The Turnkey Website User Guide

 

INDEX

  1. Getting Started/Installation.
  2. Logging-In.
  3. The Administration Console.
    1. Administering Your Blog.
    2. Administering Google Gadgets.
      1. Google Anlytics Tracking Codes.
      2. Google Calendars.
      3. Google Picasa Photo Albums.
      4. Google Maps.
      5. Google Videos.
      6. YouTube Videos.
    3. Administering Web Pages.
      1. The Integrated Content Editor.
      2. Numbering Pages.
    4. Administering Testimonials.
    5. Administering Users.
    6. Administering Your Website's Global Settings.
    7. Administering Your Web Storefront.
    8. Administering Your Price List.
    9. Editing Your Profile.
  4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
  5. UTF-8 Language Support.
  6. Email
  7. Making a Back-Up copy of your website.

 

 

1. Installation of The Turnkey WebsiteTM

The Turnkey WebsiteTM is a hosted web-application written in the Ruby language. There is no software that is installed on your computer. The Turnkey WebsiteTM can be installed on any web hosting service that provides current support for the Ruby on Rails Framework as well as adequate documentation of their hosted server capabilities. Both are needed. 

To get started with the Turnkey WebsiteTM, you will need an account with a web hosting service. We recommend a starter account from Bluehost. After that, Turnkey WebworksTM will do the rest. When we hand you the keys to your new website, everything will have been take care of for you. 

 

2. Logging into The Turnkey WebsiteTM

Once we've set-up The Turnkey WebsiteTM on your behalf, we will then create a user ID of your choice, assign administration privileges and set a default password. Pick any password you like; no restrictions. You only need to click the log-in link in the bottom, left corner of your web site to have full and secure control over your web site.

Your log-in ID could be your name or your email address or anything you may choose. The security system is not case sensitive so you do not have to worry about whether or not you capitalized your ID or password. We have also removed all of the obtuse and annoyingpassword requirements thatare common on the web. Rather than impose annoying log-in requirements on everyone, we leave it to you to be prudent and to determine what works best for you. At Turnkey WebworksTM, we keep it simple.

 

3. The Administration Menu

The Administration Menu is a set of linked pages that have been designed to enable non-technical website owners to easily add or subtract pages or quickly update the content of a page. A web site owner can also modify the master settings should you desire a new color scheme or a blog. Not to worry, we take care of the initial set-up for you. The Administration Menu includes the following control pages:

  • Administer Blog: Allows the website owner to name their own blog. Also, this pages enables the website owner to determine whether or not the blog should appear in the left side navigation menu. Blogging is not for everyone. But it is built-in, should you ever want to give it a try.                       
  • Administer Google Gadgets:Add a Google Gadget for Analytics Tracking, Calendar, Photo Album, Map or Video in 5 minutes or less.
    • First, select the "Administer Google Gadgets" 1st in your administration console. 
    • 2nd, select the Gadget you would like to add to your website. 
    • 3rd, select the pages on which that you would like this Gadget to appear. (Control + Click to select more than one page)
    • 4th, From the page position drop down menu, assign the Gadget a position "Above all" of the text on the page or "Below all" of the text on the page.
    • 5th and finally, go to your Google gadget or YouTube video and look for a field called "embed" that has a line of code in it. Simply cut and paste the code to the "Google Gadget Code" box in your Turnkey Website Administration page.
    • Press "Publish" and you're done.
  • Administer Pages: Presents a list of existing web pages for editing. Allows the owner to add a new web page, edit a web page, save a new web page as a draft or delete a web page. Also allows the owner to assign individual page characteristics including the name of a web page, the URL for a web page, the page number, a "short" name for the left side navigation menu, determine if the page should be displayed in the navigation menu, assign a parent page (when placed in a drop down menu), edit the page content, assign SEO keywords and keep notes.                                                                                        
    • The Content Editor: Your website makes use of an integrated content editor. The content editor has two parts: thetool bar and the workspace. The tool bar is a simple word processor that you will use to add text to a web page, select andformat the font, style and color and alignment of the text. The workspace is where you type.                                                                                      
    • You can also add tables, charts, forms, images and animations to a page. It is here that you will select text or an image to link to another webpage or an email address. For your convenience, there is a built-in spell checker and a cheat sheet to explain what each button does. There are even pre-installed layouts that make it easier to place an photograph or an image on a page.              
    • For the web experts, popular mechanics and the adventurous, there is also a "view source code" button to let you see what the page would look like if you were paying a high priced webmaster to create it, or, if you know enough to be dangerous.                                                                        
  • Page Numbering: The Turnkey WebsiteTM has built-in page numbering to simplify make the management of multiple web pages. Pages that appear in the left sidenavigation menu are called parent pages. Pages that appear in the drop down menus under the parent pages are called children. From top to bottom, parent pages are assigned a number starting with the number 1 and so on. Children of a parent page are assigned a decimal point tied to the parent page.                                                               
    • Using this website as an example, the "About" page is page #1 because it is the first page to appear in the left side navigation menu. The "About" page has a drop down menu that exposes the "Design" page, the "Deploy" page and the "Discover" page in that order. The "Design" page is assigned the page # 1.1, the "Deploy" page is assigned the page #1.2 and the "Discover" page is assigned the page # 1.3.         
    • The User Guide is assigned the page # 9.2 because the parent page titled "Support" is page # 9 and "User Guide" is the 2nd page in the drop down list.                                                                                                  
  • Administer Testimonials: Enables the owner to add a customer quotation or partner quotation to the right side of the web site. User definable characteristics include thefont and style of the quotation, the font and style of the signature, the pages on which that quotation will be viewable and the hierarchical position of that quotation, relative to other quotes.                                        
  • Administer Users: Enables the website owner to assign access privileges to other people who might contribute to or edit the website. It also enables the owner to administer the privileges of those in the general public who register to respond to blog posts.                                                                  
  • Administer Website: This page controls the global settings (aka master settings) for your website. On this page, the website owner can define the title of the website (also known as Header 1), the sub-title of the website (aka Header 2), the name that will appear in browser title bars andtabs, the short description that thesearch engines will read and a copyright statement. It is here that the website owner can upload a custom logo. The site owner also gets to determine whether or not the"Email a Friend" button, the "Print this Page" button and the Site Map will be visible. The contact email address is also set here.                                                                                                   
  • Administering Web Site Colors: The website owner can select custom colors for the header, for the footer, for the search bar, for thenavigation side bar and for the page background. (off white is always easier on the eyes than pure white)
  • Administer Storefront: Here the website owner can give a name to the web store, assign an email address to web payments, assign a "short name" to the web store for the left side navigation menu and a page number.
  • Administer Price List: This control page enables the website owner to add products, product descriptions and prices to the web store.
  • Edit Your Profile: Enables the website owner to change the email address or password associated with his/her user profile.

 

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The Turnkey WebsiteTM conforms to standards that optimize its rank in web search results. When calculating its algorithm, a search engine will look the website title and subtitle,the website name, the URL and a website description. For individual pages, a search engine looks for the web page title, the URL, the keywords (also known as meta-tags) and the content. If all of these items are registered in a search engine's index, awebsite has a greater chance of receiving web traffic.

Additional factors that impact the rank of a website or a web page in search engine results include the number of other websites that link to that website or web page, the willingness of the web site owner to pay to appear when certain keywords are searched or to pay for placement in a search engine and the more sophisticated use of keywordcombinations. The Turnkey WebsiteTM lets you do all of these things, but for advanced search engine optimization, we recommend pairing with an SEO expert, at least the first time just to learn the ropes.

 

5. UTF-8 Language Support

International fonts and languages that are supported through the Unicode Transformation Format (UTF-8). All you need is to plug-in the international keyboard of your choice, such as a Japanese language keyboard, and then configure your operating system to use that keyboard. The rest is automated.

 

6. Email

Email is managed by the web host you select, not by Turnkey WebworksTM. We recommend Bluehost for their extensive email features including 2,500 email accounts as well as the reliability of their email servers. Bluehost offers a choice of three web mail applications: Horde Mail, Squirrel Mail and Round Mail. Bluehost also offers a choice of three anti-spam services: Postini, BoxTrapper and Spam Assassin. 

 

7. Making a Backup Copy of Your Website.

A backup is always a good idea, even for hosted applications. Use your web hosts' control panel to make an on-line back-p of your website and then download that backup so that you also have a local copy.

For Bluehost users:

  1. Log-in to your hosting account first.
  2. Under the Files menu, select "Backups".
  3. At the top of the page, press the "Download or Generate a Full Backup" button. You will be taken to the "Full Backup" page.
  4. Scroll to the bottom and press the "Generate Backup" button.
  5. That's it. Bluehost will backup your site. When the backup is complete, download the linked file to keep an extra copy of your website on your computer.

We hope you enjoy using The Turnkey WebsiteTM.

If you have any further questions, click here to contact us