WEBSITE BUILDER FAQ

Answers

You can build whatever website you want, for example:-
- A simple website to promote your business or profession.
- A portfolio Website to promote your products or services.
- A information website for your club or charity.
- An Ecommerce website to sell your products online.

No you don’t. The tools provided are designed for anyone to use, all you need is some ideas and artistic flair.

Yes you can, you get to choose either a .ie, .com, .eu, .co.uk, .net, .info, .org, .biz domain name provided it is available.
TIP: If you’re an Irish business we would always recommend a .ie domain name, it tells everyone you’re a legitimate business.

Every website builder package comes with email accounts, so you can choose whatever email addresses you like.

All our website builder packages come with unlimited pages, so you can always add more content no matter how big your website becomes.

Browse through 100’s of templates first to help you generate some ideas. Choose a template and then start playing.
TIP: Take a look at what your competition is doing to see what you can improve on.

You can choose to upload your own images provided you have permission to use them.

We provide a library of images that are free to use with the website builder. All royalties have been paid, so you can use the images with peace of mind.

Yes you can, simply pick a template and make the changes you desire.
TIP: Create your homepage design before you create any further pages, this way your new layout will be duplicated on all pages.

You can make amendments anytime by logging into your account. You can make amendments from your PC or Tablet anytime and as often as you want.

Yes you can, but text and images may not fit as well as on your original design.
TIP: Before adding lots of page, get the look and feel of your home page right first, even if this takes a few days, you may save lots of time in the long run.

The prices quoted include all you need to build and maintain your website for a whole 12 months. You get access to our cloud website builder platform, a domain name, hosting, email, unlimited pages and all the design tools needed to build your website.

Yes, at anytime you can upgrade to the next package. So if you decide you want to change your website into an online shop you can upgrade to our Ecommerce package, or begin with the Starter package and upgrade as your business grows.

Many people have both asked and attempted to answer this question - although the term might be difficult to define; they are sometimes also called components, gadgets or elements. In the Sitebuilder, users are able to drag and drop Widgets onto pages.

Here are some of the most popular Widgets and how to use them:

1. The Text Widget: Drag this onto the page and it works much like a word processor. This is the widget where you add text content. You can type directly into it and format the Text using the Text Editing Toolbar or the Style Designer.

2. The Picture Widget: Drag this onto the page and you can add pictures to the page that are stored on your computer or that are already uploaded into the File Manager.

3. The Column Divider Widget: Drag this onto the page and it creates two columns to organize your page. You can drag a Text Widget onto one side and a Picture Widget onto the other; or use other various widgets on either side.

4. The HTML Widget: Drag this widget onto the page and add custom HTML or JavaScript code to it. Make sure to test this on a text page to make sure it functions properly. There is a great deal of other widgets available such as a Contact Form Widget, a Picture Gallery Widget and many more. You can play around with all of them to see what works for you.

You can easily add text to your page using the Text Widget.
This can be found under Widgets > Popular. Drag the Text Widget onto your page and you can type directly into it or copy and paste text into it from a plain text editor such as NotePad or TextEdit.

Never copy and paste from an external source such as another website or a program such as Microsoft Word as this can cause your page to break.

The Text Widget works just like a Word Processor. You can use the Text Editing Toolbar or the Style Designer to edit the appearance of your text.

If you ever need to copy all the elements of a page, you can quickly do so using the "Save Page As" feature.

Duplicating a page is also sometimes a wise action to take, before making any significant changes to it. That way you will not have lost any of your work if something goes wrong, or you simply don't like the changes you've made. You can always delete the copy, and your original page will still be there to go back to.

Here's how you do it:

1. Navigate to the page you want to copy.
2. Click on the Page tab.
3. Click the down arrow next to the page name and select "Save Page As" (located at the top of the list).
4. The "Save Page As" dialog box will pop-up asking you to name your new page, change the page heading, and select whether or not to include the new page in your navigation.
5. Click "OK.”

The newly created page will now appear in the page drop-down list so you can go back to it again if you chose not to include it in your menu.

When you create a new site, a navigation menu with an index page and contact-us page is automatically generated. To add additional pages to the navigation, follow these steps:

1. In the Sitebuilder, click on the "Page" tab and click on the green "+" (located next to the pencil) OR hover over your current navigation menu > Add Page.
2. A dialog box will open up asking you to name your new page, (and give you the chance to change the page heading, and decide whether or not to include the new page in your navigation).
3. When you click "OK", a new page will be created and a link will automatically be added to your navigation.

To delete a page on your site:

1. Make sure you are on the page of your site that you would like to delete.
2. Click on Page > Page Properties > Delete Page.
3. A dialog box will open, asking you to confirm that you want to delete the page.
4. Click on "OK."

Please remember deleting your page is not reversible! You cannot retrieve your information once your page has been deleted.

To add your own favicon to your site (the little image that appears next to your URL of the browser window), this is what you need to do:

1. Click on Site > Site Properties.
2. Click on "Favicon" (the star icon).
3. You can choose to browse existing favicons, or upload a new one.
4. To see what your favicon looks like, save and publish your page.

You can place an image and text side by side as follows:

1. Add a Text Widget to your page.
2. Click "Picture" button (the icon that looks like a green tree in a picture frame, roughly in the middle of the toolbar) on the Text Editing Toolbar.
3. A dialog box will open up and allow you to browse for and select an image.
4. Once you have added your image to your page, select it by clicking on it.
5. You will then see three new buttons on your Text Editing Toolbar: a picture with text below (No Wrap), text on the right (Wrap Left) and text on the left (Wrap Right).
6. Select the option that suits you and start typing. Your text will then wrap around the image.

Here's how to add, customize and edit the Form Widget:

1. Click on Widgets > Forms.
2. Drag and drop the Form Widget onto your page.
3. You have the option to choose a Contact Us or a Blank Form. Both forms allow you to add and delete, rename and move the location of your form fields.
4. To change the name of a field, click on the field name. You can delete the default text and add in your custom field name if you wish. You can also add default text to the text fields that your user will fill in.
5. You also have the option to change the name of the "Submit" button on the form, to a name more appropriate to your form or business.
6. To delete a field click on the red "x" in that particular field.
7. To move a field to another position on the form and drag and drop it up or down on the form. You can also use the blue dotted arrows below the red "x" to move the fields.
8. To add another field to your form, click on the "Add new field" drop down list.
9. You have the choice to add "Single Line Text", "Multi Line Text", Multiple Choice", "Checkboxes", "Choose from a list", "Text" and "Spam Protector (Captcha)." Once again all these fields are customizable to suit your form needs.
10. Under the "Settings" tab is a field for editing the email address the form submissions are sent to, as well as a customizable completion message. This is the message that your site visitor will see after successfully submitting your form.
11. Once you are done customizing your form, click on "Save."
12. Click on "Preview" to preview what your form will look like once it is published.
13. If you're happy with your form, republish your site to make it live.

The Sitebuilder allows you to create a private website, or make part of your site private, by password protecting certain pages on your site.

What this feature allows you to do:

1. Assign a single login ID (username) and password to your site.
2. Choose whether you want to lock (password protect) all the pages on your site. 3. You can then share the login ID and password with people you want to give access to the protected pages.
4. When they access those pages they will be asked to type in the login ID and password before being given access.

What this feature does not do:

Allow people to register for a username and password on your site.

How to use the Password Protection feature:

1. Click on Site > Site Properties.
2. Click on the Password Protection option.
3. Add a login ID and password and tick the pages that you would like to protect.
4. You can easily protect all your pages by clicking on "Lock All" or take off the password protection by clicking on "Unlock All."
5. When you create a new page, you will see a check box that gives you an option to protect (lock) the new page.
6. Click on the "x" in the top-right corner.
7. Preview your protected page to see what the login form will look like and to test your login and password.
8. To make the change effective on your live site, click on "Publish."

Here is how to create a text link:

1. Type the text into the Text Widget that you want to be the link text.
2. Highlight the text.
3. Click on the Link Icon on the Edit Toolbar.

The Link Editor Dialogue box will open up allowing you to link to:

1. Another page of your site
2. An external URL
3. An email address
4. A file

Here is how to create a picture link:

1. Add your picture to the page using the Picture Widget.
2. Click on the little Edit button in the upper left hand covern.
3. Click on “Choose a Link.”

The Link Editor Dialogue box will open up allowing you to link to:

1. Another page of your site
2. An external URL
3. An email address
4. A file

There is not currently a feature to add member registration to your site. This is something we hope to add in the future. In the meantime, you can use the Password Protection feature. The Sitebuilder allows you to create a private website, or make part of your site private, by password protecting certain pages on your site.

What the Password Protection feature allows you to do:

1. Assign a single login ID (username) and password to your site.
2. Choose whether you want to lock (password protect) all the pages on your site.
3. You can then share the login ID and password with people you want to give access to the protected pages.
4. When they access those pages they will be asked to type in the login ID and password before being given access.

What this feature does not do:

Allow people to register for a username and password on your site.

How to use the Password Protection feature:

1. Click on Site > Site Properties. Click on the Password Protection option.
2. Add a login ID and password and tick the pages that you would like to protect.
3. You can easily protect all your pages by clicking on "Lock All" or take off the password protection by clicking on "Unlock All.”
4. When you create a new page, you will see a check box that gives you an option to protect (lock) the new page.
5. Click on the "x" in the top-right corner.
6. Preview your protected page to see what the login form will look like and to test your login and password.
7. To make the change effective on your live site, click on "Publish."

Here's how to add HTML to your site using the HTML Code Widget:

1. Click on Widgets > Popular.
2. Drag and drop the HTML Code Widget onto the page.
3. The HTML Editor will open up allowing you to write or paste your code (use right-click > paste or Ctrl-V to paste).
4. When you are done, click "Save."

Here's how to add HTML to your site using the Text Widget:

1. Click the HTML button on the Text Editing Toolbar.
2. Edit the HTML as desired.
3. When you are finished, click "OK" to return to editing text with the Text Editing Toolbar.

There is not a blogging feature built into the Sitebuilder, however we are integrated with Tumblr so if you have an account there, or want to set one up, you can blog using this blogging platform.

To use the Tumblr Widget:

1. Click on Widgets > Media.
2. Drag and drop the Tumblr Widget onto your page.
3. Sign in using your Tumblr credentials. If you don’t have a Tumblr account, you can sign up via the Tumblr Widget in two easy steps.

Once you enter in your Tumblr feed name into the field and click OK, your Tumblr blog will be seamlessly integrated into your website. You will still need to make changes/additions to your blog from Tumblr, but the changes/additions you make there will transfer to your website.

To change the color of your link text, we would suggest that you use the Style Designer feature. This will allow any changes you make to then be site-wide; it will keep your site looking clean and consistent.

To change the color of link text:

1. Click on Style > Style Settings > Style Designer.
2. Look at the Colors section.
3. You can change the color of the links throughout your site including: link, link hover and link visited.
4. Click “Save.”

To change the color and font type of the text on your site, we would suggest that you use the Style Designer feature. This will allow any changes you make to be site-wide; it will keep your site looking clean and consistent.

To change the color and font of the text on your site:

1. Click on Style > Style Settings > Style Designer.
2. In the Colors section you will see the ability to change the color for the Second through Sixth headers, as well as the Paragraph Text. You can choose a color from the palette or put in your own HEX number.
3. In the “Fonts” section you will see the ability to change the font type for the Second through Sixth headers, as well as the Paragraph Text.
4. Click “Save”

To change the background of your site, either the color or by adding a background image, we would suggest that you use the Style Designer feature. This will allow any changes you make to be site-wide; it will keep your site looking clean and consistent.

To change the background color of your site:

1. Click on Style > Style Settings > Style Designer.
2. In the “Colors” section select “Background Image.”
3. You can choose an image by clicking on the little “Edit” button.
4. You can change the background to a solid color by clicking on the “Foreground Color”, and choosing a color for the palette or entering your own HEX number.
5. Click “Save.”

To change the banner image of your site, we would suggest that you use the Style Designer feature. This will allow any changes you make to be site-wide; it will keep your site looking clean and consistent.

To change the banner image:

1. Click on Style > Style Settings > Style Designer.
2. The Style Designer will open up.
3. In the Colors section select “Banner Image.”
4. Click on “Edit” and then click on “Select Image.”
5. Position and size your image the way you would like.
6. Click “Save.”

You can change the navigation font, such as the color, size and font type, using the Style Designer. To do this:

1. Click on Style > Style Settings > Style Designer.
2. Color: In the Colors section you can choose a color for the Navigation, Navigation Selected as well as Hover. You can choose a color from the color palette or enter your own HEX Number.
3. Type and Size: In the Font section click on “Navigation” and you can choose a font type and size.
4. Click “Save.”

You can easily add pictures side-by-side one of two ways:

1. Drag a Column Divider Widget onto the page and drag a Picture Widget into each side. You can also next a Column Divider Widget into both sides of the first Column Divider Widget and add a Picture to all four areas.
2. Use the Photo Gallery Widget. Drag this onto your page and choose the photos you want.

To add a picture gallery to your site:

1. Click on Widgets > Popular > Picture Gallery.
2. Drag the Picture Gallery Widget onto your page.
3. Upload new pictures from your computer or browse images already added to your File Manager.
4.Select the pictures you wantGallery and click “Select.” todisplay in your Picture

You can edit and add more pictures to your Picture Gallery by clicking on the little Edit button in the upper left hand corner of the widget.

You can very easily add social sharing buttons to your site. To do this:

1. Click on Widgets > More > Social
2. Choose the social button you would like and drag it onto your page

The “Share Me” Widget includes Twitter, Facebook and Google+ so is a very popular and easy way to add social buttons to your site.

We have made it very easy to add meta data to your site including the title, description and keywords meta tags for each page. To do this:

1. Make sure you are on the page you want to add the meta tags to.
2. Click on Page > Page Properties > Metadata.
3. You will be able to add the meta data for each here.
4. Click “Ok.”
5. Do this for each page of your site.

Before internet users will be able to find your site using the search box, your site will first need to be indexed by the search engines. Indexing is the process of the search engine algorithm going through each of your website pages, making a copy of the page, and adding it to its index. It takes time for new sites to be picked up and indexed by the search engines and can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months and is out of our control. In the meantime, people will need to enter your domain name (URL) into the address bar at the top of the page to locate your site.

You can add your logo image to your banner area using the Style Designer. To add your logo to your site:

1. Click on Style > Style Settings > Style Designer.
2. The Style Designer will open up.
3. Select the “Logo” option.
4. Click “Edit” to add your logo to the banner area.

There are a few options if you would like a "blank" style. The following styles are plain white with background color options:

1. CleanSlate
2. BareNecessities
3. NoFrills
4. SqueakyClean
These styles can be found by going to Style > Styles > Free in your Sitebuilder.

If you would like to add a file to your site for people to download you can use the File Widget. To do this:

1. Click on Widgets > Media > File.
2. Drag the File Widget onto your page.
3. You will be able to choose to upload a new file from your computer or browse files you already have uploaded in your File Manager.

Your file will then be displayed on your page and your site visitors will be able to Open or Save it to their computer.

It is not possible to upload a previously built template/style into the Sitebuilder. However, with the Style Designer and the ability to edit the site CSS you should be able to create the style you want.

It is not possible to upload a previously built site into the Sitebuilder. For a site to work, it needs to be built using the Sitebuilder tools.

By using the SWF Widget, you can easily embed a Flash file on your page without having to use complicated HTML code.

To add a Flash file to your page:

1. Click on Widgets > Media > Flash SWF.
2. Drag the Flash SWF Widget onto your page.
3. You can upload a new file from your computer or browse existing files already added to the File Manager.
4. If necessary edit the width, height, alignment and margin of the file.
5. Click “Save.”

If your site is showing "Untitled Site" as the Window Title in your browser, there is a way to change this. Here is how to rename your site:

1. Click on Site.
2. Click on the pencil next to your site's current name, to edit it.
3. Click on "Rename Site."
4. Click "Save" and "Publish" to apply the changes to your site.

Here are the steps for changing the Window Title for each individual page for search engine optimization purposes:

1. Click on Page > Page Properties > Metadata.
2. In the Page Title field box, enter the name you'd like to display on your browser' tab.
3. Click "OK."
4. Click the "Publish" button to apply the changes to your site.

The Window Title is also the area of your site that will become the title tag. The title tag is an important part of each page as it alerts search engines to the the topic of a page.

These are the steps to changing the order of the pages in your navigation:

1. In your Sitebuilder, go to Page > Page Properties > Navigation.
2. The Page Manager will open and you will see a list of your pages.
3. Click on the page you would like to move and drag-and-drop it to where you would like it to be.

It is possible to have a text or picture link open in a new window, and we've made it easy to do so using the Link Editor.

Here are the steps for setting up a text link:

1. In the Text Widget, type in the text that you want people to click on (this is your link text).
2. Highlight the link text, and then click on the Link button (it's the 10th button from the left in the Text Editing Toolbar, and looks like the link in a chain).
3. The "Choose a Link" dialog box will open and you will be given four options.
4. Remember to type your link like this: http://www.yourlink.com, otherwise it won't be clickable.
5. Once you have selected the type of link you'd like to use, you can select "Open in new window."
6. Click "OK" to save.
7. To check that your link is working, preview your page and click on the link.

Here are the steps for setting up a picture link:

1. Add a picture using the Text Widget.
2. On the Text Editing Toolbar, click on the "Picture frame" button and select the picture you want to display.
3. Click on the picture (a red outline will come up) and then click on the "Link" button (looks like a chain link with the word "Link" beside it) on the Text Editing Toolbar.
4. The "Choose a Link" dialog box will open and you will be given four options.
5. Remember to type your link like this: http://www.yourlink.com, else it won't be clickable.
6. Once you have selected the type of link you'd like to use, you can select "Open in new window."
7. Click "OK" to save.

To check that yourlink is working, preview your page and click the link.

Your picture link will then open in a new tab or window, depending on the browser your visitor is using.

The font selection we have represents a complete list of browser safe fonts; this means that the fonts in our Font menu will work consistently in whatever browser your visitor uses. To apply a new font, select the Font menu and choose the font type you would like.

Unfortunately, there are only some fonts that work in all browsers. If we added any more fonts you would run the risk of not having your text display correctly for some of your visitors, which is why we have not added any of these fonts.

You could add custom fonts from an external source by copying and pasting or editing the HTML code of your text. However, you should be aware of the following dangers:

1. Copying and pasting could introduce formatting that is not web-friendly and this would cause your site not to load, so we don't recommend it.
2. Your site will not display consistently in all browsers.

The only safe way to introduce custom fonts on your page is to upload them as image files. You can do this if you have access to any image editing tools such as Photoshop.

You can easily add a Google Translate Widget to your site so your site visitors can translate your site content.

To add the Google Translate Widget to your page:

1. Click on Widgets > More > Misc > Google Translate.
2. Drag the Google Translate Widget onto your page.

You will need to add this to each page of your site that you want your site visitor to be able to translate.

You can upload your video onto a website like YouTube or Metacafe, and then add it to your page using the YouTube or Metacafe Widgets.

Here's how to add a video to your page using the YouTube Widget:

1. Click on Widgets > Media > YouTube Video.
2. Drag the YouTube Video Widget onto your page.
3. Locate the video you want to display by putting in a URL if you already have it, or searching YouTube for the video.
4. You can align the video on your page.
5. Click “Save.”
The MetaCafe Widget is another option found in the same area of the Sitebuilder and works the same.