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How to Use Site

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We hope this page addresses most or all of your questions about joining and using this website.  If you find that something was overlooked, use the Contact Us link (at left) & tell us what you need.

It's absolutely critical that you, our friends & classmates, feel comfortable about joining and using the site.  After all:  it belongs to YOU!   Without your participation, there's no point to it, or to having a 50th Reunion!  

We hope you will take your time & carefully read this page so you get the most benefit from the site.  In today's climate, it's perfectly reasonable to have reservations about the internet, email, spam, and scams.  Our goal here is to put you at ease.

When you're done reading, if you still have anxiety/fears/doubts about entrusting your information and joining this effort, won't you please-please-please Contact Us before you completely reject the idea out-of-hand? 

We need YOU to re-establish connections---and at this point in our lives, if not now, when??      

                                                           ---Your 50th Reunion Steering Committee

         

SITE LAYOUT & LINGO

All site visits begin on the 'Home Page'.  On it is the 'Log In Box'  where class members who've already joined enter their email address & password allowing them access to areas closed to the public (& internet search engines) . 

(FYIPasswords are created by you when you complete a Profile Page--see below.)

The lefthand column is a vertical list of 'Navigational Links'.  (The first set begins with 'Classmate Profiles' and ends at 'Home Page'.).  When clicked on, each 'tab'  takes you to a different area ('page') of site content.

The second set of links in the lefthand column is titled 'Member Functions'.  (This set begins with 'Message Center' and ends with 'Log Out'.)  When clicked on, these links take you to the tools you need to manipulate/remove/add some of the content that is housed on the site.  These 'operational' tools or 'functions' are what make the site 'interactive'--and such a very valuable device for our objectives.

 

PRIVACY

Information you provide via this site is kept confidential & private.  It is not shared or distributed.  As of April 18, 2013, no classmate is shown your street address, phone number, or email address.  (This information is accessible to the Website Administrator/Reunion Committee Chairs but it will never be released.  In fact, the only way classmates can acquire the address, phone or email for another classmate is if it is provided directly to them by that individual.)

All areas of the site are password-protected except: 

  • Home
  • Classmate Profiles *
  • First Visit & FAQ's
  • 1963 History/Videos
  • Contact Us

               * Only names are shown on the Classmate Profiles page.

Again, NO ONE can access contact information.  Nonmembers cannot access profile information.  And nonmembers cannot see password-protected parts of the site. 

Classmates who have joined can only see what you let them.  Read on to learn how this is accomplished and what other security is at your disposal.

 

YOUR PROFILE & SITE ACCESS

By completing the profile associated with your name in Classmate Profiles, you are effectively 'joining' the site. 

Membership is completely free to all classmates of Niles Twp. East & West H.S. Class of '63.  You will never be asked to pay to join and use the site. 

Anyone who went to Niles East or West as part of the Class of '63 is invited.  Membership is not restricted to graduates.

Each time you visit www.nilehi63.com, Log In on the Home Page with your email address and whatever password you created when you completed your profile.  [ * Make a note of both for future reference.]  Once logged in, you have automatic access to all areas. 

Use the Log Out tab (at left) when you exit the site.

To truly benefit from the website, it is IMPORTANT that you:

  • Never remove your address and phone number.  We need to know how to contact you with future reunion & other materials.
  • Immediately put noreply@classcreator.net on your "safe senders" list (an action also known as "whitelisting") This ensures that emails from us make it to your Inbox.  Otherwise they may end up in the 'junk' or 'spam' folders of your email program.
  • Always keep your email address & contact info current.  Should anything change after you join, use the Edit Profile and Edit Contact Info links under 'Member Functions' at left for any updates.

 

CREATING YOUR PROFILE

  • Click on Classmate Profiles 
  • Find & click on your name **
  • Follow the instructions & create a profile  (Your senior yearbook photo will be there if one was taken.) 

** If your name isn't found, tell us immediately (use Contact Us at left) & it will be taken care of.      

Choose a privacy level at the bottom of the Profile form by checking (or unchecking) the options listed.  (Carefully read each description so you know what will happen to the information involved.)

  • Profile Visibility
  • Contact Details  **
  • Birthday
  • Classmate Comments

**  Since April 18th, 2013, there is no need to be concerned about ANYONE seeing your contact information as this is no longer viewable by anyone except the Site Administrators/Reunion Committee Chairs who will not release it under any circumstances without your express permission.

NOTHING IS WRITTEN IN STONE!  Make changes using the Edit Contact Info & Edit Profile links at left.

Notice that you can personalize your Profile Page.   Try adding things such as:

  • narrative (what you've been up to since 1963,;tales from school days; details about your life's work, family, travels, interests)
  • photographs (see 'Adding Photos' below)
  • videos(See 'Adding Videos' below)

 

EMAIL:  COMMUNICATING VIA THE SITE        

Your e-mail address is private & not viewableIt is securely stored within the site.

Emails exchanged through the site do not display your personal email address. The return address that shows is: JohnDoe/noreply@classcreator.com.

To send an e-mail message to a classmate through the site, use the "Send a private message to ______________" box at the bottom of their Profile Page.

To receive email messages from classmates via the site, click on the Message Center tab at left under "Member Functions".

Unless you actually write out your personal email address within the body of your message, no classmate can acquire it from us or via the site.

Email addresses are essential for us (the Niles East-West 50th Reunion Steering Committee) to contact you with important reunion information. 

(For those who don't have a computer or use email in any way, shape, or form, it is your physical address, of course, that's most important!)

You will get two automatic email messages from us:

  • a confirmation when you complete your profile
  • update reminders every 6 months after joining the site

Others are sent as necessary.

Log In often to keep up with the latest developments, site changes, reunion info.

 

MESSAGE CENTER

The Message Center and the Message Forum (discussed below) are two different things & should not be confused.

The Message Center is where your emails are kept:  those you receive ('INBOX') and those that you send ('OUTBOX'). 

A 'key' (or 'legend') at the top of the page displays symbols used to indicate the status of a message.  One of the symbols will be to the left of every email that is listed.

Adjacent to each one, there is:

  • a checkbox
  • a status symbol
  • a 'Sender' name (INBOX)
  • a 'Sent To' name (OUTBOX)
  • a subject & date
  • a red "X"

Use the Message Center to manage your email contacts with classmates:

To open the actual message, click on 'Subject'.

To open a person's Profile Page, click on 'Sender's Name'.

To dispose of ('delete') a message, click on the Lefthand box (or on the righthand red 'X') which turns the background red; this 'selects' the message for removal when you  click on the "Delete Checked Thread" tab at the bottom of the page.

    

MESSAGE FORUM:  GROUP DISCUSSION VIA THE SITE

The Message Forum is an ongoing conversation that can move from one topic to another.  Newest entries are at the top of the conversational thread. 

In order to keep up with what's currently being discussed, you should check this section of the website on a regular basis. 

There is no 'subscription' to it; therefore, no email notifications are sent out when fresh comments have been posted.

When you click the 'Post Message' tab, a screen opens up with an 'Editor Window' into which you type the text of your message.  Except for 'buttons' or 'tabs' which allow for more sophisticated entries (photos, graphics, source codes, special edit tools), the basics are there for you to create and edit what you write:  font types, font sizes, text color, etc. 

 

ADD PHOTOS TO YOUR PROFILE

Yes, you can add your own photos to your Profile Page

Upload a current picture of yourself, your spouse, your family, pets, vacations, old photos from high school, college, past reunions--whatever you'd like to share.

  • There's no limit to the # of pictures you can put on your Profile
  • Each photo is automaticallly resized by the system to fit
  • You can add, delete, or replace your own photos

The instructions (below) assume there's a file somewhere on your computer in which your digital photos are kept.  (For most people, it's 'My Pictures' in the 'My Documents' or 'Libraries' folder.) 

To upload photos: 

  • Log In on the Home Page of nilehi63.com.
  • Click Edit/Upload Photos (at left under Member Functions)

The Photo Page appears.

** Notice the Movie Icon titled 'Help Video' at the upper right.  Stop  and watch it before you proceed with uploading.To view the video, click on the underlined text:  Introduction to the Image Editor.

To proceed, now:

  • Click on the gray box, 'Upload New Photo'

The Add Photo page appears (a/k/a "Image Editor V. 1.1")

  • Click on 'Browse'.  (You'll be taken to the files on your computer.) 
  • Locate & open the folder that contains what you want to upload.
  • Select the pictures you want (either one at a time, or in a batch).
  • Click Open at the bottom of the page.

As that windows closes, you will see the system pulling your chosen picture(s) into the window of the Image Editor V. 1.1 screen.

  • Make changes using the 'buttons' in the Image Editor as described in the video.
  • Click 'Save Changes'  (a grey screen overlay appears)
  • Click 'OK'

To see the pictures just uploaded, click the 'Gallery' tab of the Image Editor.

Click 'Return to Site'.

You are now back to the opening page of the Edit/Upload Photos section.

Here you can:

  • Add a Caption for each Photo
  • Delete a photo (clicking the 'Delete' box highlights that entry in red)
  • Edit a photo (clicking Edit returns you to the Image Editor window)

ALWAYS click 'Save Changes' at the bottom of the page to make it happen!

 

ADD VIDEOS TO YOUR PROFILE

Yes, you can put a personal video on your Profile Page--one you've made or one from YouTube.com or elsewhere!

(A Side Note:  the program (classcreator.com) with which our class site was constructed directs users to employ YouTube.com for the purpose of getting the 'embed code' needed to upload any video to a website.)

With this in mind, watch the following tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzSwnbxb9TY.  (The title of it is: 'YouTube 101: How to Upload '  and it's very entertaining!)

[Note this tip:  choose the private option when YouTube prompts you for it during this process so your video isn't available to actually be seen on YouTube.com.)

After watching the video, you should know how to:

  • upload your video to YouTube.com,
  • get your video's 'embed code' by copying it (to your clipboard)

Here's how to put a video on your Profile once you've gotten its 'embed code' :

  • Click on Edit Profile (at left under Member Functions)
  • Scroll down to the Movie Icon/Help Video
  • Click on it & watch

Having copied the code (to your clipboard) and pasted it where indicated on the Edit Profile page (per the Help Video), don't forget to click 'Save Changes' at the bottom

Your video(s) should be good to go!