These days, so many of us have family members spread out all over the country (or the world), and it’s hard to keep track of what everyone’s up to, let alone get together. But what’s more fun for the holidays than a nice family activity?
How about using Tripline to create a unique, interactive family holiday card? It’s essentially an online version of the cards we all get from different families every year with updates and photos – the main difference is that everyone participates in the creation of a single “card” so you have everyone’s annual updates in a single place. Here’s an example:
Like any family activity, it will take a bit of wrangling to get everyone to participate, but it’s a great way to bring people together, and the result will be a very special memory. Here’s what to do:
1: Create the outline
Since you’re the motivated one in the family, you’re the one best suited to create the initial outline. It’s as simple as creating a trip with locations for each family. We recommend using city names vs. detailed addresses. Before you save, choose a soundtrack (we added a new track called “Holiday Jazz”) and set the visibility to “Private”. Once you’ve saved the initial outline, you can edit the place titles on the trip page to something like “The Smiths – Boston, MA” just for clarity.
2. Connect your Tripline account to Facebook
While not required, this makes the whole process a lot easier – especially if you’re already friends with your family members on Facebook. To connect your Tripline account to Facebook, go to http://www.tripline.net/myaccount and click the [Connect With Facebook] button.
3. Invite your family members to sign up
Send your family members an email inviting them to sign up to Tripline, and be sure to tell them to [Sign in with Facebook]. That way, as soon as they create an account, they will automatically be added to your Tripline friend list, which lets you add them to the trip. If they don’t connect with Facebook, you’ll need to add them to your Tripline friend list manually. That’s not too hard, but connecting with Facebook makes it a lot easier. Here’s an email template:
Hi everyone,
I’ve created a multi-family holiday card on Tripline and I’d like to you to participate.
Just go to http://www.tripline.net, click [Sign In with Facebook], and create an account. I’ll add you to the card after that so you can enter a family update and photos.
4. Add your family members to the trip
As each of your family members signs up for Tripline, you’ll get an email telling you they have been added to your friend list. You can now go into the trip and add them using the [+] add friends link on the trip page. As soon as you do this, they’ll be able to edit the trip and add their own story and photos to the trip. All they need to do is click the little pencil or camera icon next to their waypoint.
5. Share and enjoy
As each family participates, the story will come alive – especially if you set each waypoint to Slideshow view. Since you set the trip visibility to “Private” in Step 1, only the people who you specifically add to the trip will be able to see it. It’s up to you if you want to change the visibility to “Public” so you can share with the world.
That’s it. We hope you enjoy this little experiment with Tripline and we hope it brings you closer with your family around the world.
As always, we welcome your feedback, so send an email to support@tripline.net if you have problems or suggestions.
Happy Holidays,
– Byron