We often get asked by new users on how to create a great travel story like the ones featured on our homepage (some of our favorite examples: Vietnam, Lamu 2019, Copenhagen & Stockholm). Other than having quality photos and good writing, you should fully utilize all the editing features our smart app has to offer. We try to automate the process as much as possible but sometimes a little bit of work can make your travel stories even more awesome! Here are a few tips to give you the extra points:
1. Make sure trip photos are organized correctly
In the main trip editing screen (see screenshot below), your photos are grouped by day and location. Each group of photo is called a hop (which represents an activity on a trip). If you find any photo in a wrong place, you can press and hold it to move to a different hop or even a new hop. To insert a new hop, look for the “+ add new hop” button (see #1 illustrated in the screenshot below).
2. Tag as many locations as possible
Locations help generate a detailed itinerary and map for your trip. To tag locations for your photos, click Tag Location above each group of photos (see #2 illustrated in the screenshot below).
3. Edit the details of a hop
A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes you may like to jot down a few thoughts or reflections. Tap the edit icon (see #3 illustrated in the screenshot below) to open the hop editor where you can add hop notes, highlight the hop, organize hop photos, etc.
4. Pick a great cover photo and trip title
The cover photo and trip title are what initially draw interest, so make sure they leave a good first impression! Use the buttons near the top of the screen to edit those (see #4 illustrated in the screenshot below).
The Main Editing Screen:
5. Select highlights for your trip
Trip highlights are featured in your trip gallery (think of trip highlights as the ones you would tell your friends about). To select highlights, either use the individual hop editor (see #3 above) or turn off the “Show Photos” toggle on the bottom of the main editing screen to activate the collapsed itinerary screen (see screenshot below). In this screen, you can select trip highlights using the star icons (see #5 illustrated in the screenshot below). You can also move hops around using the drag icons (see #6 illustrated in the screenshot below).
The Collapsed Itinerary Screen:
Hope you find the tips above helpful and put them to good use! Share with us below if you have any good editing tips for the Hoptale app. Remember your trips will always remain editable (even after being published) so you can keep making improvements to them.
Thanks for this guide! I was a bit lost in the beginning because there seem to be too many editing features. I am getting really good at it now!
We are glad to hear it helped 🙂
Just posted one trip and love it. Easy to use. Is there a way to tag someone else?
Sorry for the late reply Sharon! Glad to hear you loved it! Yes, you can tag someone else in your trip. In the trip description section, if you just enter the text “@username”, it would automatically link to that person’s profile. Email us at team@hoptale.com if you have trouble figuring it out!
I dunno why , but some photos in my Photos can’t be uploaded, I wonder why ?!
Hi Marcus, there could be a variety of reasons. If the photos are not recent, most likely your phone was trying to download the photos from iCloud first and then upload in our app. Please email us at team@hoptale.com with more details (your username and your trip name) if you still have this problem. Our support team would love to help you!