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"The handy thing for me about Expressions is that it is all configured through your browser, once you open an account you set up and customize your photoblog to how you would like it, either by creating the pages yourself if you have html knowledge, or by choosing pre-designed templates... All in all I have found it very handy and perfect for someone like myself starting out in blogging and also finding my feet in html."
- Jimbus
jimbus.org
(From Photoblogging - A Source of self expressions)

Wondering how to do something specific in Expressions? Check our User FAQ below for an answer.

General

General Questions

Add meta tags to your page

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
  
• Click 'Edit' next to the page you want to add the meta tags to.
  
• Add the tags to the Meta Tags field and click 'Update'.
  

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Add an ATOM (syndication) feed to your page

To add an Atom feed button to your page, edit your page's template in advanced mode and add the tag: <tmpl_var name=atom_feed> to the template, where you want the button to appear. You should see a small, grey button that says ATOM FEED on your page where you placed the tag. This will link to your ATOM XML file and clicking it will show the URL to be used for feed readers.

If you have your own button that you wish to use or would prefer to use a text link, you can use the <tmpl_var name=atom_url> tag which will be substituted for the URL to your ATOM file. For example:

<a href="<tmpl_var name=atom_url>" title="Atom Feed">ATOM Feed</a>
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Keep your page from showing up on the Expressions web site lists

• Log into Expressions.
• Click on 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click 'Edit' next to the page you wish to modify.
• Check the 'Page is Private' option.
• Click 'Update'.

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Cancel your account

To cancel your account:

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Account Prefs' under Main Menu.
• Click 'Cancel Account' in the bottom-right corner of the page.
• Complete the poll and follow the buttons to the PayPal subscription form to complete the cancellation.
• If you do not complete the PayPal portion of the account cancellation, your account will not be canceled and you will continue to be billed.

You can also cancel your subscription directly within PayPal. Log into your PayPal account and cancel your subscription to Expressions/Dynamic Vantage. Follow the steps PayPal gives you to complete the cancellation.

Note: You do not need to cancel your account during your 30 day free trial. Your account will automatically be cancelled at the end of the trial and you are never charged anything.
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Upgrade your space, users or blog pages

To upgrade your account simply log in and go to "Account Prefs" under Main Menu. You will now see an option titled "Upgrades" with the options to "Add Users", "Add Pages" and "Add Space". Click on any of these to add an upgrade subscription to your account. If you upgrade any of these, you will see a tally of your upgrades in your Account Prefs. Remember that space is increased by 100MB for each upgrade, users by 5 and blog pages by 3. You can upgrade as many times as you want.

• Space upgrade of 100MB is an extra $2.00 per month
• Pages upgrade of 3 pages is an extra $1.00 per month
• User upgrade of 5 users is an extra $1.00 per month

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Add ypur photoblogs.org meta data to your photoblog

When you signup with photoblogs.org they will give you some meta data to add to your photoblog. Copy this meta data from photoblogs.org and then:

• Log into Expressions
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu
• Click 'Edit' next to the blog you need to edit
• Paste the meta data in the text field you see labelled 'Meta tags'
• Click 'Update'

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Add the photoblogs.org button to your photoblog

First you need to grab the button code from photoblogs.org which you can get here. Copy the button code you wish to place on your photoblog.

If you are using an advanced template, then:

• Log into Expressions
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu
• Click on the template name that your page is using to edit that template
• Click on 'Next' (you don't need to edit the components at all)
• Add your photoblogs.org button code to your Template HTML wherever you want the button to appear
• Click 'Save'
• Note: If you are using a button that has a profile link, we advise you to change this line of code: <a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/profile/'> to be your FULL photoblogs.org profile URL.
  For example:
  <a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/talean.my-expressions.com/'>

If you are using a basic template, you can either add the button code in your Text Area component (which is the easiest option) or convert your basic template to advanced mode so that you can add the button code to your template wherever you wish. If you wish to add your button code to your Text Area component, then:

• Log into Expressions
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu
• Click on your blog name
• Click on 'Text Area' under 'Blog Menu'
• Paste the button code within the Text Body field
• Click 'Save'
• Note: If you are using a button that has a profile link, we advise you to change this line of code: <a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/profile/'> to be your FULL photoblogs.org profile URL.
  For example:
  <a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/talean.my-expressions.com/'>

If you wish to convert your basic template to advanced to edit the HTML directly, then:

• Log into Expressions
• Click 'Templates' in the Main Menu and locate the template you wish to edit in your list
• Click 'Convert to Advanced' next to the template name
• Click 'Convert to Advanced' to confirm
• Now click on 'Edit'
• Click on 'Next' (you don't need to edit the components at all)
• Add your photoblogs.org button code to your Template HTML wherever you want the button to appear
• Click 'Save'
• Note: If you are using a button that has a profile link, we advise you to change this line of code: <a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/profile/'> to be your FULL photoblogs.org profile URL
  For example:
  <a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/talean.my-expressions.com/'>

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Make sure your photoblogs.org button links to your profile on photoblogs.org

In the button code that you copy from photoblogs.org, locate this line:
<a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/profile/'>
and change the URL to your FULL photoblogs.org profile URL.
For example:
<a href='http://www.photoblogs.org/talean.my-expressions.com/'>
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Resize your images

The fastest way to make your photos smaller is to use an image editing tool on your computer such as Adobe Photoshop or PaintShop Pro. This will keep you from having to wait for a large file to upload to our server.

If you do not have any image editing software on your computer you can use the Expressions Image Tools to resize the image. To do this, check the 'Use Expressions Image Tools' box when you are adding or editing your entry. When you submit the form it will then take you to the Expressions Image Tools. On this page, check the 'Resize Image' option and specify either the height or width you want the image to be. As long as you have 'Constrain Proportions' checked (just below the height and width fields) it will automatically resize the other for you. Click 'Update' to see the new version of your image.

If you aren't happy with the results you can click 'Reset' to start over. If you are happy with the results, click 'Save' and you will have your newly resized image on your blog.
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Add multiple images to an entry

There is no direct method to add multiple images in the same post. If you have image editing software on your computer, you can create one composite image of multiple images and post this, or use the File Manager (click on 'Files' under 'Main Menu') and upload the images you wish to add to your blog post. Then, click on "Get URL" next to the image/s and copy the URL. Add this URL to your blog entry text using the HTML IMG tag. For example:

<img src="PasteYourURLHere.jpg" border="0">

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Change my page's template

You can do this by adding or importing a new template to your account and then editing your page and selecting this new template. You can learn how to add/edit templates here.

Once you have the template you want, click 'Pages' in the Main Menu, click 'Edit' next to the page you want to modify, and select your new template from the drop-down list. Click 'Update' to save your changes.
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Add new components to your template

If you are using a basic template, you can edit it, select the new component from the list, position it where you want and then modify the style to your liking.

If you are using an advanced template, you will need to add the appropriate tags into your template wherever you want the component to appear. A list of available tags can be seen here.
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Add next/previous links to your page

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Configure'.
• Select either Top or Bottom next to Next / Previous Buttons: depending on whether you want the Next / Previous to appear above or below your entry image.
• Click 'Save'.

If you are using an advanced template, you will also need to add the entry tags for the links to your Entry HTML in the advanced template editor. For instance:

<a href="<entry_prev_link>" title="Previous Entry">Previous</a> |
<a href="<entry_main_link>" title="Current Entry">Main</a> |
<a href="<entry_next_link>" title="Next Entry">Next</a>
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Change your recently added thumbnails to show vertically/horizontally

For Basic Templates:

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Recently Added' in the Blog Menu.
• Set 'Layout Type' to the layout you want and click 'Update'.

For Advanced Templates:

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the template assigned to your page to edit it.
• Click 'Next' to get to the advanced template editor.
• Find the <tmpl_var name="recently"> tag and add/change the attribute: display="vertical" or display="horizontal" depending on which you prefer.
• Click 'Save'.

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Change the number of thumbnails shown in your Recently Added area

For Basic Templates:

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Recently Added' in the Blog Menu.
• Select the number of thumbnails you wish to show and click 'Update'.

For Advanced Templates:

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the template assigned to your page to edit it.
• Click 'Next' to get to the advanced template editor.
• Find the <tmpl_var name="recently"> tag and add/change the attribute: num="4" where 4 is the number of thumbnails to show.
• Click 'Save'.

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Add entry ranking (positive/negative) to your page

Ensure you have enabled entry ranking in your blog configuration. You can do this by following these steps:

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Configure'.
• Check the box next to 'Show Rank:'.
• Click 'Save'.

For advanced templates, add the <entry_rank_positive_link> and <entry_rank_negative_link> tags into the Entry HTML section of your template. For instance:

<a href="<entry_rank_positive_link>" title="Rank Positive">+</a>
|
<a href="<entry_rank_negative_link>" title="Rank Negative">-</a>
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Update your text/about area

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Text Area' in the Blog Menu.
• Add/update the text in this area (you can add HTML directly into the area as well) and click 'Save'.

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Selecting text archives instead of thumbnails

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Configure'.
• Set your Archive Type to 'Text Only' and check 'Show Archive Text Links'
• Click 'Save'

This will cause your archives and your Recently Added sections to show text links only (no thumbnails).
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Add text titles to your archives along with your thumbnails

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click the name of the blog page you wish to modify.
• Click 'Configure'.
• Set your Archive Type to 'Thumbnail' and check 'Show Archive Text Links'
• Click 'Save'

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Change your page's URL name

• Log into Expressions.
• Click 'Pages' under Main Menu.
• Click 'Edit' next to the page you wish to modify.
• Set the Page Name to the new name you want for this page.
• Click 'Update'.

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Why do I get logged out and have to relogin again?

This is a security measure. You are logged out of the system if you have been inactive for 30 minutes or longer. This ensures the security of your blog and account information.
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Why do I always have to submit my login information?

We have done this to ensure the security and privacy of your blog. By having to submit your information each time you log in, you can be sure that only you will be logging into your account.
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