How to Manage Your Public Profile Information on Goodreads

Whether you're new to Goodreads or have been active on the site for a while, you might not realize that you can set up a profile there. You can create and manage your own profile page to show to outside viewers more about you. This article will show you how to manage your public information on Goodreads.

EditSteps

EditAccessing the Profile Page

1. Open up and log in to the Goodreads website.
   
2. Navigate to your profile page. Hover over your profile icon in the top right corner and click "View Profile". This will give you your profile page. However, you need to take it one more step to edit your profile.
   
3. Locate and click the "(edit profile)" link. It is located next to your name near the top navigation bar near the top of the page. Click this link will get you to your editable profile data page.
   

EditName Fields

1. Fill in the name fields. Although the First name field is mandatory for all situations, they also include spots for your middle name and last name (if you'd like to give them out to the public and/or people who are friends with you on Goodreads).
   
2. Select how you want your name displayed. The display name drop-down box shows you two options: first-name last-name or last-name first-name. If you only have your first name field filled out, it'll default to only the one and the second won't be able to be displayed at all.
   
   • If you've selected to show your middle name, there will be an additional field in the drop down that lists your first name followed by your middle name followed by your last name that you can pick.
3. Click a radio checkbox between the two options below the "Show my last name to" label. Your choices include "Anyone (including search engines)" and (just Goodreads) "Friends". Most people want to set this to just "friends" for privacy's sake, but you have to choose who you want to see this data.
   
4. Customize or create a username. This is helpful for those who want their own username to be given out on their profile page or personal URL. Type in your username into the "User Name" field.
   
5. Include a user image. If you have a picture of yourself reading, go ahead and insert it. Save the picture to your computer; whether it's from a digital camera, smartphone camera or some scanned in photo from a current picture, make sure you can access it.
   
   • Avoid illegally downloading images from the web without consent of the creator; if you can't find an image of yourself to use, try freely licensed images, like ones under appropriate Creative Commons licenses. Just make sure you stick to the licensing requirements (for example, providing attribution if required).

EditGender and Location Fields

1. Select your Gender in the drop-down box.
   
2. Select your country from the drop-down box below the zip code field. Setting them to United States will hide the city and state box.
   
3. Type in your zip-code into the zip code field. Recognize that zip codes in the US are the only ones that will work.^[1]
   
4. Select the audience to which your location is shown. You have three choices. "Everyone" will show your location to everyone who has your custom personalized URL, "Friends" will give out this information to only the friends you've made on Goodreads, and "No one" will make this information private to you only.
   

EditDate of Birth and Age

1. Fill out your date of birth if you'd like. Keep the drop-down boxes blank to avoid displaying this information if desired.^[2]The age will be determined by the date you've filled in, within these boxes of your date of birth.
   
   • If you are under age 18, regardless of what you set your audiences to be, the Goodreads system keeps your profile private. This is so that little to no information is given to those who don't have your URL, to protect your privacy.
2. Fill out the privacy drop-down. The "age and birthday privacy" drop-down will give you several options for which items to show to which part of your audience.
   

EditMiscellaneous Information About Yourself

1. Fill out the "My Web Site" if you have a website or blog you want to share.
   
2. Type in your interests in life into the "My Interests" field. Follow each term with a comma and a space.
   
3. Describe the types/genres of books you'd like to read. Type this information into the "What Kind of Books Do You Like to Read?" box, following each term or phrase with a comma and a space.
   
4. Describe yourself in the "About Me" section. What you share is up to you! You can use some HTML formatting in there (such as to mention books in italics).
   
5. Click the "Save Profile Settings" button to save your work thus far.
   

EditPreviewing Your Work

1. Preview your changes once you are finished with this. Make sure to preview them on your account, as well as by seeing what your public image of your page looks like to the outside observer.
   

EditTips

• As you click to create your custom profile user name, you might want to stop and save the page there, until you get a working custom profile name. While most often this will yield a working result, sometimes the username will be taken and you'll have to go back and try for another one. You can always come back to fill out the remainder of the fields later, after you've found a workable solution.

EditSources and Citations

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