• 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

 1. where can I change my blog 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!!

 2. can I add a background picture?
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.

3. Are all parts of the Start4all blog editable?
We haven’t found a part that is not editable. You can change the font for every part of your blog, the fontsize, font colour. Same thing with background, headers, bars and so on. You are the designer and are in full control. Check for some inspiration for example the Start4all accounts of MrMovie, Johannes Oppewal and IamPregnant (demo made by me).

4. 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).

You love being active on the Internet! You might have some (or maybe a lot of) accounts at social places on the internet like Facebook, MSN, AOL, popular chatsites, forums, hobby related communities and so on. These are the places that you should target on for your promotion of your Start4all blog.

Facebook:
- post a part of your blog article here and add the link to the rest of the story below
- let your friends know that your blog exists and what it is about, wanna bet that they take a sneak to see what you blog about
- join groups at Facebook that are about the same topics as your Start4all blog

MSN, AOL (and other chatsoftware)
- Refer to your blog in conversations
- use your nickname (you can change your name any time in most of the software) and refer to your blog

Forums and portals
- First start blogging about some of your favorite topics. As these are your favorite interests, there must be some blogs, forums or maybe other blogs about the same topic. Here you can react on topic, together with your blog url in the footer of your comment.
- Use your nickname as a advertising banner. Take the same name as your account at Start4all.com!
- Also ask people to leave a comment. You need their expertise of course to become an even greater blogger, of course!!

Let me know how all this worked out! I’ll bet that you will get more and more visitors ánd reactions ánd become a better blogger!

We made it to the top 5 at Sphred.com. This website shows you several new startups and relaunches on the web every day. That we reached the top 5 can be considered as a great compliment for our team. Of course, there is still a lot of work to do, but as we see more and more people blog at Start4all.com and also other portals and blog start writing about Start4all.com we are on our way to become a great website.

If you want, you can help us by voting on Sphred.com. At this moment we are listed in the top 5 in the upper right corner of the homepage. We wouldn’t mind to stick there a bit longer

Thank you in advance!

Another site, that mentioned us today is www.KillerStartups.com. A review site with 30+ startups added daily. A great resource, too. On KillerStartups you can vote for us by clicking this link, it helps us a lot!

click the tumbnails to check the screenshots.

Of course you can hide all your blog stories, but mostly you want your blogs to be read by your relatives, family and if you write about a perticular subject, you want people that are interested in that subject to read the story and comment.

Before you start to promote your blog
1. start blogging! an empty blog (or with only two or three postings) will give the visitors a whole other ‘first impression’ than when you have blogged for some time.
2. personalize and design. To stick with the ‘first impression’, try to create a blog that personalizes who you are and what your blog is about. It’s like a package of a product in the supermarket. Be predictable and absolutely clear what your blog has to offer. Also add RSS feeds, links, widgets that represent who you are, and what you offer the visitors on your blog.
3. find ways to interact with the readers of your blog, start polling, sharing, asking and suggest. With Wordpress plugins that you can add within a code to your blog (Presentation-Widgets-Text-Add the code) you can also use services of other websites in order to get the interaction started. Interaction provides you information about who your visitors are, what they want, their opinions and more!

Promotion
1. Use your personal network! Talk about your blog on family-meetings, a birthday party etc. Your family and relatives are the best ambassadors to spread the word. Use your digital network (Facebook, AOL, MSN, Skype etc etc) to let people know your blog excists.
2. Look for linkpartners. Start4all.com offers a great opportunity for you to trade links with related sites. Think about how you would search to find your own blog (or check other blogs and analyze what they did to generate visitors).
3. social bookmarkers are free to use and, with a little luck, help you to reach a brand new group of visitors. There are a lot of social bookmarkers. Check these great articles at Mashable.com about social bookmarking.
4. keep on blogging…
5. read the following articles to get an overload of suggestions. See for yourself what promotiontool suits your blog and give it a try!
10 articles about online promotion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The strip in this article was created by Georgies’s Strips. Check out all of Georgie’s strips at www.beingfive.blogspot.com. You can also add a daily Georgies cartoon to your RSS reader!!

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

WINDOWS LIVE WRITER
You can use Windows Live Writer to edit your blog at Start4all.com. Live Writer is a free to use desktop application that you can download here. Live Writer has a WYSIWYG editor, which gives you the benefit to see what your blog posting will look like, before actually posting it to your Start4all blog. It also integrates multimedia easily. You can add pictures, publish maps and much more (find more info here on the Windows Live Writer information website).

ECTO DESKTOP BLOGGING
Another desktop application that makes your blogging live a lot easier. Ecto is available for Windows and OSX as well. Explore the informations on the Infinite Sushi Ecto website to find out more!!

Know more programs that should be mentioned here? Let us know!

 Go to ‘Presentation’ in your Start4all Dashboard and choose Widgets. Here you can add your RSS feeds to your blog!

Link to the video-page:
http://start4all.com/wp-content/media/ 

thnx Addwin