Frequently Asked Questions
Thank you for visiting the FAQ page on AltGlobe! Here, you can find questions that our users have asked us along with the respective answers. If you have any questions and you wish to add them to the list, simply click on the Submit FAQ under the My Globe section of the top menu, fill in the short form and you will receive our prompt response. If you would like to keep your questions confidential, feel free to email us at admin@altglobe.com.
Blogging
Questions related to blogging and bloggers on AltGlobe
Yes, you can take advantage of this feature to add a personal touch to your AltGlobe blog! When you are logged into the site, you will see an option in the right sidebar that says "Blog Header Image." Clicking on this link will take you to a screen where you can upload a banner image. Images should be 800x120 px or they may be distorted. Allowed file types are gifs, jpgs, or png files, no bigger than 5 MB.
1st option to upload an image
The best option, and actually a requirement for bloggers who post to the Featured Blogs pages, is the Attached Image option.
The first image that is uploaded through the Attached Image option will appear as a thumbnail on the teasers views, like here.
This option is located at the bottom of the Blog form and is a collapsable menu. Note, it is not the image upload from the body of the blog post. All images uploaded through the Attached Image option will be part of the image slideshow that accompanies your blog post.
2nd option to upload an image
The second option is to add an image through the editor, which is very similar to a Word document editing application. This editor is located in the body of the blog post submission form.
Click on the Insert/Edit Image icon, and then follow the instructions in the popup window to select and upload your image.
Here are our general guidelines for posting blogs on AltGlobe.com and several tips to help you out.
Original materials - All blogs posted to AltGlobe ("AG") should be original, unique materials written by the blogger who submits them to the website. (Learn more about adding content to AltGlobe on our Terms of Use page).
Complete articles (Blog Posts) - Only complete articles will be accepted. Nevertheless, feeds from Bloggers' external blogs will appear in some places only as teasers or lists that are click-throughs to the original article/blog on their sites.
Who can blog on AltGlobe? - Everyone can blog on AltGlobe! It does not matter if you are an experienced blogger or a newbie that is about to start with his or her first blog post ever. Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a student here, therefore the possibilities to grow your audience, relationships and knowledge are endless.
Your blog content - Share with us your knowledge, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and experiences from life and enrich us with your positive solutions for them (if you have any). Our bloggers talk about all aspects of life from home and garden to health, well being, education, food, and so much more. The unique thing with AltGlobe bloggers is that they all write about the positive aspects of these issues. For example, popular topics on AG include Organic Gardening, Green Living, Sustainable Products, etc.
Only post things that you wish to share with the rest of the world on AltGlobe. After submitting your blog (or feed), its content will be available to many people who are part of our network. See below for more info about "spreading your word."
No advertisements on blogs - To advertise your holistic services, your web site or sustainable products, there are other forums available on AltGlobe that you can use, rather than blog posts. If you did not find your way to display your products or services, email us and and we will help you out.
Word editor use - You may use the rich text editor or HTML to add formatting to your blog such as headers, bullets and other features. As a blogger on AG you get a bigger selection of features that can help you with putting your blog together. This editor is pretty much like a Word document. Click here for more information on formatting your blogs with HTML. If you did not choose to be a Blogger on AltGlobe when you registered, email us asking to become a blogger and obtain free access to the AG editor.
Spreading the word about your blog - As a member and a blogger of the AltGlobe community, your blog post will be available to all AltGlobe's website users and to the broader AltGlobe community on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and others. This will happen automatically once your blog is approved by our team. Nevertheless, if you want to draw more attention to your AltGlobe blog post, use the links at the bottom of your AltGlobe blog page to submit your post to any of the social networking sites.
Supporting media in your blog post - If you use someone else's media to express your idea on your blog, make sure that you have the rights to do that, as described in our Terms of Use. If you do have the rights, properly cite the creator of the original work.
Blogging FAQs
Basic blogging tips
Why blog with AltGlobe
Recent blogs on AltGlobe.com
The Globar is a great tool for discovering Positive Alternative content from people who are committed to making the world a better place, each in his or her own creative way.
Here is an example of the Globar on one of our Blogger's posts.
The bar has exciting features that are available to everyone who follows the AltGlobe ("AG") links from any place they appear on the web. Note that the Globar will appear only on web pages owned by Members of the AltGlobe community and who have posted their Blogger Feed to their AltGlobe account.
What does the Globar do?
- Vote on Content - Anyone can share his or her opinion on AltGlobe Blogs by giving (or not) a "hug" to the post that was just read. More votes (hugs) will promote the post on the AltGlobe home page, search results, and other lists.
- Search Blogs - The Search Blogs link enables logged in users to search AltGlobe blogs with an option to use the advanced search.
- Related Links - Clicking on this button will give you a list of the most related blogs to the current post you are on. In case there are no related links, the button will not appear.
- More (from this user) - This option will give you a list of 5 other posts from the blogger whose post you are currently visiting.
- Random Blogs - With this button, you can browse random blogs from AltGlobe's database.
- Join & Blog - A link to more information about joining as a Blogger on AltGlobe.
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Send this post to a friend. -
Share this post on your Facebook wall. -
Tweet this post. - Edit - If you are viewing your own blog post, then an Edit link will appear. This link allows you to edit your AG blog and will not affect your own blog's or website's content.
- X - Close the bar and stay on the blogger's website.
More features are coming up! Stay tuned as new features become available!
A Blogger Feed is a form that Bloggers on AltGlobe ("AG") fill in with their RSS Feed. This populates their AG's blog with their original blog's or website's content automatically.
Find out here how to incorporate your blog's RSS Feed to AltGlobe.
To manage your RSS Feed, go to your account (www.altglobe.com/user) and look for the tab that says Blogger Feed. Once there, click on it and on the new page scroll down and configure your blog's feed.
Make sure that you copied the right url from your website and pasted it on AG. If you are not sure where to find your RSS feed url, ask your programmer or your blog system support. If that does not help, email us your user name on AltGlobe and a link to your external blog/website and we will do our best to help you incorporate you blog's feed to AG.
Some HTML tags, such as header tags and images, will not work in the basic input mode.
Just below your text editor (while editing or creating the content) you will see an option that says "Input Format." If you open this menu, you will have the option to save your blog in "Full HTML" mode, which will display your code to readers as you see it on the editor.
Note, FULL HTML is available only for Bloggers on AG.
MUST DO! If you are copying and pasting text from another website, fist copy the text to a notepad (to get rid of all the "junk" HTML) and paste it into your AG blog post's body. You can do the same thing in the body editor itself by selecting all the text you wrote and clicking the Remove Format button, which is located at the top of the editor.
Advanced Option - If you are familiar with HTML, you can see and play with the code by clicking the "Source" button at the top left corner of your editor. To go back to the previous state, just click the "Source" button again.
Check out some basic blogging tips here
Why should you blog with AltGlobe
Recent blogs on AltGlobe
Registration and Login
Questions related to the registration and login process
Anyone can share a link to any content posted on AltGlobe! To do that, go to the page where the content you want to forward appears and look for the Forward icon (
). Click the icon and follow the simple form instructions. After submitting the form, you will be redirected to the page you visited before.
Go to "Invite friends to AltGlobe" link, which you can find on your right hand side.
Drop in your friend's email, a private message, and send the invitation.
Your invitee, once registered, will become your friend automatically.
If you want to share content from AltGlobe with your friends, read this short FAQ.
How to Invite a Friend to AltGlobe - Detailed answer
1. On your right sidebar look for the My Links block and click the Invite a Friend to AltGlobe.
2. Send an email and invite your friends: you can choose to invite friends using an email address/es by writing them down or copying and pasting from a list (The tab called Invite, which is the default tab). See more details below.
3. Import your contacts: choose to import your contacts from more than 50 networking websites. Note, some of the websites on the drop down list will not work for you. We know that Gmail does work if you use your email instead of the usersame (tab called Import Contacts). See more details below.
4. If you chose to invite your friends by copying and pasting their email address/es, read the followings:
- Fill in the e-mail address(es) of the person(s) you would like to invite, and add a personal message.
- Press submit.
- This will send an invitation e-mail which you can now track from the 'Your invitations' page.
- Invitations show up as: accepted, pending, expired, or, in the special case, deleted.
- Accepted: Shows that the person you have invited has accepted the invitation to join the site. Click on the e-mail address to watch the user's profile page.
- Pending: The invitation has been sent, but the invitee has still not accepted the invitation.
- Expired: The invitation has not been used to register within the expiration period.
- Deleted: The user account has been terminated.
- Choose the website to import from.
- Insert your user name or email address and password.
- Click import Contacts.
- Once opened, choose contacts you want to invite and click Send Invite Request.
- This will send an invitation e-mail which you can now track from the 'Your Invitations' page.
- Invitations show up as: accepted, pending, expired, or, in the special case, deleted.
- Accepted: Shows that the person you have invited has accepted the invitation to join the site. Click on the e-mail address to watch the user's profile page.
- Pending: The invitation has been sent, but the invitee has still not accepted the invitation.
- Expired: The invitation has not been used to register within the expiration period.
- Deleted: The user account has been terminated.
You may terminate your Membership at any time, for any reason, by emailing us. Please include your user name in the email.
Webinars
Questions related to the AltGlobe webinars
Why write your Webinar on AltGlobe?
- Your webinar will be featured on the main page of AltGlobe.com.
- Webinar blog posts may be featured on other networking websites, as well as online topic-related groups that AltGlobe is a member of (such as Facebook, Myspace, Care2, and Yahoo Groups, to mention a few).
- You can upload audios, embeded videos from other websites, and create an image gallery related to your blog and have it available to your readers, all on the same form.
- Receive access to email and phone support with your webinar.
How do you become a Webinar writer?
Before you apply, please put together your webinar proposal, which should include:
- Title of the course (webinar) — not more than five words.
- A two-sentence summary of the entire course.
- Titles for the four posts that you will be writing.
- A two-sentence summary ("blurb") for each post.
- The day of the week you would like the webinar to be published — you will provide one post each week on the same day for four weeks in a row.
Send us an email with your complete proposal. We will respond to you shortly.
Tips for creating successful proposals
Each blog post in your webinar should meet the following criteria to make it attractive to readers and ready to be featured on our front page:
- Choose interesting titles. Come up with something new and attractive that will surprise our reader and make them want to read more.
- Format posts to make them easy to read. Use bullets and subheadings to break up blocks of text. Choose strong keywords for subheadings.
- Each post in the webinar should be approximately 300-400 words.
- To see examples of how your blog should be written and presented, go to the Webinars page and browse the existing webinars and blogs.
Happy blogging,
The AltGlobe Team
E-mail us your proposal!
Tech Support
Questions related to technical issues on AltGlobe
The access to the Globar is through the AltGlobe website, a link from different places on the web or through a direct link a friend sent to you. For example, if you click on any of the blogs on the front page of AltGlobe, it will open up with the bar. If you go to a blogger's profile and click on one of his/her posts, it will open up with the bar. This is true for other places on the AltGlobe website. Note, some of the blogs on AG will not open up with the bar.
That would be very simple!
Go to your account, then to the Edit tab, choose Profile from the sub-tabs and once the profile form is open, scroll down and find your address.
You can drop the fields you do not want to share and leave the fields you do.
Note that the Zip Code and Country fields must be filled out.
That would be easy!
Go to the content you wish to erase, click on the Edit tab at the top. When the form opens, scroll all the way down, you will see the Delete button, click on it and confirm your deletion.
Note, this action cannot be undone.
If you do not see the Edit tab at the top of your content, that means that you are not logged in to the site. If you are logged in and you still cannot edit your content, email us asap.
First visit the person's profile page whom you want to add as a friend.
Now look for the link on his or her profile - on the right side of the screen - that says
"Relationship actions Become [friend's name]'s Friend"
Click on that and you will see a small popup that asks you to simply introduce yourself, then click on "Send".
Once you click the Edit tab on your account page, you will see a tab called Profile. Click it and make the necessary changes.
Using Your Gmail Account:
Go to your Gmail Settings> Accounts; click on "Add another email address"; enter your altglobe email. Send a confirmation to your Gmail, as directed by Google. Once you confirmed the new address, you are ready to send emails from your altglobe.com address using Gmail.
Using your Yahoo Mail Plus Account:
Step1: On Mail Classic mode, choose Options> Mail Options. Click on Mail Addresses, click on Add. Select an account name.
Step2: Enter your name and your email address yourname@altglobe.com; click on continue
Step3: Type in Mail Server: mail.altglobe.com; username: yourname@altglobe.com ; password: your password. Leave other options as default.
Using your Outlook Account:
Go to Tools>Email Accounts... Select Add a new email account; select server type: POP3 and click on Next.
Type in User information: your name and the email name@altglobe.com ; in the logon information: user name: yourname@altglobe.com ; password: the password for your altglobe email; server information: for both incoming and outgoing, enter mail.altglobe.com. Test and click on finish.
You can have an Altglobe email, definitely. This email will be composed from your user name and @altglobe.com.
Send us an email request and we will get back to you shortly.
If you wish to automatically forward your emails, which will be sent to your username@altglobe.com, to other email accounts (like gmail, yahoo, etc), note that in your email and add the address you wish to use for that.
See also, How do I configure my outgoing mail to use my Altglobe email address?
