Tutorial

The Tutorial teaches Glob Social by doing things in the app itself, not in a demonstration. Its short lessons sit in seven groups: Start here, Canvas basics, Finding your way, Sharing and privacy, Side panel tools, Chat and messages and Pixl. The two lessons in Start here are the first journey: find a node, save it to Listr, put it on Home and link it to a node of your own. You can stop after the first of them. Every other lesson can be taken on its own, in any order. The tutorial is available when you are signed in; a visitor exploring the Nexus does not see it.

A step that asks you to act counts as done only when Glob Social shows the result: a node saved in Listr, a pin on Home, a new tag, a line in chat, the place you are standing. Clicking a button is never enough on its own, and a step you have already done some other way counts at once. A step that explains something moves on when you choose Next.

Open the tutorial#

Open Settings and choose Tutorial. It reads Short lessons that teach Glob Social through real actions, in your own Home. Start with Find and save. Below that, every lesson is listed under its group's heading with its summary, its state (Not done yet, Now, a count such as 2 of 6 steps done, or Done) and a Start, Continue or Replay button. A lesson that builds on another says so, for example Builds on Make it yours. Best done after it. You can still start it first. Open the tutorial opens the window without starting anything; with no lesson running, the window shows the same list. Settings closes first, then the Tutorial window opens. See Settings.

Glob Social may also offer the first journey once. After the first setup of Home, when you are at Home with Node options closed and you have not yet saved a node to Listr, a small card asks Want a short guide? and offers its two short lessons. Guide me opens the window on Find and save. Explore on my own puts the card away for good on this account. Either way, You can start it any time from Tutorial in Settings.

The Tutorial window#

The window floats beside the canvas and does not block it: you keep using the app while it is open. It stands at the bottom left, beside the rail. While a lesson in Chat and messages runs it moves to the bottom right, clear of the chat window, and while a lesson in Pixl runs it moves to the top right, clear of Pixl Studio's tools along the bottom. On a phone it is always a strip under the Multibar; Shrink to one line folds it to a pill showing the step's title, and tapping the pill opens it again.

Each step shows the lesson, Step 3 of 6, the step's title, its state, what to do and a Why line. While a dialog, Command+K, Settings or Rabbit Hole is open, the window dims and its highlight goes away; both come back when that closes, and the window says Finish what’s open, and the tutorial carries on.

After Find and save, Talk at Home, Your first Pixl, Layers, frames and colours and Save it and find it again, a card offers the next lesson in its group: Keep going starts it, Stop here puts the card away. Every other lesson ends with a card offering Close, Replay and Read the guide, which opens this page.

Before a lesson that shares something#

Most lessons stay on Home, which only you can see until you share it, and in Listr, which is always private. A few do something other people can see. Each one says so in the step before you act, says who can see it, and takes it back in the same lesson. Skip step on the step that asks for it, and nothing is shared.

• Share with a link, then end it makes a private link to one of your own nodes. While the link exists, anyone who has its address can open that node and everything inside it after signing in, and nothing else of yours. It is not listed or searchable, and nobody has the address until you copy it and send it. The last step ends it. If you stop before then, open Share… on the node and choose End link under Shared with: anyone who opened the node with it loses that access.
• Make something public, and take it back shares a new node of your own with everyone for a moment. Make public lists it in public search within seconds; from then until you take it back, anyone, signed in or not, can open it and find it on your profile page, and people who follow you can see it in their Feed. If anyone pins it or links to it in those seconds, it stays public for good. Take back, on the Public tab or under Shared with, removes it from public search, your profile page and the Feed. The lesson runs only while public sharing is free, so it never spends credits, and it does not run while Home itself is public.
• Join the conversation on a wall asks for one vote and one short post on a Nexus node's wall. Anyone who can open the node can read the post, signed in or not, until you delete it in the next step. Write something you are happy to say in public and do not name anyone: a name with @ tells that person, and deleting the post does not take that back. Your vote stays until you choose its arrow again.
• A group of your own makes a group chat with only you in it, so nobody is told anything. A group has no delete: Leave group, under People, takes you out, and a group nobody is left in is gone for good.
• Talk at Home writes in Home chat, which only you and the visitors you invite with chat can read. If your Home is shared, its chat is a room other people can read, and the step says so.

See Sharing a node, Walls, posts and comments and Messages and group chats.

Start here#

Find and save#

Find and save — look around the Nexus, pick a node and keep it in Listr.

On the Topics pages a click opens a door rather than selecting a node, so the tutorial says Doors on the Topics pages open; they don’t save. If you zoom into a node instead of clicking it once, it says so and asks you to zoom out and click.

When the lesson ends, You saved your first node. offers Keep going, which starts Make it yours, or Stop here. Make it yours is waiting in Tutorial when you want it.

Make it yours#

Make it yours — put what you saved on Home, add something of your own and link the two. It builds on Find and save and uses the node you saved there. If you have not saved one, it starts with the Save it to Listr step and carries on from there.

Some nodes cannot be placed on Home. A node another person owns and has never shared can be saved to Listr but not pinned, and the tutorial says That node can’t be placed on Home: its owner hasn’t shared it. Save a node from a Topics subtopic, or one that is shared, and try again. A new node left empty is tidied away, so type a few words before pressing Enter. See Pins and Links and moving nodes.

When the lesson ends, That’s the basics. offers Close, Replay and Read the guide.

Completing steps in this lesson lights stars in your first constellation in First-trip preferences: Pin something, Make something, Draw a link and Go away and come back.

Canvas basics#

Every lesson in this group works on your own nodes on Home and builds on Make it yours. None of them changes someone else's node, shares anything or spends credits, and none removes anything except a copy or a pin the lesson itself asked you to make. See Nodes and the canvas and Node options.

Arrange your Home#

Arrange your Home — move one of your nodes, make it bigger, and give it a colour and a picture.

Make it bigger is Not available here on a touch screen and for a node with a picture; Add a picture is not available while pictures are not switched on for your account. Skip them.

Copy, rename and remove#

Copy, rename and remove — make your own copy of a node, give it a new name, then remove the copy.

The canvas keeps no undo history, so the lesson explains that before it asks you to delete anything, and asks you to delete only the copy it made. If you remove another node instead, it says That removed a different node, and there is no undo.

Look closer#

Look closer — tell selecting from going inside, come back, and move nodes and hide titles with the keyboard.

Menus, Node options and themes#

Menus, Node options and themes — open a node’s options, tag it, try the Select tool and choose a theme.

Node options and Settings cover the canvas, so the tutorial steps aside while they are open; the steps still count. Your theme is kept in this browser only, and you change it back the same way. Tags on Home stay private while Home is.

More with pins#

More with pins — pin something from search, size the pin, visit it and take it away.

Pinning changes nothing about the node itself. Size the pin is not available on a touch screen or for a pin showing a picture.

Finding your way#

These lessons move you around Glob Social and, at most, pin a node on Home, keep a post in Listr, like a node and tag one of your own. See Search and go, The Nexus, The World map and The Feed.

Search and go#

Search and go — find a place by name, go there, come back Home, and pin it there. It builds on Find and save.

Quick search is explained rather than tried because it has no button on screen and phones cannot open it.

Around the Nexus#

Around the Nexus — open a subject and a subtopic, step back one level, choose another, then jump Home with the logo. It builds on Find and save.

The World map#

The World map — open Map in the Nexus, zoom in until cities appear, pick a country, and go Home. It builds on Find and save.

The lesson never asks you to edit map tiles or enter a city.

Your Feed#

Your Feed — read posts in the Feed, switch its sections, keep a post in Listr, and like a node. It builds on Find and save.

Nodes on Home have no Like while Home is private, so the like step asks for a Nexus node. Choose Liked in the same menu to take it back. With an empty Feed the step says so and can be skipped. The lesson never asks you to post: the Feed has no way to write one.

Tags and people#

Tags and people — tag a node of your own, open People, and learn how invitations, visits and follows reach other people. It builds on Make it yours.

The last two are explained, never asked for: an invite link is a key someone else uses, friend requests, follows and visits reach another person, and every shout costs credits. Public tag pages are outside the app, where the tutorial does not run. See Tags and Invitations and visits.

Sharing and privacy#

Read Before a lesson that shares something first. None of these lessons shares Home, shares with a friend, retires a node, blocks or reports anyone, or spends credits.

Who can see your work#

Who can see your work — what stays private, the three ways to share, and where your safety settings are. All four steps explain and move on with Next: Home starts private, Three ways to share, Sharing takes what’s inside and Your safety settings. If your Home itself is public or shared right now, the first step says so.

Share with a link, then end it#

Share with a link, then end it — make a private link to one of your nodes, see who it lets in, and end it.

A node holds at most 20 open links; the step says so if yours is full.

Join the conversation on a wall#

Join the conversation on a wall — vote on a post on a Nexus node’s wall, write one of your own, and delete it again.

On an empty wall, skip the vote and write the first post.

Make something public, and take it back#

Make something public, and take it back — share a new node with everyone for a moment, see what that means, and take it back. It builds on Who can see your work.

The lesson uses a new node with nothing inside, because whatever is inside a node is shared with it. While public sharing costs credits, or while Home itself is public, its steps are Not available here. If someone pinned, linked to or added to the node before you took it back, the last step says it stays public, and you can only skip.

People around a node#

People around a node — groups, councils, and what to do about someone who bothers you. All four steps explain: Groups, Councils, Blocking and Reporting. None is ever asked for: a group has no delete, a council motion is a real vote, and a block or a report is never made for practice. See Blocking and Reporting.

Side panel tools#

These lessons use the side panel and Listr. The tutorial never asks you to delete anything you had before a lesson, open a lookup, or press Play the last hour. See The side panel, Listr and Images and node pictures.

Your side panel#

Your side panel — switch tools, make room, and tuck the side panel away when you want the whole canvas.

Make it wider is not available on a phone or a narrow window. The steps that use the side panel need it switched on.

Keep a thought#

Keep a thought — use Listr’s one bar to keep a thought and a link, change the note, then tidy up the link.

Delete has no undo, so the lesson asks you to remove only the link it made, and never points at another row. Your note stays.

Put a note to work#

Put a note to work — place a note from Listr on Home, then go into it and come back. It builds on Keep a thought.

Pictures and Media#

Pictures and Media — give one of your own nodes a picture, then find it again in Media.

While pictures are not switched on for your account, this lesson is Not available here.

More tools#

More tools — what Lookups, Play the last hour, Keep and export, and web pages do, read rather than tried. All four steps explain and move on with Next: Look up a node, Replay the last hour, Keep a line, or take things with you and Web pages. A lookup spends credits as soon as it is opened, Play the last hour starts a replay for everyone in the room, keeping someone else's chat line asks them first, and web pages depend on the page you open. See Lookups, Play the last hour, Keep, export and leaving and Web nodes.

Chat and messages#

While these lessons run, the Tutorial window stands at the bottom right, clear of the chat window. They write only in Home chat and in a group with only you in it. They never ask you to write in Global, a topic room or a shared node’s room, send a direct message, add someone to a group, mention anyone, shout, keep a line in a shared room or drop a Pixl into chat. See Chat and Inbox and notifications.

Talk at Home#

Talk at Home — try chat where only you, and the visitors you invite with chat, can read it: say a line, react, keep it.

Speak from the canvas needs a mouse or trackpad pointer, so it waits for a computer. When the lesson ends, You talked at Home. offers Keep going to Rooms, people and your Inbox.

Rooms, people and your Inbox#

Rooms, people and your Inbox — look in the rooms everyone shares, open a topic, and find where your messages and updates arrive. Nothing here asks you to write.

Who is here, cursors and typing need another person, so they are explained. Direct messages, Keep requests, shouts and pictures in chat are described in the Why lines, never asked for: each reaches another person, and a shout spends credits.

A group of your own#

A group of your own — optional. Start a group chat with only you in it, and learn how people join and how you leave. It builds on Rooms, people and your Inbox.

Adding someone reaches a real person, so it is explained. A group counts toward the 25 you can own while you are in it; leaving frees its place.

Pixl#

While these lessons run, the Tutorial window stands at the top right, clear of Pixl Studio's tools; keys you press in the window stay in the window and never draw. They need Pixl switched on for your account; otherwise every step says Pixl isn’t switched on for your account right now, so this lesson can’t run. Everything you draw stays private. The lessons never ask you to share, release, set an avatar or a cursor, place a Pixl anywhere but Home, delete a Pixl or a draft, or spend anything. See Images and node pictures.

Your first Pixl#

Your first Pixl — open Pixl Studio, start a blank drawing and draw, colour, fill and undo.

When the lesson ends, You drew your first Pixl. offers Keep going to Layers, frames and colours.

Layers, frames and colours#

Layers, frames and colours — draw on a second layer, make a two-frame animation, play it and make a palette from your Pixl. It builds on Your first Pixl.

Make a palette from your Pixl is not available on a phone-sized screen. The layer and palette steps need the side panel switched on.

Save it and find it again#

Save it and find it again — save your drawing as a Pixl, close Pixl Studio, find it in Media and open it again. It builds on Your first Pixl.

Saving shares the Pixl with no one. A drawing made for a node, your avatar or your cursor is used there when saved, so the lesson asks for one opened from Media.

Put a Pixl on Home#

Put a Pixl on Home — place your Pixl on Home, give a node a picture, and learn which Pixl acts are public. It builds on Save it and find it again.

Set as avatar, Set as cursor and Release as free asset are explained, never asked for: other people see your avatar and cursor, and releasing is public and permanent.

If a step needs attention#

A short line under the step explains what to do, for example You’re somewhere else. Choose the Glob logo to get back Home. or The link tool is still on. Right-click the canvas to put it away. A step that saves something waits while you are offline. A step that cannot run where you are shows Not available here with a line saying why, such as Listr being unavailable, a touch screen for a resize, or Pixl not switched on; choose Skip step to carry on.

Your progress and your privacy#

Your progress is kept in this browser, separately for each account. Another account signed in on the same browser has its own progress, and another browser or device starts fresh. It is never sent to Glob Social or shared with anyone. If the browser cannot store it, the window says Your progress couldn’t be saved just now. It will try again.

Home, and what you place on it, stays private until you share it. Listr is always private. See Home and your root node and Sharing a node.

Replay starts a lesson's steps over. Reset tutorial progress, in Settings › Tutorial, starts every lesson over after asking Reset the tutorial? Your nodes, pins and Listr stay as they are. Neither one removes anything you made: your nodes, pins, links, notes, drawings and Listr stay as they are. Replaying never undoes what you’ve made. A replayed step you have already done, such as a node still in Listr, a pin still on Home or a link still open, counts at once.