Tips

Google Chatback

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:44:00 GMT

Google have released an excellent widget which allows users to talk to you through Google chat.

"A Google Talk chatback badge will let visitors to your web page chat with you. They'll be able to chat with you whenever you're signed in to Google Talk"

If you are already a googlemail user visit:

http://www.google.com/talk/service/badge/New

Where you can customize the chatback badge and receive an embed code.

To use this embed code on your page, ensure you are signed in and click on the modules tab, click on the widgets tab and then the create a widget option, paste the code in the box provided and click on the create widget button.

Enabling JavaScript on your browser

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:32:00 GMT

If you receive an error message stating "It would appear that JavaScript is not enabled on your browser" then read on for why this happens and how to resolve this error.

Webjam uses a code called JavaScript to authenticate the Webjam pages you work on. If you don't have JavaScript running on your browser you will not be able to Sign in or edit your webjam, however, you will still be able to view Webjam.

What the error message means:

• It is usually caused by security settings in Internet Explorer being on the highest level as this disables all JavaScript
• It can also happen if ActiveX has been disabled if the security settings have been set manually
• It is NOT caused by not having the latest version of Java installed – Java is completely different to JavaScript, despite the similar name. We don’t use Java in Webjam.

The solutions:

• The easiest way to resolve this error is changing your browser security setting to 'medium-high' or 'medium' – which is the default Internet Explorer setting
• If this does not work, then it’s worth installing the latest updates for Internet Explorer – via windows update: http://www.windowsupdate.com
• If this does not work, Webjam recommends you install the Firefox browser: http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/ to edit your webjam

The difference between friends and members

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:22:00 GMT

A few of our users have been getting confused with the difference between friends and members on Webjam. To clear things up, here's an example:

I have created several webjams and one of them is a cycling webjam. I have a friend on Webjam and I can view her activity and I can access her webjams easily. She is in fact a real-world friend so I’m interested in what she’s up to but this person is not interested in being a member of my cycling webjam, because she doesn't cycle.

I also have a member associated with my cycling webjam. He is someone I have accepted and belongs to my webjam and he can view member-only content on the webjam. He is a fellow cyclist from my area who wants to view all the cycling routes nearby, but I’ve never meet him and I am not a friend of his.

So - friendships refer to a contact whose activity you want to be able to see easily. Memberships refer to webjam-specific contacts.

Share quality content with others!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:38:00 GMT

Did you notice these two small links at the bottom of each blog post?

These, which sometimes appearing as only the icons without the text, are tools that allow you to share content you like with others.

Post to Facebook
Clicking this link will open a new window, in which you will log-in to your facebook account.
Once you are logged in - a link to the blog post will be posted on your profile page on facebook.

Send to a friend
Clicking this link will open a window allowing you to enter friends' email addresses, and send them the link to this blog.

You can use these features to promote your own content, but not only that - they are available anywhere on webjam so if you see something you enjoy reading you can share it with others!

Adding a marker to the Google map module

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:47:00 GMT

Start by adding the Google map to your webjam page from modules > Internet Services

Find a location anywhere in the world by typing it into the location box and clicking Go. Click and drag or use the arrow buttons to move the map into position and zoom in and out using the + and - buttons. Select the 'Set as deafult view' to set the map to this view.

Use the hand to pin-point where you want to place the marker, click your mouse so that you see a green arrow. Click on the 'Add new marker' and fill in the marker content details, choose a marker colour then click the Add marker button.

Moving modules to other pages and webjams

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:32:00 GMT

You can move a module and all its content from one page to another page or to another webjam. This is great, for example, if you started a blog on your Homepage and have since created a new Blog page that you want especially dedicated to your blog. You can now move the blog module from your Homepage to your new Blog page.

To move any module and all its content follow these instructions:

In edit site mode on a webjam you have permission to edit (you are the editor or the co-editor) go to the the module header (of the module you wish to move) and click on the (ADD W) icon. In the lightbox click on the Move module tab and choose which page OR webjam you wish to move the module to. You can choose to move the module to any webjam you are an editor or co-editor of. By clicking on the '+' next to the webjam name you can choose to move the module to any page within a webjam.

Backup of a webjam

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:12:00 GMT

For almost all Webjam users there is no need to create a backup of your webjam. We have systems in place that can recover and restore deleted webjams for up to a month after an accidental deletion. This tip is for a few users who have requirements from their company or institution to have a backup of all online material.

If you wish to create a manual backup of your webjam, you can do so at any time using tools available on the internet. Tools such as WGET: http://pages.interlog.com/~tcharron/wgetwin.html or Firefox add-on ScrapBook: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/427 allow you to download a static copy which you can host elsewhere. However, it is important to note that any functionalities associated with the site will be lost in a backup as they only operate on the Webjam platform. Loss of functionality is the same for any hosted service which allows you to create your own website.

Page navigation

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:36:00 GMT

If you accidentally delete the page navigation tabs on one of your webjam pages, it's easy to add these again.

On the page where you want to add the navigation onto, go to modules > Webjam Toolbox and add the 'Page navigation' module to your page. It will appear at the top of your first (left-hand) column with the pages listed vertically. If you want this module to appear horizontally along the top of your page, click on the module's header and drag the module to below your page header.

New - easy way to add widgets to your webjam

Thu, 29 May 2008 10:10:00 GMT

Widgets are the new buzz word. Everything is a widget and everyone wants them (not sure what this is all about? See a short explanation here). There are hundreds of widget providers on the Internet, offering a great selection.

We wanted to make your life easier when putting new widgets on your webjam, so now you have a dedicated area just for that!

First, you need to find the widget you like anywhere on the web.

Then, on your webjam, go to Modules>Widgets and choose ‘ create a widget’.

Here you have a window into which you need to copy the code of the widget you chose.

On the site of the widget provider, they provide you with the code (they call it HTML or Embed code, if they say it will work on Myspace or any other similar social network, it will generally work on Webjam too), all you need to do is copy it to the window here, and click Create widget.

On the right, there is a list of some of the best widget providers we know.

So visit any one of those, or any other provider, and choose your favourite widget. What is going to be? A cool clock? A counter counting the minutes to your next vacation? A music player? Yoga posture of the day? Anything goes!

Photo transitions

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:59:00 GMT

It's easy to make your photos look super slick with slideshows!

You can choose from an array of slideshow transitions when displaying your pics in a Photo module (add to your webjam from modules > My content). Click EDIT in the Photo module header and change the View mode to Slideshow, then click the 'Slideshow settings' tab. There are ten different transitions to choose from as well as slide time speeds.

Here's an example of a Circles transition on my Photo module:

Closing a blog post to comments

Tue, 13 May 2008 10:15:00 GMT

If you ever write a blog post you do NOT want to allow people to comment on, it's easy to 'lock' the post, so that readers are not allowed to comment on it.

All you need to do is untick the 'Allow Comments' tick box in the post editing screen.
See below - the tick box is circled in red.

You can use this feature even after the post has been published. The comments that have already been made will be saved and displayed, but no new comments will be allowed.

Smileys in messageboards and bulletins

Thu, 01 May 2008 09:52:00 GMT

When writing a message in a messageboard or bulletin, it's possible to insert smileys by using the following codes:

smiley: :)

smiley with tongue out: :p

winking smiley: ;)

sad smiley: :(

laughing smiliy: :D

angry smiley: :@

surprised smiley: :o

If you have any suggestions for other smileys we should add, please add a comment on this post!

Signing in

Thu, 01 May 2008 07:57:00 GMT

A little thing that you may not know:

Webjam allows you to sign in with either your username or your email address, and your password.

Members inviting members - the viral effect is here!

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:48:00 GMT

A new feature now allows members of your webjam to invite others to join it!

To allow your members to invite others, all you need to do is the following:

Go to the Modules catalogue, Promote your Webjam tab, and choose the 'Members invite members' module. Drag it to your webjam.

That's it! a great, easy way to get more members to enjoy your webjam.

Ever forgotten your password or username?

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:51:00 GMT

Keeping track of all your different account sign in details isn't easy, so if you should ever forget your Webjam username or password we've made it easy to retrieve this information.

From the Webjam homepage click on the ‘Sign in’ link in the topbar. The 'Sign in' lightbox will appear. Click on the ‘Forgotten your password?’ link and enter either your username or email address to have your username and password emailed to you.

Statistics tab and module

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:47:00 GMT

Webjam has introduced statistics so you can view information about how many people visit and how many times your webjam is viewed. Read on for answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Statistics (stats) tab and module:

What are Page views?
Page views are the count of the number of times the particular page has been viewed by someone. It is the total count of times you or any of your viewers refresh the page.

What are Visits?
Visits are the count of the number of ‘unique people’ who have viewed your webjam, per session. We count ‘unique people’ by computer connections, and a ‘session’ as a 30 minute slot, which is the Internet standard measure of a session. If, for example, the same computer connection visits your page three times in half an hour, it would count as one visit. If the computer connection visits the page, ends the connection and then returns after an hour – that would count as two visits.

I know for a fact at least 10 people visit my page every day, but on your data I see less.
This may be because all these people are using the same computer or are connecting at the same time from the same Internet connection. For example, if you are all sharing an Internet connection, and are connecting at similar times, the system may count three different people as only one visit.

I have just logged out and logged back in, but I don’t see any change in my daily stats.
The stats are calculated on a periodical basis to stop our servers from getting overloaded so don’t be too surprised if your stats are slightly delayed in their calculation for a day period.

What does ‘Today’ mean?
Today means the last 24 hours from midnight London, UK (GMT) time, where our servers are located.

What does ‘Two days ago' mean? and ‘Three days ago’?
Days data is calculated at midnight each day, so two days ago means the last 48 hours from last midnight, three days means 72 hours etc.

What does ‘This month’ mean?
This month means all the days from midnight on the first of the current month, to last night. This is cumulative data from the first of the month.

How come there are 0 visits on January (2008), but there are page views?
The visits data is only available from February 2008 onwards. The Page view data is correct.

Widgets? Gadgets? What?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:57:00 GMT

I just stumbled upon a cool new widget from the house of Dilbert. If you don't know Dilbert, he is the absolute perfect office animal, and the daily comic strip describing his office adventures is something we all share around the office.

The Dilbert team are not only extremely funny and talented, but on their site I found the best explanation I have seen so far of what a widget is.
So I thought I would share it with you (it's not a complete quote, but you will get the gist).

What is a widget, you ask?

Whether you call it a widget, gadget, badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini or flake; a widget is a small web or desktop application that brings information to you, so you don't have to look for the information yourself. Some widgets are helpful like clocks, calculators or calendars. Some widgets let you write desktop notes and see weather forecasts. REALLY GREAT widgets do even more incredible stuff, like let you feed Dilbert in color straight to your blog, your personal web page or even your desktop.

Widgets are designed to be shared. You can send your favorite widgets to friends and co-workers, and anyone who sees a widget on your personal pages can download it for themselves.

How do I put a widget into my webjam?

On Webjam we offer quite a few widgets ready to drag to your page, and also a way for you to include any widget you like.
You can copy the code of any widget you want into an HTML module.
Wherever you see a widget you usualy have an 'Embed' option that provides you the code. Copy the entire text into an HTML module - and your widget is on the page.

we are also working on integrating with some Mega Widget providers... so watch this space for some more cool widgets coming soon.

In the mean time, here is a little example of Dilbert. Enjoy.

View options - how do others see my webjam?

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:46:00 GMT

A quick tip to make sure you noticed the new feature that came live last week, with the new 'Control Panel'.

Did you notice the little arrow next to the View button? This arrow allows you to view the page as other people will see it.
As you know, on Webjam there are many privacy options. You can give each of your modules a different privacy settings (clicking on the Edit button, the window that opens always includes a Privacy option on the top right).

But then, if your page includes modules with different privacy settings, sometimes you are just not sure what it would look like for different people.

This is where this new feature comes in.

Just click on the little arrow next to 'view site', and you get three viewing options:

Owner view - this is how you or co-editors of the page will see the page. Basically - you see everything.

Members view - this is how anyone who is a member of your webjam will view the page. Members will view all the Public modules, and all the 'Members only' module. They will NOT see any 'Private' modules.

Public view - this is how anyone who is NOT a member will view the page. The public view includes only modules that are 'Public', i.e. NOT member only and NOT private.

An important note: if your ENTIRE webjam is private/community only, then non-members will only get an automatic page saying This webjam is private/community only. In that case users who are not members will not see ANY part of your page, not even the design.
So our recommendation would be - do not make an entire page 'community only' - leave some stuff open to the public, so that people will be able to see at least a little of your cool webjam!

New order to the Modules

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:49:00 GMT

The order of the modules in the Modules tab in the new control panel have changed.

If you are looking for a module and cannot find it... don't worry! think to which of the tabs it may be relevant, and look for it there. There are some repetitions as well, of modules that make sense under more than one tab.

If you still can't find it, here is a quick list of all the tabs and the modules included in each one.

Me & My Communiy
My Profile
My friends/Members
Bulletin
Forum/Message Board
Join Webjam button
Poll
Engage your community
Activities (NEW!)
Add as friend button (NEW!)

My Content
Blog
Rich text
Free HTML
Photos
Notepad

Webjam Tool box
Adopt a webjam
Copy this webjam
My webjams
Page navigation
Related webjams
My mood cloud
Notepad
Activities

Media
Flickr photos
MP3 player
Photos
YouTube videos

Internet Services
Google map
Bookmarks
Web search
Shopping search
Yahoo! mail
Gmail
POP3 email
Amazon search

Widgets
Weather
Horoscope
Create your own widget (HTML)
Notepad
Google map
Google calendar (NEW!)
Poll

News Feeds

Advertisements

How to add music to your webjam

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:27:00 GMT

To play music through the Webjam MP3 player:

Add the MP3 player to your webjam from Modules>Media

Click Edit

Enter the URL of each audio file into the space under Track URL. The URL should look something like this: http://www.asilentflute.com/mp3/02%20-%20%20name%20of%20song.mp3 (thus the hosting service, specific song name and ending with file extension .mp3)
To get the URL you will need to upload your song to a data file hosting service, for example: http://www.asilentflute.com/, or http://www.snapdrive.net/. Alternatively, search on Google for a "free music data upload hosting service": http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=en&q=free+music+data+upload+hosting+service
A word of warning - if you own the legal rights to the song then you should be able to use any upload services to host your music files. If the music is from a commercial CD by uploading the song you could be violating the law (depending on the country) by doing so without the copy-right owner's permission.

Write the Artist and Song Title (if desired).

Another way to add the music of artists you like is to use SeeqPod (http://www.seeqpod.com) which allows you to search for music add it to a playlist, then copy and embed the playlist into a Free HTML module on Webjam.