All you need to know about how to get started with Pinterest

Ahh Pinterest, we’ve professed our love for the quirky virtual pin board website many times in the past, but over the last few weeks it’s gained a huge following very very quickly.

It’s always had a fairly active community, but now everyone (and we mean everyone) has woken up to the site. If you don’t believe us, then log into that Pinterest account you registered then swiftly abandoned a few months back and we bet you’ve had a sudden influx of new followers, despite the fact you have no idea what ‘pinning’ really is.

There’s been a lot of speculation about why Pinterest has become such a big hit, but whether it’s due to the fact it’s been featured on a tonne of “networks to try in the new year” lists, because the site has started giving out more invites, or everyone’s decided to follow our social media resolutions for 2012 (we know this is the real reason), there’s no hiding from it.

What is it?

Pinterest is best described as a “virtual pinboard”, so you collect content you’ve found from across the web and then “pin” it to different boards. You can create as many different boards as you like (like say “Tattoos” or “Travel), attach as many pins as you want to them and then browse the boards of others.

Why does it rock?

The ‘Pin It’ button that you can add to your browser makes pinning all kinds of images and photo content really easy. Once you’ve done it for a few days it’ll come as second nature when you see anything that interests or inspires you.

You can use it however you please. Even though many non-users make fun of Pinterest for being all about cute things and crafts, there are really no limits to how you can use it, and as more and more users sign up, the content added by the whole community gets even more diverse.

It’s so easy to re-pin content that others have uploaded. Although we wouldn’t advise you only re-publish images from other people, Pinterest makes it so easy to share among the community.

You can tag, like and comment among the community, which makes it a great place to share ideas, find relevant content and make connections with those who have similar interests.

It has a simple and intuitive interface, which puts great looking content at the centre of the site and doesn’t waste any space or fuss on unnecessary details.

How do I get started?

It’s pretty simple, which is another reason we think it’s just so awesome. Once you’ve signed up for an account, added your details and uploaded a photo, you need to start making boards.

To add boards, simply click “add” in the top right hand corner and go to “create a board”. This is where you can give your board a name, a category and then decide whether it’s just you who can pin to it or other contributors.

To add pins you need the “Pin It” button and then as soon as you see an image you want to pin you simply press that, select the right image, select the right board, add some tags and then decide whether you want to share it with your Facebook or Twitter followers.

To find the right images, it’s best to name boards and tag pins in an explicit way. However, sometimes a board called “Eats & Treats” is much more fun than one just called “Desserts”.

To search for content or people, use the “search” bar in the top left hand corner and you can find other users, pins and you can even search within your own pins too.

Related: Pinterest: Is it just full of crafts, cookies and kittens?