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Fast Free and Easy Website Creation

Fast, free and easy website creation

		(This is a sticky post, please find current news items below) By Terapad Labs in Terapad News

Win a free standard website package!

		Thursday, 15 May 08 - 12:16 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Competitions

Terapad are looking for sites to feature on our website's front page.

If we pick your website we will provide you with a Terapad Standard Subscription, (normally worth $14.15 a month) absolutely free for the liftetime of your website.

All you need to do is tell us why your Terapad site deserves to be highlighted, and why it stands out above all others. The Terapad team will be looking for:

• Design - have you adopted your own design or made changes to a Terapad template?
• Content - Content is King ! How much and what quality is in your site?
• Originality - Why does the site stand out amongst others?
• Popularity - How many visitors are coming to your site?
• Integration - which third parties have you integrated with? e.g. Google Analytics

A winner will be choosen every month, and notified in our blog or in the forums.

To enter simply post your story to the Terapad Showcase forum, letting our judges and other Terapaders know all about your site.

NB: If you already have a Standard Subscription and you win, then next time you won't need to pay!

Update 16.05.08 : Please post your May 2008 entries to the May 2008 Competition topic

Terapad Forums are now Live!

		Tuesday, 06 May 08 - 04:27 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Terapad News

Over the last year of so since Terapad opened its doors, many Terapaders have asked us to implement some kind of Forum feature so they can interact with each other to provide each other with assistance and feedback when required.

As a result we are pleased to annouce our first forums going live. We will be hosting forums here on our blog in a 'beta' fashion, but if they prove popular they will be integrated into the main website at a later date.


From time to time Terapad engineers may comment in these forums to provide help and assistance to frequently asked problems. They do this out of good will to the Terapad community. We recommend that if you need support from Terapad please upgrade your package to a standard or pro offering or for a high degree of white label support, contact a Terapad Reseller.

Happy Posting!

Business Startup - April 2008

		Sunday, 27 April 08 - 03:57 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Events

This weekend saw London's Business Start-up Event at the Excel Centre. Terapad were there, and although we had a fantastic time it's fair to say we were completely overwhelmed by the positive response

Our stand was small, but was permanently crowded. Our team had to work non-stop, sacrificing all their breaks in order to speak to all those that were interested in Terapad. Unfortunately, even with our best intentions, I feel we didn't get round to speaking to everyone and for that I can only apologise. Hopefully next time we will go with twice the staff and a much larger stand!

From Raiki Healers, and Life Coaches to Online Shoe Shop Owners and  Travel Agents we met literally hundreds of individuals with great business ideas. Terapad was a perfect solution for so many of these entrepreneurs and over 700 people signed up for a free website whilst at the event. Terapad sign up rates have been over double the average so we can only assume that many more have been signing up after leaving the event.

It was a great opportunity for us to listen to our clients and get a better understanding for what they are looking for in Terapad. We are taking all that feedback on board and I believe it will benefit all Terapad users, not just those attending the show.

Robert Saleh, Sales Manager for Terapad reseller HTLonline , accompanied Terapad to the event. He was on hand to help those interested in services beyond the scope of Terapad. HTLonline took orders for creating custom Templates, providing domain names, and even maintaining computer networks. Robert commented “It was really good of Terapad to invite us along to Business Startup. Their commitment to us as a reseller is really first class, and our relationship is becoming hugely beneficial to both companies. For HTLonline this means increased sales in an area of the market we previously struggled to reach".

It’s good to hear our resellers benefit as much as we do, and if any of our other resellers would like us to attend an event with them, please contact your channel manager.

So our thanks goes out to all those who we met at the show, and especially all those who signed up All of us at Terapad wish you the very best of luck with your start-up businesses and your free Terapad websites.

Free Web Graphics for your Free Website

		Friday, 25 April 08 - 05:11 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in General

Over 80% of Terapad users are more than happy with their free website and we'd like to ecourage more people to make use of the free resources available on the Internet.

It's worth checking out www.thefreesite.com which has detailed listings of many of the free services available on the Internet - many of which link in with Terapad.

Your first 15 Minutes with Terapad

		Thursday, 03 April 08 - 03:30 PM (GMT) By Joshua Davidson in Terapad how-tos

This is a guide for those of you who would like to be taken through your first fifteen minutes with Terapad. That being said Terapad is an incredibly powerful web creation tool and if I was to list all of its features we would be here all day, so please just view this as a suggested path through its more commonly used features. To learn more you can make use of the excellent Help section and the buttons that appear throughout the control panel.

Setting up your Terapad Website

1. First things first, create your free Terapad website here, you will then be sent your Username and Password that allows you to enter the websites control panel. To enter the site simply visit,
and enter your details.


2. Once you have logged in your control panel will appear in front of you. Take a minute to notice all of the tabs that run across the top of the panel. Clicking on these tabs takes you to different features of Terapad. Clicking on the web link in the top right corner takes you to your website so that you can track changes.

3. In the tab of your control panel is ‘Your site tree’. This is the structure of your website and you can <right click> on any of the pages in the tree to edit, delete or rename the pages.

4. Use ‘Your site tree’ to group pages together into categories and sub categories. This is a great way of simplifying navigation and keeping your website attractive.


5. Fancy a new look? You can switch your sites template at any time in the tab.

6. You can even create your own unique site design using the ‘Edit CSS’ section in your tab. Visit the How-To section of the Terapad Blog to learn how to customise your template.

7. If you are itching to write something, return to your tab and delete the text currently within the box. Either, copy Ctrl+c and Paste Ctrl+v from existing documents or start to write new content. Try to keep content concise and relevant and make use of hyperlinks to other websites with relevant content. For example, when mentioning a company, highlight their name, and create a link to their website.

8. Obviously you can spend longer writing content if you wish but first you may want to check out the and tabs. These are very useful features and frequently updating the content of your site with links to other websites will help you increase your ranking in the search engines.

9. You should now check out the  tab. Web pages always look more attractive as a combination of text and images so try uploading a picture. Then return to the tab and insert an image . Select ‘Browse Server’ and you can select your image. Images are a great way of avoiding huge blocks of text on your site. When inserting pictures keep the names of the pictures relevant, e.g. a picture of Mountain Biking should be called "mountain_biking.jpg" not "DCS356.jpg" This will help with search engines.

(Resize and compress images for the web before uploading. For example an average digital camera will take a picture that is between 2MB and 7MB in size. Your computer will have a piece of photo editing software that enables you to resize an image. For example in Microsoft Office Picture Manager you will just need to click on ‘Edit Pictures’, then ‘Compress Pictures’ and then finally select ‘Web pages’.)

10. As you are now aware Terapad has loads of features but your website may not need to use them all. You can turn off the Terapad modules you are not using by clicking on the tab in your Terapad control panel and then selecting ‘Choose Modules’. You can now choose either ‘Activated’ or ‘Removed’ for the various features and remember to ‘Save’ your changes.

11. Upload a picture to appear next to news stories. Click on  in the Terapad control panel and then click on your name. You will be taken to a Modify Site Administrator page. Browse your computer for a suitable and web compressed image. When you have finished editing your profile remember to press ‘Save’.

12. At this point if you may want to upgrade your website to remove adverts and branding from your site, simply click on and then choose between Standard and Pro and follow the instructions.

13. You can access a detailed analysis of the people visiting your site through integration with Google Analytics. This is very simple to do and we have a useful How-To guide to simplify it further. You can read it here.

14. You may wish to consider adding additional features to your site. The Terapad Container Manger within the tab allows you to add additional functionality created by third parties. These could be things such as: media players, wufoo forms or world time. Simply select ‘Add Container’ then select ‘Custom Container’. Clicking on this container within the Container Manager brings up a box where you can paste the code given to you by the Plug-in provider.

15. The clock is ticking, so at this time I would suggest adding your website to a group and joining the Terapad community. To do this simply click on and follow the instructions.

Now that you have had a chance to see many of Terapad's features I suggest returning to your web pages to add more content to your site because as they say online ‘content is King’!

If you need more help and assistance then there is the tab and throughout the control panel are  buttons. Rolling your cursor over these brings up additional explanations and guidance. Upgrading your Terapad site does gives you access to email based support from outr technical team but if it is also worth considering contacting existing users for help and advice.

The possibilities for your Terapad site are endless, from functioning online business to social forum. We are here to help and really want you to make the most of your website and share the news of these great free sites with your friends and family.

All that is left to say is welcome to the community and your new website! If you follow these guides and create a great site one day we may feature your site in our community pages like we have done with these ones!

Terapad Groups and Channels – Version 2.5 released

		Tuesday, 25 March 08 - 04:13 PM (GMT) By Joshua Davidson in Terapad News

Some of you may have already noticed that we upgraded Terapad to version 2.5.0 this Easter Weekend. This new release saw the introduction of Terapad Groups, a major new feature that enables Terapad users to interact as a community. Thanks to the fact that Terapad is a hosted application the feature has already been integrated into your site and you can begin making use of this new feature straight away.

Groups
The owner of a Terapad website can now select which groups to belong to via the new ‘Groups’ tab in their sites control panel. They can choose from existing groups or suggest new ones. (Suggestions for groups are sent for approval to our Community Managers.)

For those visiting the Terapad website ‘Groups’ act as content filters in the community section, for example if you are interested in cycling selecting the ‘Cycling’ group in the community page means you can see the latest cycling related content. This could be news stories, images, jobs, products, events and forum discussions.

Channels
To coincide with the release of the Groups feature, 2.5.0 also saw the completion of the Terapad channels with several additions being added to the line up of Latest Posts, Image Wall and Featured Sites, Tag cloud and Statistics.

1. Shops
This is a new community feature that has been eagerly anticipated by all of Terapad’s existing business users and many in the wider SME market place. ‘Shops’ displays all of the latest products uploaded by Terapad users and these can be filtered into groups such as fashion and rock music, helping visitors find items of interest.

2. Job Boards
Much like with ‘Shops’, this section of the community pages can be perused for the latest positions being advertised by SME’s and filtered using groups and language.

3. Forums
The addition of a Forum channel is of particular benefit to groups who share common interests. Terapad syndicates all of the hot topics in user’s sites forums and places them in an easily accessible community page, helping communities keep track and participate in the discussions.

4. Events
The ‘Events’ channel again derives its content straight from Terapad users. Any event that a Terapad User announces using the Events tab on their sites control panel will be sent to the Events page and be displayed chronologically. These events can then be filtered by groups and language.

Combining the Groups feature with the additional Terapad channels means that Terapad can now help visitors quickly find your site, products, images and services via our Community page at http://www.terapad.com/net

To join the community simply create your own free website here. Your website will be search engine optimised and have the instant support of the entire Terapad community.

Customise your Terapad Site Part 2.

		Thursday, 06 March 08 - 02:04 PM (GMT) By Joshua Davidson in Terapad how-tos

How to Change your Footer Image

This is the second in a series of step by step guides that will demonstrate simple ways of changing the appearance of your Terapad site.

The footer image appears at the bottom of your website and is another way of illustrating the general content of your site.

It is possible to edit your Terapad site on a PC or a Mac and using any Internet Browser. However this guide assumes that you are using a PC and a version of Internet Explorer. This guide makes use of Terapad’s ‘Resurrection’ template. Before you can change your footer image you will also need access to an image editing programme. If you don’t have one that you are familiar with on your computer you can download Paint.net for free.

This guide transforms http://before.terapad.com into http://after.terapad.com. Feel free to visit both sites to get an idea of the changes.

Step 1: Save your current Footer Image

First visit your site and right click on the existing footer image. Then select ‘Save Background As’. A box will appear that asks you to name the file and decide on a location to save it to. The image is currently called feather.jpg. It will normally be saved into your 'My Pictures' folder but make sure you take note of the exact location you’re saving the image to, as you will need to locate it in the next step.

Step 2: Edit your Footer Image

There are many ways of creating your new footer image and the help file of your chosen graphics editing programme will be able to provide you with tips and hints. The two most important tasks are:

a.) Resizing an image to the exact size of the original footer, which in the case of the resurrection template is 103x51 pixels.

b.) Saving the image as a JPEG file and at a resolution of 72dpi. You must name the file so that there is no g a p s, I have called mine footer2.jpg

Step 3 uses Paint.net and is one possible method of creating your new footer image. If you want to use your own programme, simply follow the instructions above and skip to Step 4.

Step 3. Paint.net

Load Paint.net on your computer and select ‘File’ and then ‘Open’ from the top navigation bar. Browse your computer and select the existing footer image that you have just saved. You need to know the size (in pixels) of your footer image in order to replace it. Once the image is open its exact size (in pixels) will be displayed at the bottom right of the Paint.net interface. In the case of the resurrection template the image is 103x51 pixels.

Now that you know the exact size of the original footer image, you are ready to create your new one.


When choosing the image please remember that you’re new footer will have exactly the same dimensions as the original footer. So you will need to use an image with similar dimensions.

Once you have chosen an image that you wish to use, open it in Paint.net the same way as before.

Use the Rectangle Select tool from the vertical tools box and then click and drag to highlight the area of the image that you wish to become your new footer image. Once you are happy with your selection click ‘Image’ in the top navigation bar and then ‘Crop to Selection’.

You now need to resize the image. Click ‘Image’ again but this time select ‘Resize Image’. A box will pop up displaying the current size of the image. First deselect the Maintain Aspect Ratio by removing the tick from the box. Now change the dimensions of you footer image to the size you noted down earlier. The resolution of the image should be set to 72dpi.

If you are happy with your image return to the top navigation bar and select ‘File’ and then ‘Save As’. Save the file with a new name and as a JPEG, making sure that you don't include any spaces in the image title. Remember where you save the file as you will need it in the next step. A box will pop up asking you to confirm the quality of the image you are saving, simply keep it at 100% and click ‘Ok’.

Step 4: Upload the Image to your Assets

You now need to upload your new footer image. Go to your 'Assets' tab within the Terapad control panel. Click on the folder called 'images' and then 'Browse' your computer to find your newly saved footer image. Once you have found it, click 'Open' and the window will close. Now press 'Upload' and it will appear on the screen.



Once it appears, click on the blue globe under the file. You will be directed to a page which displays two lines of text. You need to copy the text in the top box as indicated in the picture above. Click in the box several times until all of the text is highlighted in blue. Then press Ctrl+c to copy it. Your computer will now remember this line of text.


Step 5: Replace the Existing Footer

Select the Layout tab in your control panel and then click on Edit CSS.
You are now going to edit the 'CSS Body'. The screen shot above shows you the section of text that you require. It is called ‘Extra DIV Element Specifications'
You can either search through the text manually or press Ctrl+f and then type in feather. If you are using a different template you will need to type in the name of the footer image that you first discovered when you right clicked and saved background as. Press ‘Enter’ or click on the 'Next' button to automatically search through the text to the places where the word appears.

Once you have found the ‘Extra DIV Element Specifications’ section look below it and locate the background URL.

It will look like this,

background: url(/csses/resurrection/images/feather.jpg) no-repeat 50% 0;
}

You only need to replace the text within brackets. Change it so that it now reads,

background: url(/resources/11744/assets/images/footer2.jpg) no-repeat 50% 0;
}


Remember to save the change you have made and now return to your website.

Step 7: Admire your Work

If your site doesn’t appear to have changed press Ctrl+r, this reloads the site. Congratulations you now have a completely unique web presence.

To see the results of following this guide you can visit http://after.terapad.com/ and see how it differs from http://before.terapad.com/

There are many more examples of people changing their footer image. Here is just a selection of our favourites:

 

Lawn Bowling rolls onto Terapad

		Thursday, 28 February 08 - 04:22 PM (GMT) By Joshua Davidson in Terapad News

A range of free website templates, designed especially for bowling clubs has appeared in the general template library.

Terapad’s design team has created a series of free templates that can be used by bowling clubs from across the world. This is huge news for the world on lawn bowling because it means that bowls clubs from across the world will never need to pay for their website ever again!


Lawn Bowls clubs will benefit from Terapad’s extensive feature list which will enable them to have the most advanced club website on the internet.  Here is just a selection of ideas for their free Terapad website:

1.) Display club information – Use the website to list contact information as well as other details about the club.

2.) Discuss news and events – Write news bulletins about the club and link to other websites that are useful to your members.

3.) Accept donations – Receive donations to support your club or any good cause you are raising money for.

4.) Engage an active online community – Join hundreds of bowling clubs setting up Terapad sites and see what they are up to in the community section.

5.) Place images and videos on your site – Add videos and pictures of your club and competitions to the site to attract new members.

6.) Recruit new volunteers - Terapad comes with a built in careers module so if you need volunteers to help run the club you can advertise for them on your website.

So as you can see a Terapad site is much more than a free website!


The templates are available from today and are completely free so sign up now at,


Simply chose a template and away you go.

Terapad is a great resource for many types of organisation and the bowls club templates are another example of how Terapad can help when an organisation needs an online presence but doesn’t have the budget to afford the hosting and design costs.
If you think that your club or organisation could benefit from a free Terapad website, please email your suggestion for templates to labs@terapad.com

Free Websites for Brass Bands

		Monday, 25 February 08 - 03:29 PM (GMT) By Joshua Davidson in Terapad News

Today Terapad have launched a range of free website templates designed especially for Brass Bands.

Terapad supports brass bands because their members are some of the most dedicated and talented musicians in the world and there are few things in music as exciting and powerful as a brass band in full flow.

Brass bands are an important part of the world’s musical heritage and future. Their style of music is popular in countries as diverse as Norway and New Zealand. So to make it easier for brass bands around the world to reach new online audiences Terapad have provided them with a free way of obtaining the most advanced websites on the net.

We recognised that a Terapad website would be a great resource for brass bands worldwide and so we decided to design and offer free websites to bands everywhere.

Terapad comes with an amazing array of features and is a great tool for experienced webmasters and new comers to web design alike. Terapad allows a brass band to create and maintain the bands site quickly and easily. You can even use your existing domain name if you have one. Plus it has advanced features that could be used to:

1.) Organise a band practice or performance – Use the forum, news feed and events calendar to arrange performances, practices or social events.

2.) Sell CD’s and merchandise – Terapad comes with a free shop that you can use to sell anything, commission free.

3.) Accept donations – Receive donations to support your band or any good cause you are raising money for.

4.) Engage an active online community – Join hundreds of brass bands setting up Terapad sites and monitor other band’s news posts in the community section.

5.) Discuss news and events – Write news bulletins that will be sent out across the internet and link to other websites such as the Bandsman.

6.) Place videos on your site – Add videos and pictures of your performances to the site to attract new fans.

7.) Recruit new band members - Terapad comes with a built in careers module so if you need a new cornet or tuba player you can let people know.

All of the websites are powered by Terapad’s unique content management system which means each website is fully customizable. Personalizing your site is easy; you can upload images of your band and venues, plus you can use the web pages to attract new members and offer instrument advice to existing members.

There will initially be two free templates for you to choose from both can be fully and easily customized following our simple ‘How-To’ guides.

The websites are available from today and are completely free so sign up now at,

http://www.terapad.com/

Simply chose a template and away you go.

These websites are accessible everywhere and are available to anyone. If you are associated with a brass band society, a music magazine or run a brass band or its website and would like to learn more about these free websites please get in contact or simply start spreading the word. Soon the sound of trumpets will be resounding all over the internet!

More Music Themed Templates now available

The sites have this week been featured on Brasscast the weekly podcast which reaches over 10,000 brass band fans from around the world.  You can listen to the podcast here.

BrassLink, a popular international website full of useful links for brass bands has also featured the Terapad sites.

... More items are available in our News Archive