How to Add a Listing

How to Register and List your property on California Christmas Lights

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While not required.. consider a donation to support the site.

With limited resources, this project is entirely a volunteer effort. It costs hundreds of dollars to build a site, and hundreds more to keep it functioning. Please considering donating to keep the site up and running. As Alex used to say,  this  is not a commercial site, I do not charge anything for listings. So, donations are appreciated. ~ Joseph  **PayPal Me, or Venmo @ Tinglassman.    PLEASE PAY AS “FRIEND”, so we avoid fees. Thanks!

*** READ!!! READ!!! READ!!!***   LISTING IS A 2 STEP PROCESS

  1. STEP ONE: REGISTER “CREATE AN ACCOUNT”.
  2. STEP TWO: AFTER APPROVAL, COME BACK : ‘ADD A LISTING.” (Menu /Lighting Manager / My Account / Add Listing)

BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR HOUSE ASK YOURSELF: Do your neighbors have to wear sunglasses to keep the glare from your Christmas lights from burning their eyes?  Does your neighborhood display burn so brightly it can be seen from the International Space Station?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, and want your fellow local residents to get a load of your holiday spirit, here’s your chance to shine.

California Christmas Lights is designed for showing holiday decorations in California that are unusual, elaborate or decorated beyond the traditional strings of lights or simple decorations. Not every house that is submitted will be accepted / displayed.

~ THINK OF YOUR SUBMISSION AS A RESUME FOR A JOB !!~

Your photos are the first and ONLY impression I will have of your display and WILL make all the difference in the world about your display making it onto the site or simply being deleted.

Lets Get Started… read this whole page

You must register. You must be approved before you can “Add (your) Listing.”

REGISTRATION:

Complete the REGISTRATION FORM.  Complete ALL  questions. These questions help us get to know you. Screening protects you, all users, and our site.

  • Registration requests must be approved. Requests are sent Admin – Support and/ or Joseph,  site owner.
  • After APPROVED, return and  “ADD LISTING” (see directions below)
  • Login uses double fact authentication, meaning you will login, receive a code in your email used to login. 

Registration Form

CREATING A LISTING: 

PREPARE, “COMPRESS” AND OPTIMIZE YOUR IMAGES – Pages load faster, better user experience, and BETTER RANKINGS.  If you do not know how, please ask. Here are some resources (not endorsements), or YouTube it. 

Giant images over 1000 px are too big, over 650 pxm under 100px, is probably safe. For simplification, 650 – 1000 px. will do.  However,  a picture can be small and take up a lot of file space. So, COMPRESS IT/ OPTIMIZE. (This is more like weight vs size.. while maintain good image quality and resolution) Google reports that most people will leave your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Image optimization is about presenting your images in the best possible format and size without sacrificing quality. It involves maintaining visual clarity while reducing byte size. Learn more, while some of this information does not apply to you, like using a “plugin”,  you will get the idea .. Image optimization

https://tinypng.com

https://squoosh.app

https://tiny-img.com

https://imagecompressor.com

https://kraken.io

ADD LISTING:

  1. LOGIN / Click “MY ACCOUNT” (under menu item “Lighting Manager)
  2. Select “ADD LISTING”
  3. Fill out the form:
    1. COUNTY:  From the drop down menu select your “County.” 
    2. TITLE:  “TITLE” of your post (property display). At the very least, if possible, do give an indication of your city in the title. Eg.. “Santa’s of San Fran”, or “101 Main St. Snowmen of Newark.” It helps us in organizing and locating listings on the backend.
    3. LOCATION: Select a city from the drop down menu under “LOCATIONS.” If you do not see your city, STOP, contact us ASAP, and we will add your city to the drop down choice. We will let you know when your city is added.
    4. Complete the ADDRESS SECTION.
    5. CLICK “FIND ON MAP”
 to set your map marker pin. 
    6. FEATURES: Select any tags or “FEATURES” that apply to your light display. If you have a feature that is not listed, let us know, and we will consider adding that Feature choice.
    7. DATE the LIGHTS GO ON / DATE Lights Shut Down: Every year, if you wish to continue listing, you must review and edit your listing by adjusting the start date to reflect the current year. Listings that have not renewed and /or adjusted the date for the ‘current year’ by December 1st will be deactivated. If the listing is not reactivated by January 1st, it will be deleted.
    8. DISPLAY HOURS: What time do the lights turn on and off? “Select day(s) hours” for nightly hours. However, you might not light up every night. READ! Selecting “ALL DAY” will be shown as “ALL NIGHT” on your listing.. on the Viewer side. (*** This feature is being customized and soon will only include PM times and the “all night” verbiage  on  your “edit / add listing” side of the listing. Note, another quirk in the software, selecting a date on the calendar sometimes results in the propagated field date to be ONE day off. Just click one day after the date you need. We apologize if this happens to you, and are working on resolving the issue.)
    9. LISTING DESCRIPTION: Enter a description of your display. You must write at least 200 characters, and no more than 500.
    10. WEBSITE:  (OPTIONAL) Add your RELATED Christmas LIght Website if you have one.
    11. SOCIAL ACCOUNT(S)\: (OPTIONAL) Enter your social urls, if they are relevant.
    12. PHOTOS, Upload your OPTIMIZED IMAGES: First image uploaded will be the “featured” image, and the image the map likely uses for a marker. Upload up to 6 photos. If they look like crap, we will let you know, and you listing may not approved until better photos are submitted. Your photos may be edited and maintained in your assigned personal media gallery. Please clean out unused photos. 
      1. Tittle the Picture – short and clear, eg. 101 Main Front of House
      2. Add your “Alt Text” 
      3. Add a brief, concise CAPTION
      4. ONCE YOUR PHOTOS ARE UPLOADED.. you may visit and edit your personal media folder by going to my account / manage listings / edit / add image. Or, navigate to your listing and click the green gear icon on the right / edit / add image. This will take you into your media folder. ADD ALT TAGS (Alternative Text) for accessibility, and search engine rankings.  
    13. YOUTUBE VIDEO: Optional url of your display video
    14. SUBMIT your listing. You will be notified when your listing is approved.

PLEASE READ: All posts / listings will either be approved or denied. So, please use your best photos. Anything that even remotely looks like spam, illicit sexual content , or an unauthorized sales pitch for products will be denied and deleted, ALONG WITH YOUR USER ACCOUNT. All posts / listings remain supervised so updates to your listing require approval, but you can update the listing yourself. 

Okey Dokey.. HAVE FUN! And, Shine on:) 

Contact us if you get stuck or have questions.

UPDATING / EDITING LISTING:

Two Methods:

  1. Login. Navigate to your listing. Click the  gear icon in the upper right.  or…
  2. Login to “My Account” My Account / Manage Listings