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Blogtools Help (FAQ)

Wed Oct 20 16:48:24 2004

[ FAQ | Logos | Contact | Terms and Conditions of Use ]

Frequently Asked Questions

General:

Who runs Blogtools?
How is Blogtools supported?
Will you ever charge me?
Privacy Policy: Will you ever distribute my email address or other information?
Will my account ever expire?
Is Blogtools reliable?
I think I found a problem with the site and/or a tool, what do I do?
Does Blogtools conform to W3C standards for valid HTML/CSS?

Account Related:

How do I set my avatar (picture)?

Problems:

I keep getting logged off, what is going on?
It doesn't work!?!?

Q. Who runs Blogtools?

Blogtools is run by Cameron Lerch. Cameron first got the idea of starting Blogtools after writing several tools for his girlfriend's own blog. Because she found them useful, Cameron decided to make them available for everyone, for free. Hence, Blogtools was born! If you want to know more about Cameron, he has a personal website [here].

Q. How is Blogtools supported?

Blogtools is supported entirely by its users. To supplement hosting costs and domain fees, we have posted several non-intrusive ads in key locations within the website. If you like the services we provide, we ask that you help support us by periodically clicking on an ad.

Q. Will you ever charge me?

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: Blogtools is free and it will always remain free. See the [above] for an explanation of how Blogtools is supported.

Q. Privacy Policy: Will you ever distribute my email address or other information?

No. We will never distribute/sell/publish any user information you give us.

Q. Will my account ever expire?

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: Currently, your account will never expire. However, in the future we may delete accounts after a period of extreme inactivity (on the order of years), but this is something most will never need to worry about.

Q. Is Blogtools reliable?

Short Answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Both the website and the actual tools were written from scratch with speed and reliability in mind. However, for liability reasons, we cannot guarantee the reliability of our services in a legally binding way. With that said, you can be almost certain that you will not have any problems.

Q. I think I found a problem with the site and/or a tool, what do I do?

If you believe you have found a problem, you can [Contact] us and give us a short explanation. If a problem exists, we will repair it ASAP.

Q. Does Blogtools conform to W3C standards for valid HTML/CSS?

Yes. All of our pages are validated on a regular basis.

Q. How do I set my avatar (picture)?

Select the "My Account" button from the option bar below the Blogtools logo.

Select the "Preferences" button from your account menu.

Select the "Browse.." button (Or the "Choose" button, depending on your web browser) near the bottom of the page.

Choose your image from your own computer.

Select the "Continue" button to preview your avatar.

Select the "Submit!" button to submit your avatar.

Q. How do I add a Tool X to my website?

Select the "My Account" button from the option bar below the Blogtools logo.

Select the tool you wish to add from your account menu.

Select the "Activate" button from the tool menu. When your tool has been activated, you will be presented with a set of instructions to guide you through the installation process. The installation process is easy and simply requires you to paste a few lines of code into your website. Anyone can do it!

Q. How do the left/received stats work?

Several tools (Comment System, Guestbook, etc) track your left and received statistics. For each comment that you leave, your "left" statistic will be increased by one. For each comment that someone leaves you, your "received" statistic will be increased by one. A plus/minus value may be shown in some cases. The plus/minus value is your "left" statistic minus your "received" statistic. So a +10 plus/minus value means that the Blogtools member has left 10 more comments than he or she has received.

Q. How do I turn off avatars in my Tool X?

Uncheck the "Use Avatars" checkbox in the "Modify" menu for the tool. Submit your changes and you're done.

Q. Do you have plans to add more tools?

Yup. Blogtools strives to provide members with all of the tools needed to take a blog or website to the next level. We are currently working on more tools, so if we don't have exactly what you need now, check back soon. We would also like to [Hear] your ideas for tools you would like to see.

Q. Where can I see the tools in action?

Check out the Blogtools User List [here].

Q. Do readers of my website have to have a blogtools account to use Tool X?

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: Anyone with or without a Blogtools account can participate. This will never change. However, there may be technical reasons that require a Blogtools account in order to use a specific feature. An example of this is the use of avatars in a Comment System. Only Blogtools members can leave comments with an avatar.

Q. Will Tool X work with my blog service/website/etc?

Here is a partial list of the popular blog services that our tools will work with:
- Blogger/Blogspot*
- Big Blog Tool
- BlogStudio*
- Blosxom
- Diary-X*
- Diaryland (Normal Diary)*
- Diaryland (Weblog Style Diary)*
- Greymatter
- iBlog
- Mambo
- Movable Type
- Newspro
- Pitas*
- Radio Userland
- Scribble
- Textpattern
- Thingamablog
- Trellix
- Wordpress

The * indicates that Blogtools can give you easy service-specific instructions to install each of our tools. If the service you use is not listed or does not have a * beside it, you can still use our tools, but you will have to follow a set of easy generic instructions instead.

Also, we do not require you to use our tools with a blog service. In addition to your blog, you may install them on your own homepage, your friend's homepage, your business website, where ever! The possibilities are endless!

Q. Can I keep all of my old comments?

Currently, this is not possible. For example, if you are using a comment service in your blog and you wish to use a Blogtools Comment System instead, all of the comments left in the past would not be visible. Note that this would not mean that your past comments are deleted, they simply would not be accessible. Without getting too technical, we at Blogtools are working on innovative ways for users with large amounts of comments to transition to our services.

Q. Why won't my comment window popup?

Is the comment window already open? The comments will open in the same window if you click on them again, so check your taskbar. Also, if you are using a browser that blocks popups (Mozilla, Firefox, Opera, newer versions of Internet Explorer 6), or if you have installed popup blocking software, make sure that you are not blocking popups from any of the sites you are viewing. If you are, the comment window will not appear.

Q. How can I alter my information when leaving comments?
If you wish to change your comment entry information (Name, Email, URL), all you need to do is modify the specific text box when entering a comment. For example, if you wanted to hide your email address so that no one could see it, you would delete the email address in the "Email" text box before you submit your comment. Then when you submit, your blank email address, as well as your other comment entry information, will be saved. When you visit another Comment System, Guestbook, etc, your blank email address will be used instead of the email address that you gave to Blogtools. Now, if at some point you are not happy with the comment entry information you are using and wish to reset it to the information you gave Blogtools, check the "Use my Blogtools info instead of the info below" box. Select the "Refresh" button and, voila!, your comment entry information is reset.

Q. I keep getting logged off, what is going on?

For security reasons, we automatically log members off after several hours of inactivity. If you get logged off as soon as you try to login, you need to enable cookies in your web browser. If you are an Internet Explorer user, make sure that your privacy setting is set to Medium or lower. Blogtools will not function correctly without the ability to use cookies.

Q. It doesn't work!?!?

Please make sure you are following the instructions exactly as they are listed. Try selecting the "Instructions" button from the tool menu and go through them again. Before you paste the code, make sure that you delete the code that you pasted last time. If you still can't get things working, you can [Contact] us.