As photographers one of the most important things we need on our Facebook Page is images. There are loads of different applications out there which you can use, but recently I’ve been checking out what hy.ly has to offer.

Last week we looked at adding a very simple contact form to your Facebook Page but this application allows you to add both a slideshow and contact form on your landing page.

hy.ly offer quite a few different apps but the portfolio one is probably the most relevant to photographers.

Getting Started

Once you have set up your hy.ly account (simply by logging in via Facebook ID) then you can trial the service with a few simple likes.

Different apps require a certain amount of points so after you’ve customised your portfolio page then you’ll be promoted to either pay for the service or earn point by clicking those like buttons.

Setting up your slideshow

Getting started is very easy and doesn’t require any coding. It’s worth preparing some images ready for your slideshow – 460×345 pixels is the size you’ll need them to be.

Once you have chosen which page you’d like your portfolio to be published to (if you have more than one of course) then the next step is to choose a theme.

There are some pre-installed themes but later you can add your own background if you wish.

Next you need to add a call out type – choose either a like button or an arrow (which you can align with your like button).

 

Now it’s time to add some of your own branding.

You have several options including changing your logo, the background image, and the colour scheme.

Once that is done then it’s just a case of uploading your images and personalizing the welcome message.

There’s very little to customise on the contact form other than add a Success Message – the default is..

Thank you for your interest in Page Name.  I will be in touch with you in one business day.

Enquiries are sent directly to your inbox via Hy.ly who also keep track of how many enquiries have come in.

 

Setting your portfolio as your default landing page

This has changed slightly in the past few months so here’s what you need to do.

On your Page go to Edit Page > Manage Permissions

All you need to do after that is to change the Default Landing Tab to Portfolio and you’re done.