FAQs

The Basics

The Basics

What is Plum?

Always good to start with an easy one....

Plum is a free service that helps you collect all the fun and important parts of your digital life in one place. If you're like us, the things you care about are all spread out — bookmarks in Favorites menus, emails in Gmail, videos on YouTube, pictures on Flickr, and so on. Not to mention all sorts of stuff that you've got saved in folders on your desktop.

We want to make it easy to bring everything into one place, organize it, and share it — how you want and with whom you want.

return to top

How does it work?

When you're surfing the web, the "Save Anything" button for your browser lets you save any web page you come across with just one click. And with an ever-growing number of sites on the web, Plum makes it simple to grab just the parts you want — for example, videos from YouTube and Google Video, pictures from Flickr and Photobucket, and emails from Yahoo! and Gmail.

You can also collect with the "Add" menu at the top of every collection on plum.com — use it to cut and paste a link or upload a file from your computer.

You can make as many collections as you want, on any topic. And you can choose how to publish each collection — decide how it looks, and control who can see it (everyone, a small group of friends, or just you).

Finally, Plum can point you to new content that matches your interests. Always keep an eye on the right-hand side of your screen — that's where we show you other Plum collections we think you'll like. You might discover something cool!

return to top

How does Plum help me collect stuff from the web?

Once you've installed the Plum "Save Anything" button on your browser, it only takes a couple of seconds to add any web page you come across to one of your Plum collections.

Plum has a bunch of cool features that make collecting web pages powerful and easy. In addition to saving a link to the page, Plum can save a snapshot of the whole page — which is really handy for receipts, order confirmations, and frequently changed pages like news sites.

Plum can also help you grab just the parts of a web page that you care about. For example, you can save just the email from a Gmail page, just the video from a YouTube page, or just the photo from a Flickr page. (Of course, you can always save the whole page if you'd prefer.)

return to top

How does Plum help me collect stuff from my computer?

Use the "Add" menu in any collection to collect all kinds of stuff from your computer. You can upload photos, Office docs, PDFs, and more.

return to top

Getting Started

How do I start using Plum?

First, get the free Plum tools. These will help you quickly and easily collect anything from the web and add it directly to Plum.

If you don't want to install the tools now, you can start collecting web pages, photos, and more right from your plum.com account. Go to any collection and move your mouse over the "Add" menu to choose the type of item you'd like to save — either from the web or from your desktop.

Looking for ideas about what to collect? Check out the Explore Page to see what other Plum users are collecting.

return to top

What is the "Add to Plum" button?

The "Add to Plum" button (also called a "bookmarklet") is a special type of bookmark that lets you save anything you come across on the web without installing any software. To get the "Add to Plum" button, click here.

Once you have the "Add to Plum" button on your browser's Bookmarks Toolbar, click it whenever you come across something you want to add to Plum. You can add tags and a description, and save it to any of your collections or start a new collection on the spot.

*Note: The "Add to Plum" button is only available for Firefox and Safari.

return to top

What is the "Quick Add to Plum" button?

The "Quick Add to Plum" button is a one-click version of the "Add to Plum" button. It'll save the web page, video, or picture you're looking at right to your My Clipboard collection. You can go back later and edit any details that need changing or move it to a different collection. To get the "Quick Add to Plum" button, click here.

*Note: The "Quick Add to Plum" button is only available for Firefox and Safari.

return to top

How do I add a personal image to my Plum Page?

Click on the gray default image next to your username and a box will open up called "Public Profile." At the bottom is a field called "Personal Picture." Click the "Browse" button to select a picture from your desktop to upload.

Any time you want to change your image, just follow the same steps to upload a new one.

return to top

How do I edit my user profile?

Move your mouse over the "Actions" menu on your Plum Page and click on "Public Settings."

Fill out any fields you want in the popup that opens; these will be part of the profile seen by anyone who visits your page.

To edit your personal description, move your mouse over the text below your username. A yellow box will appear; double-click inside it to edit the text.

return to top

Collecting

What are collections?

Plum collections are like online versions of the folders on your desktop. You can access your collections from any computer with an Internet connection by logging into your Plum account.

There's a bunch of cool things you can do with Plum collections. You can change the way they look using one of our design templates (called "Views"). You can decide who gets to see them — everyone, a small group of friends, or just you. And you can use them to find new stuff; if you've made your collections public, Plum will automatically recommend other user's collections that have related content.

return to top

What can I collect with Plum?

Our goal is to let you collect anything. We can't quite provide that yet (you can't collect MP3s, for example) — but we think that what we've got so far is a pretty good start:

• Web Pages. Save a link to a page or a snapshot of the whole thing.
• Videos. Collect videos from YouTube, Google Video, and Yahoo! Video, with support for more sites coming soon.
• Photos. Upload from your computer or grab them from your favorite photo-sharing sites.
• Email. Collect from Gmail and Yahoo! Mail (original only).
• Office docs. Upload from your computer.
• PDFs. Upload from your computer.
• Text Notes. Add directly in Plum using "Add Note" from the Add menu.

We're working to add support for new kinds of items. Got a request? Let us know.

If you're a developer and would like to add custom support for your favorite website(s), get in touch. We'll give you access to our collect APIs and plugin scripts.

return to top

How do I collect with Plum?

There are two ways to collect things in Plum:

• From the web with the Plum "Save Anything" button or the Plum bookmarklet buttons;
• From within plum.com using the "Add" and "Action" menus.

See below for more detail on how to collect specific kinds of items.

return to top

How do I collect web pages?

Use the browser tools. When you come across a web page you want to save, click the Plum "Save Anything" button or the "Add to Plum" button on your Bookmarks Toolbar. You can choose to save a snapshot of the page or a link straight to the page.

Use Plum search. Find what you're looking for on Plum or on the web using the search box at the top of every page. When you see a result you like, use the Action menu or the "Collect" link to save it to one of your collections.

Use the Add Menu. Go to the "Add" drop-down menu at the top of any collection to copy and paste a link.

return to top

How do I collect videos?

Use the browser tools. When you want to save a video from YouTube, Google Video, or Yahoo! Video, click the Plum "Save Anything" button or the "Add to Plum" button on your Bookmarks Toolbar.

If Plum recognizes that a video is the most important part of the page, it will save just the video by default. However, if you'd like, you can choose to save the whole web page instead. (If you use the "Quick Add to Plum" button, only the video will be saved.)

return to top

How do I collect photos?

Use the browser tools. When you want to save a photo from a web page, click the Plum "Save Anything" button or the "Add to Plum" button on your Bookmarks Toolbar.

If Plum recognizes that a photo is the most important part of the page, it will save just the photo by default. However, if you'd like, you can choose to save the whole web page instead. (If you use the "Quick Add to Plum" button, only the photo will be saved.)

When the photo is not the most important part of the page, Plum will save a snapshot of the entire page by default. However, you can choose any image on the page and save it as a photo alone — just click "Other Options" on the Collect page.

Use Plum search. Click on the "Photos" tab in Plum search and find images by keyword, courtesy of Flickr. When you see a result you like, use the "Collect" link to save it to a collection.

Use the Add Menu. Go to the "Add" drop-down menu at the top of any collection to upload a photo from your computer.

return to top

How do I collect email?

Use the browser tools. When you want to save an from Gmail or Yahoo! Mail, click the Plum "Save Anything" button or the "Add to Plum" button on your Bookmarks Toolbar.

Plum will save just the email by default. However, if you'd like, you can choose to save the whole web page instead. (If you use the "Quick Add to Plum" button, only the email will be saved.)

return to top

How do I collect Office docs and PDFs?

Use the Add Menu. Go to the "Add" drop-down menu at the top of any collection to upload a file from your computer.

return to top

How do I collect text notes?

Use the Add Menu. Go to the "Add" drop-down menu at the top of any collection and choose "Note."

return to top

What do I do if I saved the wrong item type for my item?

Currently, there's no way to change your item type after you collect it — we're planning to add this feature soon.

return to top

Organizing

How do I change the way my collections look?

You can choose from one of four templates to set a default view for each of your collections:

• Blog: Makes the collection look like a blog, with large images and full-text item descriptions.
• Browsing: Helps readers scan quickly through the items in your collection, and lets them view preview information for each item.
• List: Displays the items in your collection as a simple list for easy scanning and access.
• Thumbnail: Shows just the thumbnail and title for each item when you want something visually engaging.

To change the appearance of a collection, move your mouse over the "Views" menu at the top of each collection and click on the view you want in the drop-down menu.

return to top

Can I change the way I view other users' collections?

Yes. The collection owner sets the default view, but you can choose to apply any template to the collection you're viewing, even if it's owned by someone else.

return to top

How do I edit collection information (thumbnails, titles, descriptions)?

It's easy — just move your mouse over the content you want to edit. For thumbnails, double click on the image area to choose a new thumbnail from any of the available images in the collection.

With titles and descriptions, a yellow box will appear around the text. Double-click anywhere inside the yellow box to enter your changes.

return to top

How do I edit item information (titles, descriptions, tags)?

Move your mouse over the "Actions" menu on the item you want to edit and select the "Details" option. A new window will open containing all of the information associated with the item.

To change the title, description, or tags, mouse over the content you wish to edit. A yellow box will appear around the text; double-click anywhere inside it to make changes.

return to top

Can I add a thumbnail after I have collected a web page?

It's currently not possible to add a thumbnail to an item after it has been collected. You can only add the thumbnail during the collect process. We hope to make this feature available soon — tell us if you want it now.

return to top

What are "tags" and why do I need them?

Tags are descriptive keywords that you can attach to the items you collect. They're helpful in a couple of ways.

First off, you can filter any collection by clicking one or more of the tags above the collection content — this means that only the items in that collection with that descriptive tag will be displayed.

What's more, tags help Plum match your items and collections with similar content saved by other people. (Of course, Plum's connections matching technology uses a lot more than tags to discover connections... but tags give you a say in helping Plum make the right match with other peoples' collections.)

One final note: tags in Plum are separated by commas. This means that one tag can consist of multiple words if you'd like.

return to top

Can I add HTML formatting to my descriptions?

Yes. Plum supports all common formatting tags, such as <b>, <i>, <p>, <br>, and <a>.

return to top

Sharing

Can other people see my collections?

You decide who gets to see each of your collections. You can make any collection private (for only you and friends you explicitly allow to view that collection), or public (visible to anyone on the web).

Your "My Clipboard" collection is private by default, but all other collections default to being public.

return to top

How do I change who can view my collections?

Go to the collection page and click on the word "edit" in the top right corner of the collection. A small pop-up window will appear called "Privacy and Sharing."

Here you can decide whether your collection is "public" (viewable by anyone on the web) or "private" (viewable only by you and friends you explicitly invite).

return to top

How do I change who can edit my collections?

By default, new collections are only editable by you. However, there may be times when you want to allow others to edit and collaborate in making collections as well — for example, when working with a friend to plan a trip.

To do this, go to the collection page and click on the word "edit" in the top right corner of the collection. A small pop-up window will appear called "Privacy and Sharing." Here you can invite friends to view the collection and give them the ability to edit it.

return to top

What does it mean to be a collaborator on someone else's collection?

If you are invited to collaborate on someone else's collection, you can add and edit the contents of this collection along with the owner and other collaborators. Your name will show up at the top of the collection in the collection header as a "contributor."

return to top

What does it mean to be a "friend" on Plum?

"Friends" on Plum are other registered Plum users with whom you have mutually established a connection. If you accept someone as a friend on Plum, you will appear in each other's friends lists, and will be able to collaborate on collections with each other.

return to top

How do I add someone as a friend?

To add someone as a friend on Plum, go to his or her Plum Page and look for the "Actions" drop-down menu above the user image. Move your mouse over the menu and select the "Add to Friends" option.

To add people who don't yet use Plum, first invite them to join Plum through the "Invite a Friend" box under your collections list. Once they accept your invitation, you will automatically be added to each other's friends lists.

return to top

Can I add to or modify other people's collections?

You can only add items to someone else's collection if they have invited you to contribute to their collection. You will be notified by email that you have been invited to edit another user's collection, and you must accept this invitation before you can begin adding items.

To see if you can make changes to another user's collection, go to to the collection page and see if your name appears as a "contributor" at the top of the collection in the collection header. If your name does not appear here, the collection owner has not allowed you to edit the collection.

You need to be subscribed to a collection to be able to add items to it.

return to top

Connecting

What are "Connections"?

When you view a collection or a Plum Page, Plum automatically finds similar content to whatever you're looking at. The closest matches are displayed on the top of the "Connections" sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen.

return to top

How do Connections work?

Connections are made by analyzing everything that is in a collection and matching it to all other (public) collections in the system. Some of the factors Plum looks at are:

• the items in the collection;
• any tags associated with the items; and
• who has subscribed to it.

Please let us know if you are pleased or disappointed by the way your collections are being matched (the more specific the example the better).

return to top

Can I search Plum?

Absolutely. You can search inside of Plum (just your own collections or everyone's collections), or outside — shopping (on Amazon), photos (on Flickr), or the whole web (on Google and Yahoo).

Just type your search key words in the box at the top of the screen. Choose the tab above the box to specify where you want to search, and click the orange search button on the right.

return to top

Can I find people in Plum with similar interests to mine?

Yes. Plum is primarily focused on connecting you to information — that is, matching the content you've saved to similar content throughout Plum. But, of course, there's a person behind every collection... so by connecting you to information you might find interesting, Plum also connects you to people you might find interesting.

return to top

How can I contact other people in Plum?

You can email collections and items through Plum to anyone whose email address you know. If you don't know the other person's email address, you must first become "friends" with that person; once you are friends, you can send them items and collections via their Plum username.

return to top

Miscellaneous

Where are my Plum collections stored?

Plum collections are stored both on Plum's servers and with a secure third-party service called S3, provided by Amazon.com. All collections are backed up and all of your data is protected.

Some content collected from third-party sites remains at those sites instead of being copied to Plum. For example, when you collect photos from Flickr or videos from YouTube, the photos and videos are still stored on those sites — Plum simply keeps references to their locations. It makes everything run a lot smoother and still lets you access everything in one convenient place.

Can I search outside of Plum without leaving Plum?

Yes. Plum has built-in support for searching the web (thanks to Yahoo! and Google), images (thanks to Flickr), and shopping — books, DVDs, music, and software (thanks to Amazon).

Just select your desired search tab from the orange search box at the top of the screen, enter your terms, and click the magnifying-glass button. One thing that's really nice about searching from within Plum: you can save any result instantly by clicking the "Collect" link associated with it.

return to top

Does Plum work with all browsers?

Plum currently works with the latest versions of the following browsers:

• Firefox (Mac and Windows)
• Internet Explorer (versions 6 and 7)
• Safari

return to top

Does Plum have programming interfaces (APIs)?

Yes. Plum has a rich set of open REST and JavaScript APIs; in fact, the entire Plum application was built using our APIs. For more information about the Plum APIs check out the developer section.

return to top

What do I do if I discover inappropriate (e.g. copyrighted or offensive) material being shared on Plum?

Material that is in breach of copyright law or that is offensive or illegal violates Plum's terms of service. Please help us keep Plum a fun, useful place for everyone by reporting infringements as soon as you see them.

If you see content that's offensive, illegal, or in violation of copyright, please flag it for review. Move your mouse over the Actions menu on the item or collection of concern, then choose the Flag option. Report the nature of the abuse and we'll be sure to follow up on it right away.

return to top

How do I give Plum my feedback and suggestions?

We love hearing from people who use Plum — in fact, hearing from you (yeah, you) is the best way we know of to make the product better for everyone. To give us feedback — good, bad, or ugly — please click here.

return to top