Guide. Creating and Editing Your site (bandvista.com)

1) Welcome

A. What can Bandvista do for you?

Bandvista was created for musicians and is a website builder that allows anyone to create an industry leading web presence within minutes. To learn more about the service, click here.

B. Features.

Bandvista offers you industry tools such as: Photo Gallery, Mp3 Player, Calendar for your Gigs and Tour Dates, Counter, Blog. For a complete list of features click here: Features.

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2) Sign Up Process

A. General Information.

Fill in your Email address, Account Name (the URL that you can view your site at), password, and location. The Security code is designed to protect against spamming of the system. Just copy the letters into the box below. Click Start Building My Site!

B. Step 1. - Choose a title for your site.

Type in the name you want to appear on the top of your website. For example: your band name, musician name, music company, etc.

C. Step 2. - Choose a Site Style.

Select the look you want for your site. We have hundreds of templates to choose from, so take your time and fine one that fits with your personality. View any template by clicking on the preview image. You can then confirm your selection by clicking "I Want this Template."

D. Step 3. - Add a Header Image.

You can upload your own image to be used in the header of your site. We recommend a high quailty jpeg image of your band or self. To upload your picture, click on the Browse button to located your image on your computer or disk, select the location, then click Upload Image. Be patient as the upload may take up to several minutes. You can also use a stock image from our library by clicking on the Stock Image button.

Next you have the option to trim/crop your image. This will crop your image in the dimensions of the template you have selected (you can always re-crop later as many times as you like). It is important to crop your image to avoid any stretching or distortion. Just drag the image and use the zoom slider to position it the way you like. Click the Crop button to continue.

E. Step 4. - Finalize the Builder

Here you can see a general preview for the header of your website. You can make quick changes to the image or font size here. Don't worry, you can always edit these items later from your Editor. Click "Finish the Wizard" to complete the sign up process! That's it, you now are ready to add content and customize your site!!

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3) Pages on Your Site

A. Editing a Page

To make changes to an existing page on your site, simply click on the page name you want to edit in the left navigation bar. i.e. Click "Home" to edit the Home page.

B. Page Features

Each page can have up to 4 features. These features can be Text/HTML, Photos, Calendar, etc. To add a new feature to a page, simply click on an empty box you wish to add the feature and select the feature you want.

C. Page Name

You can change the name of a page by selecting the page and then renaming the page and clicking update.

D. Page Header Image

You can change the name of a page by selecting the page and then renaming the page and clicking update.

E. Page Layout

You can change the way the page is layed out. Change the order of the features into different variations by clicking on the Page Layout button and then selecting one of the graphical layouts.

F. Page Options

In the Page Options area, you can make hierarchy changes to the page. You can move it to a sub-page, make it an intro page, or even a private page unlisted from the main menu.

G. Add a New Page

You can add a new page, by clicking on the Add New Page button in the left navigation menu.

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4) Features

A. General

Features are the tools that give you access to industry resources. We want to give musicians some traction getting noticed and these are some key resources to help you do just that.

B. Text

This is the most basic important feature to allow you to easily edit and change text on any of your pages just like a word processing program. Simply click on the page you wish to edit, and click on the Text feature to edit the text in that area. Make changes and then click Save. Done.

C. Photo Gallery

The Photo Gallery allows you to upload and organize your images easily. The Photo Gallery feature allows multiple Albums. You must have at least 1 album to add images. Once you have create an album, click on the existing Album's title (in blue) to Add pictures and edit that Album. Click Upload New Photos to add up to 5 images at a time. We recommend using jpeg images under 1.5MB in size.

After you have added images, you can reorder the images by changing the numbered order you want them to appear. You can also change the Thubnail size of the images at the bottom as well as the Layout of the Thumbnail images. Click your preference and update.

D. Calendar

The Calendar allows you to let your fans and friends know when and where you are playing. Add events and information for each event to automatically show up on your calendar. You can switch between List View and Graphical View.

E. Newsletter

Keep your fans up to date on what you're doing, where you're playing and all your BIG ideas. Your fans can easily add their names to your list from your site. After they verify their email address, they will be available to receive your newsletters. To send a newsletter, click on the page with the feature, click on the Newsletter feature, then click New Message. Type your subject and body, then SEND!. You can also view your existing members, add members from a pre-existing email list and set specific options for your newsletter.

F. Hit Counter

Use this as a quick and easy resource to keep track of your visitors and how popular you are!

G. HTML Code

Use this feature to add video from YouTube, Myspace, or any other HTML code you wish to add to your page.

H. Video

Add Youtube and Myspace videos to your page, by adding an HTML box on your page and cutting and pasting the code for your video from youtube, myspace, or any other site.

I. Audio

See the Site Wide Audio Player.

J. E-Store

The E-Store allows you to sell your merch and music online! This exciting feature lets you simply add products to your store, set prices and a description about the product. To configure your store all you need to do is link it to your PayPal (www.paypal.com) by typing in the email address associated with your paypal account. This will make sure you receive all payments and order notifications. Your customers will simply click on the Add to Cart button for each product and checkout using all major forms of payment.

K. Guestbook

This feature allows your visitors to post public messages on your site. You can edit or delete any posting by clicking on the feature and then on the message you wish to edit.

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5) Site Style - Overall Design of Site

A. Changing your Site Style (design template)

You can easily change the overall design of your site by clicking this option, selecting a new template and clicking Update. Beware that if you made any font adjustments, they will be overwritten by the new template.

B. Header Text Style

You can change the font and size of your header text on this page. Simply select and update.

C. Button Text Style

You can change the font and size of your button text on this page. Simply select and update.

D. Headline Text Style

You can change the font and size of your headline (title boxes above your features) text on this page. Simply select and update.

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6) Uploading and Editing Header Images

To upload a new Header Image to use on any of your pages, simply click on the Header Image link from the left navigation and then Add More Header Images. Browse your Computer or disk to find the image and upload. It will now be available to add this image to any specific Page as a Header Image. We recommend jpeg images under 1.5MB.

A. Cropping - Avoid Stretching/Distortion

After you upload a new header image, you can add it to any page. Click on Header Images from the left main menu. You will see a list of all your current header images. Select Re-crop this image for the header you wish to edit and click apply to use the crop tool. After you have adjusted the picture to your liking, click the crop button to save your work. You can always re-crop from the original image, so feel free to experiment!

B. Coloring

By going to the Header Image area, you can also select from the drop-down menu to Colorize or Not to Colorize the image based on the Template you are using. The default selection is to colorize the header image. Click Apply to make the changes.

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7) Header Text - Title

To change the Title or Header Text of your entire site, click on this link from the left navigation. Type your new Title and click Update.

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8) Timezone

Select your timezone here. Good to have for your newsletters, blog and guestbook.

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9) Site Wide Audio Player

A. General.

This is an MP3 Player that will play your music the entire time a user is browsing your site on any page.

B. How to Upload

First, make sure your audio is in MP3 format. Then click on the Site-Wide Audio Player link in the left navigation. Click on Upload a New Track to add your first song. Use the Browse button to locate the file on your computer. Then fill out the remaining information about the Track: Title, Description and the quality you want for your site. We are beginning to recommend the highest quality 112kbps as high-speed internet use goes up, but it is up to you. Then click Upload Track. Please be PATIENT, this process may take several minutes depending on the size of the file. Also keep individual tracks under 10MB.

C. Extra Options

After you upload your music, you can update the order they play in, player options and more by clicking on the options link.

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10) File Manager

The file manager allows you to upload files such as (pdf, jpeg, gif, xls) and link them to your site. For example if you have a press kit saved as a PDF file, you can allow people to download this directly from your site.

A. Uploading Files

Click on the File Manager link under Advanced Options. Select one of the 3 boxes to browse your hard drive or disk and find the file you wish to upload.

B. Additional Information

Each individual file is limited to 10MB. You also can rename the file in your File Manager to make an easier URL for your users.

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11) New Ideas, Features and More Coming.

This service was created by musicians and we are dedicated to you in making it a complete service for all of your needs. We love hearing ideas from you, so please let us know your thoughts!!

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