Creating VisualCVs / Add Portfolio Items

Your portfolio is where you will upload and store tangible evidence (in the form of documents, images, videos, or audio clips) of your capabilities and accomplishments. You can add items from your portfolio to each VisualCV that you create.

Click the links below to see how to use your portfolio to enhance your VisualCV.

• Upload images, documents, videos, or audio clips that live on your computer. Tell me how
• Add videos to your portfolio from external sites such as YouTube and Yahoo! Video, and add slideshow presentations to your portfolio from SlideShare. Tell me how
• Add portfolio items to your VisualCV. Tell me how
• Manage your portfolio. Tell me how

To upload items that reside on your computer:

Show me these steps

1. Click the triangle next to the You link on any VisualCV page, and then click Your Portfolio.
2. On the Portfolio page, click the Upload New button.
   
3. On the Upload New file page, click Browse to locate the file on your computer. Type a title to help you organize the item in your portfolio, and then click Upload. Tell me what file types you accept
   

TIPS:

• Portrait photos: If you are uploading a photo of yourself to use in the Contact section of your VisualCV, for best results select a photo where your head fills a square frame that is at least 144 pixels tall by 144 pixels wide.
• Logos: If you want to include a logo of a school, organization, or social group with which you are affiliated, use an image that is less than 100 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall.
• Charts: You can upload charts either as documents or as images. Help me choose
  

To add items from external websites to your portfolio:

1. Click the triangle next to the You link on any VisualCV page, and then click Your Portfolio.
2. On the Portfolio page, click the Upload New button.
3. Add a Yahoo! or YouTube video: Click the Yahoo! () or YouTube () icon, copy the video's link from the site on which you published it, paste the link into the URL box, give the video a title, and click Add Video.
4. Add a SlideShare presentation: On www.SlideShare.com, copy the "Embed in your blog" or the " Embed for Wordpress" text that SlideShare created for your presentation. Click the SlideShare () icon, paste the "embed" text into the Embed Code box, type a title, and then click Add SlideShare.

TIPS:

• Tailor your presentation. When you add a SlideShare presentation to your VisualCV, your viewers will see the SlideShare logo (). Wouldn't it be better to show the title slide of your presentation instead? It's easy—just upload the title slide to your portfolio as a separate image, add the image to the portfolio section of your VisualCV, and link the image to the SlideShare presentation. Simple steps to add a SlideShare
• Exclude related slideshows. At the end of a SlideShare presentation, SlideShare refers viewers to related presentations. If you want to exclude these references, be sure to copy the embed text from the "Exclude related slideshows" section on www.SlideShare.com (click the options link to get there).
• Consider privacy. Presentations on SlideShare are publicly accessible. (This is also true of videos on YouTube and Yahoo! Video.) If you are concerned about privacy and protecting your presentation, you can set a privacy setting for it on www.SlideShare.com. However, consider that your list of "allowed viewers" should match your VisualCV's privacy setting; that is, if your VisualCV is set to "Only people I share with," make sure the person you are sharing with is also in your SlideShare contact list. Alternatively, you can upload your presentation to your VisualCV portfolio as a document.

To manage your portfolio:

Besides adding items to your portfolio, you can also edit and delete items from your portfolio on the Portfolio page. Here's how:

1. To display your portfolio, click the triangle next to the You link on any VisualCV page, and then click Your Portfolio.
2. Show items within a category: The All tab shows all portfolio items of all types. To show only portfolio items of a certain type, click the Image, Document, Videoclip, or Audioclip tabs.
3. Edit title: Point to the portfolio item you want to edit and click Edit, change the title, and then click Save.
4. Delete an item: Point to the portfolio item you want to edit and click Delete. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

TIP: If you delete an item from your portfolio, the item will also be removed from any VisualCVs you have used it in. So, delete with caution!

To add portfolio items to your VisualCV:

Show me these steps

1. If you've just created a new VisualCV, you will already be in the VisualCV editor. If not, on your VisualCV dashboard switch to the VisualCV you want to work on and click Edit.
   
2. We've added a Portfolio section to the sidebar area of your VisualCV. If you want to add a portfolio section to the main column of your VisualCV, then click the Portfolio button beneath the Add to Main Column heading.
   
3. Change the title of the portfolio section by clicking the title, typing the new name, and clicking OK.
4. If you have added the portfolio section to the main column, choose whether you want to display two, three, or four portfolio items side by side.
5. Click Add a Portfolio Item, click the placeholder (Choose Portfolio Item).
6. Select the portfolio item that you want to add to your VisualCV.
   
7. Choose a "click-through behavior," which determines what happens when the person viewing your portfolio clicks your portfolio item. Choose one of the following:
   
   
• For images: You can show a larger version of the image (click the Show Image option), link the image to another portfolio item (click the Fasten Image to Another Item option and then select the item you want to link to), or link the image to an external website (click the Link Image to a Website option and type the URL of the site to link to). Click Add to Section when you are finished.
• For documents: We portray documents in your portfolio section using an icon that represents the application used to create it (for example, indicates an Adobe PDF document). If you're happy with the icon we choose to represent your document, click the Open Document option. If not, replace the application icon with an image from your portfolio (click the Drape Document with Image option and then select the image you want to display to represent the document). Click Add to Section when you are finished.
• For videos: We portray videos in your portfolio section using a small image of the one of the first few frames in your video. If you're happy with this image, click the Play Video Clip option. Or, you can replace this image with an image from your portfolio (click the Drape Video Clip with Image option and then select the image you want to display to represent the video). Click Add to Section when you are finished.
• For audio clips: We portray audios in your portfolio section using a generic image (). If you are happy with this image, click the Play Audio Clip option. Or, you can replace this image with an image from your portfolio (click the Drape Audio Clip with Image option and then select the image you want to display to represent the audio). Click Add to Section when you are finished.
  
  Tell me why I might want to change the behavior of my portfolio items
8. Type a title and description for the item. If the portfolio section is in the sidebar, you can format the text in the item's description as you'd like, and link text in the description to a website, if appropriate, by highlighting the text, clicking , and providing the URL to the external website.
9. Click Save to save your entry.
10. Reposition entries within the sidebar portfolio section, if desired, by clicking the and buttons.
11. If you want to add other portfolio items, click Add a Portfolio Item at the bottom of the portfolio section.

Why is it useful to change the behavior of items in my portfolio section?

Here are some examples where it might be useful to change the behavior of your portfolio items:

• Linking to an external website: Suppose you want to showcase a website you designed. You can create a "thumbnail" image of the site's home page and then link the image from your VisualCV to the actual website so your viewers can see all of the hard work you did with navigation and interactivity. For more information about creating images, see the Tips section below.
• Fastening image to another portfolio item: Instead of seeing a generic icon that represents your document (for example, ), wouldn't it be better to show a unique image for that document, such as the front cover of a report you wrote or the first slide of a presentation you prepared?

TIPS:

• If you are linking an image to another portfolio item, be sure to upload that item to your portfolio too.
• Linking an image to a website applies only to this instance of the image on this VisualCV. You can always reverse this action later by clicking Show Full Sized Original.
• To take a "snapshot" of your screen (for example, to create an image of a website's home page) on Windows, press the Alt and the Print Screen keys. On Mac OS X, use the Grab utility. Both of these methods copy the "snapshot" to the clipboard, which you can paste into your favorite image editor (such as PowerPoint, Paint, Paintbrush, or Photoshop Elements) and save as an image file such as a .jpg or .gif.
• If you change your mind about including a portfolio item in your VisualCV, you can remove it from your VisualCV at any time. It'll stay in your portfolio for you to use again later.
• You won't be able to play video clips until you preview your VisualCV. Tell me more about videos

Writing a powerful resume is no easy task. We offer two great resources to help:

• The VisualCV Marketplace an open market resource where you can find a variety of service providers who can help improve your VisualCV or assist with your job search. In the Marketplace, you'll find listings for career coaches, resume writers, videographers and photographers, certified VisualCV creators, recruiters, and certification and testing providers. Tell me more
• Be sure to check out the excellent (and free!) eBook called the Insider’s Guide to the VisualCV. Written by Louise Kursmark—Master Resume Writer and one of the leading resume-writing experts in the United States—this helpful guide will lead you through decisions about what material to include in a resume, how to include it, and how to position it for maximum impact within a VisualCV and in the minds of recruiters and potential employers. Take me to the Insider's Guide

• Build Text Sections: Add text sections such as work and education history, skills and interests, and references to your VisualCV.
• Move Sections: If you don't like where we put your sections, move them.
• Preview the VisualCV: Preview your changes to see how your viewers will see them.
• FAQs: Visit our FAQ pages to get answers to questions you may have about your portfolio.