Bucket Advice

Effective bucket creation

Quality buckets make for a better discovery experience. While not necessary, I highly recommend you take a few minutes to further your understanding on how to create incredible buckets.

What’s an Internet destination?

A digital place also known as an Internet address (URL) link that you found on the Internet. The place may be a video, website, social networking platform, private server login page, document, image, etc.

What types of Internet destinations are best?

Handy Internet destinations often used daily are the best bucket additions (i.e., discussion forum, medical answer site, daily financial page, weather map, daily news site, social group etc.). Although, sometimes you may want to add a few destinations that are only useful once or twice (i.e., funny video, interesting news article, and so forth). Buckets are set to private by default so you are mostly creating buckets with yourself in mind. Sometimes you may choose to make your bucket public which might change your thinking on what’s presented to your audience.

Bucket research

Do you enjoy passing the time filling buckets? Good. We share the same passion! I love researching and learning about new things and have created numerous buckets. Extraordinary buckets are established when the creator of a bucket is passionate about a subject of interest. By the same token, if the bucket creator is also an expert on a topic, then bucket quality clearly increases. Your contribution to our community of information connoisseurs is forever appreciated.

A good example that everyone on Earth understands is their hometown. You know the best places to eat out and the coolest areas to run around. You and your fellow citizens know more than just about anyone else who does not live in your area. Ideas for bucket items will flow fast and easy along with your complete descriptions of bucket treasures. Conversely, if I were to fill a bucket named Rocket Fueling Devices, I would be at a disadvantage due to my lack of knowledge on this topic. I do enjoy watching the current rocket race underway as new private companies pop up all over the World. I am a candidate for someone who could create a bucket on this topic; however, I would need to move at a slow pace to create a quality bucket that is useful to other people. Anyone can search for terms to discover sites that explain the complications of rocket fueling devices. The problem is in understanding previously unknown information completely.

To build a bucket worth searching, I should take my time and learn before adding to my bucket. There are so many beautiful content sources to choose from so filling my bucket could be effortless. However, are your sources unique or just saying the same things as other content sources? Be wary of Internet destinations regurgitating content or click baiting to drive traffic to their sites. Look and learn before adding and your bucket will turn out to be wonderful.

Item tags (future feature)

If your bucket is marked public, consider adding a few tags / keywords so that others may easily find your items. Be sure to only use related tags so that our filters won’t deem your bucket as spam (filters only apply to public, not private buckets). Even if you set your bucket to private, adding tags will make your future life easier when you later need to search your favorite Internet destinations

Bucket types

There may be multiple reasons you want to create a bucket. Sometimes you want to create a bucket for your own private use. On other occasions, you might create a bucket that is open to the public. Inside each bucket are Internet destinations that you have found to be relevant to your bucket. Some of these destinations may have a one-time use for your bucket subscribers (i.e., to make a point or to amuse) while other destinations may be useful to your subscribers and yourself for years to come. Here’s some more detail for you to consider:

Internet destinations utilized only a few times

You may want to help others learn about a topic you are passionate about. Some of the destinations you list will be quick pieces of information that are only looked at once or twice but are helpful in covering a topic. For instance, you might want to show a funny video of a pickleball dance or an article that attempts to show readers that pickleball is not a fad. Perhaps new players of pickleball will need to find beginner’s equipment. These players would be well served reading a resource that lists the best pickleball equipment. Once your bucket subscriber finds what they need and, then later become better players, this Internet destination will most likely be ignored.

Internet destinations utilized for long periods of time

We recommend filling your buckets with Internet destinations that are incredibly useful. Links that you or your bucket subscribers feel a need to visit frequently. For instance, experienced pickleball players may want to refer to an Internet destination concentrating on pickleball strategies. Additionally, certain players may choose to visit a pickleball tournament website every other week to see what’s coming up. In like manner, disagreements sometimes occur on pickleball courts where players understand rules differently. Just one click to a list of pickleball rules will solve this problem without needing to search around the Internet. Not all buckets will contain frequently used Internet destinations. This is okay! Less important links are useful too.

Buckets usually contain both short-term and long-term items to explore

There’s a variety of Internet destinations within buckets. Some of these destinations are used to educate people while others are continuously helpful day to day. Each bucket will contain a mix of both types of Internet destinations. Feel free to move your favorite items to the top of your bucket so your favorite links are easily available.

Your private Internet dashboard

As you organize your own private buckets, be sure to click the star to mark your favorite destinations. Internet destinations that you utilize over and over again are good candidates for your main favorites page. Marking favorites should be done sparingly because they will be listed on your main Internet Dashboard. Your main Internet Dashboard is what you use throughout the day thereby eliminating any fumbling around. Click and arrive immediately.

Bucket title

First and foremost, name your bucket accurately. We recommend keeping your title short and simple.

Bucket description

I often write a bucket description after I add my Internet destinations. This gives me the opportunity to think through the subject I am covering from multiple angles. I finally write the bucket description after adding what I think is important and giving the information in my mind time to marinate.

Interesting link title

When adding a link you find useful, Full Sort queries the Internet destination automatically looking at the site title. Did the suggested title look spammy? Feel free to re-write the title! In fact, this is highly recommended. I often find excellent top lists that state something like “Top 20 pickleball racquets for beginners – absolutely the BEST list for you” and want to remember my find. At the same time, I want my bucket to look clean, so I may re-write the title as “Top Pickleball Racquets for Beginners” for easier understanding. I am conflicted. On the one hand, I want wonderful content and on the other hand, I need to clean up the spammy title. Just remember, rewriting the title enhances your day and/or the discovery experience for your subscribers!

Interesting link description

Similar to writing a well thought out link title, take the time to write out an interesting and accurate description. When you or your subscribers later visit a bucket, everyone will be able to better detect what an Internet destination offers. With this in mind, think about your interface layout. When some links contain descriptions and others do not, your interface will look a bit jumbled. You could include zero descriptions and the interface will look good or you could include descriptions for all your links and the interface will also look good. The difference is that your descriptions will help with future searching and if you make your bucket public, you may gain more subscribers.

Temporary buckets

I love to get away and travel to new destinations. Before I go, I like to bounce around the Internet researching places to stay and destinations to visit. I recently took a trip to the Hudson Valley region in New York State which is in the USA. I added different hotels, landmarks, weather sites, best places to view the Hudson River and so forth. I learned enough about the Hudson Valley that I created a bucket for others to view. I could have just privately archived my research when the trip was over, but felt confident enough that future travelers might find my bucket useful. Nonetheless, I’m sure that my old friends from college who lived in the Hudson Valley could create a better bucket.

Messy buckets good?

On the same note as temporary buckets, messy buckets are sometimes useful. When I started my Hudson Valley bucket it was a complete mess. My time was limited and I did not want to think about titles and descriptions. The only task at hand was learning about the area before my visit adding hotels, scenic vistas, restaurants, and so forth. I recently learned about video editing and other topics and my bucket filling process was similar. Some buckets will never see the light of day by myself or potential subscribers while others I may someday edit and improve. The good news is Full Sort allows you to archive your bucket which may be privately searched in the future by keyword.

Public bucket approval

Would you like to add your bucket to Full Sort’s curated gallery? Examine the criteria we use to approve buckets for inclusion in Full Sort’s gallery.