Tech Tuesday: Using the Flipboard App

As the title suggests, I want to talk about the 'Flipboard' app for Apple devices such as the iPad and iPhone. Flipboard collates information from the web and puts it into a magazine format. A quick search on the internet tells me that it is also available for Android. Here's a brief video I made to explain how it works!

I love things like this: That make navigating stories in a blog easier! So in a nut shell - you download the app from the app store then when it loads in your phone or on your iPad find the search bar in the top right hand corner.

You can type anything into the search bar. So to find my blog I typed "Tall tales of a family." To find my friend Bill's stuff I typed "West in New England." Then a list appears and you select the blog or video or magazine you wish to see. Once you have selected that it will open up the blog site in magazine format.

If I want to create a specific magazine - like one specifically about the series I created on my Grandma then I click the little 'plus' buttons you can see appear in the image above. Each 'post' should have it's own 'plus' sign. Once I select this button it gives me an option to put it in an existing magazine I have created or to create a new one - I get to title it etc.

In the picture above you can see that I have three magazines. One is the stories of "The hymns of my fathers." One is "The Grandma I Never Knew" and the other is just a 'favourites' where I put my favourite selections from all over the web. It's not specific to genealogy - hence the "Man of steel" image. Once you have your magazine created you can select to view it and then on the left hand side is the option to share it. You can share it on a social network or you can share it via email like this:

Once it is shared a link is created that you can then send to others as well. The link for the magazine about "The Grandma I Never Knew" is here: https://flip.it/9VnSp

You can't see it without the actual Flipboard app but if you have the app go ahead and try it.

It might seem like alot of work but I'm always looking for ways to engage my generation of genealogists and those that are even younger than me. If they already have this product and you've created your 'magazine' it's so easy for them to add and see any updates. I've already had friends of mine that aren't generally interested in 'genealogy' begin reading my blog and the stories within because of this discovery.