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frequently asked questions about SiteSkins

1. General Information
What is siteskins?
How much does SiteSkins cost?
How do I signup? How will I be billed?
How do I cancel?
How will people find my website?
Do I need to know / understand HTML or code?
How many pages can I have?
I don't see a skin style I like. Can I have one custom made?
Can I edit my website from any computer?
Will I automatically be signed up for email lists?
How often can I change my website's skin?
Can I resell SiteSkins websites?
Can I have multiple SiteSkins sites?
How long will it take me to create a website?
Can I see some sample websites, created with SiteSkins?
Who do I contact if I need help / support with my site?
How do I signup for my account? I don't see where to click.
Why doesn't your website builder use Flash (animation technology) for it's pages?

2. Features
Can I upload pictures?
What file types are accepted?
I am unsure of how large my pictures will be. How do I control this?
Can I link to other websites?
Can I create a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page?
Can I get my company logo displayed at the top of my site?
What if I know how to write HTML? Can I use what I know?
What about compatibility? Will my website look good on other browsers?
How many pictures can I put on a page?
How do I "Re-Skin" a website?
Can I add music or sound to my website?
Can I add a "hits counter" to my website?
Can I do any direct selling (E-Commerce) through my website?
Can I upload my own music directly into my website?
Can I add my own (or someone elses) video onto my website?

3. Using the Site Builder
What is "Site Name"?
What is a "Slogan"?
What is the site description? Will it appear on my site?
What is my Username?
What is a Password?
What is meant by "Main Sections"?
What is a subsection or "sub-link"? How do I add them?
Why can't I see my changes after I add content to my site?
I would love to add some photos to spice things up. But what if I don't have any of my own?
How do I add more pages to my site?
How can I add more than one picture?
How can I change my logo font, size or colors?
I have a lot of extra space in my paragraph. Why?
How can I update my billing information?
How can I break up my caption text?
How do I edit or update my Keywords and Description?
I've set up my Domain Name emails, but when I send mail, it still looks like it's coming from my personal email account. How can I get my emails to appear to originate from my business account?
Can I add online games to my website?
Can I add a chat room to my website?
Can I add a message board or forum to my site?
What if I want to rotate a quote on my website?
How can I add a Google Map to my website?
Can I add a Poll or Voting feature on my website?

4. SiteSkins and Domains
Can I have my own domain, such as (www.MySite.com) with SiteSkins?
What if I already HAVE an internet domain name (such as www.mycompany.com, etc.)? Can I use this with a SiteSkins site?
Can I purchase my domain through SiteSkins?
I already have a SiteSkins password, but I can't login to buy a domain. Why?
I bought a domain, and set everything up. Why can't I see it?
Basic Domains Information
Can I have my own email addresses with my domain?
I went to purchase a domain at www.siteskinsdomains.com and I can't login with my password. Why not?
Can I set up more than one domain name with my SiteSkins site?
I have to renew my domain name but I don't know where to start

5. Troubleshooting
When I type in my new domain name, my site doesn't come up. Why not?
Why can't I upload any pictures? It just keeps trying and trying, but never uploads.
Why can't I find my site when I search for it online?
Why won't my site update to show the changes I make?
I can't fit my logo into the space provided. What now?
Is it possible to change the name of my site?
Why do I keep getting errors when trying to upload my images?
Why Can't I Publish?
Why does the text under my image push all of my content over to the side?
When I upload a customized logo in the logo area, it fails to load in all of the way, creating a 'cut-off' logo effect. What can I do?
Why won't my PDF (or other documents) upload in the Text Editor?
Site won't publish using most recent versions of Internet Explorer

6. SiteSkins and Search Engines
What are "search engines"?
I can't find my new website on Google search! Why not?
Will my site be at the top of the search engines?
I see my site coming up in the searches, but it's not high enough. What can I do?
Is SiteSkins obligated to help me rank well?





1. General Information

What is siteskins?
SiteSkins is a website design, creation and maintainance tool. Specially created to give the beginner or intermediate computer user the tools to create high quality websites, that they can control down to every paragraph and each picture.

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How much does SiteSkins cost?
SiteSkins website service is divided into 2 service types:

  1. SiteSkins Personal ($7.95/mo., email support only, limited to 5 pages)
  2. SiteSkins Unlimited (complete service, perfect for business,email, phone and chat support, plus customization services $19.95/mo)
ALL of the siteskins offerings can be tried FREE for 14 days. Additionally, any account type can be upgraded at any time after signup.

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How do I signup? How will I be billed?
To signup for website service, login at www.siteskins.net and click on "EDIT" next to your sitename. On this next screen, look for a large, capsule shaped button that says "Ready to Signup? Click Here!", which will appear above your control panel.

We bill your credit card or company credit card (Visa, M.C., Discover)each month on your signup anniversary date.

We also now accept PayPal payments, so you can pay with your American Express, as well as e-checks (pay from your checking account) for your SiteSkins account.

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How do I cancel?
You can cancel at anytime, by simply clicking the "X" in your control panel to delete your website. If your account was created using PayPal, you will need to login to your PayPal control panel and cancel your subscription to SiteSkins that way.

If you have multiple websites, each has it's own account info, so you can delete one site and keep another.

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How will people find my website?
When you build your website with SiteSkins, you will be asked to "describe your site". It is this information that SiteSkins uses to create your "keywords" and descriptive text, which is placed into the code of your site (not displayed on the pages). Search engines, read this information and store it. When people search for websites like yours, this text will help them to find you!
Additionally, you should advertise your website address in every way you can, from on your products to flyers, brochures, and business cards.

Another great tip is to get your site listed in directories where people look to find content like you provide. For example, if you sell "Dog Walking Service", you would want to be listed in websites that list links to "Pet Care and Services".

The most important part of being found on the Net however, is the actual text inside your site. It should contain the words that people will use to search for you. You should have text and plenty of it, and you should spend time making sure that it is full of good keywords that relate directly to what you offer.

For more great information on getting or improving your search engine rankings, go to RankMonitor.net a free resource for helping people to understand search engines and placement.

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Do I need to know / understand HTML or code?
No way! The reason we created SiteSkins was to give the average person the ability to make a great website, which is easily navigated, and pleasing to look at, without the need to know or understand HTML or any kind of code.

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How many pages can I have?
There are 2 account types. With SiteSkins Personal, you can have (up to) 5 pages. With SiteSkins unlimited, you can have a full 30 page website!

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I don't see a skin style I like. Can I have one custom made?
Yes! We can create a website skin for you that has a photo of your business, or product, and even create a skin that uses your exact company colors. Contact
support@siteskins.net for more information on getting custom made skins. (this service is for paid accounts only)

Additionally, we are constantly coming out with both new colors and variations of current styles, as well as altogether new styles.

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Can I edit my website from any computer?
Yes! Just visit the siteskins site, and make sure you have your username and password info handy. After you login, you will see your control panel and you can edit and maintain your site.

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Will I automatically be signed up for email lists?
No. We do not push junk email to any of our users. We do not sell or give away email addresses. We will keep your address in order to send you information on SiteSkins regarding updates to the service, new skins and other information which may be of use to you.

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How often can I change my website's skin?
As ofter as you like, of course! You can re-skin your website for holidays, special occasions, whenever you feel like it!

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Can I resell SiteSkins websites?
Yes you can. You can put together websites for other people, as long as the account is billed to your client directly. In other words, you can put the site together, and charge for your time in doing so, but the client must be billed (monthly) directly for their account. You will need to contact us regarding the reseller agreement, which helps us to keep you honest, and then you are ready to go!

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Can I have multiple SiteSkins sites?
Yes! You can have many sites under your username and password account. This is the best way to have several sites, because you can login and make changes to any of your sites from one, central location.

Each site has its own separate billing account, so if you cancel one, you can still keep your others, and likewise, if you add a site, your monthly cost will increase. (unless it is a SiteSkins FreePage account)

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How long will it take me to create a website?
In a few short minutes, your website is created. Usually it takes around 2-5 minutes to get to the first "preview" stage, and another 15 minutes or so to complete your website. Time to create depends largely on how well organized you are, how much content you have prepared in advance, or how good you are at writing content.

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Can I see some sample websites, created with SiteSkins?
To get an idea of what SiteSkins can do, check out our growing
portfolio of customer sites! You will notice that many of our competitors do not have any sample sites listed, and if they do, often they are "canned" examples. SiteSkins only shows *real* customer sites. Click here!

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Who do I contact if I need help / support with my site?

IMPORTANT: Support options are based upon account type. For SiteSkins Personal accounts (5 page sites), we offer email support, unless you are directed to call. For SiteSkins Unlimited accounts, you are welcome to use any of the available support options.

For prompt and curteous technical support, you can contact us:

via telephone: (919)557-3263, between the hours of 10-6 EST
via email
support@siteskins.net.

We are happy to assist you in both building a website and in understanding what your options are for getting the most out of your website ownership experience.

Please also note that we have recently launched SiteSkins TV, which features video walk-throughs and tutorials, showing exactly how to build your site with us: SiteSkins Tutorials Website

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How do I signup for my account? I don't see where to click.
Login at www.SiteSkins.net by clicking the "Owner Login" button in the black area at the top. Now, when you see your site name (or sites, if you have several) click on the EDIT button next to the site you want to sign up for. Now you are in the control panel for that site. Above the site name, you will now see a link which says "Ready to Signup? Click Here!" Click that to enter your billing information. Our billing system is encrypted and secure.

And we now offer PayPal billing, so you have even more payment options.

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Why doesn't your website builder use Flash (animation technology) for it's pages?
There are two reasons.

1.SiteSkins website builder, while being great for personal pages and clubs, etc., is primarily geared for professional business sites. These sites generally don't use flash as it tends to distract from their message and information.

2. Flash websites are "search engine poison". What is search engine poison? This phrase refers to websites which literally cannot be seen by search engines such as Google.com (incidentally, the vast majority of internet users prefer to use Google.com to search the web). This is a big problem for businesses who use Flash-based websites. Unless, of course, actually being found is not important.

We do, however, value Flash technology as an optional feature. We use it for SiteClips (streaming and loop-based audio in SiteSkins), as well as custom made Flash Intro pages, which are available on request for a fee.

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2. Features

Can I upload pictures?
Yes! One of the great ways to use SiteSkins is as a photo gallery creator. You can upload pictures of family, friends, your band, product or just about anything!

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What file types are accepted?
You can upload .gif, .bmp, .tif, .png and .jpg files.

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I am unsure of how large my pictures will be. How do I control this?
SiteSkins will automatically scale your images to an appropriate size for delivery over the internet, and to ensure that your website has a pleasing balance, between text content and pictures. Not only that, all images will automatically have links to show larger versions of your images!

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Can I link to other websites?
Sure! We have created a links pagetype which allows you to create links to other websites as well as descriptions for each link!

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Can I create a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page?
Yes! The page you are reading was created in SiteSkins. You can choose a "FAQ" pagetype, and then simply fill in questions and answers. Your page will be formatted with all the links necessary to allow your readers to get fast answers to their questions!

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Can I get my company logo displayed at the top of my site?
Yes! We have a special feature called "Custom Logo" which allows you to download a "blank" version of your logo graphic (without the text on it).

If you, or someone you know or work with understands how to work in a graphics editing program, such as Adobe Photoshop, you can place your company logo into your SiteSkins website! Then, you return to your control panel, and simply upload your new logo image. SiteSkins will automatically make it your active logo.

This is a great way to further customize your site, and goes a long way toward giving your site a polished and professional appearance.

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What if I know how to write HTML? Can I use what I know?
Yes! We have designed our builder so that you can further enhance your website by using your skills in addition to our award winning website designs.

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What about compatibility? Will my website look good on other browsers?
We have gone to great length to ensure that our styles that will look great when viewed on Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, as well as Macintosh and Windows platforms. Sites are designed to look good on screen resolutions from 800x600 or higher. Many of our newer skins are designed for 1024x768 screens and this will continue to evolve as screen resolutions continue to evolve.

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How many pictures can I put on a page?
This depends on which pagetype you choose. On a text-based page, you can have one photograph. On a gallery pagetype, you can have up to 50 pictures per page.

If you would like to put more pictures on a page, choose a "Thumbnails" page type. With this type you can have up to 100 small images on your page, that when clicked, reveal a larger version of your image.

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How do I "Re-Skin" a website?
Click to Enlarge
click to enlarge

Want to change your website's appearance without changing your content? SiteSkins was built to do this quickly and easily.

Login to your SiteSkins account by visiting www.siteskins.net, then click the login button. Enter your username and password, and click "Login". Now, you will see your site/s that you own listed, with small buttons to the right of the site name/s.

Click on the button that says "SKIN". Next, search for a new skin, in the same way that you did when you built your website the first time. When you find one you like, click "Re-skin with this one". In a few seconds, your screen will update and you will see a link to your re-skinned website. Click on that to check it out!

Not what you wanted? Try it again! You can re-skin as often as you like.

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Can I add music or sound to my website?
Yes! Now with our new SiteClips™ Technology, you can add a clip with its own flash player (stop and play buttons) to your pages. They are page level, so you could potentially add a sound or music loop to every page, or just one page.

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Can I add a "hits counter" to my website?
Who needs a counter? SiteSkins now offers professional website hits statistics right inside your control panel! This is the best thing for a number of reasons. You have access to far more than simply a 'page count'. You can see how many people are coming, where they are coming from, and what they are looking at while they are there. This special feature only applies to SiteSkins account holders who own their own domain name. If you do not have a domain name yet, you can get one at:
www.siteskinsdomains.com and have it hooked right up to your SiteSkins website.

If you are set on having a hit counter on your page, there are some really great free hit counters that you can plug RIGHT INTO your SiteSkins websites. Check these out!

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Can I do any direct selling (E-Commerce) through my website?
Yes and No. SiteSkins does not have it's own E-commerce capability, however many of our site owners ARE selling through their SiteSkins websites.

Using PayPal (*we are not in any way affiliated with PayPal) you can generate "buy now" or "add to cart" buttons that will allow you to directly sell through your site. (you can also do a full shopping cart, accept donations, etc.)

See their website for details: Click here to visit PayPal.com and learn more about using their commerce tools to sell through your SiteSkins site.

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Can I upload my own music directly into my website?
Due to the a flurry of lawsuits and a heated legal environment concerning music property rights, SiteSkins system does NOT allow you to upload your own music. This is because we would have to monitor ALL upload activity to ensure that users are not uploading the latest hit right off the radio.

That stated, we do have one way that you could have your own music playing in your website. We have a system called SiteClips, which allows loops or even full length streaming songs to be added to websites. Anyone is free to submit music to SiteClips, but the music will be reviewed, and not all applicants will be accepted. For more information on submitting your music to SiteClips, please visit our website which explains the deal in detail. For independent bands it is a great opportunity for exposure. SiteClips Opportunity

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Can I add my own (or someone elses) video onto my website?
Yes, you can add video that you make or others have made by using the "embed" codes on YouTube. First make sure your video is uploaded to YouTube. Next, go to the page on YouTube where your video is (or the video you wish to put on your SiteSkins site) and look beneath the video for a small text link which says "share". Click that and new options will open up. In these options look for "embed". Click that. Now, underneath the code box there will be an option for "use old embed code". Make sure that is selected. Now, click in the box (this will select all of the code) and then right+click and select "copy" to copy this code to clipboard. Now, return to your editor at SiteSkins and paste this code where you would like your video to appear. Ideally, put this into it's own text box at SiteSkins. The publish and preview. You should now see your video embedded on the page.

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3. Using the Site Builder

What is "Site Name"?
Click to Enlarge

Site Name is where you type the name for your website. This will become your site "logo" so, don't use, "www.mycompany.com" use simply "My Company", etc.

Or, if this is a personal site use something like your name, or your theme for your site. For example:"Janet's Web" etc.

This will become your website's URL in this way:
Choosing: "I Like Fish", will give you an address of "http://www.siteskins.net/ilikefish"

SiteSkins will also allow you to have a top level domain, such as "www.ilikefish.com".

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What is a "Slogan"?
Click to Enlarge
click to enlarge

A "slogan" also known as a tagline, allows you to give a short added description of your product, service, company or website theme.

For example, if your company name is: "Metro Bolt Co.", you might have a slogan like: "If you need it, we've got it"

This will appear in your "logo" graphic above or below your site name (or company name).

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What is the site description? Will it appear on my site?
Here you type in a paragraph of explanation about your website. What is it about? Who is it for? Feel free to over explain it.

Our builder will include your description in a hidden part of your website code. This is an area that search engines use to find out information about websites.

Additionally, our builder will strip words from your paragraph to be used as KEYWORDS to help search engines find your site, when people type in keywords at Internet search websites.

Your text here will NOT be visible on your page to your readers, but is vital to being found by search engines.

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What is my Username?
Your username can be anything you will remember, that identifies who you are. Many common names, however, will already be taken.

If your name is Bob Cohen, you might use "bobcohen" rather than simply "bob"

You will use this name, along with your password everytime you return to edit your website.

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What is a Password?
Your password will be used along with your User Name everytime you login to SiteSkins to edit and upkeep your website.

Choose something very unique, using letters and numbers, and make sure you write it down in a safe place. It is a good idea to keep it with you, since you may want to edit your website from another computer away from home.

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What is meant by "Main Sections"?
Click to Enlarge

Here you choose your (up to 5) main sections (or pages) for your website. It is a good practice to make these broad enough to cover the topics or functions of your content. For example, if you are creating a website for a fishing shop, you might choose:

  1. Welcome
  2. Our Products
  3. Company Info
  4. Fishing Tips
  5. Fishing Links

You can choose from the pull down menus for page names or you can type a CUSTOM name in the box to the right.

You can also change pagenames later (as well as add, delete, edit content) in the control panel mode, once your site is finished.

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What is a subsection or "sub-link"? How do I add them?
A subsection or sub-link is a page that is under a main page. For example, if you have a page called "welcome" and you want pages that appear ONLY under the welcome page, you would create sub-links under your welcome page.

Add a sub-link by entering your control panel for the site you want to edit, clicking on a "+" button that appears next to the main page you want the page to be under.

NOTE: Only SiteSkins Unlimited account types can have sub-links.

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Why can't I see my changes after I add content to my site?
Your changes ARE live. You are just not seeing them because of something called browser cache. This is the stored 'memory' of pages you have visited. Normally this caching system saves you time downloading graphics at pages you have already visited, but in the case of editing a website and previewing changes, it works against you.

Here is what to do: Go to the page that you are not seeing your changes reflected, and while looking at it, hit F5 on your keyboard. This will 'force' a browser re-load. You should now see your changes.

Others, who have not been to your site recently, or who have since closed and re-opened their browsers, will not have to hit F5, because their browser will probably load in the actual page and not resort to cache.

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I would love to add some photos to spice things up. But what if I don't have any of my own?
Adding photos is a great idea for giving your site some extra appeal. You can upload pictures to any page of your site. If you don't have any photos to upload, check out some places online where you can have FREE photos to use at your site!

Here are a few links to get your started:
http://free-stockphotos.com/
http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml
http://www.freeimages.co.uk/
http://www.amgmedia.com/freephotos/index.html
http://patrick.verdier.free.fr/ (french site)
http://www.freestockphotos.com/
http://gimp-savvy.com/PHOTO-ARCHIVE/
http://www.berylsphotographs.com/

We also recommend iStockPhoto.com. They are a GREAT source of very inexpensive (web versions from $1 each!) photos which are of excellent quality.

There are others out there, so if you don't find what you are looking for here, don't give up, just do some more searching!

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How do I add more pages to my site?
Click to Enlarge
Click Image to See How to Add Pages

Add pages in your control panel.

To add MAIN pages, click on the "+" which is to the right of your site name. You can have up to 5 main pages.

To add sub-pages, click on the "+" button next to any main page name. Doing so will add a sub-page under that page.

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How can I add more than one picture?
If you can only add one picture, you are not using a gallery pagetype. You can change the pagetype of any page by clicking on the "TYPE" button next to that page name in the control panel.

Gallery pagetypes can have up to 25 pictures, and Thumbnail Gallery pagetypes can have up to 50! Each picture can popup to reveal a larger version of that image.

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How can I change my logo font, size or colors?
You can do this by clicking on the button that says "LOGO" in your control panel. Here you will find options for changing the color, size or even font of your logo text. Also, on the page, you can download a 'blank' of your logo image, (without the text) for editing off-line in software such as Adobe Photoshop, or Ulead PhotoImpact.

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I have a lot of extra space in my paragraph. Why?
If you find that you have a large gap between paragraphs, or within a paragraph, this is most likely caused by hitting your "ENTER" key several times while entering your text. Our website builder interprets line breaks as breaks in your output site. To solve this, simply login to your control panel, locate the paragraph, and remove the line breaks. Put your cursor down at the end of that paragraph, and hit your "delete" key several times. Then re-publish your site.

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How can I update my billing information?
If you need to switch to a different credit card or change your expiration date, it is easy and you can do it anytime. Simply login to your control panel, click EDIT, and then click on the admin tools button (wrench and hammer icon). Now, select "Account Information". NOTE: If you signed up through PayPal you will need to manage your billing information at their website instead.

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How can I break up my caption text?
If your text beneath your image is long, it will push your body text off to the side of the page. To avoid this, you will need to force a line break (perhaps several, depending on how long your caption is) in your caption.

Here is how:
Go to edit the page in your control panel. Find the image with the long caption, and click on the (double arrow) recycle button. Place a <BR> tag in the middle of your caption text. (or as many as needed). Now click upload. (note that we did not choose a new image to upload, we are using the same image you already uploaded) Now publish the page and preview. You might need to either add more <BR> tags, or move them to get it just right.

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How do I edit or update my Keywords and Description?
You can do that in your control panel for your site. Here's what to do:

  • Login
  • Click on EDIT next to your site name
  • Click on your Admin Tools button (wrench/hammer icon)
  • Click on the top link "Edit Site Description"

In the box provided you can make all the edits you want. This is how it works. The paragraph/s you enter here are used "as-is" for your site description for your pages. And the unimportant words, such as: is, the, and, a, etc., are stripped from this text for your Keywords. The site description and keywords are not "seen" by the public, rather they are built into the code for each page you create in your site, and are seen by search engines such as Google.

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I've set up my Domain Name emails, but when I send mail, it still looks like it's coming from my personal email account. How can I get my emails to appear to originate from my business account?
Since most people use Windows for their mail program, we'll show you how to do it in Outlook Express.

When in Outlook Express, click on TOOLS, then ACCOUNTS, select the "MAIL" tab, then in the center window, double-click the account name (this will open the "properties" dialog), then look for a field which says "Reply Address". In this box, type your domain name email that you want people to use, for example, you@yourdomain.com . Next, click APPLY, then OK. Then CLOSE the Internet Accounts window. You're all set!

Now, we'll help test it. Send a test email to: support@siteskins.net and we'll reply back to it.

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Can I add online games to my website?
YES, you can add games to your website using code from here:
http://www.miniclip.com/games/en/webmaster-games.php Just copy the code from there into your website on SiteSkins and the game will appear on screen in your site!

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Can I add a chat room to my website?
Yes you can! Click here to find free chat rooms you can add to your website.
click here

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Can I add a message board or forum to my site?
YES! There are many free forums and message board services out there that can be setup to work within SiteSkins.
Click here!
Click Here to see an example message board in action, using SiteSkins and Proboards.com

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What if I want to rotate a quote on my website?
There is a fancy tool created by valleyhighlands.com which costs only $3 is now FREE (and has been updated to create cooler quotes!) and will paste right into your SiteSkins website. It rotates through quotes that you setup at their site. Click to
make a quote rotator!

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How can I add a Google Map to my website?
You can add a zoomable map to your website. The process is fairly easy.

Just click here:
http://maps.google.com/ and then enter the street address you'd like to map to, then click "Search Maps".

Once the map comes on screen, look to the right-top corner of the map. Click where it says "Link to this page". Look for "paste html to embed in website". Click in that box. The entire area will be selected. Right click with your mouse and select "copy". This will copy it to clipboard (memory).

Now, return to SiteSkins, click to edit the page you wish to edit. Find the place where you want the map to appear and right-click inside the box. Select "paste" to paste from clipboard into your site. Now publish and exit! You'll see the map on that page.

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Can I add a Poll or Voting feature on my website?
We don't offer polls natively within SiteSkins, but there is a great site where you can create one and plug it into your SiteSkins website. The link is here:
http://www.webpasties.com/webpolls.html

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4. SiteSkins and Domains

Can I have my own domain, such as (www.MySite.com) with SiteSkins?
Yes, of course! First, register a domain name. (You can get your domain at
SiteSkins Domains for $9.95 per year) Then, build a SiteSkins website. It is really that simple.
NOTE: Trial accounts CAN NOT get domain services. Trial sites would expire, and then there would be a domain with no site. To hook up your domain, you need to signup for website service first.

After purchasing a domain, you need to RETURN TO SITESKINS and login to your account. Click on the button that says "EDIT" next to your sitename, then look for a button to the right of your sitename that has a HAMMER and WRENCH icon. Click this button. Inside here, you can enter in your domain name in the field provided. Save and exit making sure to apply the changes.
If you purchase your domain elsewhere, you will need to visit the website where you purchased the domain, and login to your account. Then, you need to "change nameservers" for that account and point them toward our nameservers:

  • ns1.siteskins.net
  • ns2.siteskins.net
If you need help with this part, you will need to contact the support staff where you purchased your domain. Purchasing your domain through SiteSkins Domains, removes this step, since it automatically points your domain toward our servers.

Once you have a domain, and it is pointed to our nameservers, and your site is paid for, you have one last step. Login to your SiteSkins control panel, click on the EDIT button, next to your site name. Now, look for the "Admin Tools" button (HAMMER & WRENCH, which appears next to your site name. Inside there, you will find a blank box for entering your domain name. Save and exit the page and the control panel. You're finished! In a few days, your site will show when you type in your domain name in the browser address window. Please be patient, this delay is out of our control, usually it is 2-5 days

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What if I already HAVE an internet domain name (such as www.mycompany.com, etc.)? Can I use this with a SiteSkins site?
Easily. First return to the website where you purchased your domain name. Use their web-based interface or call them to change your nameservers to:
NS1.SITESKINS.NET
NS2.SITESKINS.NET

Then, you need to RETURN TO SITESKINS and login to your account. Click on the button that says "EDIT" next to your sitename, then look for a button to the right of your sitename that has a HAMMER and WRENCH icon. Click this button. Inside here, you can enter in your domain name in the field provided. Save and exit making sure to apply the changes.
We will do the rest on our end, and when you type in your address, it will go to your SiteSkins site! This usually takes a few days for the switch to be seen. Please allow overnight for the domain name to be setup in our system.

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Can I purchase my domain through SiteSkins?
Yes, in fact, domains purchased through SiteSkins are already pre-configured to work with SiteSkins website builder.
Go to:
SiteSkinsDomains.com to get yours!

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I already have a SiteSkins password, but I can't login to buy a domain. Why?
Our domain selling service uses a different system of storing user identification, which is separate from our Website Builder system. If you purchase a domain you need to set up a name and password with the Domain service in addition to your SiteSkins website name and password.

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I bought a domain, and set everything up. Why can't I see it?
There is always a 1 day delay, which is out of our control, when you set up a new domain. Once you have made sure that you:

1. Have purchased a domain (and set it to point to siteskins)

2. Have paid for your website account, by signing up.

3. Have logged into your SiteSkins account, clicked on EDIT button and then clicked on "Admin Tools" (the button with the wrench and the hammer icon) section and entered your domain name in the box, making sure you applied the changes (our domains list refreshes each morning at 5:30am, so check for it the following day)

You can rest assured that in a day or so, your site will be visible at your new address. There is always a delay.

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Basic Domains Information
When you purchase a domain, you should be aware of these important but often overlooked facts:

1. A Domain means your own website ADDRESS, such as www.thiscompany.com.

2. Buying a domain DOES NOT mean that you are a SiteSkins subscriber with your own website on SiteSkins. You still have to signup with SiteSkins and build a website, and link your domain to your site.

3. Your domain will not be setup immediately. You will immediately OWN your domain name, but you will not be able to go to your browser, type in the name and immediately see it. This takes a few days, and is detailed more in this FAQ page, about setting up domains.

4. Creating a website (using SiteSkins) called www.imcool.com doesn't mean that you own that domain. Many hot domain names are already taken. It is a good idea to SEARCH FIRST for the domain you want, and THEN build your site.

5. You will need to create 2 accounts, one with SiteSkins Domains, and one with SiteSkins Website Builder. They are really two separate systems. So, if you have an account with one, it doesn't mean that you have an account with the other. You have to create an account at both.

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Can I have my own email addresses with my domain?
Yes! One of the cool features of getting your own domain name, is the ability to have customized email addresses. These emails will all be forwarded to your "real" email address (the one that you got from your internet access provider, or you could use a yahoo or hotmail account). So you could have an address like "me@mydomain.com".

Additionally, you can setup up to 10 different email boxes, which can forward to other addresses. So for example, if you have a company with several employees, each of them can have a box that sends to THEIR "real" email address. For example, you could have: Jack@thecompany.com and Joe@thecompany.com as well as 8 others.

To set this up, you have to have:

  1. A paid site (you have signed up for your site)
  2. A domain name, properly configured
  3. Multiple people with working email addresses
To setup, go to your control panel, click on EDIT button for your site. Then, click on the button with the Wrench and Hammer (next to site name). Scroll down until you see the Domain setup area, it is just beneath that. You will see two columns of boxes. Read the instructions carefully. Also, make sure you have setup your domain as well, by typing it into the box.

(allow between 1-3 days for your email to be setup and working)

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I went to purchase a domain at www.siteskinsdomains.com and I can't login with my password. Why not?
Our domains site will require that you create an account JUST FOR THE DOMAINS SITE. Unfortunately, our domains site does not know you already have an account with SiteSkins. Simply create a new account with the domains site.

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Can I set up more than one domain name with my SiteSkins site?
Yes, you can have multiple domain names hooked up to one site on SiteSkins. Simply register another domain name at www.siteskinsdomains.com, then go to your login at www.siteskins.net and click on EDIT button. Then click on Domain Setup. From here, on the left-hand side of the screen, click on "Add Another Domain". This will give you a "Domain 2" box. In the new box enter the new domain name. Then click "Finished" button to save the change. The new domain name will go live the following morning.

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I have to renew my domain name but I don't know where to start
Domain names which were registered through our domains website (www.siteskinsdomains.com) can be renewed by returning to that site, or clicking on the "Domains" link at the top of this page in the black navigation area. Alternately, if you are stuck, you can call the dedicated domains support line at (480) 624-2500.

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5. Troubleshooting

When I type in my new domain name, my site doesn't come up. Why not?
There are a few reasons why your site might not come up when you type in your domain name.

First, if it is a newly purchased domain name, you should be aware that there is usually a 3-5 day delay before your domain will be setup and working.

Second, if your domain is still not connecting to your site, perhaps you did not properly configure your domain in your Admin Tools section. (for more info on this, scroll to the top of this page, and look under the section "SiteSkins and Domains")

If you still don't have your domain working, it is possible that if you registered it previously with another registrar company, it needs to be pointed to SiteSkins nameservers. (for more info on this, scroll to the top of this page, and look under the section "SiteSkins and Domains")

If you are looking for your website in major search engines after just creating your website, you should be aware that although your site IS online and is live for the world to see, it is not likely to be "indexed" in the search engines before 6-8 weeks. This is due to the large volume of websites that are published on the Internet each day. Your site can still be accessed directly by typing in the address in the address window of a website browser.

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Why can't I upload any pictures? It just keeps trying and trying, but never uploads.
It is possible that the image or images you are trying to load are very large files. We strongly recommend that you make things easier (and faster!) on yourself by doing the following:

  1. First (don't skip this!) make backups of your photos that you wish to upload
  2. Next, open your images into image editing software, such as that which came with your camera, or photoshop elements, etc.
  3. resize the images to a maximum of 700 pixels wide, and make sure you MAINTAIN ASPECT RATIO so that the images don't distort when resized.
  4. save the file (using a new name if you skipped step 1, use "save as" -- you don't want to accidentally overwrite your higher resolution files!)
  5. Now, return to SiteSkins and try to upload your photo as before. You'll notice that your photos upload VERY fast now.

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Why can't I find my site when I search for it online?
This is a very common question. Your website will most likely not be immediately findable at search engines (such as Google.com, Yahoo! and others). This is because they have to "index" your site. This means that their software is going around the internet from page to page "spidering" for new material. Expect this process to take at least 6 to 8 weeks. There are ways to speed this up, but most of them will require spending some time (and perhaps money) to learn the tricks of the trade.

Becoming easily found in the search engines has become an entire industry unto itself. It is called SEO (which stands for Search Engine Optimization).

The real keys to getting good placement in the search results are having relevant text in your pages, and a lot of it, as well as getting OTHER sites to link to your site. You can do this by asking others to link to you, and often times they will want a link back in return.

Don't forget to "submit" your site to Google. You can do so here: Submit your site to Google.

For more great information on getting or improving your search engine rankings, go to RankMonitor.net a free resource for helping people to understand search engines and placement.

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Why won't my site update to show the changes I make?
This frustrating problem is fortunately, easily solved. What is happening in most cases, is that your browser is getting the previous version of your web page stuck in it's "cache". Browser cache is the memory that it keeps of pages you have recently visited. Browsers store images and text in your computer memory, so that you will not have to download over again (taking more time) things that you have already downloaded previously.

What you have to do to get around this, is refresh your browser window to force the browser to load in the new version of the page, since it was changed. Do this by hitting your F5 key, or clicking "REFRESH" in your browser -- while looking at the page that wasn't updating.

If this didn't solve your problem, make certain that you have actually published your changes. If you haven't, your website will not update no matter how many times you refresh. If you still have trouble, contact support.

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I can't fit my logo into the space provided. What now?
There are a couple things you can do. First of all, you could try a different skin style, as some styles have more space for the logo than others, or you could resize the logo text. To do that, click on the button next to your site name in the control panel, that says "LOGO". Now, you will see settings for text size and also color. Decrease the text by choosing "-1" and then hit the PREVIEW button. If it still doesn't fit, continue until it does. You could also try a different font (type style) which is also done in this same page. When finished, click "finished" and then "save & exit".

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Is it possible to change the name of my site?
Yes, but this is one of very few things that you can't do unassisted. We would do it for you. Just send an email to support@siteskins.net, and let us know what the site's name is currently, and what you would like it changed to. Be sure that you use exact spacing, spelling and capitalization, since we will change your site name to read exactly as you request it in your email.

There is no charge for this service.

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Why do I keep getting errors when trying to upload my images?
This is almost always because you are uploading images that are too large for our system to handle. Fortunately, the fix is easy. Just scale your images down first and then upload them to SiteSkins. Make copies of your images before scaling them down. Otherwise, you will be overwriting your full-size images with lower resolution images.

Scaling your images before uploading them will also have the side benefit of making uploading images VERY fast. You will see that you can now upload photos in seconds rather than minutes. (unless you are on a very slow dialup connection)

If you are looking for software in which to scale your images down, try this free online software called Resizr. You can even crop and rotate images. www.Resizr.com

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Why Can't I Publish?
If you are clicking "Publish" and nothing seems to be happening, you are probably using Google Chrome. Google Chrome browser is a new and buggy browser software. It is not compatible with editing using SiteSkins. Our published websites ARE compatible with Google Chrome, but we recommend you use Internet Explorer or Firefox to edit your website.

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Why does the text under my image push all of my content over to the side?
When you use a long text caption under your image on a Text-based page, you will notice that it shoves the rest of your page content over to the side. To avoid this, either use a shorter caption, or break up the text by using the break tag, which looks like this:
to create a line break in your caption. This will straighten out the rest of your page.

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When I upload a customized logo in the logo area, it fails to load in all of the way, creating a 'cut-off' logo effect. What can I do?
The workaround for this is that you need to compress your logo image down to 65k or below. Use JPG compression for best results. Also, if you would like us to help you, we will happily do so at no charge. Contact support@siteskins.net for help.

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Why won't my PDF (or other documents) upload in the Text Editor?
If you're having trouble uploading PDF files or DOC files in the Text Editor pagetype, make sure that your files are UNDER 2 MB each and that the file names don't contain strange characters. If you continue to have trouble, contact support at (919) 557-3263.

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Site won't publish using most recent versions of Internet Explorer
Click to Enlarge
Compatibility Mode Switch is in top/right of Internet Explorer

If you are having trouble with this, you are probably using Internet Explorer. Click on the "compatibility mode" icon (turning it blue) in order to publish. If problems persist, consider using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to edit your website.

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6. SiteSkins and Search Engines

What are "search engines"?
The term "search engine" refers to any website (such as google.com, yahoo.com, ask.com, etc.) which has as it's primary function, helping you to find websites you are searching for.

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I can't find my new website on Google search! Why not?
This is a very common question. The answer is usually that you have created your website very recently, and Google.com simply doesn't know about your website yet. Typically, it takes 6-8 weeks for new websites to be indexed by Google, and there is very little anyone can do to speed up this process. Patience is a virtue.

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Will my site be at the top of the search engines?
There is no perfect answer for this question. It depends upon several factors. How much competition is there for the phrase or name you are looking for? If the phrase is very common, such as "used cars", you will not likely rank very high. However, if you have a very unique name or phrase, such as "hugo sanfreds bandanas" you'll likely be number one as soon as your site is indexed by the search engines.

The search engines will rank your site based upon how relevant it believes your content is to the search that people are performing. If your website is about a "punk band in idaho" and someone does a search for "punk band in idaho", you might well find yourself at the top. For this reason, it is important that you use as much relevant text as you can in your home page (and other pages) of your website. Also, your site's name can affect how well you perform in the engines as well.

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I see my site coming up in the searches, but it's not high enough. What can I do?
In most cases there ARE things you can do to improve your search rankings. Contact us at: (919) 557-3263, and we will be happy to take a look at your site and assist you further.

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Is SiteSkins obligated to help me rank well?
No. We are happy to try to help you to perform as desired, but we make no such promise or claim that you will rank #1 in the search engines. We simply won't promise this due to the various factors involved. Search engine optimization is an entire industry to itself.

Many large companies pay thousands of dollars to get their websites optimized. That said, please understand that we DO want to help each of our site owners succeed, but can only coach you along and won't be able to put large amounts of time into ensuring you are well optimized.

Also, SiteSkins does come "out of the box" as a system which has been shown to produce very good results with the top 3 major search engines. Our SiteSkins linking network is also a big asset in your favor as a site owner. Many of our site owners are ranking #1 with little or no extra effort.

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