The Ultimate Guide to Trendly: Everything You Need to Know Welcome to the Trendly community! We're thrilled to have you. This guide is your complete resource for understanding every feature of the app, from the basics of posting to the unique 24-hour lifecycle of content. Our goal is to make your experience as intuitive and enjoyable as possible. --- ### **Part 1: Getting Started - Your Trendly Identity** #### **Account vs. Guest Mode: Choosing Your Experience** When you first open Trendly, you can choose how you want to participate: 1. **Full Account (Sign Up / Log In):** This is the complete Trendly experience. By creating an account with your email, you unlock all features: posting, interacting (liking/disliking), reporting, and customizing your personal profile. 2. **Guest Mode:** If you prefer to just look around, you can continue as a guest. As a guest, you can scroll the home feed and use the Trendly AI chat. However, you cannot create posts, like, dislike, report, or have a profile. #### **Setting Up Your Profile** When you create an account, you'll be prompted to set up your profile. This is how the community will see you. * **Username:** The name that appears on all your posts and interactions. * **Avatar:** A single emoji that acts as your profile picture. It's a fun and simple way to express yourself! --- ### **Part 2: Navigating the App - The Four Core Features** The tab bar at the bottom is your main control panel. Let's explore each section. #### **1. The Home Feed (Home Tab 🏠)** This is the heart of Trendly, a live feed of what the community is talking about. * **Scrolling:** The feed uses infinite scroll. Just keep scrolling down, and new posts will load automatically as you go. * **Sorting the Feed (The Power to Curate):** The dropdown menu at the top of the feed is a key feature. * **Newest First:** See what's happening *right now*. This is the default, real-time view of the community's latest posts. * **Discovery:** This is for exploration! It shuffles all active posts into a random order, helping you break out of the timeline and find hidden gems or surprising content you might have missed. * **Oldest First:** Want to catch up? This starts you at the beginning of the current 24-hour cycle and lets you read forward. * **My Posts:** A dedicated filter that shows only the active posts you have created. * **Interacting with Posts:** * **Like (❤️) / Dislike (👎):** Tap the icons to share your opinion. Your feedback helps shape the conversation. You must be logged in to vote. * **Reporting (…):** If you see a post that violates the community rules, tap the three-dots icon. This is crucial for keeping the community safe. A confirmation window will appear, allowing you to report the post to our moderators. * **Media Viewer:** Tap any image to see a larger, high-quality version. The embedded YouTube player has full controls for play/pause, volume, and fullscreen viewing. --- ### **Part 3: The 24-Hour Post Lifecycle - Understanding Expiry** This is one of the most unique and important features of Trendly. Please read this section carefully. **What is the 24-Hour Rule?** Every post on Trendly has a lifespan of exactly **24 hours** from the moment it is created. After 24 hours, the post is automatically and **permanently deleted** from our servers. **Why Do Posts Expire?** We designed the app this way for several key reasons: 1. **To Keep Content Fresh:** The feed is always focused on what's new and relevant *today*. It encourages a dynamic, "in-the-moment" conversation. 2. **To Encourage Daily Engagement:** There's always something new to see each day. You're not scrolling through days or weeks of old content. 3. **To Promote Privacy and Ephemerality:** It creates a lower-pressure environment. You're sharing your thoughts for the day, not creating a permanent public archive of your entire life. 4. **To Keep the App Fast:** This system ensures our database remains lean and efficient, providing a faster and smoother experience for everyone. **What This Means For You:** * **Act on What You See:** If you see a post you love, interact with it! It may not be there tomorrow. Trendly does not have a "save" or "bookmark" feature by design. If you want to remember something, we suggest taking a screenshot. * **Trendly is Not an Archive:** Do not use the app as a place to store important information, memories, or links. Your posts are temporary. * **No Recovery:** Once a post expires, it is gone forever. We cannot recover it for you. --- ### **Part 4: Creating a Post (Create Tab ➕)** Ready to share? Here's how. (Account required). * **Text & Formatting:** Write your message in the main text area. You can add emphasis with simple markdown: * Use asterisks for bold: `*this is bold*` * Use underscores for italics: `_this is italic_` * Use tildes for strikethrough: `~this is strikethrough~` * **Adding Media (Optional):** * **Image URL:** Paste a **direct link** to an image. A direct link usually ends in `.jpg`, `.png`, `.gif`, etc. If you paste a link to a webpage that contains an image, it won't work. * **YouTube URL:** Paste a standard "watch" or "youtu.be" link to a YouTube video. * **Preview Before You Post:** We highly recommend using the "Preview" button. It shows you exactly how your post will look, including the formatting and media, before it goes live. * **Post!:** When you're happy with your preview, hit "Post" to share it with the community for the next 24 hours. --- ### **Part 5: Chat with Trendly AI (AI Tab 🤖)** Your personal AI assistant, available 24/7. * **Ask Anything:** Type a question or a statement and get an instant response. * **Powerful Commands:** * **/search [your query]:** Get quick summaries and answers from the web. * *Example:* `/search explain quantum computing in simple terms` * **/image [your prompt]:** Generate a unique AI image from a text description. Be creative! * *Example:* `/image a photorealistic raccoon detective in a rainy city` * **Chat Management:** You have full control over your conversation. You can copy or delete individual messages. The "Clear Chat" button will wipe the entire history. * **Privacy Note:** Your AI chat history is stored locally on your device only. We do not see or save your conversations. --- ### **Part 6: Your Profile and Settings (Profile Tab 👤)** This is your personal hub. (Account required). * **Profile Editing:** Update your Username and emoji Avatar anytime. Tap "Save Changes" to apply them. * **Account Security:** Here you can change your password. * **Logout:** Signs you out of the app. * **Delete Account:** This is a **PERMANENT AND IRREVERSIBLE** action. When you delete your account, your profile and any active posts you have are immediately deleted forever. We cannot recover a deleted account. Please be absolutely sure before using this option. --- ### **Part 7: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)** **Q: Can I get my post back after it expires?** A: No. The deletion after 24 hours is permanent and automatic. We cannot recover expired posts. **Q: Why isn't my image showing up on my post?** A: You most likely used an incorrect link. Please make sure you are using a **direct link** to the image file itself (ending in .jpg, .png, etc.), not a link to a website where the image is displayed. **Q: Is there a way to save or bookmark a post?** A: No, Trendly does not have a save or bookmark feature. This is intentional to align with our 24-hour content philosophy. If you want to save something, the best way is to take a screenshot. **Q: How do I find a specific user?** A: Currently, Trendly does not have a user search or "follow" feature. Content discovery is done through the main feeds (Newest and Discovery). **Q: I'm seeing an announcement banner at the top. What is it?** A: From time to time, we may display important app-wide announcements (like new features or planned maintenance) in a banner at the top of the app. You can dismiss it by tapping the 'x'.