Please Read! How to use Pagebound (a guide for new users, put together by old users):
Welcome! PageboundGuide is a moderator account run by a group of friendly, human volunteers who are longtime users. We put together this guide to help new users navigate Pagebound as a whole--for those who prefer having everything in one place despite it being long (estimated read time: 3-4 minutes). If you have a specific question, visit the FAQ, and if you still need support, then you can reach Jennifer & Lucy via Contact Us linked in the footer.
Content Guidelines & FAQ
Pagebound functions differently from other book spaces and social media. The focus is on timeless discussions about books, and to preserve this (and prevent it from becoming like every other social media), this community has guidelines!
The Content Guide is a comprehensive overview of how to create public content on Pagebound. Anyone with a Pagebound account can post/comment and create public Lists. Quests (reading challenges with custom badges to earn) are created by Top Contributors (more info in the FAQ). In the guide, you’ll also find an overview of Pagebound’s values, explaining why these guidelines to posting public content exist.
As a new user, you were also asked to read the Posting Guidelines: a quick crash course to posting on Pagebound. You can revisit this in the app anytime by clicking the Menu in the navigation bar > Settings & FAQ > Posting Guidelines.
Book Forum Etiquette
- Since posts and comments on Pagebound don’t have timestamps, the goal is to create evergreen conversations about books. Posts about books are sent to the home feeds of everyone with that book in their library. Make sure you’ve included enough context in your post for someone to respond and know what you’re referring to--they may have read the book months before you. Try to include references to specific characters or plot points or a quote.
- For your post to be sorted properly, ensure you’ve entered a % or page read. Since book length varies by edition and book format, you can also add Chapter info in your Post title to help other readers: “Thoughts from 35% (beginning of Ch 5)”
- Posts from 100% should not be reviews. These posts should focus on reflections about the ending, major themes to discuss, or lingering questions, whereas reviews are the place to share your opinion on the book as a whole. There is intentionally a separate place to leave a review, so please respect this.
- PLEASE do not post personal updates in the forum (examples: "excited to read this", "finally getting to this one", "i like it"). Forum posts are for everyone and are not a personal journal. To share these updates with your followers, see the next section on Status Updates
How to use Status Update Posts
When you change the status of a book or update your progress for a book you're currently reading, an activity card is created on your profile and sent to your followers’ home feeds. Only one progress update per book will be created per day (starting and ending at midnight in your local time, so if you update progress a 2nd time within the same day, that card will just get updated). You can comment on these activity cards to share personal updates with your followers. This is the place to share your excitement to read a book, if your library hold is expiring, or that you just got your pre-sale copy! Personal updates don’t belong in the book forum–-see next section:
Pagebound Club Etiquette
- Pagebound Club is a hub for book-related topics that are not specific to a book, author, or series. When posting to the club, every user on Pagebound can see your post.
- When posting to seek recommendations, consider searching Lists, Quests, and the Pagebound Club for your topic first.
- You can also find books recommended by the community by going to any book’s page and scrolling to the bottom. Try searching for your favorite book and see what other readers recommend!
- Self-promo is prohibited on Pagebound, including in the Pagebound Club. Your post will get flagged & removed.
- Pagebound Club is not a customer service platform; if you have a very specific question, see a bug, or need help with your account, visit the FAQ first, then submit a form via Contact Us or email team@pagebound.co.
Quest Forum Etiquette
- Think of Quest forums like a subreddit or “masterpost” where you can discuss the genre or niche at large, find recommendations, and connect with users who share your taste.
- Books cannot be added to existing Side Quests or removed from any existing Main or Side Quests since that would affect those who've already earned badges.
- Feel free to suggest books to specific Main Quests, though that is left up to the Top Contributor who curated the quest.
Lists vs. Shelves vs. Plan
- Lists are public. Think of these as curated book displays that you may find at a bookstore or library that introduce the community to a particular topic/niche, such as Queer Botanical Horror, Classics You May Not Have Read in School, or Fantasy with Badass Main Characters.
- Shelves (found in your Library) are your personal space to help you organize your TBR, such as My Owned Books, My 6 Star Reads, My Book Wishlist. These can be made either public or private. If public, these are viewable whenever someone visits your Pagebound profile.
Why does this matter? The reason we ask that Lists be for the community & themed as a collection rather than around personal organization because they're displayed at the bottom of every book page. People use Lists as a way to find similar books, so it's a bad experience when the only thing tying the books in a list together is a personal reason unique to one person.
- The Plan feature (found in your Library) can be used to plan books to read by month or year. This can include anticipated releases, planning out your TBR, or any other way you may want to plan your reads!
Text Formatting Info
Pagebound uses Markdown! Here is a guide.
Most Common uses: Bold = ** before and after text Italics = * before and after text Hyperlink = [display text](link without spaces) Gif = 
Reporting Book Duplicates
Submit the Book Dupe form available at support.pagebound.co on web or via the settings page from Your Profile on the mobile app.
In Conclusion
Pagebound is not trying to be the same as other book apps/social media sites, and so things operate a little differently here. We so appreciate you taking the time to learn how to participate in this community ❤️
As longtime users, we love this space and are thrilled to welcome you. Please feel free to ask further questions in the comments. Happy reading!
