Web Hall by KLJ Hall
Client area

How-to guides

Step-by-step help with the everyday jobs on your website. Click a question to open it. Can't find what you need? Get in touch through the Support page.

Getting started

Logging in to your WordPress website
  1. Go to your website’s login page. It’s your web address followed by /wp-login.php – or use the Log in to WordPress button in your client area.
  2. Enter your username or email address, and your password.
  3. Tick Remember me if you’re on your own computer.
  4. Tap Log in. You’ll arrive at your dashboard.

Finding your way around the dashboard

The dashboard is the behind-the-scenes part of your website.

Everything is in the menu down the left-hand side:

  • Posts: news stories and blog posts
  • Pages: the permanent pages of your site
  • Media: your photos and documents
  • Users: the people who can log in
  • you may also have custom post types unique to your website

Your users will only see the parts they have permission to use.

To see your site as visitors do, click its name at the top left.

Changing your password
  1. In the dashboard, click your name at the top right, or go to Users → Profile.
  2. Scroll down to Account Management and click Set New Password.
  3. Use the suggested password or type your own, then click Update Profile.
Forgotten it? Click Lost your password? on the login page and you’ll get a reset link by email.

News and pages

Adding a news post

  1. Go to Posts → Add New Post.
  2. Type your headline in the title box, then click below it to start writing.
  3. Press Enter to start a new paragraph. Click the + button to add an image, heading or list.
  4. In the panel on the right, choose a Category and set a Featured image – the picture shown alongside the story.
  5. Click Publish. Not ready yet? Click Save draft and come back to it later.

Editing a page
  1. Go to Pages and click the title of the page you want to change.
  2. Tap any text on the page to change it, just like in a word processor.
  3. Tap the + button to add a new paragraph, heading, image or list.
  4. Preview your post to see how it looks – tap the icon that looks like a laptop, then Preview in new tab.

When you’ve finished, click Save at the top right.

Some pages, including your homepage, may be set up differently. I will show you how to make edits to these sorts of pages.

Adding a link
  1. Highlight the words you want to turn into a link.
  2. Tap the link button in the toolbar, or press Ctrl + K (Cmd + K on a Mac).
  3. Paste the web address, or start typing the name of one of your own pages to find it.
  4. Press Enter.

Make the linked words say where the link goes – “read the membership rules” rather than “click here”.

Photos and images

Getting photos ready with Picture Desk

Photos straight from a phone or camera are usually much bigger than your website needs, and they make pages slow to load.

  1. Open Picture Desk from your client area.
  2. Choose Resize and crop and pick your photo.
  3. Crop it if you need to, choose a size, then save the new copy.
  4. Upload that smaller copy to your website.
You can also use the Collage tab to put several photos together in one image.

Adding a photo to a post or page
  1. Add your main image as a Featured Image – in the right-hand column tap Set Featured Image. Then follow steps 3 and 4.
  2. For extra images, click where you want the photo to go, then click the + button and choose Image.
  3. Click Upload to add a new photo, or Media Library to choose one you’ve already uploaded.
  4. Fill in the Alternative text – see the next guide.

It’s essential that you only use images you have the right to use. Copyright holders can – and do – take legal action when their images are used incorrectly. If in doubt, ask me.

Writing alt text

Alt text describes a photo for people who can’t see it, including people using screen readers.

It helps search engines too.

To write good alt text:

  • say what’s in the picture and why it’s there, in a sentence or less.
  • you don’t need to start with “Image of”.
  • if a picture is just decoration, you can leave it blank.

For example: “Club members gathered outside the café before the Sunday ride.”

Email

Logging in to webmail

You can read your email from any web browser, on any computer or phone.

  1. Go to your web address followed by :2096 – for example, yourclub.org.uk:2096. Or use the Open webmail button in your client area.
  2. Log in with your full email address and your email password.
  3. You'll see the webmail home screen. Click Open under Open your inbox to go to your email.
Tip: tick Open my inbox when I log in to skip the home screen next time.

Setting up email on your phone or computer

Webmail can send you instructions to set up your email in the mail app on your phone, tablet or computer.

  1. Log in to webmail. If you're in your inbox, click Webmail Home in the left-hand menu.
  2. Find Set up email on your device.
  3. Choose your device from the list.
  4. Enter an email address you can open on that device – usually the one you're setting up.
  5. Leave Email, Calendar and Contacts ticked, then click Send.
  6. Open the email on your device and follow the instructions.
Stuck? Email me with the device and app you're using and I'll talk you through it.

Reading and sending email

Your webmail uses a program called Roundcube.

  • Your folders are down the left: Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Spam, Deleted Items and Archive.
  • Click a message in the list to read it.
  • To write a new email, click Compose at the top of the left-hand menu.
  • To answer, open the message and use Reply, Reply all or Forward in the toolbar above it.
  • The same toolbar has Delete, Archive and Spam buttons.
  • To add a file, click Attach while you're writing.
  • Use the Search box above the message list to find an old email.
Prefer a lighter screen? Click Light mode near the bottom of the left-hand menu.

Setting up an out-of-office reply

  1. Click Webmail Home in the left-hand menu.
  2. Under Manage Your Inbox, click Autoresponders, then Add Autoresponder.
  3. Write a subject and the message people will get back.
  4. Choose when it should start and stop, so you don't forget to switch it off.
  5. Click Create.

Changing your email password

  1. Click Webmail Home in the left-hand menu.
  2. Under Edit Your Settings, click Password and Security.
  3. Type your new password twice and save it.
After changing it, update the password in the mail app on your phone and computer too, or they'll stop collecting your email.

Forgotten your email password?

There's no reset link on the webmail login page, so get in touch with me by phone or from another email address and I'll reset it for you. For your security, I'll check it's really you before I do.

Once you're back in, choose a new password using Changing your email password above.

Tip: save your email password in your phone or browser's password manager, so you don't have to remember it.

Dealing with spam

Some spam will still get through. When it does:

  • Select the message and click Spam in the toolbar. It moves to your Spam folder.
  • Don't click any links in it.
  • For stronger filtering, click Webmail Home and, under Fight Spam, click Spam Filters.
If real emails start going missing, check your Spam folder – and let me know so I can help adjust the filters.

Forwarding your email to another address

  1. Click Webmail Home in the left-hand menu.
  2. Under Manage Your Inbox, click Forwarders.
  3. Add the address you want your email sent on to, and save.
Remember to remove it again if you only need it for a while.

Running out of space

Each mailbox has a storage limit. The bar at the bottom of your folder list shows how full it is. To see which folders take up the most room, click Webmail Home and then the disk usage figure at the top.

To free up space:

  • empty your Deleted Items and Spam folders
  • delete old emails with large attachments
If you need more room, email me.

Still stuck? I'm happy to help.

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