Once you have logged in, click the Write New Story button in the upper right corner of the window. The New Story window appears, and from here you’ll be able to start your story. Don’t worry too much about what you select here – you can always go back and change your mind. From this window, you can select: Story Title – try to give it something unique that will distinguish this story from other. You can always change this later. Topic – this will give you a list of ‘memory joggers’ based on the topic of your story. You can also select No Topic, and let your creativity run wild. Click Continue, and you will be taken to the Template Selection window, which will determine how your story will be formatted. Click the template you want, and then click Continue. The New Story window appears, and from here you can write text, insert photos or videos, format your text, and save or publish your story.

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Yes, you will need to select one of the templates provided in order for the web application to format your text and photographs for display when you publish. You can change the template for your story later if you choose by selecting the Edit Story feature.

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No, you do not need to select a topic – selecting a topic will provide you with questions and ideas for your story as an aid only.

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Story Tags allow you and other users to search for your story based on the tags you’ve added to your story. This makes it easier to find your own stories, and to search for stories on topics you might be interested in.

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Unfortunately, your story cannot be saved until you publish a draft of it. Just like on your computer at home, make sure you save your work frequently by clicking the Preview button at the bottom of the page. This will take you to the Publish page, where you can select to save the file as a draft. Don’t forget to click Submit!

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The editors at Drumtable are professional writers and editors, and we’re glad to help. Scroll down to the bottom of any page in Drumtable, and click on the link called Writing Tips. Here you will find many writing tips, sorted by Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.

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When you sign into your drumtable account, type in your email address and the password you created at the time you registered.

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At the sign in screen you can click on Forget your password? and you will be sent an email to reset your password.

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Uploading photos from your computer is very simple using Drumtable.com. From your Home page, click on the Photos tab at the top of the screen. The Photos page appears – from here, click the Add Photos tab at the top of the screen, which will display the Upload Photos page. Click on the Browse… button next to one of the empty photo fields, and navigate to the photo you wish to upload. If you wish to upload more photos, simply click the Browse… button next to the remaining photo fields. Once you have selected all of the photos you wish to upload, click Upload Pictures, and the photos will be uploaded to your work area.

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You can easily upload videos from your computer. From your Home page, click on the Videos tab at the top of the screen. The Videos page appears – from here, click on the Add New Videos button, and navigate to the video you wish to upload. If you wish to upload more videos, simply click the Browse… button next to the remaining photo fields. Once you have selected all of the videos you wish to upload, click Upload Videos, and the videos will be uploaded to your work area.

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Drumtable.com converts all videos on upload to play within a Flash viewer. For best viewing results, we recommend using .mpg, .mov, .avi, or .mp3 formats. Videos are limited to 100 megabytes and/or 20 minutes in play time.

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Drumtable.com allows you to create collections of media (photos, videos, etc.) called Photo Albums to make sorting and viewing your media easier. When you upload photos to Drumtable.com, they are automatically filed as ‘Uncategorized’. After you have uploaded the files, you can organize them in Photo Albums for easier access.

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You can upload several types of photo and graphics files including: .jpeg, .bmp, .png, and .gif. Note that files cannot be larger than 10 megabytes and must not be compressed.

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You can upload files up to 10 megabytes. (Please remember that all media files must be uncompressed or they will not be available for use on the system.) You have up to 2 gigabytes of storage space with your free account to store all of your pictures, videos, and text put together.

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Once you have uploaded videos to Drumtable.com, you can add them to your story by clicking on the Videos tab and dragging the video to the storyboard. An icon will appear at the bottom of your published story, and when clicked, the video will play in a new window.

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To delete photos, locate the photo album the photo resides in and check to select the Delete this Image button. Click Save Changes to delete the photo. To delete videos, locate the video clip and check to select the Delete this Video button. Click Save Changes to delete the video.

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In order to upload your photos, they must be in digital format. You can scan your printed photos with your own scanner, or you can ask a friend or family member to do it for you. Once they are scanned onto a cd or your hard drive, you can follow the directions in the FAQ "How do I upload my photos?" If you need help with scanning your photos, you can search online for "scanning tips." Here is a place to start: http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/scanning/Scanning_Software_Tips_and_Help.htm If you live near a Kinko's with Sony Picture Station, you can have your pictures converted to digital format at a reasonable cost. Otherwise, check with your local photo center.

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There are many companies that provide a digitizing service, and will convert your old footage to a digital format. Once you have it on a cd or dvd, you can follow the FAQ above, "How do I upload videos?"

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Drumtable uses your birthdates of our users to guide us in future topics and to keep consideration of our target audience as we improve our web site. We do not give out your personal information.

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Registering your email address and password on Drumtable protects your stories and media, so that you have exclusive access to the editing tools for them.

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As a Drumtable member your stories are only published publicly on the web site if YOU want them to be. You have the choice of keeping them private or not.

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Once you’ve finished your story to your satisfaction, you can publish it in one of two ways: Public – which allows everyone on Drumtable.com to see your story Private – where only you and whomever you invite to see your story can see it

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If you publish your story to Public, everyone on the site can see it. Please keep in mind that other users will have to search for your story by a Story Tag or by looking up your name. If you publish your story to Private, only you and any friends you invite to see your story can do so. Remember that you can change the public or private status on your stories any time in the future.

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Click on the My Stories button from your home page – you will be taken to a listing of all the stories you have written, whether they are published or in draft from. From here, click Edit next to the story you wish to change.

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Go to the My Stories page, and click the Edit button to open your story in edit view. Once there, click on the Templates Tab in the right-hand window. Then, choose the new template you wish to use and double-click on it to reformat your story. Note that for two-column formats, you may need to manually cut and paste between the two columns.

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After publishing your story to My Friends Only, two sets of people can see your story – friends you send the story to, and friends you have established on Drumtable.com using the Adding Friends feature. To send the story to friends, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Email to Friends. This will open a window where you can enter in your friends’ email addresses and add a comment about your story if you wish. When your friends receive the email, they simply click on the link to go to your story. If they are not Drumtable.com members yet, they will first be asked to register, and will then be taken to your story. (To avoid requiring your friends to register, make your story public.)

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Once your story is published, you can allow other Drumtable users to leave comments about your story. This is a great way for friends and family members to add details you may have left out, or for people who share your interests to comment on your story. To allow others to attach comments to your story, you need to do nothing, as this is the default setting. If you don’t want people to leave comments on your story, click Off under Story Comments. You can change these settings any time you like.

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The profile feature in Drumtable.com allows you to create a profile about yourself that others on Drumtable.com can see. The feature allows you to display or keep private certain information, depending on your preference. Once you have created a profile, other people on the site can invite you to become 'Friends', so that you can share stories within the site.

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You can ask other Drumtable.com users to become ‘Friends’ so that you can share stories of mutual interest. To add a friend, first you must create your own profile (see What’s My Profile?). Once you have created a profile, go to your Home page, and click the Friends button and the Friends page displays. From here, you can see anyone who has asked you to be a friend, anyone you have asked to be your friend, or any established friends. You can search for people you know by adding in their user ID or name in the Search box and clicking the Search button. To display all current Drumtable.dom members with active profiles, leave the Search box blank, and click the Search button. All members will be displayed. Once you have located the profile of the person you wish to ask to be your friend, click Invite under their profile card. The invitation window appears, and you can add a quick memo asking them to accept your invitation to be friends. Once the user has accepted your invitation, you can see his stories, and he can see yours.

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To remove a friend, go to the Friends page by clicking the Friends button from your Home page. Locate the profile you wish to delete, and click Remove at the bottom of the profile card. This person will no longer be able to see your ‘Friends Only’ stories, and you will not be able to see theirs.

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