Building your public profile on DetectID

Your public profile on DetectID is at app.detectid.co.uk/u/your-username. It’s where the finds you’ve marked public live, where a Rally Captain badge appears if you’ve earned one, and how other detectorists in the community can find you. This is how to set one up properly.

Why have a public profile?

You don’t have to. Plenty of detectorists use DetectID for identification and a private collection only, never share a find, never set a public username. That’s a valid way to use the platform.

The case for setting one up:

• Find recognition.Public profiles are linked from public finds — other detectorists can click your name and see what else you’ve shared.
• Find of the Week eligibility. A public find can become FOTW. Attribution to your username makes that recognition meaningful.
• Rally Captain badge.If you’ve qualified for Rally Captain, the badge sits on your public profile where attendees can see it.
• Community. Detectorists looking at a well-photographed Edward I penny on the public feed and seeing a profile with twenty more like it can DM you, follow your club, send a permission lead.

Step 1 — Pick a public username

Go to Settings → Profileand look for the “Public username” field. Usernames are:

• Unique across DetectID — no two users share one.
• Lower-case alphanumeric + hyphens. No spaces.
• 3–30 characters.
• Visible everywhere your public finds appear.

Conventions that work well:

• Real name or a near-handle. “tom-hartley”, “emma-priestley”.
• A detecting nickname. “mudlark”, “hammered-hunter”, “clodbusters”.
• Your club or initials. “wessexmd”, “jb-detecting”.

Step 2 — Write a bio

The bio is a short paragraph that appears on your public profile, up to 200 characters. Things that work:

• Where you detect (general region, not specifics).
• How long you’ve been at it.
• What you specialise in or are interested in.
• Your detector if you’re proud of it.

Example: “Detecting around East Anglia since 2018. Mostly Tudor and earlier hammered silver. Slow and methodical — if a field looks tired I leave it alone for a season and come back.”

Avoid: phone numbers, specific permission names, anything you wouldn’t want indexed by Google.

Step 3 — Share some finds publicly

An empty public profile looks like a placeholder. Share at least three or four finds publicly to give it shape. See thesharing finds walkthroughfor the per-find toggle.

Quality over quantity. A profile with four well-photographed hammered silver finds looks better than one with thirty modern copper buttons.

Step 4 — The Rally Captain badge

If you run a rally with 10+ attendees and 20+ finds, you automatically receive the ★ Rally Captainbadge for three months, plus Premium-equivalent access. The badge appears on your public profile and beside your name on any public find.

Running multiple qualifying rallies extends the clock cumulatively — two rallies a year keeps you permanently as Captain.

You don’t need to do anything to claim the badge; it appears automatically when the rally end-summary cron runs.

What appears on your public profile

Visit your own profile at /u/your-usernameto see it the way the public does. You’ll see:

• Your username and (if active) the Rally Captain badge.
• Your bio.
• Total public finds count.
• A chronological feed of your public finds with photos.
• A subtle “detecting since” date if you’ve been on the platform a while.

What does NOT appear:

• Your email address.
• Your private collection.
• Your detecting sessions.
• Your private notes or stats.
• Your detector brand / model (unless visible on a specific public find that surfaces it).

Going private later

Two ways to dial back:

• Unshare all finds. Toggle off public on each find. Your profile stays at the URL but the gallery empties.
• Remove your public username.In Settings, clear the username field. Your profile URL stops resolving; your finds (still public) appear as “Anonymous detectorist” on the discovery feed.

Common questions

Can I have an avatar / profile photo?

Yes. Upload one from Settings → Profile under the “Avatar” section. JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC are accepted. If you haven’t uploaded one, your profile uses your initials in a coloured tile.

Can someone follow my profile?

Not yet — follow mechanics are queued for Phase 4. Right now public profiles are linkable but there’s no inbox of followers. We’d rather get follows right (notifications, privacy, blocking) than ship a half-version.

Will my profile appear in Google search?

Public profiles are crawlable. If you’d rather not be in search, either don’t set a public username, or check that your username isn’t identifiable to your offline identity.

How is moderation handled?

Reports on public finds and comments go to a moderation queue reviewed by the admin team. We won’t take down a find because someone disagrees with the identification — moderation focuses on inappropriate content, suspected stolen goods, and content that violates detecting permission norms.

Worked example

Here’s the rough state of a well-set-up public profile:

• Username: tom-hartley
• Bio: “Detecting around Lincolnshire farmland since 2019. Member of a small local club. Big into Late-Roman bronze and Iron Age Celtic.”
• Six public finds, all well-photographed, mostly Roman bronze.
• No Rally Captain badge (yet).

Someone landing on this profile from the public feed instantly gets a clear picture: a specific person, a specific area, a specific specialism. That’s the goal.

Next steps

• Decide what to share: Sharing finds publicly.
• Want the Rally Captain badge? Running a rally as the organiser.
• Profile privacy boundaries: Privacy and location precision.