

Finding your Network:

• Click "Network" on the left-hand side panel to view your connections, groups, or search and add new connections.
• Use the "Connections" and "Groups" tabs to navigate who or what in your network you would like to view.

Searching in Factr

Factr includes keyword searching, as well as a variety of filter sets to support finding what you're looking for quickly and efficiently.

• To start a search, click the search bar at the top center of the platform. Factr will automatically begin searching for what you are looking for.
• Click "enter/return" to view your full search results.
• In the below search example, I typed "Movies". I'm looking for an item that was posted by Janet Dunne and was highlighted as well.
• Filtering search results to include highlighted items as well as items posted by Janet Dunne will help filter the search results to include anything that falls into the parameters I have added.
• The search results went from 144 items down to two upon adding filters. I have quickly gained access to the content I was looking for.

Search filters include:

• Posted - Any tem that was posted by a Factr member
• Highlighted - Any item highlighted by a Factr member
• Commented - Any item commented on by a Factr member
• Tagged - Any item tagged by a Factr member
• Hidden - Any item hidden by a Factr member
• People - Any item posted by a specific Factr member or group
• Stream - Any item posted within a specific Factr stream
• Tags - Any item with a specific tag
• Sources - Any item originating from a specific source

Add Sources to your Streams

Set up your streams to automatically pull in the content from the websites you care about using RSS feeds.

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Here's everything you need to know about how to add website (RSS) feeds as Sources to your Streams.

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First you need to open the Source management part of your Stream.

• Click on the Settings menu and choose "Sources". You can also access this by clicking on the gear icon next to sources in the stream sidebar or by clicking the large gold "+" button and selecting the Sources button.

Finding and adding a Source that's already on Factr

• If you know the name of the Source that you want to add, you can search the Factr database to see if it is there.
• If you see the source you are looking for, click "+ Add".

Adding a new Source feed to Factr

If you can't find a Source on Factr but you know (or suspect) that there is one, you have two options:

• Type in the full website address (e.g. website.com) and let Factr try to find the feed for you. If Factr can find a Feed, it will let you know and you can add it by clicking on the "+ Add" button.
• Go to the website and look for the RSS Feed symbol (it is often in either the header or footer of the web page). If you see the Feed icon, click on it and copy the website address (URL).
• Go back to your Stream Sources, paste in the search field in Factr and click "+ Add". If it is a valid feed, Factr will add it to your Stream.

Filter your Sources

Keep in mind, filters can only be used on streams with aggregated sources.

• To add or edit Filters, click on Settings > Source Filters

Filtering works by eliminating or adding content by:

• All: content must match all keywords in this field
• Any: content must match at least one of these keywords
• Never: content with any of these keywords will be excluded

Most topics will have a greater variety of terms that will need to be added to ensure that you catch everything you want to. For example, filters for artificial intelligence probably should include related terms and abbreviations as well: "machine learning", "neural networks", "AI", "NLP", "natural language processing" etc.

• Click "Apply" to see results
• Click "Add another filter set" to create additional content parameters.

Pro tip:

• Try to keep your filter sets thematically related. We've seen great stream results following the following Filter structure, using three filter sets:

1. What (which issue or topic keywords)
2. Where (which countries, regions or cities?)
3. Who (which individuals or groups?)