You Have Pinterest Questions – We Have Pinterest Resources
Do you have questions about Pinterest? Are you wondering about the Pinterest API? Does the thought of tracking yet another social media platform raise more questions than answers for you?
I’ve curated the best information about Pinterest that I can find, ranging from techie (API details, code, tracking, etc.) to non-techie (marketing, how-to, etc.). Please, do not use this information for evil.
Technical
Pinterest API
http://tijn.bo.lt/pinterest-api
Pinterest used to have a page for developers that documented their API. Then, around the middle of February, that page disappeared and now returns a 404 error. According to this thread on StackOverflow, they “pushed the docs live in an attempt to get feedback but we had to shut it down since we saw activity.” Apparently, their explosive growth caused them to pull back their documentation, possibly to avoid the same problems faced by Twitter in the early days, with the notorious fail whale. Fortunately, you can still access the API documentation at the above link. The endpoint is still active, as long as you are making public calls that don’t require authentication.
Pinterest API Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pinterestapi
Started by this guy (the same person who we can thank for the above cached API documentation), the Pinterest API Facebook Group is a good place to get the latest updates on the API (what’s currently working, what’s not, rumors about upcoming official API launch date, etc.). You can also ask questions and talk to other developers who are actively involved in creating apps (for web and phone) using the API.
Be prepared to wade through a lot of junk, as people new to the group seem intent on asking the same question over and over, without taking so much as 5 seconds to look at the previous posts and answers.
Tracking Pinterest with Event Tracking
The article above (shameless self promotion) shows you how to use event tracking in Google Analytics to track Pinterest button usage on your site.
Pinterest Analytics Tools
PinReach – This is like Klout for Pinterest. It offers Pinterest influence scores (I’m a 24.0652, btw) and analytics. The scores are based on a combination of Pinterest-related social activites, like pins, repins, likes, etc. The 2 things I love about this tool – it’s free (at the time of writing) and the UI is intuitive and attractive.
Pinerly – This Pinterest analytics dashboard is currently in beta, and you need to add your email address to the waiting list to get access (taking a page out of Pinterest’s playbook). It will show you clickthroughs, likes and re-pins for campaigns created through the service.
Pinpuff - Similar to PinReach, this tool calculates your influence (of course, they call it Pinfluence) on Pinterest, but it also allows you to sign up for perks.
Pintics – Another “invite only” tool, Pintics claims to be the like Tweetdeck for Pinterest. This tools will ostensibly let you manage and analyze multiple accounts, upload many pictures at once, and measure how much traffic, activity and sales your pins generate.
How To
How to Use Pinterest – A Tutorial – In less than 4 minutes, this video walks you through all the basics, from explaining what Pinterest is to pinning and re-pinning content.
How to Pin Images from your iPhone – With much of the traffic on Pinterest coming from the mobile app, pinning your own original content or content you find on a website should be easier. It’s not. Lucky for us, this article shows you how.
How to Track Your Website’s Content on Pinterest – This Mashable article from Ann Smarty gives simple instructions for finding out what content on your site is being pinned. For example, you can start by going to http://pinterest.com/source/YouWebsite.com/ . After that, Ann shows you how to create an RSS feed to make tracking much easier.
Marketing
Everything You Need to Know About Pinterest – If you only have time to read one thing (after reading this article, of course) it should be this. This article from Greg Boser, veteran internet marketer and president of BlueGlass Interactive, gives a 360-degree view of Pinterest from multiple perspectives. It explains what Pinterest is and why people are obsessed, how it works, and closes with three benefits and five tips for brands on Pinterest.
26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business – Don’t be overwhelmed by the number of tips in this Social Media Examiner article. Bookmark this article and make it a point to conquer 10 tips a week. You’ll be rocking Pinterest in less than a month!
Pinterest for B2B – This article from HubSpot explains in great detail how you can create a Pinterest strategy for those of you in the B2B world.
Pinterest Data Analysis: An Inside Look – This report from analytics software provider RJMetrics looks at Pinterest user retention and engagement, sites being linked to from pins, number of re-pins vs. pins and more. Use this report to understand the habits of Pinterest users and the trends of what’s being pinned.
6 Ways Brands Can Rock Pinterest – Former Lunametrician Brian Honigman (once a Lunametrician, always a Lunametrician) gives six simple tips that any brand can use today to take advantage of the fastest growing social network since Twitter. I especially like tip #5 – add calls to action in your YouTube videos.
4 Easy Ways to Track Traffic from Pinterest – another shameless plug, this article lays out four things you can use right now in Google Analytics to track the impact of Pinterest on traffic to your site.
Your Turn
Did I miss any must-read resources or cutting edge Pinterest tools? Let me know in the comments!
About Jim Gianoglio
Jim Gianoglio is our Manager of Insight: Social & Mobile. He works with implementation, analysis and training of Google Analytics, with a focus on defining and measuring the social and mobile spaces. Before succumbing to the siren song of analytics, he led the SEO campaigns of Fortune 500 companies in the insurance, retail and CPG industries. Things you didn’t know about Jim: he runs marathons, photographs weddings and has done voiceovers for TV commercials.
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When I try to log in says I have no account I do or did until it disappeared so I requested an invite and it said I already had an account help plz
Did you try logging in with Facebook or Twitter? Are you logged in to those accounts when you try logging in to Pinterest? That may be the issue.
How can I not have my own pins show up on the “following” area?
@Jan – Can you elaborate? I’m not sure I fully understand your question.
When you create a pinboard, how long does it take to show in search on pintrest?
The stuff I have just pinned shows up and fills my explorations. I don’t want to see my Own stuff. I don’t want to follow myself.
Every day one of my boards is missing and I do not understand it! What can I do to get them back?
Hi! I started just clicking the things I liked, but decided to go to the board. I hate the board and would rather just click on the things I love instead of trying to board them. Now I can’t find the page with my pin its on it except for the boards. Please help me just pin it as they come to me and undo the boards.
@Jacqueline – you can see the images you’ve liked by going to the dropdown menu underneath your name/avatar and clicking on “Likes”. However, if you “like” a lot of images, it will be hard to organize them that way – they’ll just be all in one screen and hard to find.
@Mike – my experience has been that newly created boards show in search very quickly (minutes or hours, not days or weeks). Although it’s been a while since I’ve looked at that specifically, maybe it’s changed?
@Jana – It’s hard to say why your boards are missing. Perhaps it’s a bug, or maybe you’ve logged in on a public computer and forgot to log out? Maybe your username/password has been stolen?
@Jan – interesting question. If someone you’re following repins or likes one of your pins, it will show up for you (like you’ve noticed, it’s like you’re following yourself). The only way I can think of to prevent that is to change how you follow people. Instead of using the “Follow All” setting for the people you follow (which will show all their pins on all their boards, including newly created boards), you can choose to follow just individual boards of each person. Probably not exactly what you’re looking for, but there’s no option to prevent your own pins from showing up like you’d like.
why does pinterest make me authenticate while i’m trying to pin something from the pinmarklet? i’m always logged in to both twitter and pinterest when this happens. it’s frustrating because it overwrites whatever notes i made about the pin the first time and makes me do it again, but there’s no way to tell when it’s gonna happen.
@sharmie -
I haven’t come across that problem before. Maybe it’s a browser issue – what are your cookie settings?
Let us know what you find.
Thanks!
can you help me to do pinterest authentication in my asp.net web application?
I usually use my MacBook to pin…I am lending it to my daughter, in the meantime how do I PIN from sites on my iPad?
@Linda -
You have to copy the URL of the page you’re on (tap and hold in the browser’s address bar). Then go to Pinterest.com, tap on “Add” in the top right, then “Add a Pin.” Paste in the URL of the page you were on that had the image you want to pin (tap the text input field to bring up the keyboard, then tap again to bring up the “Paste” option).
Unfortunately, they only have a Firefox plugin for pinning images while you’re on a site. So unless the site you’re on has the Pin It button embedded, you’ll have to go through the steps above.
How can a pinner with less than 150 pins have over 38,000 followers, & why are my followers not added to the totals???????? Absurd !!!!!!
help…I type in http://www.pinterest.com and the Pinterest site comes up but I see NOTHING posted…now what? I was a member and deactivated my account because I am justing looking and not pin/posting anything..how do I get the pictures/projects to show on the Pinterest.com page? Thanks
Whenever I try to follow someone it gives me error code 404 “Oops page cannot be found” I have been having this problem for weeks now.
Why am I receiving pins from people that I do not follow ? These pins are taking over my board ! Also, explain, pin it to Mike ! Pinterest in the the beginning was great, now, not so much ! Please restore to the original !
Two boards from other people have appeared on my board and I can’t get rid of them. Please help me lose these uninvited squatters and get rid of their boards.
Get error “invalid parameters” when trying to create a board on pinterest.
Everytime I click on a pin I get the error 404 oops go back page.
Can you help?
When I first go to pinterest.com, I see a page of various pins. But as soon as I login, all those pins change to another set of pins. Many times, I can’t find what I first saw. To avoid that, I now browse before logging in. If I see something, I click to re-pin it, and then I will be asked to login. After logging in, I can re-pin that one particular pin, but all the other pins have changed. Why does it do this? Thanks!
How do I delete people I do not know from following me.
Thanks for writing the Pinterest tips to do with your Pinterest button. I discovered this website which looks helpful for uncovering how to get the button to your website along with finding Pinterest followers or repins for your boards. It could be interesting to witness whatever takes place to Pinterest within the forthcoming future. Precisely what’s your current viewpoint? Will it be as large as The facebook?
Why do I get can’t authenicate on my pinterest?
I’m with Tannins.. everytime I try to save a Set Board Cover I get an error that says “invalid input parameters” and it reverts back to the original board cover.
I don’t get any menu options when I mouse over. I get something asking me to invite people. When I clicked “leave” it said I was deleting everything. Now when I try to edit my pins I get the 404 error message and it says the board doesn’t exist. It does, though.
When I am on my Pinterest and I click on a pin and whether or not I decide to go to that website or just go back to my home page I click on my back browser and it is a totally different page than what I was on. It doesn’t bring me to where I left off. There isn’t any other back arrow on my Pinterest page to use other than my back browser arrow.
I created a board, moved pins into that board and now every time I try to open it, edit it, etc I get the 404 error saying page cannot be found. I can see the pins, can pin to it, but cannot do anything with it. Any suggestions? I am so frustrated!
Every time I try to access my profile on pinterest now, the 404 error pops up saying the page you you’re looking for could not be found. But I could access the site a few mins ago.
While in the middle of looking at my own boards I clicked on one and I got the “invalid url” or sometimes get a 404 error. No matter how often I close and reopen pinterest I still get these messages. This happens way too frequently and it’s very frustrating because it can be quite a while before pinterest comes “back on.” Can pinterest repair this?
When I click on my boards I get the OOPS 404 error. The header loads but no boards. This only happens on my personal computer. Can anyone help? I cant even see the public boards.
I have 290 like I can only access 40 of them, I can no longer add or take away. I have a new computer,windows 8. It still worked for a time and now it just doesn’t.
I am not receiving any emails of repins, likes, or comments pertaining to my pins on my boards. Why did that stop all of a sudden, and how can I change that?
The last time an answer was posted to any of these questions was August 9th 2012!!! Is anyone responding and trying to help? Is there a better site to go to where they have a better response rate to the problems users have taken the time post? This seems ridiculous.
Help me please! how to reopen a deleted board?? I did it now… I was distracted and deleted a board rather than a pin…
Nat, so sorry to hear about your deleted board! I don’t think there is anything you can do now to retrieve it through Pinterest, but you might be able to pull up a cached page of your board through Google. I don’t know if the links will be active, but seeing it might help you find the pins again.
To avoid losing boards in the future, please visit my website, pin4ever.com. We are a Pinterest backup service, and can help you download a copy of all your boards, pins and likes to your own computer. Right now, we are offering a free backup to all new customers!
I have a requirement to make the data that is being shared by the user readonly. So that the users cannot modify the description being shared on pinterest.
same thing w/ me Andrea & Tannins. I’ve been trying to edit my board covers, and I get “Invalid Input Parameters”.
The Troubleshooting tips at the site didn’t help either. So, I wrote an email, and they are (hopefully)looking into it. I really miss that “cover editing” feature
I have several folders that I opened on my iPad for Pinterest. . I have one named “gardening” and it has 361 pins. When I try to open this folder get
Message “no pins available”. It also shows 361 pins. What is wrong? I have a lot of time invested in this folder. I have around 10 other folders and I have no problems opening these folders. I can open the “gardening” folder with my iPhone and see all pins. ….?????? Help
When I try to Pin something it goes to a 404 Oops page. What’s wrong. What can be done to allow me to pin again? Would very much appreciate an answer. this is very annoying!
@Debbie I have the exact same problem, only it’s my recipes folder with 109 pins in it. I use this folder several times a week to cook from and on my IPAD it now says “No pins available.” I’ll be so bummed if I’ve lost all those recipes.
Hello! I have a question about secret boards on Pinterest..
I have a secret board, but I would like only ONE person to be able to look at it..Would I be able to do that? I invited them to pin..What does that mean? Does that mean they can see the board if they accept the invite? Please let me know..Thanks!
pinning slideshare presentation. get error:
Parameter ‘image_url’ (value //image.slidesharecdn.com/lampdemos1-basiccrmfunctionality-130219173014-phpapp02/85/slide-1-425.jpg) is not a valid URL format.
Seems to be missing a “http:”. Ipm sure this used to work but not now. using the Pin button in Chrome.
Help, ideas?
Whenever I repin something to a board, it doesn’t add on. Like the pin shows up on the board but the number of pins in my board do not match what it says. Like right now I have 40 some pins in one and it only says I have 20? I don’t know what to do?
I have thousands of pins but only a few are now showing up on my boards. Where are all the rest?
Half my pins are not showing up. Where are they? Is it because I´m in Peru and computers are screwy here? thanks for your help. Susan