June 2009 - Posts

• The Info Page: Including External Links

  You can easily add links to external web pages on your Info Page. You might want to direct people to a Facebook page or a great web resource you found. Let's jump right in using an external link to the Shozam Guru blog as an example. External link syntax <a href="http://www.shozam.com/blog">Shozam Guru Blog</a> The entire URL of the external link (http://www.shozam.com/blog), is bracketed by <a href="..."> followed by the name of the link as you want it to appear (Shozam Guru Blog) followed by the closed bracked </a>. That's it. Entering a link into the Long Description field in Shozam When entering your link in Step 2 -->Image tab --> Long description field for your Info Page, just type in any preceding text followed by your link syntax. For example: Hey all you Shozammers! There's an awesome blog that can help you get the most out of Shozam. Check it out at <a href="http://www.shozam.com/blog">Shozam Guru Blog</a>, and let me know what you think. As you can see, it's pretty easy to add a link to your Info Page. Optional parameters for a link Target - Specifies if you want the link to open a new window or keep the same window. When left blank, the browser will use its default behavior Title - Creates a little tooltip showing that ‘title'  So a fancier link may look like this: Hey all you Shozammers! There's an awesome blog that can help you get the most out of Shozam. Check it out at <a href="http://www.shozam.com/blog" target="_blank" title="Click here">Shozam Guru Blog</a>, and let me know what you think. Adding links to a list So back to the last blog post: here's how you would enter Jeanne's "favorite list of photography sites" as clickable links the Long description field: Hi, I'm Jeanne. Thanks for visiting my website; I hope you find it informative, instructional and most of all, inspirational.  I want to share my favorite list of photography sites that get my creative juices flowing: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.fzipperphoto.com">Frank Zipper Photography</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.customphoto.ca">Custom Concepts Photography</a></li> <li><a href=http://www.portraits.putneyphotography.com>People's Choice Gallery</a></li> </ul> So now you know all about adding lists to your Info Page.      Posted Jun 29 2009, 08:18 PM by Shozam Guru with 4 comment(s) Filed under: external links

• The Info Page: Creating Lists

  You can create two kinds of lists in your Info Page: an unordered (bulleted) list, and an ordered (numbered) list. Here are examples using the imaginatively titled: Item 1, Item 2 and Item 3. Bulleted list syntax <ul> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> <li>Item 3</li> </ul> Ordered list syntax <ol> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> <li>Item 3</li> </ol> So basically your list will need to be bracketed by an open tag and a close tag. The tag identifies the list type – ul (unordered list) or ol (ordered list). Inside the tag the list is organized by listing all list items and each list item will need to be bracketed by the respective open and close ‘li’ tags. Entering lists into the Long Description field in Shozam When entering your list in the Step Two, Image tab, Long description field for your Info Page, just type in any preceding text followed by your list syntax. For example, if Jeanne wants to include a list of her favorite websites on her Info Page, she would type the following in the Long description field: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi, I’m Jeanne. Thanks for visiting my website; I hope you find it informative, instructional and most of all, inspirational.  I want to share my favorite list of photography sites that get my creative juices flowing: <ul> <li>Frank Zipper Photography</li> <li>Custom Concepts Photography</li> <li>People’s Choice Gallery</li> </ul> If you’ve found a photography site you think is exceptional, send me an email with the URL. I’d love to check it out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s that simple to create lists for your Info Page. How can we turn this list of favorite websites into external links? Be sure to visit my next blog post to find out. Posted Jun 24 2009, 02:07 PM by Shozam Guru with no comments Filed under: unordered lists, ordered lists, creating lists, bulleted lists

• The Info Page: Providing Your Email Address the Safe Way

  With Shozam, you can add HTML code directly into the Info Page using the Long description text fields.  Why is this important? Because it lets you customize your Info Page for any number of purposes. Assuming you are not a coder in your spare time, the next few posts will provide the exact HTML code syntax for common needs. Don’t let “HTML code syntax” scare you. Shozam Guru will do the heavy lifting by providing you with the exact code string; all you have to do is copy and paste the code into the appropriate Long description field when you create your Shozam Info Page. The next few posts, you’ll learn how to: Add a “Contact Us” encoded email link so visitors can send you an email Customize the look of your Info Page text Add bulleted and numbered lists Include links to external sites like your Facebook and Myspace pages, or other favorite sites Create a link to a map with directions for the location of your business Add video for a truly compelling Info Page So let's get started: How to Encode Your Email Address Giving people a way to contact you is important in establishing credibility and increasing a visitor’s comfort level; it makes you accessible. If you want to provide an email address in your Info Page as a method of contact, make sure you aren’t exposing it to possible abduction by spam-bots. These cyber “robots” crawl source code looking for anything with a “@” symbol which they harvest for spam purposes.  Make sure you don’t include your actual email address either as visible text or in a link unless you encode them. So how do you create an email link that with an address that isn’t visible to bots? You need the “Spam-me-not E-mail Link Obfuscator.” Say what? The Obfuscator is a free online application that encodes your email address so that robots can’t read it. Encrypting your email is quick and easy, and could save you a lot of spam-related headaches. Here’s how to do it: Go to the Spam-me-not website Enter the email address you want to encode in the field provided Select “random-mixed notation” from the “Encoding mode” drop-down menu Copy the resulting “Encoded e-mail link” code and paste it into the appropriate Long description field of your Info Page The Obfuscator uses an encoded version of your email address as the visible link text default. If you prefer to use text other than your email address (like “Contact Us” or “Send me an email”) enter the text you want to appear in the “Visible link text (optional)” field and select “optional visible link text” from the drop-down menu. When someone clicks on this link in your Info Page, it will launch the visitor’s default email with your email address prefilled. If a visitor does not have email, the link will fail. That’s why some people prefer to set up Contact Forms which don’t rely on email, are more powerful, but also more complicated. That’s another blog topic for another day. For an example, go to the Wildscape Photography Info Page and scroll down to the "Contact Me" section. At the bottom of the address block you'll see the email address. Although it looks like a regular email address, it has been encoded. When I created this Info Page, I added the obfuscated email code to the Long description field for the "Contact Us" window sign image. I included other HTML code in this image's Long description field as well, including a location map and customized text which I'll show you how to do in an upcoming post. Cool, huh? Posted Jun 17 2009, 05:13 PM by Shozam Guru with no comments Filed under: email obfuscator, encoding email, email, encrypting email, protecting email

• The Info Page: Finding the Right Content and Tone

  There are a few things to keep in mind when crafting your Info Page. Whether you use Shozam for personal or business use, you want to convey credibility, warmth and personality. You want people to be comfortable interacting with your website and with you. Keep the page content short, snappy, conversational and relevant to your visitor. Think “captivate,” not “comatose.” Here are some pointers on how to write an About Us or About Me page: Be personable. Write in the first person (use “I” language), and be conversational. Keep it short. No need for a long, drawn out history that rivals War and Peace. If you have a business website, you just want to let your customers know you’ve been around for awhile; that you’re not a flash in the pan. Tell them how long you’ve been in business or serving your industry. Include a brief summary of who you are and what you do. If you provide products and/or services, talk about them here. Differentiate yourself. Tell your visitors why you are different and why they should interact with your website or do business with you. Provide credibility indicators. Talk about your expertise. List any awards, certifications, community involvement, etc. Present your philosophy. Talk about how you approach your interaction with others or how you satisfy your customers' needs. Think locally. If you are located in a particular area, consider mentioning a town or city, even a zip code. This can also help your organic search results for searches made in your local area. Provide your contact information. This can help you get listed faster on Yahoo. If you’re providing an email address, you’ll want to encode it so that it won’t be harvested for spamming purposes. This is the topic of an upcoming post.  Take a look at our Info Page example, Wildscape Photography, that hits all the bases. Get going with that prose, because next we’re going to focus on some really exciting options for customizing your Info Page. Posted Jun 15 2009, 07:53 PM by Shozam Guru with no comments Filed under: how to write an About Us page, Info page content, how to write and About Me page

• The Info Page: How to Create Yours, Step-by-step

  The Info Page is a “text-driven” specialized album page within a Shozam gallery (available in the Shozam Express Edition and higher). It is displayed when a viewer clicks on the “Info” link in the upper right-hand corner of the gallery. Often used as an “About Us” page (the link label can be changed), the Info Page is easy to create. Before we get started, let’s take a look at a very simple Info Page. Note there are two sections: “National Park Service” and “About Us.” Each section has a heading, long text, and an image:                  All Info Pages have this layout: sections that include a heading, long text and an image. It is built using the same “album” creation you already use to make albums in Shozam, but the program uses your inputs a little differently: the image captions become the section headings, the long descriptions become long text, and the album description becomes the heading at the top of the page. Now that you understand the layout of the Info Page, let’s create it. Building Your Info Page Step-by-step Go to Step 3 and click New Album. This album will become your Info Page Shozam will take you to Step 2 so you can add your Info Page images. Think about what kinds of sections you want on your Info Page, and what image will best represent each section. You will need one image per section Once you’ve added your images, click the Text tab. The screen will look something like this (fields will be blank until you add text):   Click the thumbnail of the first image In the Short caption field, type in the heading for the first section. In the example above, I typed in "About Me" which became the heading for my first section In the Long description field, enter the text for your first section. I entered text that tells viewers what I want them to know about me. You can also enter HTML in this field to truly customize the section. More about entering HTML in an upcoming post Do this for each image (or section) on this panel. When you are done, click Next In Step 3, select the thumbnail for your Info Page “album” Write your Info Page title in the Album description field next to the album thumbnail. In the Step 3 example below, it's "Photography to Preserve and Protect" Click the Options tab. You will see this screen: With your Info Page album selected, check the box under Info Page as in the example above. The Hide album(s) box is checked by default so that your Info Page album will not appear along with other albums in other pages of your gallery. Congratulations! You’ve create your Info Page! To change the Info link label Go to Step 5 and click the Label tab (this tab is available in Shozam Advanced Edition and higher) In the Info field, type the link name as you would like it to appear That’s it! When your gallery is generated, your new label will replace the "Info" label. Have fun with this great Shozam feature! And don’t forget to include a link to your new Info Page in your comment. Posted Jun 12 2009, 06:52 PM by Shozam Guru with no comments Filed under: how to make an info page, creating an info page

• The Info Page: Creating Content that’s Right for You

  Start with the end in mind. What do you want your Info Page to communicate? Are you an artist who wants to explain your style and inspiration? Are you selling services and want to reassure customers that you’re credible? Are you selling products and need to explain shipping and handling? Are you managing the site for an organization and need to promote the mission and goals? Or are you posting personal photos and want to tell viewers who you are? Here are a few ideas for an Info Page. Info Pages for businesses and organizations: About Us Our Services Our Products Our Mission History Contact Ordering and Shipping Price Lists What’s New Resources Store Locations Policies (Returns, Guarantees, etc.) In the News Info Pages for individuals: About Me Bio Contact Favorite Websites Lists My Projects Work Samples Here are some examples of Info Pages used in different ways: Wedding Gallery: About the Bride and Groom Professional Photography: About Our Services Showcase Info Page: Check out all the bells and whistles in the example I’ve created for this blog series: Wildscape Photography Once you’ve decided the focus of your Info Page, it’s time to get down to it. The excitement is building! Stayed tuned for the next post on how to build your own Info Page. Posted Jun 10 2009, 05:03 PM by Shozam Guru with no comments Filed under: About Us, About Me, Info Page

• The Most Important Page on Your Website: The Info Page

  Okay, so maybe it’s not THE most important page, but it’s pretty darn close. The Info Page option, available in the Shozam Express Edition and higher, is displayed when a viewer clicks “Info” (or other label if you change it) in the upper right-hand corner of your gallery. Whether your Shozam gallery is personal or for your business, if you aren’t using the Shozam Info Page option you’re missing a great opportunity to tell your story, showcase yourself, and promote your business and your brand. People interact and do business with people. An Info Page, also commonly called About Us, helps to make that personal connection with the visitor: it is unique to you and what you want to communicate. To give you an idea of some of the things you can do with an Info Page, here’s an example created by fictional Wildscape Photography. Note the use of video to give the page some “oomph,” and more practical uses including a brief background of the photographer’s passion, his business focus and an interactive studio location map. Ready to do your own Info Page? Not sure how to set it up or what to say? The Shozam Guru is here to help. The next several posts will cover: • Uses for the Info Page: the obvious and not so obvious • How to create an Info Page with Shozam: step-by-step guidance • What to include in your Info Page and how to set the right tone • How an Info Page can help with search engine optimization (how your site is indexed so visitors can find you) • How to add HTML to your Info Page: a powerful topic worthy of several posts in itself If you’re already using the Info Page, post a link to your page in your blog reply. Until next time. To leave a comment, please make sure you first log in... Posted Jun 10 2009, 04:53 PM by Shozam Guru with no comments Filed under: About Us, About Me, Info Page

• Welcome to the Shozam Guru Blog

  Shozam Web Gallery Generator is an easy, yet powerful suite of software programs – you may not know just how powerful. That’s why we’ve asked the Shozam Guru to create this blog series to guide Shozammers like you in building the web galleries of your dreams. You will learn about features, options, work-arounds and other secrets known only to the Shozam Guru. Let’s get started! Posted Jun 10 2009, 04:47 PM by kkmcneel with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Shozam Guru Blog