The Beginner's Guide to BLAEO

I thought I should summarize some things that could be helpful for any new member trying to figure out how the site works. The “Getting Started” guide is good, but I wanted to add some screenshots of how to use certain functions, as well as explain a few more things.

BLAEO is a great tool when organizing your backlog, and apart from automatically syncing your Steam library and Steamgifts wins, the two main tools/functions used are:

Categories
Lists

Let’s take a closer look at the functions.

1. First step - categorize your games

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When you’re new to the site, the first thing you should do is to categorize your games. The interface uses simple drag and drop, just drag each uncategorised game into the suitable category.

To get to the section where you categorize games, click your profile picture at the top right, then click the “not categorized” link in your Statistics info box (thanks to Wolfedood for supplying screenshots):

There are five categories, each game can belong to one of these:
1. Never played - self explanatory. It’s possible to have gametime and still mark it as unplayed (good for users who run idling software).
2. Unfinished - also self explanatory. A game you have started to play but haven’t finished yet.
3. Beaten - this would be games where you have finished the main story line, or equivalent. Endless games can also be marked as “beaten”, see this post.
4. Completed - I (and many other BLAEO users) reserve this category for games with achievements where 100% achievements have been gained, I know some users also mark non-achievement games as completed when they have finished everything possible within that game.
5. Won’t play - self explanatory.

When categorizing games for the first time, some have already been categorized for you:
Games that have 0 minutes of playtime are categorized as “never played”.
Games with 100% achievements gained are categorized as “completed”.

For the rest, it’s up to you to sort them with the drag and drop function:

Please note: It takes the site a longer time to sync your achievements with Steam than it takes to sync your game list. For this reason, games with 100% achievements might show up without any achievements listed. Give it some time and it will be fixed automatically. Check back a few hours later or the next day.

With all games categorised, it’s easier getting an overview of your backlog, what’s left to play, and what’s already done, but let’s not stop there.

2. Creating lists

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Lists is where most of the “power” of BLAEO lies. It’s a good way of sorting your backlog the way you choose. Each member already has a list for won games on Steamgifts, but that list can’t be edited.

Examples of user created lists can be “Games I’m playing right now”, “Games I want to play soon”, “Games to replay”, or whatever your heart desires. A game can belong to several lists. You can have a game on your “Won on Steamgifts”, “Games to replay”, “Games finished in 2017” and “Games with almost 100% achievements” lists, all at the same time (just an example).

Let’s try it out by making a list.

Click the arrow next to your profile picture, select Settings / Manage Lists / Add new list:

Here we can set the name and colour for the list, as well as selecting the visibility (you’re able to edit these things at any time, feel free to come back and experiment!)

Your visible lists can be found on your BLAEO profile, the non visible ones can be found under “My games” next to your profile picture at the top right.

3. Arranging lists (adding / moving / removing games)

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Now it’s time to add games to the list. Click the list name, and the arrange/rearrange arrows icon. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see your other lists (only Won on Steamgifts for a new account), and a search box to find any game.

You can try clicking the Steamgifts list and drag games from there, or type a game name into the box, and drag the game you want to your list.

If you want to delete a game from the list you can drag it to the bin (bottom right in any list, will appear when you start dragging a game)

It’s easy to rearrange the list, and move the games you want to be in front there. Just click the (re)arrange arrows again when you’re done, and your list is saved.

4. Editing game categories after playing

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When you have played a game, and it has gone from never played -> unfinished, or unfinished -> beaten / completed, you have to edit this manually:

When looking at your list where the game is located, switch to list view (three lines), then hover with the cursor over the game you want to edit, and a pen icon appears to the right of the game. Click the pen to edit.

The list view is also good for browsing your games after achievement percentage and playtime!

You can check this for any list, even the list containing all your games, available from the profile:

Here you can choose to sort them either by playtime or achievement stats:

It can be a good way to find games to add to lists, perhaps low achievement rate games, or games you are close to getting 100% in:

5. Making posts

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The social side of BLAEO is great for getting some inspiration playing your games. Check updates from other users in the activity feed, and write your own when you have something you want to share. Click your avatar, and the “Write a new post” button is on your profile page when you’re logged in.

The posts can be done in many creative ways (you can use Markdown Syntax and HTML), but one function that is used a lot in activity posts, and not so easy to know how to do, is posting games like they were a list, in this way:

• DOOM
  

  27 hours playtime

  30 of 38 achievements

• Mars: War Logs
  

  13 hours playtime

  12 of 14 achievements

• Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
  

  9 hours playtime

  30 of 50 achievements

• GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
  

  65 hours playtime

  419 of 419 achievements

To do this, you need the games in a list. I use a temporary non public list to do this, that way I can easily add the games I want to have in my post, without messing up any of my standard lists. When looking at the list (default thumbnail view, the way you want it in the post), view the source code (ctrl+U in most browsers). Scroll down, or use ctrl+F to find:
<ul class='games'>
Copy this row, and every row down to (and including) the
</ul> <- note that this should be on a separate row, just below the list of games. There are a few more </ul> further down, but they will be together with other code on the same row, the </ul> you’re looking for is on its own row, and has space both above and below it.

Paste this code into your post, and the games will appear in a neat fashion.

For more tips on how to do good looking posts, check Akantha’s profile and click the paperclip icon. Also check TopDeer’s coloured bar guide.