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Stories in context

Ponga lets you capture stories so that context can be shared and collaborators can build on what you've learned.

Your own "Explore Features Here" picture

This picture is your playground! Ponga members and their guests all get this example picture in their accounts to use to explore features. Have fun!

Member Posts

Using Ponga to Share Travel Stories

Using Ponga to Share Travel Stories

If you’ve ever heard that distinctive sound of the photo slides moving in a slide projector, read on…

Searching for Lost Stories Together

Searching for Lost Stories Together

As we share the details we find in pictures, clues lead from one story to the next. Connecting the dots with context and memories we soon reconnect as a family. Having reached out to my tier-one and tier-two relatives, siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews, I experienced pure unadulterated joy. Their comments, remembrances, and reconnections have been beyond amazing. I invited my family to the storyboard albums I’d created, …Then… I remembered Myrna. The game was afoot!

Time travel through the Ponga-portal

Time travel through the Ponga-portal

Stephen is a remarkable man. His special capabilities have been a challenge for him all his life. The support he receives and his own brand of self determination has opened the world for him. In fact, he’s made the time traveling journey to Australia on his own twice. With small, insignificant hiccups along the way, he always lands with a smile.For

Hidden memories ignite a spark

Hidden memories ignite a spark

It’s simply amazing to me that a single photograph can ignite a deep dialogue with some family members. But it certainly can, and did! One photo, two relatives. Both are 1st cousins. Norman, whom I’ve never met, and Wendy, whom I hadn’t talked to in perhaps 45 years.

The Ponga Share Invite and the RSVP (Respond Straight Via Ponga)

The Ponga Share Invite and the RSVP (Respond Straight Via Ponga)

Victoria's tale of discovering a few best practices for sharing Ponga pictures in an extended family.

“Pongaporting” an Album: Bring a physical album into Ponga!

“Pongaporting” an Album: Bring a physical album into Ponga!

Imagine sitting at your computer in your house and privately sharing those special family moments or ancestral stories in real time? Using platforms like Zoom or Skype, your parents, grandchildren, and children can enjoy the Ponga deluxe family albums with you, at the same time. Amazing to me that we can do this. But we can.

Ponga & the Storyboard

Ponga & the Storyboard

It started with a 3 x 3-foot board covered with felt. Ponga ignited that memory for me. I wondered; how can I take that concept from a 1960s Sunday School class and weave it with Ponga? The Ponga Storyboard idea was born.

Tips + Tricks

8 Social Media Conversations Referenced in a Ponga Picture

8 Social Media Conversations Referenced in a Ponga Picture

Many people in the #familyhistory and #genealogy world use social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and now even Mastodon to connect with people they might not otherwise know as a way to learn more about their ancestors, a period of time, or specialized techniques. This tip will show you how to include links to your social media sources for such discoveries right in your Ponga pictures. Spoiler: It's as easy as Copy and Paste. 😉

Best Practices for Managing Family Access to Ponga Stories

Best Practices for Managing Family Access to Ponga Stories

What’s the best way to manage access to family members. We think the best way is to “set it and forget it.”

How to preserve grandma's story for generations—in context

How to preserve grandma's story for generations—in context

Old photographs are bottled up memories. If you have loved ones still with you with recollections of those moments, here's how to help them tell the stories while you preserve them for generations to come.

The Ponga Browser-Trick Passport

The Ponga Browser-Trick Passport

It turns out that some of the most powerful tips & tricks for using Ponga in your storytelling journey come from little-known shortcuts for working with your browser. This article is chock full of useful shortcuts you can use not only in Ponga but also in your everyday work in your browser.

Use an Album Like a Distribution List for Pictures

Use an Album Like a Distribution List for Pictures

Instead of bothering with individually inviting family to contribute to pictures, create an album and add them all as contributors!

Using Zoom to Capture Family History in Ponga

Using Zoom to Capture Family History in Ponga

Recordings of Zoom sessions can easily be added to Ponga pictures so you can retell stories in context.

Weave Your Stories Through Materials Connected in the Cloud

Weave Your Stories Through Materials Connected in the Cloud

You have documents, images, … you want to connect to your Ponga pictures, but you want want to keep your own archival copies of the documents and not rely on access through other sites. There's a solution to that!

Wedding Album Shortcut

Wedding Album Shortcut

Depending on whether you were there or how old the photos are, it can be hard to know what was going on or even name the characters. Without characters and stories, family photos are just stock photos.If you know anything about Ponga, you probably know we're very good at putting names to faces and we do it so you can place the characters get to the stories. Ponga uses fancy tech to do this but really, it's not unlike what a really skilled person does if they have perfect recall and never forget a face.

Videos

Family Tree Presentation and Sharing by @Victoriaspress

From RootsTech 2022, Victoria MacGregor presents how to use Ponga to present and share your family tree within your family. From her description "I am going to show you how to create an online family tree using a handful of programs that will give you a permanent place to track, attach sources and memories, and share with others in a format that is easy to create and understand, secure and private."

Ponga Demonstration for TMCC Genealogy Lab

Barbara Tien, co-founder at Ponga.com, demonstrates how Ponga helps you organize your pictures quickly and easily so that you can use them to privately share stories with family and friends.The TMCC Library offers an Open Genealogy Lab each Friday, it's free, online and open to the public. TMCC Librarian Suzanne Malek welcomes in a new guest speaker as we explore a different genealogy topic each week

Ponga Quick Tips | Blogs + Websites

Ponga creates a new way to use pictures to bring everyone together with stories. Ponga lets you lure your guests into your story with pictures, then pull them along with stories and media-rich details showing associations. This video shows you how to add blogs and websites to pictures to your Ponga pictures. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Quick Tips | Close-ups

Ponga creates a new way to use pictures to bring everyone together with stories. Ponga lets you lure your guests into your story with pictures, then pull them along with stories and media-rich details showing associations. This video shows you how to add close-up pictures to your Ponga pictures. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Quick Tips | Documents

Ponga creates a new way to use pictures to bring everyone together with stories. Ponga lets you lure your guests into your story with pictures, then pull them along with stories and media-rich details showing associations. This video shows you how to add documents to your Ponga pictures. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Quick Tips | NickNames

How to use nicknames in Ponga to make it super fast and easy to put names to faces. Ponga uses face detection and collection automatically organize your pictures for you by person. When automation can’t be sure, use nicknames to make it quick and easy put a name to the right person. Once organized, Ponga pictures tell stories louder than words, enriched with own voice, documents, video, and more. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Quick Tips | Video

Ponga creates a new way to use pictures to bring everyone together with stories. Ponga lets you lure your guests into your story with pictures, then pull them along with stories and media-rich details showing associations. This video shows you how to add video to your Ponga pictures. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Quick Tips | Voice

Ponga creates a new way to use pictures to bring everyone together with stories. Ponga lets you lure your guests into your story with pictures, then pull them along with stories and media-rich details showing associations. This video shows you how to add recorded voice to your Ponga pictures. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Tip | Best practices for organizing pictures quickly and easily

Highlights of some of the best practices for using Ponga to magically organize your pictures for you by the people photographed. Put names to faces in a gallery and Ponga applies labels in every picture, sorting them all into neat albums.

Ponga Tip | How to Add Stories to Your Pictures

How to use Ponga to tell stories. Ponga lets you lure your guests into your story with pictures, then pull them along with inflections in your voice, video setting the scene, original documents showing associations. Those inflections, they tell stories louder than words. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Tip | Making Corrections to Faces & Names, plus Best Practices

Ponga’s face detection and collection features stand out for not only accuracy but also simplicity. This quick tip shows you how to update names everywhere in a few keystrokes.

Ponga Tip | Organize Your Photos by Person

How to use Ponga to magically organize your pictures for you by person. Put a name to a face once, and Ponga takes care of the rest applying labels to each person in every picture and sorting pictures into neat albums. Now you can see who’s who in each picture and use pictures to bring everyone together with stories. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Ponga Tip | Sharing Stories in Your Ponga Pictures

How to use Ponga to get your stories back into circulation by using pictures that weave a fabric of connection you can share privately with anyone. Ponga pictures tell stories louder than words, enriched with own voice, documents, video, and more. For more tips, see https://ponga.com/videotips. And to learn more about Ponga, see https://ponga.com.

Swapping Stories and Conversation, August 2021

This was the summer 2021 version of a series of open conversations for Ponga members, their guests, and those new to Ponga. Conversations, questions, and suggestions flow as everyone joins in on an open conversation sharing ideas, stories, product feedback, and building community. For more articles about using Ponga, see Tips & Tricks articles and subscribe to our YouTube channel.‍

Swapping Stories and Conversation, May 2021

This was the first of a series of open conversations for Ponga members, their guests, and those new to Ponga. Conversations, questions, and suggestions flow as everyone joins in on an open conversation sharing ideas, stories, product feedback, and building community. For more articles about using Ponga, see Tips & Tricks articles and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Using Ponga to Connect Stories in Pictures to Cloud-based Archives

This course will focus on the power of context to connect ideas and validate legends using a combination of two modern tools for the Internet: Ponga’s digital storytelling software and cloud-based archives.

Victoria MacGregor: Turn a photo book into an interactive album by "Ponga-porting"

Victoria shares her special strategy for turning a photo book into an interactive Ponga album. This discussion builds on her posts at Ponga Tips & Tricks. To explore the album, request an invitation at victoriaspress.com

Victoria's Press: Part 1 — Let's Get Started - Presenting and sharing a family tree

A four-part series presented by Ponga member Victoria MacGregor. With step-by-step care, Victoria shares how to present and share a family tree using digital storytelling with Ponga using tools like Permanent.org for cloud storage and Canva for easy graphic design.

Victoria's Press: Part 2 — It's Ponga time - Presenting and sharing a family tree

Part 2 of a four-part series presented by Ponga member Victoria MacGregor. With step-by-step care, Victoria shares how to present and share a family tree using digital storytelling with Ponga using tools like Permanent.org for cloud storage and Canva for easy graphic design.

Victoria's Press: Part 3 — Presenting and Sharing a Family Tree

Part three of 4. In this 4 part series, I am going to show you how to create an online family tree using a handful of programs, https://HouseElvesAnonymous.com, https://Canva.com, https://Ponga.com, and https://Permanent.org, that will give you a permanent place to track, attach sources and memories, and share with others in a format that is easy to create and understand—secure and private.

Victoria's Press: Part 4 — Expectations and Examples - Presenting and sharing a family tree

Final episode - Part 4 - Expectations and Examples: In this 4 part series, I am going to show you how to create an online family tree using a handful of programs, House Elves Anonymous, Canva.com, Ponga.com and Permanent.org, that will give you a permanent place to track, attach sources and memories, and share with others in a format that is easy to create and understand—secure and private.

Help Articles

Adding a Face Label to Any Selection in a Ponga picture

Whether to add a name to a person whose back is to the camera, or to a name on a sign, you can add face labels to any selection in a picture

Can I add a video to a Ponga picture?

You can play video in any of a variety of online video formats in a selection in a Ponga picture.

Can I add names later if I ignored them in the Gallery?

Yep, sometimes the gallery doesn't catch faces that you immediately recognize. No worries. There's a simple workaround.

Can I create a new version of a picture?

If you've already uploaded a picture and want to create a new version of it, not a problem. Go ahead and upload a fresh copy.

Can I create a video to add to my picture?

Absolutely! It's easy to create a fun video-based welcome to your Ponga picture. Invite friends & family with your own smiling face.

Can I hide the selection boxes?

Yes you can! Press the show/hide toggle button to show or hide the selections in your picture.

Can I include a Storycorps recording in a Ponga picture?

Absolutely, you can include any kind of linked media in a Ponga picture. Media that doesn't directly embed will be linked with previews.

Can I show family trees in Ponga?

Great idea. We don't currently display it for you, and we can always link to external pages. We'd love to know more about what you need.

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