Just a little help as you browse HELP:  the items in BLUE are found in the header at the top of each StoryTrax page; the items in RED are in the column to the left. You may find some blanks here right now as we update, but if you need help, please use the CONTACT STORYTRAX button at the bottom of the page.

What is StoryTrax?

What is a story?

What is heritage conservation?

THE STORYTRAX COMMUNITY

Types of accounts

A Personal account is for individuals. This account gives you access to all of the stories, the forum, the mapper and the community of StoryTrax. It also allows you to post your own stories, create your own Hub, shop in the Marketplace, and comment on other's stories. It is free at the Basic level; at the Premium level, you can create your own store in the Marketplace, and will be eligible for upgraded services that will be added soon. The cost is $35 per month or $350 per year.

The Friends and Family accounts give you the opportunity to organize your favorite people into groups so you can share information. Think of these as an online refrigerator door. You can use the group's Hub to post notices, pictures, stories, anything that are of interest to the entire group without having to send everyone a message or email. Keep in mind that for right now, any information you post is viewable by EVERYONE, not just the members of your group. But coming in Summer 2007, you will be able to designate your content as PUBLIC (visible by the entire world) or PRIVATE (accessible by only those that you allow). These accounts are free at the Basic level; at the Premium level, you can create your own store in the Marketplace (just think -- instead of rounding up everybody's stuff and spending a weekend having a yard sale, you could do it online!), and will be eligible for upgraded services that will be added soon. The cost is $35 per month or $350 per year.

Business and Organization accounts are for commercial and non-profit groups that want the opportunity to tell their own story and to transact business online. The Basic account is $35 per month, or $350 per year. Included in the Basic account are all the storytelling tools and opportunities (posting your story, participating in the forum, ability to comment on other's stories, putting your location on the map) as well as your own store in the StoryTrax Marketplace where you can sell the goods and services that you promote through your stories. Coming later this summer (2007), other services will be available, including a reservation service, domain hosting, and email. Upgraded services will be bundled together into a Premium account level for $49 per month or $490 per year (not yet available).
 
Create an account

Logging in to StoryTrax

How do I change my password?

How do I return to the StoryTrax Home page?

How do I return to MY profile?

HELP

Where to find help

You can find help in several ways. At the top of some pages, you'll find a help tip to guide you through the activities on that page. When you no longer need the help tip, click don't show this again.

You can also browse all of the help tips and other useful information by clicking on HELP in the header, below the StoryTrax logo, or by typing help in the search box.

SEARCH

How to search for a story

How to search the StoryTrax community

How to search for a topic or subject

MY HUB

What is My Hub? How does it differ from Home? From my profile?

You Hub is a way for you to create your own page by organizing your favorite stories, links and other content in one place. Unlike HOME, where your profile information is displayed, the information displayed on your Hub is totally up to you. You decide what boxes to show, you decide what to put in them, you decide where they appear on the page.

When you go to your Hub, there are four tabs across the top: View, Edit, My subscriptions, and Personal files. View shows you how your Hub displays to everyone that has permission to see it. Edit gives you options for changing the information displayed on your Hub and how it looks. My subscriptions allows you to maintain lists of content that you want to be updated on when new content is added. Personal files is your online file manager and upload center where you can see what files, such as images and photos, you have uploaded and where you can upload new files. IMPORTANT NOTE: in order to save any changes you make on the Edit or My subscriptions pages, you must click on SUBMIT at the bottom of the page.

How do I change my personal or account information?

How do I change my hub?

How do I change my location information?

How do I change my picture?

How do I change the boxes?

How do I put information in the boxes?

How do I change the colors?

MY STORIES

What are My Stories?

How do I post a new story?

How do I change a story I've already posted?

How do I change the appearance of a story?

How to insert a picture into your story.

1. Start by creating or editing a current story. You do this by clicking on the " POST STORY" link on the upper left hand corner under your "LOGGED IN AS _____________" link.

2. Create a title for your story.

3. Create a topic for your story to fall under. This can be one that is already available or one you create.

4. Then place your cursor in the "BODY" Box. Begin typing your story. Then place the cursor where you want your picture to show up in the story and click on the image button. The image button is found in the box that looks like this:

The Image button looks like this: 

When you click on that button you get a pop up screen that says "Image Properties". If you do not get this pop up then your computer is not allowing pop ups. Allow Pop ups for Storytrax.com and then click on the insert button again. The "IMAGE PROPERTIES" pop up should be seen, it looks like this:

Click on the "BROWSE" Button on the "IMAGE PROPERTY SCREEN". This will take you to a screen that allows you to take a photo from your computer and place it into your personal files on the website, where you can then place the picture into your story.  The next screen looks like this:

Now click on the "BROWSE" Button at the bottom of the box. It looks like this:

After clicking on "BROWSE". You will get a window that says "Choose file" it usually asks you to choose from your "My Picture File" the place where you had the picture on your computer. The window looks like this:

From here select the file you want to "OPEN". For Purposes here we will select "BLUE HILLS". After clicking on Blue Hills click on "OPEN" and it will take you back to the "UPLOAD SCREEN" it will look like this:

Click on "UPLOAD FILE" and will start to upload the file. You do not have to worry about resizing the photo it automatically does this for you. When the file has been successfully upload to your PERSONAL FILES  at Storytrax.com the window will show you your new uploaded picture. The window will look like this:

Click on "ADD". It is usually is highlighted Green and looks like this:

Remember we want to "ADD" the "Blue_Hills.jpg" file and so click on ADD. After you have done so your next screen will look like this:

In the Image properties window you will see the file name of your picture and a preview of your picture. Click "OK" to insert your picture into the story. Your new story with a picture will look like this:

Once you submit your story. The picture and text will be made live to the rest of the StoryTrax community. A picture is worth a thousand words so think about coloring your stories with your own photos.

How do I insert a video?

READ STORIES

What is Read Stories?

HERITAGE CONSERVATION FORUM

What is the Heritage Conservation Forum?

STORYTRAX MAPPER

What is the StoryTrax Mapper?

STORYTRAX COMMUNITY

What is the StoryTrax Community?

Want to see who the members of the StoryTrax Community are? This is the place. Click this tab to go to the user list. You can have it sorted by account types (personal, family, friends, businesses, organizations) or you can view all in one list, or you can look at a map of user locations.

STORYTRAX MARKETPLACE

What is the Storytrax Marketplace?

The StoryTrax Marketplace is an online shopping center where the StoryTrax Community can offer goods and services for sale. As a Premium account holder, you can set up your own shop, add and track your inventory, and ring up sales. Your store is open to not only the StoryTrax Community, but also to all Internet users. Your customers buy directly from you, using the payment method that you choose. You are responsible for shipping the item, or providing the service, to your customer.

In addition to the sale of goods and services, Premium account holders who are also not-for-profit organizations can also accept donations and memberships online. All you have to do is set up your store, select payment options, and add donation or membership as a product.

MESSAGE CENTER

What is the Message Center?

The Message Center gives you an easy place to see if you've got new messages. The number in parenthesis is the number of new messages you've received since you last logged on or refreshed the page.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

What are Subscriptions?

Subscriptions includes all the areas of StoryTrax that you've indicated you want to track, or be notified when new information is added. See the MY HUB section for more details.

STORYTRAX NEWS AND ALERTS

What are StoryTrax News and Alerts?

This is the place to keep up with what's happening on StoryTrax. It may alert you to a hot discussion in the Heritage Conservation Forum. It may tell you when the site will be down for maintenance. You may find a story listed there that has generated some thoughful dialogue. Keep an eye on this area for information you can use.

NEWEST STORIES

What are the Newest Stories?

This is a list of the ten most recent stories that have been posted.

What does Show All do?

Show All will generate a list of all the stories.

What does Show Tag Cloud do?

Show Tag Cloud is a neat way to see what the hot topics on StoryTrax are. The Tag Cloud is made up of the words and phrases that people have used to describe their stories (the Categories box under the title box when you're creating a post). The most common words are displayed largest and the least common are smallest.

WHO'S ONLINE

What is Who's Online?

You are not alone. Who's Online gives you an idea of how many people are visiting the site. It is a real time number, that is, it's the actual count at the present time. It will update each time you refresh the screen.