How do I level up in ingress?

Question

I am stuck at level 1 with 3000/3000 XM.

I can see XM but I can't collect it anymore. Is there anything mandatory to be able to level up?

Answer 1

In order to level up you need to gather AP not XM (XM is energy, AP - experience), you should see an octagonal progress bar in the upper left corner.

In order to get AP you need to deploy resonators, blow up enemy resonators, build links, etc. Here are the exact numbers for each action:

Placing a resonator                       125 AP 
Destroying a resonator                    75 AP 
Placing the first resonator on a portal   500 AP 
Placing the eighth resonator on a portal  250 AP
Updating another agents resonator         65 AP
Updating your own resonator               0 AP

LINKS:
Creating a link             313 AP
Destroying a link           187 AP

FIELDS:     
Creating a control field    1250 AP
Destroying a control field  750 AP

OTHER:
Applying a portal shield    150 AP
Hacking an enemy portal     100 AP
Recharging a portal         10 AP

To look for portal in your area use http://ingress.com/intel

More here: http://ingressportal.com/research/experience-ap/

Answer 2

As already mentioned you need to get AP, not XM to level up.

For a great list of point values associated with actions and other useful info, check out the Ingress Field Guide.

How you go about getting AP will depend on the situation for your side in your area, but here's a few general guidelines for getting past the early levels:

• Hack a lot of portals to build up an inventory (AKA farm). Friendly portals will get you overall better stuff since they give fewer "Hack acquired no items" messages, while enemy portals will give you 100 AP each time (nice for early leveling) but will drain more of your XM.
• Link portals and create control fields as this yields a lot of points for early level players, heck this yields the most points per action for all level players. However, Keys drop less frequently than they used to, so even though higher level players can destroy things more easily, they often won't have the keys to link and create control fields, so if you get some keys, look at how you can use them with friendly portals to link.
• Deploy shields to friendly portals. Shields are again something that drop relatively less often, so higher level players will often only place one or two on a portal, leaving space for you to come in and reinforce them
• Use the map at http://ingress.com/intel to look for unclaimed portals. New portals come online occasionally that others may not know about, or there may not be active players in your area yet. To find these you have to be zoomed in until it says "showing all portals", and unclaimed portals will be grey.
• Attack portals, but don't attack anything too high level unless you've got a lot of XMP bursters. In general it might be best not to attack until you've built a sizeable inventory of weapons, since it usually takes more of them than you'd think to fully take over a portal, which will yield a lot more points than destroying a resonator or two. And when you do attack, make sure to stand directly on each resonator, as low level weapons have a very limited range.
• If you're in a city mostly controlled by the enemy, it can be difficult to get started. You're really going to want to reach out for friendly player help at that point. A couple people working together can get a lot done.
• Even if you're not in a city full of enemy, you can level a lot faster with help from higher level players. I'll try to help lower level team mates level by destroying portals for them, and then letting them place all the resonators. An organized team is really the best way in the long run to do well in an active city. Ask in faction chat for help leveling or if there's any kind of organization. Many cities have Google+ pages or other group communication tools to discuss tactics, share hints, plan raids, share rides to farms and other things to help each other out.

Answer 3

I agree with other answers. They just forget to mention Glyphing. If you hold hack button for 3 seconds the series of one to four signs shows up. If you repeat them (or just part) you will get bonus items, more AP, and you will get AP even from friendly portals.

There are lot of guides to check for more tips.