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I'm thrilled that websites are increasingly becoming aware that long registration forms discourage you from joining them. Like free drinks at a bar, there have been a few core approaches used to increase your chances of committing: simply shortening a form and leaving much info optional until later is a popular choice, and so is allowing you to test-drive or tour features firsthand before ever giving away your personal info.
Image editor Picnik and form-maker Wufoo are superb examples. But still, after you've signed up, you'll likely want to enter a bunch of stuff — especially on social networking sites that ask about your taste in music and your pet's middle name. So what do you do? Here are some simple steps that you can use to smooth the form-filling process, and each subsequent time you sign up for a site, think of the following as a handy checklist that ensures you've got everything ready.
Use the same username everywhere
Not always possible, but the reason why this matters is that it curbs the sheer frustration of "WHAT WAS MY USERNAME!?" Yes, modern Web browsers can remember it for you, but what if you're at a public terminal and want to login? Or what if you clear your personal data? Even if most places offer a "Forgot your username/password?" service, avoiding trouble from the start is smartest.
As essential as water is wet: pick something brief yet unique, and definitely memorable. If you can use your email address as Guy Kawasaki is fond of advocating, that folds 2 things to remember into 1. I go with "Torley" because that's my first name — it may not be so clear for you, but in any case, I recommend trying out UserNameCheck.com (previously covered on Mashable) to get a good feel. It shows where your suggested name's taken across almost 70 sites.
Even if you've already signed up for various sites, this is a good principle to keep in mind going forward. Another reason why it's important: if you're into lifestream aggregators like FriendFeed, they'll ask what your usernames are on other services. Some aggregators have the ability to auto-add you to multiple services if you have the same name on all. Otherwise, it's more laborious.
I should mention this can also be a good motivator for being an early registrant of a site you might possibly be interested in, just to make sure you've claimed your name.
Prepare a "passport" of all commonly-used info
At the most basic level: it never hurts, and often helps to have a folder in an easy-to-reach place on your computer — like your desktop or Documents — where you have a plain or rich text file containing the stuff you often enter into profiles either during or after initial registration.
Some examples of common fill-me-in fields: Biography (aka "About Me"), Location, Interests, and Occupation. Social sharing sites get more granular, e.g., Flickr also has a "Favorite Books & Authors," "Favorite Movies, Stars & Directors," and even "Favorite Music & Artists." MySpace, FaceBook, and others have their own equivalents. I may not fill these out unless there's some compelling advantage to doing so — like finding others with the same taste, or posting my fave bands on a music recommendation site that actively parses that info to suggest new tunes. But the point is: these "personality pop quiz" fields can be time-consuming and require some thought, so a prepared copy-and-paste can make a big difference!
Part of your text file could look like this:
- Favorite Books & Authors: Harry Potter, Stephen King's The Stand
- Favorite Movies, Stars & Directors: Johnny Depp, Ed Wood, Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible
- Favorite Music & Artists: Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Yanni, A-Ha's "Take on Me"
Then, copy-and-paste as needed.
One level up on the automation scale is making your Web browser help you autofill. Modern browsers have autocomplete, and Firefox offers add-ons like Autofill Forms which I adore. I know many people like RoboForm, which works with Internet Explorer too. These tools have the disadvantage of possibly not being able to recognize a form if it's seemingly labeled the same but has a different ID, so that's where copy and paste fallback is useful.
And further up — or perhaps sideways, since this is complementary, a macro app will let you enter long chunks of text with a single, or few keystrokes. I favor PhraseExpress (version 6 was recently released), which works in just about any Windows program that supports pasting text. One of the best ways to judge if you need a program like this is to ask yourself: "Do I find myself typing the same stuff over and over while grumbling about how tired I am?"
The goal here: the quickest possible access to your text, cutting down on time and trouble.
But ah, what about pictures?
Have your "passport photo" ready, too
You know what they say about a picture being worth so many words. Many sites have a generic placeholder until you choose to override it with one of your own, which you should. And if you belong to many sites with the same visible identity, it helps to use the same picture — it's easy and boosts your personal brand, if you're into that.
Aside from selecting from a premade gallery, these are the two most common choices:
1. Local upload - Browse your hard drive for a photo
2. Remote upload - Specify an URL, e.g., http://blahblah1234.com/profile.jpg
Let's cover both of these. With "Local upload," it helps to put a few different versions of a picture in your earlier-established profile passport folder, alongside your text file(s). Some sites have eccentric requirements, but by and large and not unlike fast food, you'll want a:
1. Small size - 75×75 pixels or less, useful on many forums, Gravatar, etc.
2. Medium size - Say, 500×500 pixels, likely to be shown in your "extended profile"
3. SUPER-SIZE - As big as it can be!
It's true some sites will auto-resize or allow you to crop your upload (e.g., for non-square ratios), but that's far from universal, so don't count on it. Your image can be in JPG or PNG format — the former's more common. And make sure it looks great at a small size. (E.g., no Boschian gardens in their entirety.)
The same principle applies to "Remote upload." It gets easier if you use Flickr, because Flickr automatically creates up to five different-sized versions. Click through to see the actual profile pic/avatar/buddy icon I use, called "Watermelon Eye:"
And you can save Web images for local upload, sparing you resize time. But please don't violate anyone's rights (that sounds so dirty) — make your own art or get something in the public domain or Creative Commons.
I love to save time so much that I use Direct Folders (basic version is free), which provides easy access to your commonly used files and folders. It allows me to double-click when a file browser is open, then select my profile image with one more click. Pedantic? No way, all those clicks add up when you've signed up for over hundreds of sites for experience's sake as I have.
Simply put: a well-chosen photo helps you to stand out and be more memorable.
Identify profile patterns across sites
Certain site profiles look similar because they're built on the same software. vBulletin forums, WordPress blogs, and Ning networks are prominent instances. If you sign up for a lot of one or more of these archetypes, you'll want to continually optimize your "profile passport" to be streamlined for the next time you sign up.
For instance, you'll often notice a vBulletin forum's User Control Panel has a layout like this:
Thus, reinforced lesson of the story gleaned from the above: be prepared!.
Extend these principles to specific site content
A growing number of sites use data and metadata like tags to organize your stuff. Flickr — which I mention so often because it's a great example — makes it easy to see which tags you've used the most. Some places can autocomplete popular tags. Unfortunately, they're the exception, not the rule. When I upload a video tutorial to YouTube, blip.tv, or Vimeo, I have a PhraseExpress shortcut: typing in "[tags]" expands that abbreviation to a list of commonly-used tags, which I can edit as needed. Just like a word processor template isn't the end of your creation, but is a facilitator to get on the right track.
Here's another example of specifics: if you're a musician, there are numerous music (like Jamendo and SoundCloud) and stock content sites (like Envato) which encourage you to upload your MP3s. Do just that, and put the MP3s alongside the text files in your passport folder. In this case, your text file would have relevant info like the story behind each song — whatever you observe keeps appearing on different sites.
This goes beyond filling out your profile and can be applied in a variety of ways, but the same benefits are incredibly true. It's part of what I call knowledge compound interest, where the methods you "invest" today and share tomorrow — exactly as I'm doing here — will earn unto itself in the long run. After all, a well-filled profile shows how interesting you are, and tags add value to identifying your content. Time's a-tickin', and the sooner you get started, the more you have to gain.
Don't be stressed to fill everything out at once
I emphasize this, because as much as a rabid, buzzword-binging junkie I can be at times, I'm also smart enough to know that the best experiences come with extended usage, not all in a day. Especially with so many startups to check out on Mashable. 
I like to dip into various sites and tinker around to gain an understanding, and naturally cling to the ones which are useful for me after weeks. I never stay on a site just because of peer pressure.
Accretion counts for a lot: incrementally edit your profiles as you grow in life and your passions evolve. Leave optional fields empty if your intuition indicates you won't benefit from filling them out. And as for what you are willing to share, I can't say it better than Madonna: "Express yourself, don't repress yourself." Even if your taste in colors is a bit wacky:
If you find a site particularly well-worth using and you enjoy being active in the community, then by all means, contribute what you feel will be helpful for your fellow members to get to know you. And if you'd rather lurk, then make that your modus operandi.
The usefulness of what I've shared above will make itself clear after the next few signups you do, but don't hesitate — apply and adapt them for your comfort at the earliest opportunity you get, and let me know your time-saving tips 'n' tricks!
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