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TEMPLATE START UP INSTRUCTIONS

Website Template Help and Instructions

After you download your template, extract the entire zip file into a folder you create. It doesn't matter where you extract it to or what name you call the folder, just as long as you remember where you extracted all the files to. We recommend that you use a good zip / unzip utility such as Jzip or WinZip.

  **note-(one common question is "why aren't the images showing up"? --- The reason is that you probably have not unzipped the zip file into a regular folder on your PC. You cannot view the templates properly if they are still in the zip folders.)

Here are the 7 suggested steps to take in order to set up your free web template successfully:

1. Open your favorite web editing software in order to view your template. Or, you can edit the html using notepad (if you know your way around html. For Beginners, we recommend using a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor such as EZ HTML Creator (see related links)

2. When the template is open, begin by typing in your text in any top and side bars, copyright notice on the footer of the page, and begin to write the main text of your page. These templates come with pre-input text so you get an idea of where to start typing.

3. Now when the text is all complete, begin by inserting your desired images into the template by using your favorite graphics program (recommended but not mandatory - you can insert pictures using your HTML editor). We recommend using Paint.net, Adobe Photoshop, Gimp, Macromedia Fireworks or Ulead Photoimpact (see related link for more information). On the actual template, your images should usually fall into the top logo bar or the main text space where your visitors could adhere to them more. Before you finish, make sure your images are not too large and are in line with the page's layout.

4. Don't forget to save your page into a folder you have allocated. For example it could be C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\myweb and so you would save all your newly created pages into this folder.

Just make sure that all your files are in the same FOLDER!

5. Once your first page is complete, it would be time to create other pages to link up to the main page; I.E. contact, about, products etc. The "short-cut" to doing this (and is what most web-designers do), is firstly by saving the first page (as index.html).

**Make sure you link up all your navigation bars FIRST, before saving it as a master so that when you do duplicate more pages, you don't have to edit every single one (only applies to single, unlinked templates; if you are going to work with one of the complete sites, they are already linked for you).

Next, you erase your text from the first page (from the regions you would like to change), and add the new information-treating it as a different page, however you keep the titles, navigation bars and footer all intact. This is called a master page. Go ahead and name it MASTER.html or BLANK.html - this will help for when you wish to ad new content on a new page.

Finally, you save the newly edited page as a new name. Repeat this process with all your pages until you have your entire site navigation set up.

NOTE: If your website has 10+ web pages to edit, it's best to use a web editor that has a function that shares specific objects in the page. A good CMS is highly recognized for it's ease of use in this matter.

6. Once your web page is added with your text, color, images and other devices, you then should take a final look at the folder you created to make sure ALL the files are in there. Also make sure that you save your images in a sub-directory called "images" so that you keep it all neat. Once you are ready to upload (or FTP) the files - log into your host and simply copy the files across. If you need a place to host your website you can choose from one of our sponsors - awesome service at terrific prices! Click here to check out our hosting sponsors.

7. Check your website as it should now be live! If there are any errors simply make the changes on your computer and then upload the changed file in place of the one on the server. Simple! Also - word of caution - keep a good backup on a thumb drive or somewhere safe in case you accidentally copy over a file and it turns out bad.

And that's about it. Congratulations! You now should have created your very own web site that without a template could have taken weeks. Remember if one web template doesn't work for you, there are hundreds more to try! If you find you need support or help getting your site together and uploaded, etc - please contact us and we would be glad to help you. We charge a meager $25 to install your website to your host. We also charge a minimal fee in case you need edits on any template - just send us a note about what you need and what template you would like to use and we will return an email with pricing.

If you are looking for more tips and other freebies, why not sign up on our mailing list - as well, go visit our new online self help blog at WebTempleX Blog.