Using a Timebox Shared Journal as a Portfolio

Timebox shared journals enable groups of people, whether family, friends, professionals, clients or traveling companions, to collaborate and co-edit their photos, videos and notes. 

Here’s an example of how Timebox can be used as a portfolio and to share information on a home construction project.

My brother Steve’s construction company is building a new solar home in Durango, Colorado. Every few days, Steve takes some photos of the construction. Lately he's been using Timebox to add notes and details about the photos and the status of the project. 

Steve has created a Timebox shared journal that he can use to keep the clients of his latest project up-to-date on the progress of their new home. He can invite his clients to view the shared journal via text message or any other messaging service. He can also set access for his clients so they can make changes to the journal so, for example, they can add photo stories of their own, including their ideas for landscaping, furnishings, paint colors, etc.

Unlike social networks like Facebook, Timebox shared journals are completely private: you own and keep all your full fidelity photos and text in your own secure iCloud storage. If any of the invited participants are not iOS users, there is a also a Timebox web app for them to view the shared journal. 

When the construction is complete, Steve will formally turn over the house to his clients. For that occasion, Steve may give them a housewarming gift and Timebox makes it simple and afordable for him to create a beautiful hardcover book of all of the photo stories from the construction. In Timebox he can tap Print, choose the stories to be included in the book and, through our printing partner Kite.ly, his book will be delivered directly to the clients. For only $33 USD with free shipping!

View fullsize

The great thing is that this hardcover book will last for decades and can become a permanent part of the new house.

Steve’s Timebox can also include photo stories from his other construction projects which will make it easy for him to show his work to prospective clients.

Timebox is a perfect portfolio for tracking and presenting any project – construction, landscaping, theater or new product development. 

Len & Mary Ellen

And thanks to Steve Kawell, Durango Solar Homes,  for his construction photos!

Introducing Timebox 5.0 with Collaborative Photo Journals

Timebox Photo Journal 5.0

Over the 6 years we have been developing Timebox, the most frequently requested feature has been a way to collaborate and exchange photos and stories.

People told us they wanted to privately share photos and memories of people, trips, celebrations and many other things with friends and family. It took a few Apple updates to iOS and iCloud but the technology has finally become available for us to build this new feature.

Introducing Collaboration

In Timebox 5.0 we’re introducing collaboration and sharing with our new shared journals feature. To help explain it, here’s an example of a shared journal in action:

Suppose that you take a trip to Florida with a few friends. Some of you love taking lots of photos but not everyone is taking pics. Everyone loves everyone else’s pics and wants them for themselves.

To help everyone out, you get Timebox 5.0 and when you launch it, it automatically creates photo stories from each days' photos. With one tap on the new Share button you can create a shared journal called Florida Vacation and add your photo stories from the trip. You then tap on the Add People button to invite your traveling companions to the journal via a text message (or email). 

Collaboration Invitations

When they receive their invitations, the other invited travelers tap on the Timebox link in the text message to accept the invitation and get Timebox for their own iPhones or iPads. They can then view all the photo stories in the Florida Vacation journal and even add their own stories for everyone to see. 

If you allowed it, the stories in the Florida Vacation shared journal can also be expanded on (embellished?) by other invitees. 

People can make their own private copy of any story by tapping the Keep button to add it to their own Personal Journal. Anyone can also make and share a movie, ebook, hardcover book or other photo gift from any or all of the shared stories. 

If any of your traveling companions are without Timebox or an iPhone or iPad, they can still accept their invitation by tapping on the link in the text message, which will launch their web browser to view the Florida Vacation shared journal via the new timebox.co web app.

Make your own shared journal

To make your own shared journal in Timebox: 

1. Tap Share, tap to select the stories you want to share from your Personal Journal, then tap Share again.
2. Choose from the pre-made Family Journal, Travel Journal or create a New Shared Journal. If you choose New Shared Journal, you can enter a title for it.
3. Tap View to view your shared journal.
4. Tap on the Add People button (people silhouette symbol) in the lower left corner of the screen to invite other people to your shared journal.
5. Tap Message, Mail, etc to choose how to send your invitation and enter the names of any people in your Contacts.
6. Shared journals have optional permissions: Can make changes or View only. You can change anyone's permissions anytime by tapping their name or Share Options. Invited people who Can make changes can add new stories to the shared journal anytime.

If you find yourself asking your friends and family to send you their photos (and vice versa) from trips, parties and the fun times you spent together then Timebox 5.0 will be for you. With Timebox 5.0 you can create shared journals for family memories, trips and celebrations, add your photos, videos and stories then invite your fellow travelers to do the same. 

In this Timebox update there are also many performance improvements and bug fixes making it even more fun to use.

We hope you like Timebox 5.0!
Mary Ellen & Len

What are you doing this Summer?

Our local school district just released kids for the Summer last Friday and 4th of July is next week. Summer always seems to fly by but this Summer seems to be flying by faster than ever.

People are traveling, visiting friends and family, enjoying staycations and long Summer days.  Lots of photos are being taken with all sorts of gear but we’re betting many will be taken with iPhones. 

Both our Timeboxes have 1000s of photos and we sometimes wish they were just a little better quality. A few of our friends are excellent photographers no matter what equipment they use. They also are quite proficient using filters and other post-production techniques to improve their shots. The two of us just want to take the easy way to better pics.

Admittedly, it will take some practice but over the next few weeks we’ll be trying some techniques from the articles below.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/photography-how-to/ - written for the iPhone 7 many of the tips and techniques described here can help you even if you have a different iPhone.

https://medium.com/vantage/7-ways-to-take-better-landscape-photos-91870c9c010d - landscapes can really bring back memories of place. Tips on positioning and exposure might be helpful to you.  

https://medium.com/photographytalk/10-rules-to-follow-when-composing-a-photo-a000f5fbfd7a - "if you don’t take care to compose the shot well, no amount of good light and inherent beauty will prevent the image from being a dud.” Ten rules to help you take more “impactful photos”.

Have fun and take lots of photos. Sometimes timing is everything and a less than perfect photo is better than none.

Mary Ellen