Configuring Email – Troubleshooting guide

Click here for instructions on setting up PC
Click here for instructions on setting up Mac
Click here for instructions on setting up iPad/iPhone

The setting up of emails, including all mobile devices and pc/mac desktop computers, does not fall within the remit of building or maintaining your website.  

We can provide a one on one service for the nominal cost of £35 per email account username.  
By following all the instructions CAREFULLY within these pages, you should be able to solve any issues you may be having without our help.

PLEASE NOTE:

We understand that if you are not technically minded this may seem daunting but by following the very easy steps you should fix any issues you have. More often than not it is user error causing the problems and whilst we categorically do not wish to leave you in the lurch, we do not have the time or resources to help with something you should be doing for yourself.

The labour charge is a last resort to fix your issues, 90% of the time we know it does not need to come to that when people try to fix it themselves and not just ask for help because they can.

Troubleshooting guide:

If your emails are not working on any device, follow these instructions.

1. Log into your webmail account. Use this link – WEBMAIL ACCESS.

**If you are on the new server, this is the link (Try both links)

Your username and password are the same as you were given initially. This will first of all make sure you are using the right credentials.

2. From the webmail send a test email to us support (at) wardswebsites.com (obviously substitute the ‘at’ for the @ symbol. We will then reply to you. This checks that the web server is working correct.

3. Once we have successfully confirmed the server is working, you should then go about REMOVING the email account from your device that doesn’t seem to be working and REINSTALL it.

Click here for instructions on setting up PC
Click here for instructions on setting up Mac
Click here for instructions on setting up iPad/iPhone

Setting up on Android – You will need to Google for your specific device for those instructions although they are generally the same as for PC

4. If you still experience issues after following the above steps CAREFULLY, then please contact us, explaining specifically at what point the process falls down for you. If you cannot give us this information then we cannot help you.

Setting up Mails on iPhone and iPad

You can setup your iPhone or iPad to receive mail from one of your mailboxes as follows:

Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account > Other > Add Mail Account

On the next screen enter the following settings:

Name: Your name as you would like recipients to see it
Address: The email address for the mailbox you want to setup
Password: The password for the mailbox
Description: Your own description for the mailbox

Press Save

On the next screen, leave IMAP selected at the top and enter the following settings:

Incoming Mail Server
Host Name: mail.yourdomainname (mail.mywebsite.com etc)
User Name: The email address for the mailbox you want to setup
Password: The password for the mailbox (should already be filled in)

Outgoing Mail Server
SMTP: mail.yourdomainname (mail.mywebsite.com etc)
User Name: The email address for the mailbox you want to setup
Password: The password for the mailbox

Press Save

You will then get a message saying “Cannot Connect Using SSL. Do you want to try setting up the account without SSL?”, press Yes.

It should then connect to the mail server and the account will be setup.

If you are having problems with sending mail, you may need to change the port for the SMTP server. You can do this by going to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar > Select the mail account > SMTP > Primary Server > Server Port and changing this to 587.

Creating your Podcast account in iTunes

Once your site is up and running, you will be able to submit your mixes directly to the iTunes store to be sent out as podcasts.

You MUST have at least one mix loaded to your site to open a podcast account.

Check the information on setting up your account here.

Once you have the account, submit your podcast to the iTunes store following these instructions.  Your feed address is simply your website with this added on the end:

/feed/podcast/

e.g http://www.yoursitename.com/feed/podcast

Do not worry about messing anything up, all you need to be sure on is naming the podcast correct.. everything else can be amended along the way.

Using WordPress

Wordress is a very powerful and yet user-friendly tool.  Your site is set up (depending on your level of computer knowledge) so that you cannot ‘break’ it.  Feel free to experiment within the ‘add post/page’ areas.  Click all the different buttons to see what they do, change the template of the page.  The worse that is going to happen, you will mess up an entry that is easily fixed and unless you already have subscribers that will receive the messed up post, it isn’t a big deal at all.  You can always ‘Preview’ a post before it actually goes live.

Things to Remember

Mostly, you will only be adding new ‘posts’.  See the entry on the home page sub menu for the difference between a ‘post’ and a ‘page’.

You can change the order that a post appears within your site by changing the date.  To do this click the ‘edit’ button next to the ‘Published’ button on the right.  Then update your entry.

To un-publish an entry, click ‘edit’ next to the ‘Status: Published’ and change to ‘draft’.  Alternatively move it to ‘Trash’.

To get an image into your post, depending on your site set up, you may have to ‘Set Featured Image’ as well as ‘Insert into post’.  All of this should have been talked through with you/will be talked through with you.

Always tick a ‘Category’ in the box to the right.  This will ensure your entry shows up when users view certain pages.  Your site is set up to collate different pages and posts.

Remember to complete as many ‘Tags’ as possible relating to each entry.  This should be keywords relating to your topic and will allow you to show up in more search engines.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with all the different buttons and options.  Unless you have specifically asked to have total control over your WordPress dashboard, you CANNOT break your site*.

If you have never used WordPress before it can seem a little daunting, although once you get your head around it, it truly is a wonderful tool.

Go here for any help you need on WordPress.  PLEASE do not ask any questions until you have exhausted all your own means of finding the answer, this will make you understand your site better.

*If you have been given full control of the site and you mess anything up, you may be liable to pay for extra work incurred to fix it.

Accepting Comments

Your site is set up to be able to receive comments on your posts and pages.

If you would like to disable/enable this feature, follow these instructions.

1. Go to the top of your screen while in the window you input the new post/page.  Make sure you are scrolled to the top of the page and look to the right.  Click the ‘Screen Options’ button.  Make sure that the ‘Discussion’ box is ticked.

2. After each post/page you will then have the choice to allow comments (tick the box under where you enter the text), it should say ‘allow comments’, also tick the one that says ‘allow pingbacks.’  These should be automatically ticked for you.

To accept a comment, you will receive an email notification advising you someone has left one, simply follow the links and accept.  Once you accept a comment from someone for the first time, you no longer have to do it again and they are automatically authorised.   It is possible to change this setting if someone starts leaving untold abuse etc.

If you find yourself receiving many comments from people you don’t recognise, then no matter how genuine it looks, it is usually a spam bot.  Be sure to see the post about Spam Protection.

Spam Protection

As your site starts to receive traffic, so it automatically receives hits from auto-bots.  These are programs acting as real people, leaving innocent looking comments on your posts.  Once you accept one of the comments from them, they are then authorised to leave untold others, which generally tend to be link after link of spam.

To protect yourself from this plague, you need to do the following.

1. Create and activate an account at WordPress.com (this is totally different to the wordpress associated with your website).

2.  Create and activate an account with Akismet.  Follow the steps to acquire your Akismet key.  If you are  familiar with plug ins on your site, then go to the already installed plug in and activate it using your key.  Alternatively,  once you get the email containing your key forward it to us and we will set it up for you.

PLEASE NOTE:

Until you follow the above instructions, you  WILL get untold message after message, comment after comment from what look like genuine people leaving you kind words about what a wonderful site you have.

 

Adding pages

Adding pages are slightly more ‘complicated’ than posts, in that there are settings within your site that need changing to make the page visible.

Depending on your knowledge of WordPress, you may not be able to add a page with your log in.

All pages you require SHOULD already have been set up when your site was constructed, any additional pages can easily be added once your support term has expired, for a small hourly fee.

Writing a post

You should have been talked through adding a post, here are some words copied from the official WordPress Tutorials.

Familiarise yourself with the toolbar at the top of the post area.. try clicking all of the buttons to see what they do.

The Featured Image is where you add the main photo for the post, and remember to always select a category so your post shows up in the right place when clicking certain pages.  Adding tags is also a good idea as it improves your search ratings.

POSTS:

Posts are the entries that display in reverse chronological order on your home page. In contrast to pages, posts usually have comments fields beneath them and are included in your site’s RSS feed.

To write a post:

  1. Log in to your WordPress Administration Panel (Dashboard).
  2. Click the Posts tab.
  3. Click the Add New Sub Tab
  4. Start filling in the blanks.
  5. As needed, select a category, add tags, and make other selections from the sections below the post. Each of these sections is explained below.
  6. When you are ready, click Publish.Screen Options

The Screen Options allow you to choose which Post Fields are displayed, or not displayed, in the underlying SubPanel. Clicking on the Screen Options tab shows a list of the columns with a check-box next to each column. Check the box for each Post Field you want displayed, or uncheck the box to not display that module. Click the Screen Options tab again to close the Screen Options. These options are saved so that you can customize how your own editing screen looks.

Note: As of WordPress version 3.1, some screen options on the Post Administration Panel are hidden by default if they have not been saved before. Hidden by default: Excerpt, Post Author, Discussion, Custom Fields, Slug, Comments, Send Trackbacks, Revisions.

Descriptions of Post Fields

WordPress Admin Writing Post Advanced Panel – Top of Page

Title 
The title of your post. You can use any words or phrases. Avoid using the same title twice as that will cause problems. You can use commas, apostrophes, quotes, hypens/dashes, and other typical symbols in the post like “My Site – Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid.” WordPress will clean it up for the link to the post, called the post-slug.
Post Editing Area 
The blank box where you enter your writing, links, links to images, and any information you want to display on your site. You can use either the Visual or the HTML view to compose your posts. For more on the HTML view, see the section below, Visual Versus HTML View.
Preview button 
Allows you to view the post before officially publishing it.
Publish box 
Contains buttons that control the state of your post. The main states are Published, Pending Review, and Draft. A Published status means the post has been published on your blog for all to see. Pending Review means the draft is waiting for review by an editor prior to publication. Draft means the post has not been published and remains a draft for you. If you select a specific publish status and click the update post or Publish button, that status is applied to the post. For example, to save a post in the Pending Review status, select Pending Review from the Publish Status drop-down box, and click Save As Pending. (You will see all posts organized by status by going to Posts > Edit). To schedule a post for publication on a future time or date, click “Edit” in the Publish area next to the words “Publish immediately”. You can also change the publish date to a date in the past to back-date posts. Change the settings to the desired time and date. You must also hit the “Publish” button when you have completed the post to publish at the desired time and date.
Publish box 
Visibility – This determines how your post appears to the world. Public posts will be visible by all website visitors once published. Password Protected posts are published to all, but visitors must know the password to view the post content. Private posts are visible only to you (and to other editors or admins within your site)
Save 
Allows you to save your post as a draft / pending review rather than immediately publishing it. To return to your drafts later, visit Posts – Edit in the menu bar, then select your post from the list.
Publish 
Publishes your post on the site. You can edit the time when the post is published by clicking the Edit link above the Publish button and specifying the time you want the post to be published. By default, at the time the post is first auto-saved, that will be the date and time of the post within the database.
Post Tags 
Refers to micro-categories for your blog, similar to including index entries for a page. Posts with similar tags are linked together when a user clicks one of the tags. Tags have to be enabled with the right code in your theme for them to appear in your post. Add new tags to the post by typing the tag into the box and clicking “Add”.
Categories 
The general topic the post can be classified in. Generally, bloggers have 7-10 categories for their content. Readers can browse specific categories to see all posts in the category. To add a new category, click the +Add New Category link in this section. You can manage your categories by going to Posts > Categories.
Excerpt 
A summary or brief teaser of your posts featured on the front page of your site as well as on the category, archives, and search non-single post pages. Note that the Excerpt does not usually appear by default. It only appears in your post if you have changed the index.php template file to display the Excerpt instead of the full Content of a post. If so, WordPress will automatically use the first 55 words of your post as the Excerpt or up until the use of the More Quicktag mark. If you use an Explicit Excerpt, this will be used no matter what. For more information, see Excerpt.
Send Trackbacks 
A way to notify legacy blog systems that you’ve linked to them. If you link other WordPress blogs, they’ll be notified automatically using pingbacks. No other action is necessary. For those blogs that don’t recognize pingbacks, you can send a trackback to the blog by entering the website address(es) in this box, separating each one by a space. See Trackbacks and Pingbacks for more information.
Custom Fields 
Custom_Fields offer a way to add information to your site. In conjunction with extra code in your template files or plugins,Custom Fields can modify the way a post is displayed. These are primarily used by plugins, but you can manually edit that information in this section.
Discussion 
Options to enable interactivity and notification of your posts. This section hosts two check boxes: Allow Comments on this postand Allow trackbacks and pingbacks on this post. If Allowing Comments is unchecked, no one can post comments to this particular post. If Allowing Pings is unchecked, no one can post pingbacks or trackbacks to this particular post.
Password Protect This Post 
To password protect a post, click Edit next to Visibility in the Publish area to the top right, then click Password Protected, click Ok, and enter a password. Then click OK. Note – Editor and Admin users can see password protected or private posts in the edit view without knowing the password.
Post Author 
A list of all blog authors you can select from to attribute as the post author. This section only shows if you have multiple users with authoring rights in your blog. To view your list of users, see Users tab on the far right. For more information, see Users and Authors.

WordPress Admin Writing Post Advanced Panel – Bottom of Page

Note: You can set basic options for writing, such as the size of the post box, how smiley tags are converted, and other details by going to Settings > Writing. See Writing Options SubPanel.

Best Practices For Posting

You can say or show the world anything you like on your WordPress site. Here are some tips you need to know to help you write your posts in WordPress.

Practice Accessibility 
To be compliant with web standards for accessibility, be sure to include ALT and TITLE descriptions on links and images to help your users, such as <a title="WordPress Codex" href="http://codex.wordpress.org/">WordPress Codex</a>.
Use Paragraphs 
No one likes to read writing that never pauses for a line break. To break your writing up into paragraphs, use double spaces between your paragraphs. WordPress will automatically detect these and insert <p> HTML paragraph tags into your writing.
Using Headings 
If you are writing long posts, break up the sections by using headings, small titles to highlight a change of subject. In HTML, headings are set by the use of h1h2h3h4, and so on. By default, most WordPress Themes use the first, second, and sometimes third heading levels within the site. You can use h4 to set your own headings. Simply type in:
<h4>Subtitle of Section</h4>
with double lines before and after and WordPress will make that title a headline in your post. To style the heading, add it to yourstyle.css style sheet file. For more information on styling headings, check out Designing Headings.
Use HTML 
You don’t have to use HTML when writing your posts. WordPress will automatically add it to your site, but if you do want control over different elements like boxes, headings, and other additional containers or elements, use HTML.
Spell Check and Proof 
There are spell check Plugins available, but even those can’t check for everything. Some serious writers will write their posts in atext editor with spell check, check all the spelling and proof it thoroughly before copying and pasting into WordPress.
Think before you post 
Ranting on blogs is commonplace today, but take a moment and think about what you are writing. Remember, once it is out there, it can be seen by many and crawled by search engines; and taking things back is harder once it is public. Take a moment to read what you’ve written before hitting the Publish button. When you are ready, share it with the world.
Write about what you like 
You’ve heard this a thousand times before and it sounds too cliched, but it is true. If you force yourself to write something that you don’t really enjoy, it will show. Perhaps you might not have a specific theme for writing when you just start, but that’s ok. You’ll become more focused later. Just enjoy the experience and write what you like.
Write frequently 
Write as frequently as you can, may be even more than twice a day, but don’t let quantity get in the way of quality. Your viewers come for content, don’t give them useless stuff.
Don’t use too much slang 
Not all the readers will be from your part of the world so make sure people can understand easily.
Don’t hide your emotions 
Tempting as it might be, don’t hide your real emotions. After all that is what a blog is about. If you want, you can stay anonymous and voice your feelings on whatever you are passionate about. You might have strong views on various subjects but let your readers know your passion. What is passion worth if you can’t even share it? You’ll actually love the discussions it can lead to. The discussions will broaden your own thinking and you might end up making some really good friends.
Consider your readers 
Perhaps this sounds weird, but consider who needs to know about your blog before you tell them about your new blogging hobby. Will you be able to write freely if you tell them? How much should you let your readers know about you? Is it ok if your boss or girlfriend reads your posts? If you don’t want them to read, take anonymity measures accordingly.
Make use of comments 
Comments let people share their ideas. Sometimes, they might not be good, but you can ask such people to shut up. Most of the times, they will and if they don’t you can delete their comments. Blogging like real life, can be both fun and not so fun at times. Be prepared. Also, give your people a place to contact you in private if they want to write to you.
Worry about blog design later 
Blog design matters, but only to an extent. Don’t give up on blogging just because the design isn’t coming up as you’ll like it it to be. Sooner or later, you’ll get around the design problems with ease. But continue writing. Content is what attracts your readers, not just the look of your blog.
Don’t play too safe 
Talk about the real you. Readers aren’t impressed by how big your house is, which cool club you belong to, or what the weather is in your hometown. Don’t be a bore and put a long post on how you fixed the leaking tap in minutes. Readers don’t care about braggers, they care about the real you–how you feel, what gets you excited, why you are the person you are. But if achievements are all that you can talk about, you will bore your readers.
Use pictures and videos 
They make the pages colorful and viewers get to see a little of your part of the world. They feel connected.
Keep writing 
Don’t stop blogging. If you don’t have anything to write about, chances are, you are still holding back. Let loose. Perhaps surf more blogs and maybe you’ll get an idea. You can write about your friends, complain about your boss, or simply rant about what’s gone wrong. Yet if nothing else works, just write a review on the latest movie, book, or product. Easy actually.
Save your posts 
Save your posts before you press the publish button. Anything can happen with your computer or with an internet connection. You don’t need to lose your post.

Visual Versus HTML Editor

When writing your post, you have the option of using the visual or HTML mode of the editor. The visual mode lets you see your post as is, while the HTML mode shows you the code and replaces the WYSIWYG editor buttons with quicktags. These quicktags are explained as follows.

  • b – <strong></strong> HTML tag for strong emphasis of text (i.e. bold).
  • i – <em></em> HTML tag for emphasis of text (i.e. italicize).
  • b-quote – <blockquote></blockquote> HTML tag to distinguish quoted or cited text.
  • del – <del></del> HTML tag to label text considered deleted from a post. Most browsers display as striked through text. (Assigns datetime attribute with offset from GMT (UTC))
  • link – <a href=”http://example.com”></a> HTML tag to create a hyperlink.
  • ins – <ins></ins> HTML tag to label text considered inserted into a post. Most browsers display as underlined text. (Assigns datetime attribute with offset from GMT (UTC))
  • ul – <ul></ul> HTML tag will insert an unordered list, or wrap the selected text in same. An unordered list will typically be a bulleted list of items.
  • ol – <ol></ol> HTML tag will insert a numbered list, or wrap the selected text in same. Each item in an ordered list are typically numbered.
  • li – <li></li> HTML tag will insert or make the selected text a list item. Used in conjunction with the ul or ol tag.
  • code – <code></code> HTML tag for preformatted styling of text. Generally sets text in a monospaced font, such as Courier.
  • more – <!–more–> WordPress tag that breaks a post into “teaser” and content sections. Type a few paragraphs, insert this tag, then compose the rest of your post. On your blog’s home page you’ll see only those first paragraphs with a hyperlink ((more...)), which when followed displays the rest of the post’s content.
  • page – <!–nextpage–> WordPress tag similar to the more tag, except it can be used any number of times in a post, and each insert will “break” and paginate the post at that location. Hyperlinks to the paginated sections of the post are then generated in combination with the wp_link_pages() or link_pages() template tag.
  • lookup – Opens a JavaScript dialogue box that prompts for a word to search for through the online dictionary at answers.com. You can use this to check spelling on individual words.
  • Close Tags – Closes any open HTML tags left open–but pay attention to the closing tags. WordPress is not a mind reader (!), so make sure the tags enclose what you want, and in the proper way.

Workflow Note – With Quicktag buttons that insert HTML tags, you can for example click i to insert the opening <em> tag, type the text to be enclosed, and click /i or Close Tags to insert the closing tag. However, you can eliminate the need for this ‘close’ step by changing your workflow a bit: type your text, select the portion to be emphasized (that is, italicized), then click i and your highlighted text will be wrapped in the opening and closing tags.

The Quicktag buttons also have the accesskey JavaScript attribute set, so you may be able to use a keyboard equivalent (e.g., Alt-b for bold) to “press” the button, depending on your browser.

On Windows, IE and Firefox prior to 2.0b2 use Alt to activate accesskeys, while Firefox 2.0b2 uses Alt-Shift. On Mac OS X, Firefox uses Ctrl.

Adding large files via FTP – Mac

To attach images, simply use the small icon next to the ‘upload/insert’ button.

For larger files, usually mixes, you will need to use FTP.  This is direct access to your server and is just like copying a file to any other location on your computer.

Using FTP – Mac

Unlocking the FTP is now easier.

Simply follow these instructions.

1.  Log in to https://ssl.extendcp.co.uk/ftp

2.  Select the length of time you wish to unlock it for.

Your FTP should now be unlocked for the time period specified.

Uploading to your FTP: MAC

Start by downloading CyberDuck. Open the .dmg file once the download has completed, and drag CyberDuck to your Applications folder to install it. Once it’s installed, launch it from your Applications.

Click the Open Connection button.

Enter the Server name in the space provided. The default Port for FTP is 21, so leave that setting. Now enter your Username and Password in the spaces provided.

When all of that information is in place, click the Connect button.

And now you’ll connect to your FTP server. The window may be blank or empty if you’ve never uploaded any files or folders.

NOTE: If you are adding music files… DO NOT create subfolders here.  This will make life much easier when locating mixes, for example, to attach to posts.

To create a new folder, right-click (ctrl-click for single-button mouse folks) in the main CyberDuck window and select New Folder…

Enter a name for the folder, and click Create.

CyberDuck will now create the folder. Double-click the folder name to ‘enter’ that folder.

 

To upload files, locate them in your Finder, select the ones you want to upload, and then drag them to the main CyberDuck window.

Once the upload has completed, the window will refresh and your files will be listed.

To delete a file or folder, right-click it and select Delete from the pop-up menu. You can also rename files this way (select Rename…) etc

If you want to save the FTP server information (so you don’t have to enter it every time you want to connect to it) – click the Bookmarks button.

From the Bookmarks pane, click the small + (plus sign) at the bottom.

And the FTP site will be saved to your CyberDuck bookmarks.