Common Questions

Image Preparation

• What image formats does liveBooks support?liveBooks requires that you use standard .jpg files.
• What program should I use to size my images? We recommend using the Save for Web feature in Adobe® Photoshop® to create high-quality images for upload. This is not a requirement, and any image editing application can be used.
• What does the "resize image upon upload" checkbox mean? When you select this option before uploading, larger image files will be scaled down to the appropriate size for your site. This feature will treat all images with the same level of compression. This does not always yield as high-quality results as hand-edited images. We always recommend that for best results you resize images prior to upload so you have the opportunity to assess image quality before displaying it on your site.

Going Live

• I am ready to go live. What is next? Now that you are ready, please submit a go-live request in the Support section and include:
  • 1. Your domain name: the domain name for your liveBooks site.
  • 2. Your domain registrar: the company where your domain name was registered (such as Network Solutions or GoDaddy).
  • 3. Your registration login: the username and password for the domain name account.
  • 4. Your desired email addresses: any email address you'd like, or currently have, @yourdomain.com.
  Unless you are going live on a brand new domain name, please be sure to back up your email to a local folder.
• What is the difference between my "host" and my "domain registrar"? Your "hosting" company provides space on its servers for your websites files. It also provides server space for email and FTP. Your "domain registrar" is the company you paid to register your domain name (e.g., domain.com). Some companies do both.
• Will my email/site be down during the "going live" process? No. As long as we receive the correct information, the transition is seamless.
• Now that I am live, do I need to continue hosting with my old host? No. liveBooks is now your hosting company and we will handle all your website hosting needs.

FTP

• Can I use Fetch to upload to my FTP space? No. The editSuite enables you to upload content to your FTP space without using third-party software. It also enables you to deliver content to clients via FTP (so they don’t have to use third-party software). We have designed these tools to protect the security of your images and website. If you have specific questions on using the FTP interface, please view the video tutorial in Support.
• How much space do I have in my FTP? Depending on the website package you purchased, you have between 1GB and 3GB of space available for all of your website content, including FTP.
• Can I upload ".html sites" through my FTP? Yes. Using the FTP tool integrated into the editSuite, you can upload folders (as long as they are compressed) with entire .html sites in them. You will be able to access them using: www.yourdomain.com/foldername.

Search Engines

• Will Google™ be able to find my site even though it is built in Flash? Yes. All liveBooks sites are built with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. The editSuite gathers data from the content you add to your Flash site (image info, image names, portfolio names, keywords, etc.) and embeds it in a dynamically generated mirror HTML site. This mirror site is viewed by visitors who do not have Flash Player. It also engages search engines, improving your ranking.
• How long will it take for me to be searchable on Google? Once you have filled out your Google module and submitted your info to them, it can take several weeks for Google to fully search, index, and spider your site to make it available for search.
• What part of my site/keywords does Google rank highest? The following is the order of importance when it comes to ranking: site title, domain name, site description, image title, image description, site keywords, image keywords, .jpg file names.
• What can I do to increase my search rankings? Your liveBooks editSuite gives you control over reaching your search term goals by allowing you to create and edit searchable html content that resides below the Flash face of your site. Please read through the items listed below for suggestions on how to enhance your existing site utilizing the optimization tools that are already included.
  
  1) Create a keyword strategy -
  Before diving into your site it is important to prioritize which terms and phrases are pertinent to your business and effective enough to begin driving traffic to your site. The word 'photographer' is popular and highly competitive but combined with other refining terms related to your unique style, location, medium, or subject matter you will have more effective search phrases.
  
  2) Main website search info -
  To begin optimizing your liveBooks site for search, log into your editSuite and access the Search Engine Optimization module found under the Resources tab. Within this module you have the ability to edit the highest level searchable content on your website beginning with the title, description, and keywords.
  
  Title - Your website title appears both at the top of the browser window when your site is viewed as well as in the header for search results for you website. Your website title should be very concise, focussing on the most important of your key terms.
  
  Description - This field allows you more room to elaborate on information about yourself and business. As a general guideline your description can range from a few words to a few sentences but should be coherent and focused.
  
  Keywords - Keywords in this area are considered to have less importance to modern search engines. The keyword field should be used for common misspellings, any terms that were not included in your title and description and should be limited to 160 words or less.
  
  * As a best practice we suggest a length of 70 characters for title, 170 characters for description, and generally 5-7 keywords be used.
  
  3) Submit your site to search engines -
  Within the Search Engine Optimization module we have built in links to submission pages for all major search engines. Simply click the link and follow the instructions on each respective page. Although this step is not necessary it allows you to directly inform search engines of your websites existence.
  
  4) Search landing page -
  In the latest release we have added a specialized HTML page specifically aimed at helping you target rankings for specific keywords. The search landing page differs from the HTML ghost site in that it can be found and viewed through search engine results. Control of the content displayed on this page is accessed under the second tab at the top of the Search Engine Optimization module. The fields here can be filled out with redundant information from the primary search info, used to diversify with more narrow terms, or focus on secondary facets of your business.
  
  5) Portfolio naming -
  The names of your portfolios are reflected in the URLs of the HTML ghost site that the search engines crawl and index. It is important to consider how these names relate to the keywords you would like to have associated with your site. Portfolios with names such as portfolio1, portfolio2 are less likely to help you versus more specific titles such as still photography, portrait photos, etc.
  
  6) Image naming and info -
  Similarly, proper image naming can only help add pertinent search content to your site. Images with file names such as DSC001.jpg, DSC002.jpg miss a huge opportunity to present data to the search engines. Through your editSuite you have the ability to upload images with meta-data intact as well as add image titles, descriptions, and keywords through the 'edit' button found in the lightbox module.

General Issues

• How do I log in to editSuite? The liveBooks editSuite is your easy-to-use online admin tool, allowing you to upload images, arrange your portfolios and manage your website.
  
  Use the form below to access the login screen of your editSuite, where you will be asked for your username and password.
  
  http://www.livebooks.com/support/editsuite-login
  LiveBooks will never change your login information without you requesting it to be reset. If you are receiving a 'login session expired or invalid' error when logging in there are a few things to keep in mind.
  
  First, the login fields are case sensitive. Please be sure that you are entering your login information in the right case.
  
  If you are new to liveBooks and cannot log in please make sure that you are using the login information sent to you in your delivery email along with the links to your editSuite.
  
  The license and design form login information is not valid to access your editSuite.
  The password recovery feature is only available once you have assigned an email address in the editSuite for this purpose.
  
  If you still cannot log into your editSuite please contact the support team via the online support tool.
• How do I reset my editSuite password? Once you are logged in, select resources > account info/password > administrator. Click the password box, enter your new password, and confirm. Enter your email address, then select "ok" and "save."
• Does liveBooks support music upload? Yes. You can upload .mp3's (with permission of the artists) and assign music to your homepage, each portfolio, and any uploadable pages.
• Does liveBooks support movies/slideshows? Yes. You can upload a movie/slideshow and media files. You can list them in a drop-down menu that you name.
  
  You can upload the following video, movie, music, and media file types:
  mov, swf, flv, wmv, avi, mpg, mpeg, mp3, mp4, pdf, html and zip. HTML websites containing multiple files (such as web galleries) should be compressed to a zip file.
  
  Note: We cannot guarantee that all supported file types are compatible with every website viewer's browser. Some files may require a browser plug-in to play, or may not play as expected on all browsers.
• Can I sell my prints using my liveBooks site? Yes. You can assign print sizes, descriptions, and prices to your portfolios, as well as predefined shipping costs. The shopping cart also includes full PayPal® integration.
• Are there any "password protected" areas on my liveBooks site? Yes. In each area you can include a custom landing page where you greet your client/collaborator and display password-protected portfolios and HTML web galleries.
• How do I rename a portfolio or a library? 1. Log in to your editSuite
  2. On the "Edit Content" tab, click on "Name Portfolios and Libraries"
  3. Click on "Portfolios" or "Libraries" and mouse down to the portfolio or library that you want to change
  4. Click "rename" and edit the name, then click "save"
• Do I get email with my liveBooks site? Yes, as part of the standard hosting for our professional packages, every client gets up to 5 email address @yourdomain.com.
  
  We support both the POP and IMAP email protocols, and also offer a web-based method to access email.