If you are reading this page, you have probably just created a new website - or are thinking about it. Now you need to know how to sign on and create you new pages, tweak some images and colors, and so on.

You may want to start with this short video showing how to take the initial steps to personalize your website.

After viewing the video, if you are interested in more details, read on...

You may want to leave this browser window or tab open, then open another with your new website. That will allow you to read these instructions, a step at a time, and then switch to the other window to follow them.

So, with that, let's get started. There are several things that you should do promptly to get your new website ready for your visitors.

The first step is to log on to your website. You can only make changes to your website when logged in as an administrator.

1. On your website, click the 'Log In' link.
2. Enter the username and password that were provided in your registration email, then click "Log In".
3. You will see a message that you must change your password. Please choose a password that only you will know and that cannot easily be guessed. And don't share this with anyone else. After changing your password, you will return to the Log In page, but you will not be logged in yet. Now, use your new password and log in.

The next step is to add some information to the pages under the 'About Us' Menu. We have created some typical pages for your website, but you need to add some text - and maybe pictures - to those pages. We will use the 'About Us' page as an example. When you are done with that, continue on the each of the other pages, and complete them. Once you are finished with all 6 pages, you will be an expert in editing your website's pages.

To add or change text in your website pages:

1. Whenever you are logged in as an administrator, you will see the 'Style' menu at the upper left corner of each page. Be sure you are on the 'About Us' page, then click the Style menu. Go down to 'Page Content' and click that; then over to 'Edit Text & Images' and click that.
2. Now you will see 4 'Edit' buttons on your page. Each button allows you to edit one of the four sections of each page. Will will just use the first Edit button for now, so click on that.
3. You should see two more buttons: Reload and Images. Below those is a text box where you can type in your "About Us" information. Just click into that box, and enter a description of your church. Think about what you want to tell your website visitors about you; and tell them!
4. Notice the buttons in the bar at the top of the text box. The most important is the first, which is an icon of a floppy disk, commonly used to save a page. Use it often as you type so you don't lose your work if something goes wrong. Experiment with the other buttons which allow you to make text bold, italicized, create numbered or bulleted lists, insert a horizontal bar, indent text, or un-indent it. The last two buttons which look like a chain link and a broken link allow you to create links to other pages or websites; or to remove those links. Those topics are a bit more advanced, so we won't describe them in more detail now.
5. IMPORTANT: Save you work using the "Save" icon often. If you refresh the page without doing that, you will lose what you have typed in.
6. Now, have you entered a few paragraphs of text? If not, get that done, then we will add some images. To add an image, place the cursor where you want the image to appear, and click the "Images" button. A box will open up will the images that are available for your pages. Browse though and select an image. Click on it to place it on the page. It may appear larger now than it will in the final page. Don't worry about that. And if you want to remove an image, just click on it to select it, then press the delete key.
7. Once you several paragraphs and one or more images entered, SAVE THE PAGE, then click the "Reload" button.
8. Your page is now refreshed and appears to your website visitors exactly as you see it.

Did you make any typos? Or want to change some text? Don't like the images or where they appear? Just repeat the steps above to edit the page. Then continue on to the other pages, and enter some information in each one.

Introducing Themes

A 'Theme' determines the overall look of your website. It is a particular combination of colors, images, fonts, and so on. Each item to which a particular color, border, image can be applied to is referred to as a 'Style Element'. So, to create a theme, you modify various style elements to your liking, then save those changes as a theme.

Most website programs offer you a choice of themes to apply to your website. Some offer a few dozens, others hundreds. Some offer a basic set of free themes, but charge if you want to use more attractive 'premium' themes. What they all have in common is that you are limited to those predesigned themes. We take different approach. We offer a handful of standard themes; about 20. You can use those just as they are if you like. But if not, you can start with a theme you like, then change the colors, images, fonts, and borders to create your own unique look. We provide the pieces (colors, images, fonts) and the tools (the Style Menu) and you "get creative", making and saving as many themes as you like. You can name your themes for seasons or special occasions, then apply them to your website whenever you want.

Click the Style Menu, then "Theme". To the right, you will see that your website's initial theme is called "Initial Theme". We will start by making a copy of it. Click on "Save As...".A dialog box opens where you can enter a new name for your copy. Let's call it "Practice Theme". Click OK to save it. After the page refreshes, you can open the Style Menu, and Theme again and see that this is now your current theme, so this is the one you will make changes to. Your Initial theme is still there and won't be changed.

Now we can look at how to change some colors. Open the Style Menu by clicking on it, click "Body", then "Background Color". This will open a color selection box. Hover over the color swatches and notice how the background color of the body part of your web page changes. When you see a color you like, click on it. Now save your change by clicking the "Save and Publish" button next to the Style Menu.

Let's pause now to explain some concepts that will be helpful.

• Many parts of your website, such as the body, header area, footer area, and content area can have a background color. One 'color' is transparent, meaning that no color at all is selected and another element's color may show through. For example, if the content area's color is set to transparent, then the body's background color will show through. So, when you set the body color above, you have have seen the color change in just the outer area of the web page, or in most of it, depending on your Practice Theme's settings for those other areas. With a little experimentation, you will quickly see how this works.
• Look through some other element's settings. Any time you see 'Background Color' it means you can apply a specific color, including transparent, to that element. Setting other style elements works the same way.
• When setting styles, be very careful to NOT click on your website's main menu (Home, About, etc). If you do so, your page will refresh and any unsaved changes will be lost. If you do this accidentally, just start again.
• When setting some style elements, you may find that the style menu boxes, such as the color or image boxes, get in the way so you can't see what you are doing. Each box has a 'Move Handle' at the top. Just click and drag the box out of the way. When the page refreshes all boxes will appear in their normal positions.
• Every change you 'Save and Publish' is a change to your current Theme. So any time you want to experiment with changes, create a new theme and save it first. That way you can always go back to the previous change if your new changes don't give the result you want.

   

Now let's move on to another practice step. How about images. Does your website have an image near the upper right corner? Let's work with that, even if you don't see it now. Just follow these steps:

In the Style Menu, click 'Top Block Image', then 'Visible'. If there was already a visible image there, you will not see any change. But if there wasn't an image, you may see one now. Regardless, let's change or add that image. Click 'Top Block Image' then 'Image'. An image selection box, similar to the color selection box, will appear. Is it in the way? Just move it over a bit. You know how to do that, right? Hover over the images and notice how each appears on your web page. Find one you like and click it. Now, click 'Save and Publish' to be sure you don't lose it. If you don't want to show the 'Top Block Image', then make it hidden.... Style Menu, Top Block Image, Hidden. Easy, right?

Just use similar steps to set other style elements on your website.

Let's move some things around. This part is really easy. Open the Style Menu and click 'Moveable'. Two things happen: 1) the Style Menu closes to get out of the way, and 2) a small 'Move Handle' (an aqua colored box) appears at the right end of the website's main menu. An important tip here: You can ONLY move the main menu by dragging this Move Handle. If you click anywhere else on the menu, the page will refresh and your changes will be lost. Other than that, moving things around is really easy. Just click and drag them.

If you hid the Top Block Image above, make it visible again so we can move it.Turn 'Moveable' on if you need to andclick the Top Block Image and drag it to a new location. To move your church or organization name, click and drag it. To move the image on the Home page.. OK, you get it. When you have everything where you want it, 'Save and Publish'.

Now, here's another tip: sometimes you can't see the exact boundries of an item such as the Title, SubTitle, or Data Block. So, set the border of these items to 1px so you can see them. This helps a lot when changing the size or font size, or when moving these items. Once you have everything set, remove the border by setting it back to 0px before you 'Save and Publish'.

Experiment with other Style settings. Try the font family, size, and color. And add, remove, or resize borders around some elements. All of these can be used in any combinations to give your website an attractive and unique look.

Finally, practice. You won't hurt anything. Try out different color and image combinations, and if you create something you really like, do "Save As..." to give it a new theme name. Then when you are ready to experiment again, but sure to go back to your practice theme, or create another so you don't ruin your latest masterpiece.