Skills - Tech Tips

The Library Now Has Creativebug

You’re more creative than you think.

Creativebug has thousands of award-winning arts and crafts classes taught by recognized design experts and artists. The classes cover a range of topics including quilting, paper crafts, baking, jewelry making, and more. You also have access to print patterns, coloring pages, and recipes for free. Note: this service is available only to residents of East Greenbush or Schodack. Not a resident of EG or Schodack? Anyone can use Creativebug at the library on one of our computers or on a device connected to our WiFi network.

Creating Your Account

Visit Creativebug and begin creating your free account with your library card.

Screenshot of Creativebug login page with library card entry bar on the right side of the page next to a photograph of a woman in a blue shirt.

After entering your library card number you will be directed to an account creation page. Fill out the required account information with your name and email address, and create a password for yourself. Creativebug will send you an email to confirm the account. Now you have access to hundreds of video classes and resources to begin your crafting adventures!

Getting Started

Once you have logged into Creativebug you can explore all the classes and resources it has to offer. Next to the Creativebug logo are different sections of Creativebug: Classes, Daily Practice, Learning Journeys, and Resources. Moving your cursor over Classes and Resources, you’ll see various drop down menus. Mousing over Classes shows the various types of crafting classes Creativebug offers. Mousing over Resources shows sections such as calendar, instructors, and more. On the home page you’ll see featured classes and recommended videos. Clicking on the Creativebug logo at the top of the screen will bring you back to the home screen from any section.

A quick menu is accessible by clicking the circle in the top right-hand corner with the first letter of your name in the center. Here you can find your recently watched, your watchlist, your gallery, and the community tab. You can also access your account and logout.

Screenshot showing the dropdpwn menu showing the account options for Recently Watched, My Watchlist My Gallery, Community, Access My Account, and Log Out.

The notification icon is directly to the left of your profile and is represented by a bell. A small circle with a number in it will appear on the icon when you have a new notification. Clicking on the notification icon will open a sidebar on the right side of the screen showing more detail about each notification.

Screenshot showing an example of a notification.

Clicking on Manage will take you to your profile where you can manage your notifications feed. The notifications feed displays updates about new classes, blog posts, and live events, as well as notifications when members leave comments or share gallery images on classes that you have watched or saved to your watchlist. Any of these notifications can be enabled or disabled to suit your preferences.

Classes

Creativebug offers 1,000+ classes on a variety of topics. You can click on Classes to display all of the classes available, or you can search for a class in the search bar at the top of the screen.

Mousing over the Classes tab displays a drop down menu that lists class topics.

Screenshot of dropdown menu for Classes at the top of the homepage. The dropdown is directly below the Classes tab listing Art+Design, Sewing, Quilting, Paper, Knitting, Crochet, Food+Home, Jewelry, Holiday+Party, and Kids.

Mousing over each class topic displays a drop down menu showing topics within that particular class subject.

Screenshot of second dropdown menu for Art+Design from the homepage.

After clicking on Classes or a class topic you will be on the page showing the video lessons. The videos have a thumbnail for the class, the name of the class, the class instructor, and rating. In the thumbnail for each class you will be able to see if the class is new or upcoming in the right-hand corner, and see the length of the video in the top left-hand corner.

Screenshot of two classes with information on the instructor, name of the class, and playing time for the video.

Results can be filtered further to find the classes you are looking for. At the top of the results page is a drop down tab to filter results. Clicking it will display a menu where you can filter results by Category, Class Type, and Instructor.

Screenshot of the all classes page with the Filter Results options expanded for Category, Class Type, and Instructor.

At the top of the results page for the video classes you can sort the results by release date, popularity, and rating.

Screenshot of the all classes page with the Sort Results options expanded showing Release Date (Newest to oldest, Release Date (oldest to newest), Most Popular, and Top Rated.

When you click on a particular video, you will see the video divided up into different sections, allowing you to easily go back or skip ahead to a particular part of the video. There is also an add to watchlist button to save for future viewing.

Screenshot showing the screen when you click on a video, which has the video divided into sections.

If you are interrupted while watching a video on Creativebug you can pick up where you left off by clicking on My Classes on the home screen. Next, click on the Recently Watched tab to see videos you have recently viewed.

Screenshot showing the My Classes tab with recently watched selected. My watchlist is to the left and recently watched is to the right.

Daily Practice

Creativebug also has a Daily Practice Tab that will take you to a page with longer videos that challenge crafters with 30 day prompts.

Learning Journeys

Learning Journeys are a curated experience designed to help you master new skills and guide you along in your creative practice. In each journey, you’ll follow a series of classes and techniques that build upon each other, allowing you to gain knowledge at your own pace.

Clicking on a particular Learning Journeys takes you to a page with the classes listed in order to begin your new crafting experience. At the top of the page is the curator of the Learning Journey and the total time of the classes in the list.

Screenshow showing examples of learning journeys.

Resources

Creativebug provides many free resources for users. From the Resources tab, crafters can access a calendar of recent and upcoming classes, view instructor profiles, check the blog, explore Creativebug TV, access patterns & printables, and find class collections.

Calendar

The Calendar lets you look at the most recent classes as well as upcoming classes. You also have the opportunity to register for live virtual classes. You can use either a Zoom account or an email address to register for the classes.

Instructors

If you have an instructor that you have enjoyed you can find them on the Instructors page. Clicking on the Instructors tab will bring up the list of Creativebug instructors. Clicking on an instructor’s profile will bring up more information on that instructor and will have their video classes posted below.

Screenshot displaying an example of an instructor page.

Blog

There is also a Creativebug blog where you can catch up on all things crafting. The blog has content on crafts fairs and conventions, gives seasonal ideas, and provides more instruction for future crafts.

CBTV

CBTV lets you take a closer look into the lives, arts, and studios of your favorite artists and crafters on Creativebug. This page is also where you can look at previews of upcoming videos coming to CBTV.

Patterns & Printables

Creativebug lets you download and print knitting patterns, coloring pages, recipes, and more. Patterns & Printables can be filtered by topic and craft such as sewing or crochet.

Screenshot showing the knitting portion of the patterns and printables page.

When you click on a particular design, you will get more details on that pattern or item as well as the ability to download it as PDF. There is also a link to video instructions for certain printables and patterns.

Screenshot showing an example of a downloadable and printable knitting pattern with details about that particular pattern.

Class Collections

Creativebug also offers class collections where classes are curated to cover one crafting topic to give you all the videos you will need to get started on a new craft. An example of a class collection offered is Adventure Begins at Your Library, which features 16 videos on that topic.

Screenshot showing an Adventure Begins at Your Library as an example of a class collection.

Inspiration

Share with the Creativebug community by clicking on the Inspiration tab on the homepage to share photos of your crafts and see other shared photos from fellow crafters on Creativebug.

There are three areas in the Inspiration tab. The first tab is My Gallery where you can upload photos of your crafts and projects. The second tab is Community Gallery where you can view photos that other crafters on Creativebug have shared. The third tab is Pinterest Boards where Creativebug shares link to curated Pinterest boards.

Screenshot of the inspiration tab, highlighting the Pinterest board section.

You can take Creativebug on the go. Visit the Google Play store or Apple App Store to download the app on your mobile device. Stay tuned for a post detailing the app.

Have you tried Creativebug yet? Let us know in the comments!

Learn a New Language with Mango!

The library now offers access to a new language learning program called Mango. Mango can be accessed on a computer or through an app on a mobile device. Note: this service is available only to residents of East Greenbush or Schodack. Not a resident of EG or Schodack? Anyone can use Mango at the library!

There are two different ways to start using Mango. The first is by visiting the library’s landing page on a computer or in a mobile browser:
https://connect.mangolanguages.com/eastgreenbushlibrary/start

Visit the Google Play store or Apple App Store to download the app on your mobile device.

Start Using Mango

When using Mango for the first time, there is a prompt to either login or sign up for an account. Click sign up to proceed.

If accessing Mango from outside of the library, you will also have to enter your library card number. Once you have created your account, choose a language to learn.

Screenshot showing language list, starting with popular languages.

The most popular languages are first. To see a complete list of languages, scroll down. There are many languages to choose from, including both Latin American and Castilian Spanish, Italian, Korean, Russian, Urdu, Greek, Japanese, American Sign Language, and many more.

Navigating the App

Once you have made your language choice, you have the option to access the main learning section, which contains a placement test to gauge your familiarity the language. The learn tab contains the main units, which have five sections: introductions, connections, community, lifestyle, and ambitions.

Screen shot showing a Mango lesson with Italian. There are main units shown: introductions, connections, community, lifestyle, ambitions

To begin, tap on one of the lesson headings. The first time you access this section within the app, there is a tutorial about Mango and the different features it offers. Also in the learn section are specialty units specific to the chosen language.

Lessons and Chapters

Once you’ve gone through the tutorial, you’ll see the lessons within that chapter. Tap each number to get to that section of the lesson. To pick up where you left off, tap the blue triangle icon in the bottom right corner. When you open a chapter, the lessons are downloaded automatically and can be accessed with or without an internet connection. The number displayed next to the downloaded lessons label shows the amount of data the downloaded lessons take up on your device with the option to delete the data. Deleting the data does not remove your progress.

Lessons that have not been downloaded yet will have a black down arrow next to the lesson number. There are also sections with only listening lessons and only reading lessons.

Screenshot showing Chapter 1, divided into lessons.

In the Vocabulary tab, there are Mango curated vocabulary cards or create your own cards for particular words or phrases.

The Review tab contains a personalized review to catch up on your lessons.

To change which language you’re learning, tap on languages in the top left corner. The progress made with previously chosen languages is automatically saved. To access previously chosen languages swipe left or right.

To access more features, tap on the three lines in the top right corner. Here, there are options to edit your profile, change the language you are learning, an option to set up study reminders, and more.

Desktop Version and Mango Movies

The desktop version of Mango is only slightly different from the app. There are still Learn and Vocabulary tabs. The review tab is within the Learn and Vocabulary tabs. On the Explore tab, there is also a feature that is exclusive to the website called Mango Movies.

Mango Movies are videos that contain culture-packed content to help you learn a language. Once you click on play on a title, you can choose if you would like movie mode, which contains interactive content and no interruptions, or engage mode, which allows you to learn more about the dialogue with short lessons and interactive content throughout the movie.

On the subtitles screen, choose whether you want to see no subtitles, English subtitles, the subtitles of the language you’re learning, or both.

In the immersive mode, each scene starts with an introduction to the scene. Next you can view the scene, after that there is a follow up section, and then the option to view the scene again.

Screen shot of Mango movies showing an Italian movie with subtitles in English and Italian.

Another feature exclusive to the website is the translate section. You can access the translator by clicking on tools in the top navigation bar.

Screen shot showing translator on Mango's website.

To change the learning language on the desktop website, click on the name of the language in the top left corner.

Family Profiles

In both the app and the desktop site, Mango offers a feature called Family Profiles. You can add up to five family profiles. This may come in handy if you have children or other members of your household that want to learn different languages (or even the same language at a different pace). In the app, Family Profiles is accessed by tapping on the three lines button in the top right corner and then tapping on Family Profiles. On the desktop site,

Little Pim

In both the Mango app and on the desktop website, there is a section of Mango for younger language learners. Little Pim is especially designed for children aged one to five years old. To access Little Pim on the app, scroll to the left on the bottom black navigation bar. On the desktop website, click on Explore, then click on Little Pim.

Little Pim features videos in the language you have previously chosen when you started using Mango.

Adios, Ciao, Au Revoir

Mango is a language learning program. Mango can be accessed either through a computer or a mobile device. With Mango, you can learn a variety of languages through interactive lessons, movies, flash cards, and more.

Mango is for all levels of learners, from beginner to advanced.

Have you tried Mango yet? Let us know in the comments!

How To Make Your Home Screen More Manageable and Efficient in Minutes – Android Edition

If you have never tried to organize your apps, you may find yourself frustrated, flipping from screen to screen looking for the app you want. As a librarian, I am always looking for ways to better organize my environment to minimize frustration and maximize efficiency.

Both iOS and Android have options to organize your home screen, and many of them are similar. In fact, last week we published an article on this same subject for iOS. However, Android comes with so many opportunities for customization, the screenshots you see here may not reflect what is on your phone.

Fun Fact: Beyond the differences between Android version numbers (currently 13), Pixel phones and Samsung phones have differences added by their manufacturers. Your mobile carrier may also have made changes to your version of Android if you bought your phone from them. Android users also have the option to use “launcher” apps, which provide many more customization options for the look and operation of your device.

Your Home Screen vs. Your App Drawer

Icons for your apps live in two different places. Whenever you install an app, it is always installed in your app drawer. Depending on your settings, it may or may not also create an icon on your home screen automatically. The home screen is the default screen you see when you unlock your phone. The app drawer can be accessed either by swiping up from the bottom of your phone screen or by tapping the app drawer icon (if available):

The app drawer arranges apps alphabetically, with a search bar at the top. There isn’t much room for customization here without a third-party launcher app, so the rest of this article will focus on organizing the home screen.

The home screen is what you see when you tap the home button/icon or swipe up from the bottom of the screen, depending on whether you have gestures set up. The home screen can actually be several “pages.” Swiping to the left or right from the home page will show you how many pages your home screen is.

Create a New Home Screen Page

To create a new home screen page, press and hold a blank space (between icons/widgets) until the menu overlay pops up. Lift your finger and swipe to the left or right until you see the +. Click on it to add a page.

Screenshot of the home screen options overlay showing the plus icon to add a new page

Adding and Removing Icons from the Home Screen

To add an icon to the home screen:

Open the app drawer
Press and hold on the app to add to home
When the home screen appears, slide your finger to the desired spot and lift your finger off the screen to drop the icon
If you receive a message that there is no more room on the home screen, try again, and drag the icon to the edge of the full page to create a new, blank page.

To see the same app icons at the bottom of every page, which is handy for apps you use often, you can drag icons to the “dock” (bottom row on the page).

To remove an icon from the home screen:

Press and hold an icon to reveal a menu
Lift your finger without sliding it on the screen to reveal a menu
Tap remove

Screenshot of the menu that appears with a long press of the app icon, where remove is the bottom option

Note: Deleting the icon from the home screen does not delete the app from your phone.

Quick Menus for Apps

Some app icons are designed to display a context menu when long-pressed (press and hold). These menus contain shortcuts to popular app options. Here is an example of the context menu that pops up when I long-press the Fitbit icon on my phone:

Fitbit context menu with shortcuts to track exercise, log food, log water, and log weight.

Tapping any of these brings me directly to the entry screen, rather than having to open the app and navigate to the logging screen.

Moving Icons Between Home Screen Pages

Press and hold an icon to select it
Drag it to the edge of the screen until it flips to the next page.
Slide your finger to the desired spot and lift your finger off the screen to drop the icon
If the screen does not have another page to put the icon on, you may need to follow the instructions above for adding a page.

Creating Folders to Group App Icons

To group icons, long-press an icon and drag it over the top of another icon and let go. The icon will now look like a split of both icons. Tap that to open the folder. Tap on “edit name” to add a name, if desired. Tap the three-button icon to sort or select additional apps.

Screenshot of the folder overlay, zoomed in on the app icons

To separate the icons again, open the folder and tap and hold one. Drag it out of the folder and lift your finger to let it drop on the home screen in a blank spot. You may need to slide between screens or create a new page to find an open spot.

Adding Widgets to Your Home Screen

Press and hold a blank space (between icons/widgets) until the menu overlay pops up.
Tap”widgets”

Screenshot showing menu overlay with wallpapers, settings, and widgets options showing

Scroll through the resulting page to see what widgets are available
To add one, press and hold until the home screen appears
Slide your finger to find the desired spot to drop the widget. Make sure there is enough room, as some widgets have minimum size requirements.
To resize a widget, press and hold it until a menu pops up. Select resize, then drag the dots on any side of the widget to make it larger or smaller.

Screenshot of widget menu with options: configure, app info, remove, padding, and resize.

Summary

Using folders and widgets to organize icons on your home screen can help you maximize productivity while minimizing frustration trying to find your apps. Do you use folders and widgets on your phone? Let us know in the comments.

How To Make Your Home Screen More Manageable and Efficient in Minutes: Apple Edition

Depending on how long you’ve had your smartphone, your home screen may be pretty crowded and unorganized. Luckily, there are easy ways you can organize your home screen.

screenshot of an iphone showing the home screen.

A Home screen is the main screen or screens on a smartphone where you can tap app icons to access the apps you have installed on your phone. In this post, we will discuss the Apple home screen. Stay tuned for an Android home screen post.

Home Screen and Dock

By default, an iOS device (iPhone or iPad) automatically adds a newly installed app to your home screen.

Screenshot showing location of page indicators and dock on an iPhone.

There is a dot for each home screen page you have. At the bottom of the screen some apps are displayed regardless of which page you are on. This area is called the dock.

Moving and Deleting Apps

To rearrange apps, hold your finger down on an empty area of the screen. The apps will start to wiggle and each app will have a minus symbol next to it. From here, drag the apps into the desired order. If there is an app you use frequently, you can drag it into the dock on the bottom of the screen.

screenshot showing the screen with minus symbols next to each icon

Tapping on the minus symbol next to an app gives you several options. Delete app removes the app completely from your device. You will get a confirmation that verifies that you want to remove the app completely. The second option is to remove the app from the Home Screen. This removes the app icon shortcut, but the app is still on your device and can be accessed on the App Library screen.

screenshot show the message that appears when remove app is tapped. The options include delete app, remove from home screen, and cancel.

Using Folders

You can group your apps into folders. For example, if you have more than one weather app, you may want to put them into a folder called Weather. To create a folder, long-press a blank area of the screen until the apps wiggle. Next, drag an app to another app you’d like to group it with. This automatically creates a folder. A default name is given, usually related to the type of apps you are grouping. To change the name, tap on the folder, and then the name of the folder. To remove a folder, drag all items out of the folder.

GIF showing how to drag an app onto another app in order to create a folder.

Long Pressing an App

Holding your finger down on an app icon gives you quick app shortcuts specific to that app. For example, long pressing the Notes app has several options. You can write a new note, a new checklist, scan a document, and more. There is also the option to choose edit home screen to rearrange your app icons.

screenshot showing what happens when you long press on an app.

The App Library

Starting with iOS 14, there is also the addition of the App Library, which lists all of your installed apps in organized groups. With the addition of the App Library, you no longer need to have all of your apps on the home screen. Each screen where you see app icons is called a page.

The App Library is accessed by swiping through all of your existing pages until you get to the last screen.

GIF showing how to swipe through all the home screen pages to get to the app library

The App Library organizes all of your installed apps into categories such as social, utilities, and more. You can also search your app library to easily access any of your currently installed apps.

If there is an app that is in your App Library and it’s not on one of your home screen pages, tap into the search box. You will get a complete list of all your installed apps in alphabetical order or you can search for a particular app.

screenshot showing an alphabetical list of the app library

If an app is in your App Library but not on your home screen, locate the app in the app library. Once you have located the app, long press on the app icon and tap on add to home screen.

Home Screen Settings

There are several home screen settings you can change depending on your preferences. Go to the Settings App, then Home Screen (Home Screen & Multitasking on a iPad). You can choose whether newly downloaded apps should be added to the home screen or only the app library and whether you want to see notification badges in the App Library. On an iPad, you will also get the option to change app icon size and whether you want to show or hide the dock. Also in iPad settings, you have the option whether you want to see suggested and recent apps in the dock. The image below is a screenshot of the iPad settings.

screenshot showing the home screen and multitasking settings screen from an iPad

Have you used any of these methods to organize your home screen? Let us know in the comments!

View Saved Passwords with This One Easy Trick

If you’ve used a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer, chances are you have been prompted to save your password when logging into a website site for the first time. It’s a convenient tool when browsing because as we all know, there are so many passwords to remember. But what happens if you saved a password a long time ago and can’t remember it? Good news! In all the popular browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge), there is an easy way to reveal these saved passwords. Security note: if you are saving passwords in a browser on a shared computer, others may also be able to access these passwords using this method.

Firefox

In Firefox, click on the three lines in the top right corner, to the right of the address bar, and then click Passwords.

You’ll see a list of all your saved passwords. If you have a large number of saved passwords, you can also search for a specific site in the top search box. Each entry will have the website where your password was saved, along with the username, if applicable. Clicking on one of the entries will give you more details.

Screenshot showing Firefox password manager.

You can see the website in bold. Clicking on edit will allow you to change the username and/or password associated with that site. If you want to delete this saved password, click on remove. You can copy both the username and password. To reveal the saved password, click on the eye icon next to the password field. You also have details about when the saved entry was created, modified, and last used. If you make any changes, click on the save changes button, which will appear if you click edit.

Google Chrome

In the Google Chrome browser, click on the three dots in the top right corner, and then click on settings.

Screenshot showing Chrome menu to access settings.

Next, click on Autofill on the left, and then Password Manager.

Screenshot showing how to access password manager in Chrome

On the next screen, you’ll see your list of passwords. There is the option to search to find a specific password. You can also turn off Chrome prompting you to save passwords by clicking the blue button next to Offer to save passwords. Chrome also gives you the option to automatically sign in using saved credentials. Clicking check passwords will allow you to see if Chrome considers your passwords weak and to see if your password has been compromised in a data breach.

Screenshot showing Chrome's password manager.

Under Saved Passwords, you will see the website, username, and password. To reveal the password, click the eye icon. With Chrome, you will be prompted to enter the password you use to sign into Windows or Mac as an extra layer of security. Clicking on the three dots will give you the option to change, edit, or remove that particular saved password. Chrome will autosave any changes you make on this screen. You can add a new saved password by clicking the add button. You can import or export your list of saved passwords by clicking the three dots next to the Add button.

Safari (Mac/Apple Browser)

In Safari, click on Safari in bold on the top taskbar, and then click Preferences.

Screenshot showing menu to access Safari preferences.

Next, click on the Passwords tab. You will be prompted to enter the password you use to sign onto your Mac at startup as an extra layer of security.

Screenshot showing Safari's password manager.

From here, you will see your list of passwords on the left. If you click on a particular entry in the list, you will see the website URL, when it was modified, the user name, and the password.

To view the saved password, move your mouse pointer over the black dots in the password field. You can also see it by clicking the edit button. Clicking the edit button will also allow you to edit the password or remove it. Clicking the share icon will allow you to share the password via AirDrop if another Apple user is nearby.

Additionally, if you click on the website name in the list on the left, you can click the minus button on the bottom to delete the password. Clicking the plus icon will allow you to add a new website and saved password. If the Detect compromised passwords option is checked, when you click on a particular entry and there are issues with the password, you will see a message that says “easily guessed password” or “compromised password.” Compromised password means that particular password has appeared in a data leak, which puts that account at high risk of compromise.

Edge (Microsoft Windows browser)

The Edge browser in Windows uses an icon that looks like this:

The website How-To Geek has written up some great instructions on how to view your saved passwords in Edge.

Have you tried out any of the methods described above to view a saved password? Let us know in the comments!