Design

• Where to edit your Start4all design
  After you have logged in at Start4all.com, please go to your blog. In the upper left corner you’ll find the ‘blog settings’ button just below the orange bar. If you click here, you can modify the page where you are at that moment. Notice that you can change site pages, your blog and also your linkpage. That means you need to be on your blog and click ‘blog settings’ in order to modify your settings of the blog design!!

• Can I edit the background image?
  Yes, you can! Only thing is, that you need the ‘deeplink’ (something alike http://yourblog.start4all.com/files/2008/08/yourpicture.jpg). So your picture needs to be online already, before you modify the background. Of course, it is possible to use a picture that you have saved on, for example, your own personal server.

• Trouble-shooting, most common questions (FAQ)
  I changed my blog, went to my Start4all blog and nothing has happened, what’s wrong?
  In the right corner down below the ‘blog settings’ form you need to change every design modification. If you already have opened you blog in another screen you need to refresh it (push F5 button).

Widgets

• Can I add widgets to my blog?
  Yeah! Widgets are fun, handy and just the way to express yourself on the web. As Start4all.com is based on Wordpress, you will discover in your ‘Presentation’ tab some useful widgets.

Blogging

• Difference between blog post and page
  There are only two differences between a post and a page. Pages are not included in syndication feeds (RSS) and the URLs are slightly different, but that’s it. So, the only reason to use pages is if you want a post to not be syndicated. Posts are ‘date-driven’. So at some point the posts are out-dated. Pages are ideal to use for timeless content. The ‘about us’ page therefore is default set up as a ‘page’ and not as post.

• Create a new blog post
  In the orange ‘admin’ bar you choose ‘Write’ → ‘Write post’. Required fields are ‘Page title’ and ‘Page content’. After you have created the post, you can do three things:
  1. save and continue editing – your post is saved, you continue editing
  2. save – your post is saved, but as a ‘draft’. Your post is not visible online, yet
  3. publish – your post is saved and published online on your blog

• Create a new page
  In the orange ‘admin’ bar you choose ‘Write’ → ‘Write page’. Required fields are ‘Title’ and ‘Post’. After you have created the post, you can do three things:
  1. save and continue editing – your post is saved, you continue editing
  2. save – your post is saved, but as a ‘draft’. Your post is not visible online, yet
  3. publish – your post is saved and published online on your blog

• Add a picture to your blog
  If you are creating a new blog page or posting, you can also add a picture. There are two ways to do this.
  1. You can add a picture by uploading it from your computer to your Start4all.com account. Below the blog form you can find the ‘upload’ form. Follow instructions, it is easy!
  2. If you have a picture collection on the web, you can also let it appear on your blog by linking to it. In the ‘write post / page’ form you need to type (ALT + m) and fill in the pop-up form.

• Add a video to your blog
  With a resource of billions of videos on the net, it is fun to add videos to your blog. Of course Start4all.com offers this feature, too. Below you’ll find a 5-step tutorial, it is easy!
  1. First log in at Start4all.com with your username and password. After that go to your blog
  2. In the header of your blog you see the orange Dashboard toolbar. Go to ‘write’ and choose ‘write post’
  3. Your blog editor will appear. Click on the ‘visual’ button, to see the icons.
  4. Open a new window in your browser and go to http://www.youtube.com/ and choose the video you want to add to your blog. Copy the web address of the page where the video is located. The URL should look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczaqwhyYvk
  5. Go back to Start4all.com and click the Youtube button in the editor. Paste the Youtube URL in the pop-up window and submit it.Start4all.com supports video from Youtube, Google Video, iFilm, Metacafe video, Myspace video and Vimeo.
  Now save and publish your post and check it out live at your blog.

Linkpage

• What is the Start4all.com linkpage?
  The linkpage is a special page for all your links. If you have a personal blog, you can add short linklists per category, your friends blogs. If you write about a specific topic, you can create a nice overview with the best links about that topic. You can also add a photo, in stead of a link, and create a photo-album.Be creative and get inspired by some examples:
  linkpage for personal/professional blog: http://addnoise.start4all.com/links/
  linkpage about specific topic: http://mrmovie.start4all.com/links/
  linkpage as photopage: http://mathijsvanderkooi.start4all.com/links/
  The linkpage is Ajax-based. The lay-out of your link-sections, you can change by drag-and-drop a section to the place you prefer.
  If you want to create a linkpage at Start4all.com, it might be a good idea to watch our video (click the link below) and see how easy it is to create and edit it!
  http://start4all.com/wp-content/media/

Extra information and FAQ/Trouble-shooting

• Is Start4all.com FREE?
  Yes it is, and we’ll keep it that way. As a matter of fact you can even start more than one blogs at Start4all.com if you want!

• Write together in one blog
  Why not write together? If you, for example, have a blog about your band, it could be useful to let the other band members write as well! Here’s a - 5 STEPS - instruction to set this up the right way. It is very easy!!
  1. If you don’t have a blog, create one
  2. Let your co-writers create an account at Start4all.com, too. They do not need a blog, because you will invite them to join your blog.
  2. Log in and go to ‘users’ in your Start4all ‘dashboard’ and choose ‘authors & users’
  3. Enter the e-mail addresses of the co-writers (need to be the addresses that are connected to the accounts of your co-writers) at ‘add user from community’
  4. Now choose the authorization for your co-writers. Start4all.com gives you five options:
  a. subscriber - you can add comments, which is standard in Start4all, but you as administrator can decide whether you want every visitor to be able to reply on your blog or not.
  b. contributor - you can add a post, but this post has to be reviewed by the administrator first, before published online
  c. author - is able to post without moderation
  d. editor - is able to edit posts that already have been posted, and is able to post new articles and links and also able to edit pages on the blog
  e. administrator - you give this person the same possibilities as yourself. This person is able to delete you from the userlist, so be VERY carefull in providing this authorization
  5. save your settings, your co-writers will NOT receive a message about their new authorization, so please don’t forget to inform them.

• create another blog with same account
  If you want to create another Start4all.com blog, you can. To make it as easy as possible for you, you can create another account with your existing account. After you have logged in, go to:
  http://start4all.com/signup/
  All you need to do is to fill out this short form and the new blog is yours!

• I lost my password, how do I get a new one?
  If you want to reset your password, click the following link and follow the instructions:
  http://start4all.com/wp-login.php?action=lostpassword

• How can I rate a Start4all blog?
  Simple! Just go to the blog, move your mouse on the rating button in the upper right corner and decide how many stars you want give the blog (based on topic, design, postings and so on). You can give a score only once. So be certain about your rating, before giving it!

• Handy! Start4all.com fast-edit keyboard shortcuts
  When you are on your Dashboard, typing your article, you can use the icons in the form to create the right lay-out for the item, including scripts and multimedia.
  Start4all.com has some handy shortcuts to make live a bit easier:
  Alt+P - publish your article
  Alt+B - bold
  Alt+I - italic
  Alt+Q - Blockquote
  Alt+T - more (Read More tag)
  Alt+U - ul (Unordered list)
  Alt+O - ol (Ordered list)
  Alt+L - li (list item)
  Alt+A - link
  Alt+C - code
  Alt+S - ins
  Alt+D - del