#cafeadvice master post

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Tumblr Basics for Cafe Dot

Please keep in mind that just like any social media site Tumblr will change and in consequence this advice is ever evolving.

What is Tumblr?

To put it simply Tumblr is a microblogging site that leans toward image sharing, but is also very generous to music & video links as well as text posts. The site itself has been around since 2007 and since then has had it's ups and downs but for the most part it has remained steady and boasts around 50 million visitors a month. As of March 2023 Tumblr hosts more than 572 million blogs. Tumblr does not lean hard into any algorithm and there is no verification process, if a celebrity is on Tumblr they're using the same tools you are. Some quick facts about the site:

48% of Tumblr users are Gen Z

It is the third most popular blogging platform on the internet

70% of users are satisfied with Tumblr's functionality - this puts them only below Pinterest and Youtube for customer satisfaction

The majority of Tumblr users are US based followed by Canada, and the United Kingdom.

The user base is nearly split 50/50 for identifying male (58%) or female (41%)

How do you set up a Tumblr blog?

First and foremost I recommend reading Tumblr's own guide for using their site here: TUMBLR GUIDE

This question is relatively loaded because Tumblr, unlike other social media sites, allows you to highly customize your profile/blog. To some this is fantastic, especially those that have a grasp of basic html editing. To others this task alone can seem daunting and an astronomical height to traverse over. Thankfully Tumblr provides some premade themes that you can lightly customize if spending hours on your blog theme isn't in the stars for you. If you'd like to learn how to create a custom HTML theme click here. You can also find plenty of free premade themes by other blog enthusiasts, they all tend to have set up instructions. Just google it :) After you create an account if you click on your profile picture it will take you to a quickview of your "blog" that most people will see if they hover over your icon. You can edit this minimally. If you click on "Blog Settings" It will navigate you to a page that allows you to edit your Username, Address (your tumblr blog address), Description, PFP, etc. If you'd like to use a custom theme please be sure to enable custom themes on this page, doing so enables you to have a full tumblr page and edit your theme. If you enable this - the edits you make on your main theme will reflect in your quickview.

Basics of Tumblr

Tumblr like Twitter keeps track of your likes, has a Following tab, and a For You tab. Unlike Twitter it defaults to your Following tab on the dashboard. It also has a Your Tags tab which are hashtags you have decided to follow and a Management Tab which gives you access to something called Tumblr Labs. Tumblr Labs has to be enabled as it's just experimental features that you can try out: Popular Reblogs Tab, Trending Tab, Favs Tab, etc.  You can at any time toggle these on and off and each provide a description of what they are and do. If you do decide to turn on Tumblr Labs the staff wants you to provide feedback, so please do!

Dashboard: This is your Tumblr landing zone - from here you can view your feed (you will only see posts from blogs you follow, no one else, unless they appear on radar), settings, overall account management, and create posts.

Tumblr Feed: this is the live feed of the most recent posts or reblogs from the users you follow.

Reblog: Effectively the same thing as a Retweet on Twitter, the difference is you can Reblog your own post infinite times and no algorithm is going to knock it out visually from your followers. They WILL see it. Keep that in mind and don't overuse it too frequently.

Tumblr Radar: this is a spotlight section that is curated by Tumblr staff and boosts artwork (4 different pieces per day). You can be randomly chosen if a staff comes across your piece or you can also submit your original work and it will go through a submission process and potentially be spotlighted. Read more about Tumblr Radar and how it works here.

Queues: In my opinion queues on Tumblr are probably the single most utilized version of queues on any social media site. A LOT of users queue their posts to spread them out over several hours or days, it's just something that has always been ingrained in the community to do. You can easily set up a draft to queue from the same area you would create the draft.

Hashtags: These are the bread and butter of Tumblr, ranging from categorizing to telling entire life stories in them (not a joke). Tags are highly visible and can even be seen in notifications of reblogs, they are sometimes used as ways for the reblogger to communicate with the OP, whether they ask a question or give you a compliment, if you filter through your reblog notifications you're bound to see some interesting ones. When it comes to using hashtags for searchability make sure they're relevant to your art/music/story etc. i.e Pixelart, Painting, Digital Art, Sky, Trees, Fantasy, Fantasy Art, Blue Art, Pastel, Pastel Aesthetic, and so on. It's also worth noting that categorizing via hashtags is very powerful on Tumblr, you can utilize your own hashtags to create pages or portfolios on your blog that can be easily navigated to. Example, I've posted 3 images to this blog tagged #matchaexample and created a link to the tagged page connected to this blog called "Example Gallery" if you click it you will notice that the only posts the page shows are the 3 images sans this text post. You can do this with any tag to highlight specific things about your blog. If you want an FAQ section create a post, tag it FAQ or whatever you'd like and create a page to link to from the main page of your blog. This is super handy for creating your own versions of a master link post to your shops, other websites etc. You'll notice the discord link does in fact take you to the invite for the cafe dot server :)

Asks: On Tumblr people are able to send you messages via asks that can be anonymous or attached to their own accounts (you can toggle the settings for asks by clicking your pfp and scrolling down to the Asks section). You can choose to answer these privately or answer them publicly which posts the asks in a format to your blog. You can add tags to asks and like mentioned above create an entire page dedicated to them if you so choose.

FAQs

When is the right time to post on Tumblr for visibility? Since the majority of Tumblr users are based in the US the best time to post is between 5pm and 1am (EST or Eastern Standard Time). Convert your timezone here. This is not an exact science, there's plenty of examples of people posting outside of what is perceived as the peak time for visibility and doing just fine. Also keep in mind you can reblog your post if you feel you missed a prime time in posting! What is the daily post limit? 250

Where can I find premade themes that are easy to install? Here :) How do I edit my theme? This depends on how you've set up your blog. You can either do minimal editing by clicking on your pfp or you can enable custom themes which allows you more customizations from your main blog page. This is the page that is [yourusername].tumblr.com. On there you'll notice 4 symbols in the top right hand corner. From left to right these are quick links to your dashboard (house), blog quickview (eye), theme edit appearance (paint palette), and settings (cog). Click the paint palette symbol to open more customizations for your theme.

How do I block Tumblrs? Click on your pfp navigate down to the Blocked Tumblrs section, from here you can add whoever you choose.

Can I pin a post? Yes! You can pin a post to your blog by clicking on the 3 dots in the top right corner of it and selecting the pin option

THIS IS A WIP POST- things will be added