Support Files

Access Issues Contact Form

webmaster — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:24:09 +0000

Completing the following form will allow us to help you with your access issue in a timely manner. Please complete and submit the form as soon as possible so that we can resolve your issue.

In addition, below the form, you will find a detailed explanation of how our servers work to protect your files and information and what you need to be aware of concerning passwords, lockouts, etc. Please take the time to review this information as it will help to prevent these issues in the future and may actually help to reduce your liability exposure as well.

Support Files Access Issue Contact Form

Our servers use the latest technology to prevent hackers from obtaining access to your files and our system.

A hacker uses what is called a brute force attack. They set a program to use your email address as the user, which they have by default, they then start throwing dictionary words at your account. Eventually, a computer can hack your account. Once in, they can spam from your email making it look like you. The fines are and excessive amount per email, which can be levied against your borough. Even if you are bonded, not taking the proper security steps could leave you in the cold. In addition, and something you may not have considered, is someone, even an ex-employee, gaining access to an email account and sending out “official” emails. Again, the liability issues that could arise from this could be a real issue.

Our servers watch for these incoming attacks. They assume that if you try to get into your email account more than 5 times and are not successful, you are a hacker. A fair assumption, correct? No one should sit on a computer and just throw passwords at an account until they get in, agreed? Now, because a hacker can easily have access to other email accounts, joe@whatever.org , mike@whatever.org , etc., etc., it is assumed he/she will just move to another mailbox and start over. Therefore, what the system does is log the IP address of the incoming “hacker” and lock it out. So, the hacker can no longer access your computer “system” from his/her IP address period. This is applied to your WordPress, Control Panel, FTP, etc. Anything that has a password attached to it concerning your web accounts. Without it, any insurance you may carry, could be called into question. That is one reason you would opt not to use generic email address for business, like comcast, Gmail, etc. as they do not run appropriate security.

Unfortunately, the issue can be compounded further. Most offices have a single IP address that is used for multiple computers. So, you have 20 people, let’s say. One of them sits at their desk and tries to get to their email, 6 times. The system then locks out the IP address. That, in effect locks out all 20 people because the IP address is the one for the entire office and it, along with the office, is now locked. Why, because the system assumed that someone from your own IP address tried to “hack” your system.

Now, we have the ability to white list an IP address, so, for an office situation, like the one I just described, I can disable security, so to speak. In most instances, this will only work temporarily, as the IP address provided to you by your ISP changes. This is particularly true with a cell phone. So, the correct thing to do is educate your staff on security protocols so that they do NOT try multiple passwords to access their accounts.

In addition, easy passwords can actually be hacked within 5 tries, so you should never allow passwords that are easy to guess. Finally, it is a good idea to have staff change passwords every so often. There have been cases where an employee who has had company passwords has left the company. The terminated employee then monitors email for any employee that he/she has a password for, and, for the most part, management never realizes they are being monitored. Not the best situation in the World, as eventually, private documents will pass through email that would not be intended for outside viewing and could cause harm to the entity should they be released to the public.

New Malware Alert

webmaster — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:26:49 +0000

This malware pretends to be Communication from US Department of Justice. A newly detected ransomware variant infects users’ computer through drive-by download attacks whereby a small piece of code is downloaded to a computer by visiting an infected website. Once a machine is infected, the malware locks up the computer, making it impossible for users to access their information. A warning is displayed, saying that the user has violated US federal law because the IP address associated with the computer was identified as having visited illicit websites. The message tells users that to unlock their machines, they must pay the US Department of Justice US $100 through a pre-paid money card.

Critical WordPress Update

webmaster — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:40:35 +0000

The developers of WordPress have issued a security update for the blogging tool to address vulnerabilities in three external file upload libraries as well as in the main software. WordPress did not say how many flaws the update addresses beyond acknowledging that the figure is in the double digits. WordPress has been exploited to launch cyber attacks; users are urged to upgrade to WordPress 3.3.2 as soon as possible.

Please update your WordPress installations as soon as possible. If you would like us to do the update for you, please use the contact us form at the top of this page. A small charge may apply for this service and will be quoted when we reply to your request.

Protected: menuvandling

webmaster — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 03:01:27 +0000

Check If Website Is Online

webmaster — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:30:21 +0000

The following tools and procedures can be used to test if your website is down for just you or for everyone:

www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com
This will simply check to see if your website is up and available to everyone.

ipinfo.info/netrenderer
This site is actually used to display your home page in a different browser format. However, it can be used to test your site availability. It will return a screen shot of the URL that you enter into the request box. This will actually show you what everyone else is seeing in their browsers when visiting your site at the point in time of testing.

fpt.pingdom.com
Site test from offshore. This site provides a picture of your website as well as load time statistics.

viewlike.us
This site shows your website in several different resolutions. If it displays the home page of your website, it is up and available on the internet.

If any or all of the above tools report your site as being up and available, you most likely have an issue with your computer, internet connection or browser cache. You can try the following:

Type your url in the web browser. When it fails, press F5 to clear cache and display the page again.

If the above does not work, try clearing the cache of your browser. You can find instructions for this by searching on Google using “clear browser cache.”

If the above does not solve your issue, you may need a technician to confirm your settings and correct any issues with your computer or internet connection. We offer a service whereby we can log into your computer and attempt to resolve the issue. There are no guarantees, but we may be able to save you an expensive service call. If you would like a quote for our remote access service, please use the contact us link at the top of this page.

IMIS Install Files

webmaster — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:49:56 +0000

Current uniprint driver: http://uniprint.net

Current Citrix Client (Choose the one that says web.)

E-mail Account Creation

webmaster — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:33:30 +0000

Editing Right Column Information

webmaster — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:57:46 +0000

Accessing Your Email

webmaster — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:52:02 +0000

In this example, we will assume your domain name is YourDomain.com and you are attempting to access a mailbox called john@YourDomain.com.

If you are accessing your email account through an email client like Outlook, the following information will be needed:

POP3: mail.YourDomain.com
SMTP: mail.YourDomain.com
User name: john@YourDomain.com
Password: (whatever you assigned)

If you would like to use our web mail interface, you can log on by going to http://webmail.YourDomainName.com

If you have any questions, please use the contact us link.

Menu PSAB IT Related Staff Documents

webmaster — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:12:09 +0000

02/14/12 IMIS Install Files and Information

11/21/11 Virus Scanner Information

11/15/11 Creating An Outlook Auto Responder

11/04/11 Social Networking Fact Finding Document (work in progress) (All)

09/14/11 Current Domain Names and Alias Names (Specific)

08/19/11 Updating Firefox Web Browser (All)

08/18/11 Backpack IT Project Management System (IT)

07/29/11 MailList King and Email CAN SPAM Compliance (Specific)

06/21/11 Mounting An Encrypted Drive (UC)

06/16/11 FlexCrypt Instructions (UC)

06/02/11 Disclaimers (UC & Web Design)

05/31/11 IPhone Tips (Specific)

05/17/11 Working With Outlook’s Blocked Sender Feature (All)

05/03/11 Creating and Using A Distribution List In Outlook (All)

04/20/11 Correcting A Network Issue (All)

03/22/11 New BDG Program – Administration Demonstration (BDG)

03/22/11 New BDG Program – User Demonstration (BDG)

12/21/10 Group Email and Broadcast Fax Policy From Tom

Virus Scanner Information

webmaster — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:07:56 +0000

Kaspersky
Outdated but still acceptable. Was being replaced with Vipre because of performance issues. If you are having an issue with Kaspersky, it will be replaced with the current scanner. Simply notify your system administrator.

Vipre
In use by approximately half of staff computers. Issue developed with current upgrade during the month of November 2011. Software is secure unless you are having an issue. Following is a screen shot of the status bar for Vipre.

Microsoft Security Essentials
Current virus scanning solution for PSAB. All systems will be updated to this solution in the near future. It will not expire and therefore does not require periodic license updates. Following is a screenshot of the software in normal, protected mode. If you notice anything but the green icon, or, if the green icon is not present, please contact your system administrator.

Creating An Outlook Auto Responder

webmaster — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:19:38 +0000

Before instructions are provided for this function, please note that this is not a good practice and is strongly discouraged. An auto responder responds to everything, meaning that you are confirming and providing your email address, and whatever else you have in your signature line (name, address, phone number), to any spammers and phishers that send you email while you have an auto responder active. This will lead to an increase in spam as well as potential security issues with phishing, etc.

In some cases, an auto responder is critical. However, please weigh the costs vs. the benefits before placing one in service.

Here are the steps for creating an auto responder in Outlook:

1. Open a new Outlook message formatted as plain text.

2. Type the information that you want to have in your reply message.

3. On the File menu, click Save As.

4. In the Save As dialog box, click to select the Outlook Template check box in the Save As Type list.

5. Type a name for your reply template in the File Name box, and then click Save.

6. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.

7. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click the New Rule button on the E-mail Rules tab.

8. In the Rules Wizard, click the Start from a blank rule button, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.

9. Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, click to select the Sent Only To Me check box or any other check box that you want, and then click Next.

10. Under What do you want to do with the message?, click to select the Reply using a specific template check box.

11. On the Step 2: Edit the Rule Description page of the wizard, click the underlined phrase a specific template.

12. In the Select A Reply Template dialog box, click the template that you saved in step 5 of the “How to Define an Automatic Reply Template” section, and then click Open.

13. Complete the Rules Wizard instructions, click Finish, and then click OK.

You must leave your email open for the auto responder to work.

Social Network Fact Finding Document

webmaster — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:25:38 +0000

Risks

Social networking sites have become hotbeds for the distribution of malware. A report published in February, 2010 by Sophos showed a 70 percent increase in reports of users receiving malware and spam through social networking sites.

Users of social networks do not usually understand the potential consequences of making their company information and titles public through their profiles. By doing so, it allows attackers to craft emails that entice other staff members to follow links, etc., allowing virus infestation.

Many Potential Avenues

Facebook
MySpace
Twitter
Friendster
Linkedin

Computer and Networking Support

webmaster — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:59:12 +0000

Site Navigation After July 2011

webmaster — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:21:59 +0000

This tutorial explains an upgrade to the navigation plug in that we used after July 1, 2011. If your site was created prior to July 1, 2011, then you should review the tutorial that explains the plug in prior to July 1, 2011.

Although both plug ins do essentially the same thing, the current plug in, after July 1, 2011, is substantially easier to understand. If you would like to have your site upgraded to use the current plug in, please feel free to use the Contact Us link at the top of this page and request a quote.

Please note that this is a graphic intensive tutorial and may take a few minutes to display.

Click the following link to see the tutorial:

Creating, Sorting and Changing Navigation Links

Requesting A Filter or White List Entry

webmaster — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:34:40 +0000

This article refers to clients that our using our premium spam filter.

If you wish to have us white list an email address so it does not go to spam; or, if you wish to report spam that is making it through to your inbox, please follow the instructions below:

In order for an entry to be added to our spam filter service, you must provide the headers for the request. This is done by simply redirecting the email to spamrequest@support-files.com. Please note that redirecting is different than forwarding!

Redirecting An Outlook Message

Open the desired email in its own window.

Click Other Actions in the toolbar.

Select Resend This Message… from the menu.

Click Yes.

Enter the desired recipients in the To Field (spamrequest@support-files.com).

Click Send.

Redirecting An Eudora Message

Open the desired email in its own window.

Select Redirect from the Message menu.

type in the appropriate recipient in the To: field (spamrequest@support-files.com).

Click Send.

Redirecting A Horde Webmail Message

Open the desired email in its own window.

Press the redirect link at the top of the page.

Type in the appropriate recipient in the To: field (spamrequest@support-files.com).

Click Send.

We will review your submission, and, if appropriate, make the required adjustments to our spam filtering system.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to use the contact us link at the top of this page.

Site Navigation Prior To July 2011

webmaster — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:12:05 +0000

This tutorial explains the navigation plug in that we used prior to July 1, 2011. If your site was created after July 1, 2011, then you should review the tutorial that explains the plug in after July 1, 2011.

Click the following link to view the tutorial:

Creating and Sorting Navigation by Category

Working With Links

webmaster — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:39:47 +0000

Adding A Manual Menu Link

webmaster — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:37:24 +0000

Adding A PDF or Document

webmaster — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:29:44 +0000

05/15/12

Writing SEO Pages

webmaster — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:24:29 +0000

We will assume you have your keywords organized from most important to least important. When you write a page, have your keywords in mind and picture a pyramid. You should try to get as many of your keywords in the top of the page/pyramid as possible. Since it is not always possible to get all of your keywords in the first sentence, do your best to get as many as possible in the first paragraph; however, do not compromise the meaning of you page.

The best way to illustrate is to use an actual example. The following section was an actual client page as presented for posting:

The keywords for the page were:
private investigator book, private investigation classes, investigation class, Jim Harriger, law enforcement, people search, investigation, investigation business, investigator, investigation

The title of the page was:
How To Be Your Own Private Investigator

The text was:
The book contains all sources of information used in investigations from public records, databases, internet sites, pretexts and also includes a section dealing with identity theft and removing your name from some records. The book covers asset searches, background investigations and skip tracing. This book has been used in both the 7 hour and 3 hour investigation classes taught at the community colleges in California. Whether you are going into the investigation business, hiring your own investigator or doing the investigation yourself, this is the information you need to know.

Now rewriting the text to gain maximum search engine exposure:
How To Be Your Own Private Investigator contains all sources of information used in private investigation from public records, databases, internet sites, pretexts and also includes a section dealing with identity theft and removing your name from some records. How To Be Your Own Private Investigator covers asset searches, background investigations and skip tracing. How To Be Your Own Private Investigator has been used in both the 7 hour and 3 hour investigation classes taught at the community colleges in California. Whether you are in law enforcement, going into the investigation business, doing people searches, hiring your own investigator or doing the investigation yourself, this is the private investigator book you need to read.

PSAB Domains and Alias Names

webmaster — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:44:34 +0000

An alias domain name is a short URL that is directed to a specific page or directory within our website. We can set up domain alias’ for any page or directory and there is no out-of-pocket cost to do so. However, it takes IT time and effort to set up and configure an alias domain point. An alias domain name can be easily changed but allows the user to keep their same bookmark. An example of this is our conferences hotel reservation link. We simply change where the alias URL goes, from one hotel to the next, but the actual, short URL stays the same for our members. Very convenient in certain circumstances.

Following is a list of our current corporate domain names and alias points. A domain name is a registered name with a cost associated with it. Please note that when a domain name or alias is no longer needed, the IT Administrator should be notified promptly. There is a draw on our system for domain names and alias domains that are no longer needed. There are two domain alias names related to UC and one related to terminal server access to our building that are not listed on this page for security reasons. Should you require information on those alias names, contact your IT Administrator.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact your IT Administrator.

URL	Alias or Domain	Last Update	Requested By	Description
act44.boroughs.org	A		Joe S	Points to act 44 document that is not public.
borocouncils.com	D	12/16/10	Ed K	Not currently used.
borocouncils.org	D	12/16/10	Ed K	Not currently used.
boroughcouncils.com	D	12/16/10	Ed K	Not currently used.
boroughcouncils.net	D	12/16/10	Ed K	Not currently used.
boroughscouncils.org	D	12/16/10	Ed K	Not currently used.
boroughnews.com	D		Nicole F	Pointed to Borough News directory.
boroughs.org	D			Main corporate domain.
budgetbulletin.boroughs.org	A		Ed K	Pointed to WordPress website for the Budget Bulletin.
chrostwaite.com	D		Ed K	Pointed to Chrostwaite site.
chrostwaite.org	D		Ed K	Pointed to chrostwaite.com.
chrostwaite.net	D		Ed K	Pointed to chrostwaite.com.
classes.boroughs.org	A		Ed K	Pointed to the training classes database.
conferences.boroughs.org	A		Mira M	Pointed to conference page.
exhibit.boroughs.org	A		Mira M	Pointed to 2010 exhibitor’s contract.
HotelReservations.boroughs.org	A	08/01/11	Mary W	Pointed to Fall 2011 hotel reservation site.
imis.boroughs.org	A	07/01/11	Mike V	Points to our current IMIS login screen.
itforboroughs.org	D		Mike V	Pointed to support-files.com.
juniorcouncilperson.com	D		Linda C	Pointed to Junior Councilperson page.
pay.boroughs.org	A		Mira M	Pointed to our online payment form.
	A		Mike V	Pointed to this website containing staff IT documents that are not public.
survey.chrostwaite.com	A		Chris C	Points to Chrostwaite survey that is not public.
videos.boroughs.org	A		Mike V	Points to our miscellaneous videos directory. Not a valid URL without additional information.
wdfaq.boroughs.org	A	08/01/11	Deb J	Points to an FAQ for clients considering or part of the Web Design program.
webinarmaterials.boroughs.org	A	05/01/11	Terri D	Points to specific documents that are too large for email. Can provide a link to large documents instead of an attachment. Not a valid URL without additional information. Used by training.
webinarvideos.boroughs.org	A		Ed K	Points to the administrative site for the creation of archived webinars.

SEO All In One WordPress Plugin

webmaster — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:07:05 +0000

If you requested Search Engine Optimization (SEO), we installed and initialized the All In One SEO Plugin. Unless you understand SEO, we suggest you do not modify the settings. There is not much info available as if you understand SEO the fields are self explanatory.

Should you choose to modify the settings, you can find them in your control panel, on the left, under Settings and All in One SEO. You will notice that there are some links and information on the configuration page and you are free to research those links.

Again, we suggest you do not make changes to these settings as altering keywords, etc. can have an adverse effect on your search engine positioning. We use various tools to obtain the proper keywords, and, if you requested our copyrighting service, your copy has been written to compliment the keywords to increase your recognition.

Please note that organic SEO takes time, 6-12 months to produce optimal results. Altering keywords starts the process over.

You can monitor the growth of your organic SEO program by periodically checking your site statistics.

We do not provide help or support for SEO, however, you are certainly free to modify the settings as you see fit.

Here is the All In One SEO home page.

Following are the main settings and descriptions and information on each.

All in one SEO Pack Configuration – site settings

From within your WordPress admin, go to the settings area, then select “All in one SEO”. With each new update, the developer has chosen to disable the plugin. Presumably, this forces you to review the settings each time, and hopefully avoid any surprises. You’ll need to enable it after you install and again after each update. Obviously, if you neglect to enable the plugin after an upgrade, you can expect some issues with your rankings.

Home Title
As its name implies, this is where you provide the page title for the “home” of your web site, leave this blank and word press defaults to the site name you defined in your WordPress configuration.

Home Description
This box provides the Content for the meta-description tag.

Home Keywords (comma separated)
Even though use of the meta-keywords tag has been degraded over the years, it is still an important part of an overall SEO plan. Add carefully selected keywords here. Leave this blank and WordPress does not add the meta-keywords tag to your page. For best results, place your primary keywords in the front of the list.

Canonical URLS
This newly added feature is enabled by default – leave it that way.

Rewrite Titles
If set, all page, post, category, search and archive page titles get rewritten. You can specify the format for most of them (as shown below). For example: The default templates puts the title tag of posts like this: “Blog Category >> Blog Name >> Post Title”. That would be considered anti-SEO. With the default settings, Rewrite Title rewrites: “Post Title | Blog Name”.

Post Title Format
Each of the six Title format boxes allow you to customize how the titles are displayed in the various parts of the site. You may be tempted to stuff your titles with keywords. Don’t, it will backfire on you.

Search Title Format
This relates to the results page of your local/site search.

Description Format
There are a four automated formats available for the setting. The default is the best one.

404 Title Format
The box sets the page title for your 404 (page not found) error pages.

Paged Format
Leave this one alone.

SEO for Custom Post Types
WordPress 3.0 introduced the ability to create your own custom post types. If you have created one (or more) and want AIOSEO to be enabled for them, check this box. If not, leave it unchecked.

Custom Post Types for SEO Column Support
You’ll use this box to list the types of posts you want to have AIOSEO information displayed for while viewing your listings By default it already includes “posts” and “pages”. If you’ve created a custom post type and want it to have access to the All In One SEO Pack features, be sure and list it here.

Use Categories for META Keywords
If you are hyper-careful and strategic about your category names, use this, Otherwise leave add your keywords manually for each post manually.

Use Tags for META Keywords
Checking this causes the tags you set for a given post to be used as the META keywords for that post. You can also manually add additional words as you normally would as well.

Dynamically Generate Keywords for Posts Page
If you have changed the default setting of WordPress and the listing of of your posts is somewhere other than your default/home page then this option determines if you want the keywords for that page set dynamically (based on all the posts listed) or if they should be manually entered.

Use Noindex For…
There are three of these boxes, ensure each one is selected. This tells the search engines to not index these areas of your site.

Autogenerate Descriptions
Enabling this feature will tell SEO pack to generate META descriptions for your posts using the first 150 characters of your article.

Capitalize Category Titles
Not useful.

Additional Headers
There are three of these boxes. Text entered here will be added to the header section of your pages.

Log Important Events
This is a troubleshooting tool from the developer.

When creating a new post you’ll want to scroll to the bottom of your post editing page to the All in one SEO Pack section. There you will see the following four options:

Title
You can optionally enter a page title here, if left blank SEO Pack will use the post’s title.

Description
This is the META-description for the post. Carefully craft these as search engines consider them in ranking and display them in results.

Keywords
This is the META-keywords for the post. As mentioned above, use of the keywords tag has been degraded over the years, but it is still used by some engines.

Disable on this page/post
If for some reason you wish to NOT use the SEO pack on a page, check this box.

Title Attribute
Text you enter here will become the link title text for links to this page. Link titles appear when you hover over a link.

Menu Label
This sets the text used in your site menus for the page, left blank it will be the same as the WordPress page title.

Count Per Day Statistical Package

webmaster — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:17:24 +0000

Web Design Prep

webmaster — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:05:31 +0000

This information is provided to allow our clients to develop a defined scope of work and effectively manage the cost of their web design project. The more time you invest in the preparation, and the more information you provide, the less time it will take to develop and populate your website. Please consider reviewing all of the information contained on this page and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

WordPress Demo	This is our full working demo of WordPress.
Color Themes	This is a great site to find color combinations for your website. If you find one you like, please note the name and provide it to your web designer.
Web Design Color Chart	If you would like to use specific colors for your design, please review this web safe color chart and provide the numbers of the colors you would like to use. If you chose a color from the above link, you do not need to pick colors from this link.
Private Sector Website Samples	A sample of some private sector websites that were created by our designers.
Municipal Website Samples	Municipal website design samples.
Municipal Website Content Suggestions	Some of our thoughts on what a municipality should include on their website.
WordPress Graphics WorthAPost Theme Forest	We can use any template or web design you find on the Internet as a sample on which to base your website. If you find something on this site, or elsewhere on the internet, please note the item number or URL and forward it to your web designer.
Big Stock Photos	This is a great site to get ideas for you design. We can take almost any graphic, from this site and create an entire website based around the image. If you choose to have us consider a graphic from this site, please provide at least 3 choices as some, because of size and orientation, cannot be used. Provide the item numbers of the graphics you are interested in.

IT Project Management System Overview

webmaster — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:58:00 +0000

The current system for tracking IT projects is called BackPack. The following document will explain how it is being used for PSAB projects.

BackPack

PSAB Web Design FAQ

webmaster — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:30:55 +0000

How do I provide the exact colors for my website?
Colors vary on the Internet and not all monitors display the same shade of the identical colors. However, to avoid confusion, when you submit your design worksheet, please provide color codes from this color chart.

We do not have quality artwork or a logo to use on our website. Can you create the artwork files?
Creating high quality logos is not within the scope of our web design program. However, we use a website that provides quality artwork that can be used to design and integrate into your website. We would suggest using search terms such as government, American, leadership, etc. You can review the site at bigstockphoto.com (Please provide the photo ID Numbers if you would like to use any stock photos).

What section/categories do you suggest for our borough website?
Because laws are constantly changing concerning required documents, we suggest you check with your solicitor, however, following are categories that have been used by other boroughs in our program:
Government
     List council members, staff, etc.
Minutes
     Meeting minutes.
Right To Know
Favorite Links
Newsletters
Public Notices
     Pension disclosures, Employment statements, Job openings, etc.
Events
Emergency Services
     Fire and Police information.
Parks & Recreation
Recycling & Trash
Schools
Document Center
Permits & Applications
History
Contact Us

Where can I see sample websites to help me with my design ideas?
You can check out our member websites. The links in bold red are boroughs that are part of our web design program.

MailList King and CAN SPAM Compliance

webmaster — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:53:06 +0000

MailList King User Instructions
MailList King Email Address Removal Instructions

Spamming Information

The CAN SPAM Act is a law that can result in fines of up to $250 per email sent if the email being sent is not CAN SPAM compliant. Before sending any emails to more than one or two individuals, please review the information on this page. It is your responsibility as the sender to ensure CAN SPAM COMPLIANCE! If you have any questions or comments please ask your IT Administrator.

Note that the CAN SPAM Act applies to all Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other social networking environment that permits and/or distributes messages electronically.

Innocent emails, sent in bulk, can cause a compliance issue. For example, an email that is used for informational purposes which would normally be compliant, like a newsletter or news bulletin, but has a signature or tag line like, (Join us for our 90th anniversary celebration. Check our website for details.), would cause the email to fall under the CAN SPAM Act and would be out of compliance as it would be a solicitation for money, services or a product in relation to the event or conference. Anyone sending emails with a signature line should take this into account before placing a “promotional” statement within the signature space of an email.

Your mailings are CAN-SPAM compliant if:

The subject line is not misleading and is clear as to the body of the email. If there is a commercial advertisement or a solicitation to purchase any product or service anywhere in your email, you must be clear that the email is an advertisement in the subject line. If you have an in-house list of individuals who have opted-in, in other words provided you with their email address, you are exempt from the use of words such as “advertisement” or “solicitation” to label the message. However, if there is a single non-opt-in address, the subject line must contain the word advertisement or solicitation if you are selling a product or service.

The email headers, sending email address and other identifiers in the headers have not been tampered with in order to conceal your identity.

The body of the email contains a valid physical address for the sender. (This is done by putting your name, email address and title as part of your signature line.)

The email contains a functioning opt-out mechanism, and opt out requests are honored within 10 business days of receipt of that request. (This can simply be a statement, in the signature line, that the receiver can reply to the email with a request for removal.)

Nonprofits have additional rules that must be followed:
Provide a valid physical postal address of the sender. (This can be done in the signature line.)

Sample Compliant Signature Line If You Are Selling A Product Or Service:
You have received this Email because EXAMPLE COMPANY would like to offer you our services. To avoid future contact from EXAMPLE COMPANY, please e-mail UNSUBSCRIBE@EXAMPLE-URL.com, or reply to this e-mail with the word ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’ as the subject line of your message. Your request will be honored, we do not buy or sell email addresses. Our mailing address is EXAMPLE COMPANY, ADDRESS1, CITY ST 12345. Our Phone number is (888) 888-88888 (toll free). Thank You.

Sample Compliant Signature Line For A Newsletter or Other Informational Only Document:
You have received this e-mail because you opted in to the EXAMPLE COMPANY newsletter during an online purchase. To avoid future newsletters from EXAMPLE COMPANY, please email UNSUBSCRIBE@EXAMPLE-URL.com, or reply to this e-mail with the word ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’ as the subject line of your message. Our mailing address is EXAMPLE COMPANY, ADDRESS1, CITY ST 12345. Our Phone number is (888) 888-88888. All other e-mail inquiries should be directed to info@EXAMPLE-URL.com. Thank You.

CAN SPAM Act Compliance Guide

CAN SPAM Act Detail

Again, if you have any questions or comments, please contact your IT Administrator.

Current Disclaimers

webmaster — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:40:43 +0000

Standard Email
Please be aware that neither PA State Association of Boroughs, its contractors, or third party providers assume any liability for this email, the transmission of this email or files, the security used to encrypt the file, or the data contained herein. This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please immediately notify the sender or return email and delete the information.

Encrypted Email:
This is an encrypted email; and, as such, the sender considers the information contained within privileged and confidential and intended only for the intended recipient of this email.

In order to read it, do the following:

Use the password provided to you by the sender or ask the sender for the password.

Click on the encrypted attachment

Enter password

Please be aware that neither PA State Association of Boroughs, its contractors, or third party providers assume any liability for this email, the transmission of this email or files, the security used to encrypt the file, or the data contained herein. This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please immediately notify the sender or return email and delete the information.

Website Disclaimer:
PSAB reserves the right to terminate service at any time and for any reason. In the event we terminate service and your account is paid and in good standing, your domain name will be turned over to you and any monies not allocated to your contract period will be refunded. Neither PSAB or its contractors assumes any liability for the management or assignment of your passwords, emails, web content, backups or any internet related issues regardless of whether said issues were caused by you, PSAB, or a PSAB third party contractor.

IPhone Notes

webmaster — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:23:39 +0000

Rebooting Your IPhone
On rare occasions your IPhone may lock up or require a reboot for an app to run. Rebooting the IPhone will not remove any information or data. To reboot the phone, do the following:

1) Hold the power switch in the upper right corner of the phone until a screen appears asking if you want to power down.

2) Answer the questions and your phone will turn off.

3) Once the phone is off, hold the power button until you see a white apple logo in the center of the screen and then release the button.

Note that it may take several minutes before you phone powers up completely so be patient.

Correcting A Network Issue

webmaster — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:13:10 +0000

If you are having trouble with a network drive, there should be a file on your desktop called logon or something similar to that. Double click on that file and it should correct your issue.

Transferring A Non GoDaddy Domain

webmaster — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:13:34 +0000

These instructions will explain the process of transferring a domain name from a registrar other than GoDaddy.

1) Verify that the Administrative and Technical Contact e-mail addresses are valid on the domain name at your current registrar. It the e-mail address on the account is not correct the transfer will fail because you will not be able to acknowledge the authorization notice.

2) Change the status of the domain with your current registrar to unlocked, which will allow it to be transferred.

3) Obtain an Authorization Code from your current registrar. An authorization code is available by logging on to your domain account or contacting the registrar. If you contact the registrar, they should provide you with something similar to the following:
Domain Name: yourdomainname.org
Authorization Info: B1D66165432A4FFX

4) Forward the authorization code and the current Technical Contact e-mail address to us.

5) Once we receive the above information, we will initiate the transfer request.

6) An authorization to transfer will be sent by e-mail to the Technical Contact. The request will resemble the following:

Forward the above e-mail to us and we will complete the transfer.

Please note that it is a good idea to forward all e-mails concerning the transfer to us. That way, if there is an issue, we can step in and help.

Once we have confirmed the transfer, the domain will be moved within within 5-7 days.

If you have any questions about the procedure, please feel free to click the contact us button at the top of the page.

Anti Virus Recommendation

webmaster — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:25:32 +0000

Microsoft Security Essentials – MSE for short – is a free antivirus suite for home users and small businesses with up to 10 PCs. The only catch about the “free” part is that your PC “must run genuine Windows”.

MSE is designed to protect against viruses, spyware and other malicious software. Like most antivirus suites, including paid solutions, it does not come with a separate firewall component. Rather, it uses Windows’ built-in firewall, and that’s good enough for most purposes.

Microsoft Security Essentials can be downloaded here.

Email Attachment Limits

webmaster — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:31:54 +0000

Most mail servers, both incoming and outgoing, restrict attachment sizes to a maximum of 10mb and sometimes less. A few larger email providers allow up to 25mb. These limits include all attachments, the message file and everything that is part of the message. If you are having trouble sending or receiving emails with attachments, the size limits have probably been exceeded.

As a general rule, any email over 1mb should not be sent via email.

Fortunately there is a solution. Simply use http://sendmyfiles.org to send attachments without using email.

12/21/10 Group Email and Broadcast Fax Policy From Tom

webmaster — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:06:55 +0000

No broadcast faxes or email blast shall be sent out without management approval, Tom, Chris or Jeff. E-mail blasts, when done improperly, can expose PSAB to great liability. This applies to all group mailings. No further group electronic mailings shall be done without prior approval.

Please note that there is a system in place on WebEx for requesting and tracking group E-mails and Faxes.

Can-Spam Act (spam laws)

webmaster — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 03:12:35 +0000

Favorite Links

webmaster — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 22:02:18 +0000

125 Page Us Form

Backing Up WordPress

webmaster — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:45:03 +0000

Because WordPress uses PHP, HTML and SQL, there are only a few ways to create a complete backup.

Previous to 09/01/11, we installed backup software called BackupBuddy on some select websites. As of 09/01/11, we have discontinued this product and no longer provide support.

If you had BackupBuddy on your site, please contact us for a free upgrade to our current backup solution.

If you do not have backup software for your WordPress website, you may request a quote for installation by clicking the contact us link at the top of this page. It usually takes about 15 minutes to do the installation and we provide the software free of charge.

We can only provide a backup solution if we are managing the domain name. Clients who manage their own domain name are free to purchase and install whatever backup solution they feel comfortable with.

We do not take any responsibility for this backup solution, the fitness of the program to perform backups, the validity of said backups, or any content or information that may be lost in use of the backup software. Backups, in all cases, are the responsibility of the client and not the the ISP, designer, etc. If you are not comfortable with our solution, you are free to purchase and install any of the publically available backup programs.

If you have email on your web server, this does NOT backup your email. WPTwin will only backup your WordPress web site. For a complete backup solution, please see the links under the cPanel section of this site.

Following are the instructions for our current WordPress backup solution:

WordPress WPTwin Instructions

Posts Not Showing

webmaster — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:51:53 +0000

WordPress uses two different “types” of documents, one is called Pages and one is called Posts. Basically, a Page, when published, will create a link across the top of your website, assuming top links are enabled. In general, these links would be used for items that are most important to your visitors. Top links remain displayed regardless of the page that is being viewed, so they are always visible. Posts, on the other hand, are almost identical to Pages, however they get linked down the left or right side of your site depending on the design. Side links can be displayed in a multitude of ways and may or may not be visible at all times depending on how your site was designed. Posts have to be assigned to a Category and the Category Widget must be added to your navigation section. See the additional help documents on this page related to navigational links for further information.

WordPress has three different ways in which it links content to your site. First, if you do not specifically Publish the Page or Post you are working on, it will be saved as a Draft. A Draft does not show up anywhere on your visible website, but, instead is displayed within your editor’s control panel. A Draft is something you are working on, but is not yet ready to post. When your Draft is ready to “go live” you must Publish it. Pressing the Publish button will immediately make your draft visible to visitors, with one exception. A link in the upper left box of your editor’s control panel within the Publish box, called Publish immediately, controls the date that the content will become visible on your site. This is normally set to immediately, which will make your content visible as soon as you press the Publish button. However, if you have finished content, say a newsletter, that you do not want visible until a certain date, you can change the publish date to a date in the future. In this case, your content will not be visible until the date you requested, regardless of whether or not you Published the Draft.

Outlook – Creating A Signature File

webmaster — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:09:43 +0000

Visitor Comments and Registration

webmaster — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:10:09 +0000

Changing Domain Name Servers

webmaster — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:53:21 +0000

1) Go to your domain name registrar company on the Web. Log in to your account by typing your username and password in the appropriate fields. Wait for the page to download completely to see the list of your domain names.

2) Select your new domain name. If you have multiple domain names you will want to make sure you choose the correct name. Choose only the name of the domain that you wish to edit.

3) Go to the domain name’s control panel or configuration page by clicking on the provided link. Choose the link that will allow you to change the domain name’s name servers from the different configuration options.

4) Delete the old name servers from the field and enter the new name servers. Enter the correct name server codes for the primary and secondary fields. If you do not have the new name servers, please use the Contact Us link at the top of this page to request the proper servers.

5) Save the changes you made. Depending on your registrar company, the modifications you made may take from 24 to 48 hours before they can take effect.

Forwarding E-mail Addresses

webmaster — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:18:33 +0000

Creating a Blank Line

webmaster — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:53:18 +0000

WordPress does not allow a blank line to be created in Visual mode. There are basically two methods to work around this problem:

1) Switch to HTML mode and place the code
wherever you would like an extra blank line. If you are switching back and forth between Visual and HTML modes, this method may not produce the desired results as WordPress strips out extra blank lines. Several

can be added on the same line to create additional spaces.

2) Enter a space in Visual mode and then highlight the space and make it a header. Of course, since it is a space, nothing will show up except a blank line.

Bounced or Undelivered Email

webmaster — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:11:36 +0000

If you are getting bounced Email notices, this document will help you to understand why and what they are showing you.

Usually, if a user receives a bounced e-mail notification it is because the address that was sent to is either invalid or not on line at the time of the mail delivery attempt. Most mail systems will continue to try delivering the mail for 24-48 hours. After that period, it is assumed to be undeliverable and is deleted from the mail queue.

If a user receives many bounced e-mail notices and they are from various senders, the issue is most likely spam. The sender of the e-mail may not be spamming, however, someone inserted a bogus e-mail address for the return address before sending the spam.

Lets explain by looking at a typical e-mail header.

Received: from 125.131.69.62 (125.131.69.62) by Veritas.uaca.local
(201.196.25.2) with Microsoft SMTP Server id 8.1.278.0; Mon, 19 May 2008
21:11:22 -0600
The above line tells us where the e-mail came from. In most cases, this cannot be faked. The IP address of this e-mail is 125.131.69.62. In terms of snail mail, this would be the physical location of the person sending the mail. It is hard to fake as this would be the actual street address of the brick and mortar building that the mail was sent from.
Message-ID: <000a01c8ba27$05e8d074$d2773c9c@vkpeh>
From: carlos tiziano skalis@boroughs.org
The first clue that the e-mail that was sent was forged, is a From: line that does not make sense. In this case it says the e-mail came from carlos tiziano, but the e-mail address does not belong to carlos tiziano. Carlos probably does not exist, however, skalis@boroughs.org does exist. Many mail servers will verify that the from address is valid before sending the mail. Of course, since skalis@boroughs.org is a valid e-mail address, the server will send the mail.
To: teologia@uaca.ac.cr
The original e-mail was sent by the spammer to teologia@uaca.ac.cr. If that person had received the e-mail, they may have mistakenly assumed that skalis@boroughs.org sent it. However, if they were to examine the IP address, 201-196.25.2, they would find that IP address does not belong to boroughs.org and therefore is forged. The unfortunate part is that if the spammer would use all valid e-mail addresses, skalis@boroughs.org would never know that her e-mail address was being used to spam. On the plus side, black lists, at least most of the valid ones, check this and would actually black list the IP address of 201.196.25.2 and not the address or IP associated with boroughs.org

In the above instance, the spammer sent to hundreds of invalid e-mail addresses. When the servers of those invalid e-mail addresses bounced the e-mail back, it was bounced to the return address of skalis@boroughs.org. In terms of snail mail, this would be like putting someone else’s return address on an envelope and sending it to an invalid address. The post office would return the mail as undeliverable, however, they would return it to the wrong address as the return address was wrong in the first place.
Subject: Why overpay? Buy generic drugs form the best supplier.
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 01:27:22 +0000
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary=”—-=_NextPart_000_0007_01C8BA27.05E7C323″
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198
Return-Path: skalis@boroughs.org

Summary/Outcome:
There is really nothing that can be done to prevent this type of spam. For skalis, it is more of a nuisance than an actual issue. No harm is being done, but skalis may receive thousands of bounced e-mail messages. The only potential negative is that a recipient of the spam e-mail looks at the false return address and thinks that skalis is doing the spamming.

Bounce messages can vary in format and in exact wording, depending on the mail server that’s sending the message back to you.

Following are the most common messages and errors, what they mean, and what you can do.

Common Error Messages:

Mailbox Not Found, Invalid Mailbox, User Unknown, Not Our Customer: These are all saying pretty much the same thing. The mail server doesn’t have an account for anyone with the email address that you sent to. A couple of common reasons:

You typed the email address wrong. The single most common reason this error happens is simply that you made a typographical error in the email name. Check the entire email address for an error.
It’s an old email address that’s no longer in use. Perhaps the person you’re attempting to email has changed their email address and you’re using an old one which is no longer valid. Make sure what you’re using is up to date.

Mailbox unavailable: 9 times out of 10, this is the same as “mailbox not found”. The other 10% of the time it could mean that there’s a problem with the recipients email account. What kind of problem is hard to say. Check to make sure that you have the email address correct, wait a while and try again. If it still bounces try contacting the recipient some other way.

Mailbox Full, or Quote Exceeded: Sometimes this will show up as a part of a “Mailbox unavailable” message. It’s fairly clear, though: your recipient has too much email and their server isn’t accepting any more. This is most common with web-based email services like Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc., which have limits on how much mail you can accumulate. This can also be a sign of an abandoned account – someone’s stopped looking at and cleaning out the email. In any case, you’ll need to try and contact your recipient through some other email account, or some other email account or method.

Host Unknown, Domain Lookup Failed: This means that the mail server you’re attempting to use doesn’t exist. A common reason is again, a typo on your part. Make sure you typed it in correctly. Another reason might be that the ISP changed their name. One example of this was when attbi.com” changed their name to “comcast.com”. Anyone trying to send to an old “attbi.com” email address might get this message in return. Another possible reason for this message could also be that the mail server you are sending to has a temporary issue. You should wait at least 8-72 hours and try again. Still another reason for this message could be that the administrator of the domain name you are sending to may have let the domain name expire. If you send an email to someone@thisdomain.com and this domain.com has expired, the message cannot be delivered. If you have waited and tried the email at a later time and you still get the error, contact the individual in another way.

Unable to Relay: This is a terribly obscure error message, but is also becoming more and more common as ISPs try to crack down on spam. Mail is sent by relaying email from one server to the next. There could be many servers involved, but typically it’s the mail server at your ISP relaying your email to the mail server at your recipients ISP.

In general, a mail server must “know” either the sender of an email, or its recipient, in order to safely transmit mail. Mail servers that do not enforce this requirement are called “open relays” and can be exploited by spammers to send out tons of spam.

Things get complicated because not all ISPs agree on what it means to “know” the sender of an email. All of these might result in an “unable to relay” message, depending entirely on the servers and ISPs involved:

The “From” address might not match an account on the email server.
The ISP might require that email comes via a connection (dial up or DSL) actually provided by the ISP – sending using someone else’s connection might not be allowed. Therefore, if you are a Comcast customer, but you use yourname@yourdomain.com, Comcast will reject your email with this message.
The ISP might require you to authenticate before sending email and you haven’t. This can usually be set within your email client.
A mail server somewhere could be misconfigured.
Your ISP may require you to use port 587 for sending email, which is another method to stop spamming. Again, you can set this within your email client.

There’s no blanket answer if “unable to relay” happens only occasionally. Double check the email address you’re sending to, for starters.

Temporary Errors: Errors like “no adequate servers”, “Connection Timed Out”, “Resources temporarily unavailable.”, “Out of memory” all typically indicate a problem with a mail server that you probably don’t have any control over. They are, in general, temporary, and should resolve themselves over time. Look carefully at the bounce message; the email server involved may continue to automatically try to deliver your email without any action required on your part.

Blacklist Filters: If you see messages that indicate your email was “blocked”, or “listed in”, and references to sites that have things like “spamcop”, “dynablock”, “blackhole”, “spamhaus” and similar in their names, then your email was probably intentionally blocked because the receiving system thinks your ISP’s mail server is a source of spam.

Various blacklisting services try to identify servers which are sources of spam. They then make that list available to ISPs, who in turn can block email coming from these sources. The problem is that criteria for addition and removal from these blacklists is vague, at best, and getting a server removed from blacklists can be very difficult. If this happens to mail you send, get in touch with your ISP and explain that their server may be on a blacklist somewhere, and then try to use a different email address, or a different email account of your own, to contact your intended recipient. You might also tell your recipient that their ISP is improperly blocking legitimate email.

Content Filters: Much like blacklists, content filters are an approach many ISPs now implement to stem the tide of spam for their clients. Most will simply discard email that looks like spam, but some servers will actually send a bounce. Phrases in the bounce message like “Message looks like spam”, “keywords rejected by the antispam content filter”, “scored too high on spam scale” and similar means that your email, for whatever reason, tripped the spam filters on the receiving end. Your email looks too much like spam.

What does it mean to “look like spam?” Here, again, things get vague. That definition will vary greatly based on how your recipient’s email server has been configured. Obvious possibilities are the use of pornographic words or phrases, HTML formatted email, currently popular drugs being pushed by spammers, or even having something that looks too much like a sales letter or a scam. The best approach is to scan the bounce for any clues (sometimes there’s more information), and then validate your recipient can get any email by sending a simpler message. Assuming that all works, then re-work your message as best you can to not look like spam.

You Are Using A Free Email Service: The free, ad-supported email accounts allow you to email file attachments up to a preset maximum size. This maximum size can be by email or by day depending on the service. Once you have reached your limit, your mail will no longer be received or delivered.

These limits also apply to the number of messages that can be sent and received over a period of time as well as the number of recipients that are listed in the cc and/or bcc, or any combination thereof. If you suspect this to be the case, check with the email service provider concerning limits on your account.

Following are examples of limits at the time of this writing. Please do not take these limits literally. Service providers often change their terms, so you need to check the current terms of service set by your email provider.

Google Gmail Email Send Rate Limit & Restrictions

The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Google Gmail account:

Gmail email send limit – no more than 500 recipients per message for the Gmail web interface, or max 100 recipients if you are using an email client software.

Gmail other SMTP limits – outgoing messages sent via Google Gmail can not exceed 10Mb per email (including attachments)

Google Mail SMTP restriction expiry method – the restriction is automatically removed within 24 hours after the limit was reached.

MSN Hotmail Email Send Rate Limit & Restrictions

The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Hotmail account:

Hotmail email send limit – no more than 100 recipients per day.

Hotmail other SMTP limits – outgoing messages sent via Hotmail can not exceed 10Mb per email (including attachments)

Yahoo Mail – Email Send Rate Limits & Other Email Restrictions

The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Yahoo Mail account:

Yahoo Mail email send limit – no more than 100 emails or recipients per hour

Yahoo Mail other SMTP limits – max 10Mb per message for the free Yahoo Mail Service, or 20Mb per message for Yahoo! Mail Plus

Yahoo Mail SMTP restriction expiry method – N/A

Lycos Mail – Email Send Limits & Restrictions

The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Lycos Mail account:

Lycos Mail email send limit – max 25 recipients per message and max 250 emails per day

Lycos Mail other SMTP limits – Lycos Mail does not have a limit to the attachment file size at this time.

AOL Email Send (Rate) Limits

AOL imposes a rate limit on an AOL member when a member exceeds the acceptable number of email messages sent in a given time period. The following restrictions apply when sending emails from an AOL connection:

AOL email send limit – no more than 100 recipients per message or 500 recipients per connection

AOL other SMTP limits – max 16mb per message

AOL SMTP restriction expiry method – N/A

How long is “a while”?

One of the most common solutions for just about any bouncing email problem, after checking that you’re sending to the right address, is to “wait a while and try again”. If there’s an email server with a problem, chances are it will get fixed eventually, especially if it belongs to a larger ISP. For temporary problems, as noted above, email servers will typically keep trying for up to 4 days before giving up.

When a Bounce Isn’t Really a Bounce

There’s a class of viruses these days that propagate by “looking like” bounce messages. They instruct you to open an attachment for more information. Don’t! Especially if you don’t recall sending the message in the first place. Don’t open any attachment, especially one accompanying what looks like an email bounce unless you are absolutely positively certain that it’s legitimate.

You may also be getting bounce messages for email you didn’t send. There’s another class of virus that “spoofs” or fakes the “From” address on email messages, and as a result you could be getting bounce messages that have nothing to do with you.

Everything Bouncing?

Finally, if every email you send bounces, then you probably have a different problem. Chances are your email client is misconfigured. Double check outgoing or “SMTP” server settings, and double check with your ISP to ensure that you have them set correctly.

Other Resources For Email Help

There are additional articles and help documents available at http://support-files.com.

Borough Discussion Group Support Request

webmaster — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:22:33 +0000

PayPal Information

webmaster — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:46:40 +0000

What are the fees for PayPal accounts?

PayPal doesn’t charge a fee to open a PayPal account.

Sending money – Personal payments:

It’s free within the U.S. to send money to family and friends when you use only your PayPal balance or bank account, or a combination of their PayPal balance and bank account.

There is a fee to send money as a personal payment using a debit card or credit card. The fee in the U.S. is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you send. For example, if you send $100.00 USD by credit card, the fee would be $3.20 USD ($2.90 + $0.30). For personal payments, the sender can pay the fee or pass it on to the recipient. If the recipient doesn’t want to pay the fee, they can choose not to accept the payment.

Receiving money – Personal payments:

It’s free to receive money from friends or family in the U.S. when they send the money from the PayPal website using only their PayPal balance or their bank account, or a combination of their PayPal balance and bank account.

If you receive a personal payment made from a debit card or credit card, the sender has the option to pay the fee or pass it on to you. If you don’t want to pay the fee, you can choose not to accept the payment.

If the fee is passed to you, it is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive. For example, if you are sent $100.00 USD by credit card, the fee would be $3.20 USD ($2.90 + $0.30).

This fee also applies if you click Request Money on the PayPal website and request money from friends and family. The fee applies if your friend or family member pays you using only their PayPal balance or their bank account, or a combination of their PayPal balance and bank account.

Goods and services – Purchase payments:

There’s no fee to use PayPal to purchase goods or services. However, if you receive money for goods or services (such as from selling an item on eBay), the fee for each transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive.

International payments:

There is a fee when you send a payment to someone in another country or if you receive a payment from someone in another country. Please note that exchange rate fees also apply if there is a currency conversion. The Fees section of the PayPal User Agreement has specific information. You can find the User Agreement by clicking Legal Agreements at the bottom of any PayPal page.

Note: Unfortunately, we’ve had to stop allowing personal payments to be sent to and from India. If you’re sending money for a personal payment to India, we ask that you find another way to pay until we’re able to restore personal payments to this area.

Withdrawing money:

You can withdraw money from your PayPal account to your bank account at no cost. If you prefer to receive a check, there is a $1.50 fee.

Can a customer use a credit card instead of a PayPal account?

Yes. You can use Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express with PayPal. Plus, when you pay with PayPal, you don’t expose your credit card number to merchants.

Which type of PayPal account do I need for a small e-commerce site?

A Premier account will get you started and provide shopping cart functionality.

User Roles

webmaster — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:21:09 +0000

You have the ability to allow others to post, edit, or delete from your web site. These additional users can be assigned different roles depending on what permissions you would like them to have.

Following is a list of different roles/permissions that can be used when authorizing additional users.

Subscriber Role

A subscriber role is the most basic and default role that is assigned to any user that registers on the site.

A subscriber can comment on your blog without having to enter their details and also modify your database by setting up their profiles.

Subscriber Role in WordPress:

Modify their Profiles
Comment on the blog (when logged in) without having to provide name and email, unless you change that in the settings.

As a general rule, unless instructed otherwise, we do not allow subscribers or comments on your web site. If you wish to allow subscribers with the ability to post comments to certain pages, please contact us with your request.

Contributor Role

A Contributor to your site has a bigger role than a regular subscriber in the sense that they can compose articles unlike subscribers, however they cannot publish or schedule the articles. Any article written by a contributor can be saved as draft or under pending review.

Contributor Role In WordPress:

All of the Subscribers privileges+
View comments in the administrator panel.
Add new posts to drafts or to pending review.
Edit their own posts.
View posts added by others in post listing section, however they cannot view drafts and scheduled post, but they can see the titles.

Author Role

An author can write articles, add it to pending reviews, save it under drafts, but more importantly, they can publish what they write. Authors can publish articles to the site without having your consent.

Author Role in WordPress:

All of the Contributor privileges+
View posts added by others in post listing section, however they cannot view drafts and scheduled post, but they can see the titles.

Editor Role

The Editor role can do all of the above, and, in addition, they can edit other’s posts. WordPress logs who edited which post and when (if you have post reviews on).

If you requested access to make changes to your web site, you were most likely assigned the role of Editor.

Administrator Role

An administrator account can do everything an Editor can do plus make changes to the actual configurations and programs that drive your content management web site. For this reason, the role of Administrator is not used or assigned outside of the design team that set up and created your web site.

Summary of WordPress Roles:

A subscriber role should be used when you want people who comment on your blog to not enter their information over and over again.
A contributor role should be used when you want your subscribers to contribute to your site, but don’t want to directly publish articles to your site.
An author role should be used when you trust a contributor or someone you think will write the best, without you having to go through what they wrote.
An editor role should only be given to people who you trust to write, edit and publish not just their own articles but those of other’s too.
An administrator role should never be given to anyone other than tech support staff.

Outlook Setting Up An Account 2003

webmaster — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:47:31 +0000

Outlook Setting Up An Account 2007

webmaster — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:14:20 +0000

Outlook Common Errors and Fixes

webmaster — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:23:20 +0000

Error:
Cannot open the default profile in outlook 2007. Error “Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.”
Fix:
Start->run..then type the following -> “Outlook.exe /resetnavpane”

Table Creation

webmaster — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:26:46 +0000

WordPress Easy Table Creator instruction document. This plug-in makes it very easy for a novice or professional to create basic tables within WordPress. If you do not have this update in your WordPress installation, we can install it at a very nominal fee. Please feel free to contact us for installation.

Instructions for manually creating or modifying a table.

Online Table Creator
This web site will create the HTML coding for a table based on your input. All you need to do is copy the code to your WordPress post page. Make sure you are in HTML mode when pasting the code into a WordPress post.

Additional Help and Resources

webmaster — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:33:00 +0000

If you are new to WordPress, and you decide to start updating your own site, we would strongly suggest you purchase WordPress For Dummies. There are many books available on WordPress which can be found on Amazon.com.

Understanding Email Port 587

webmaster — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:49:54 +0000

E-mail Can Be Received But Not Sent

First and foremost, please note that we are NOT your ISP. We simply host your web site and sometimes e-mail. Your ISP would be someone like Verizon, Comcast, Earthlink, etc.

Second, if you can obtain your e-mail through the web mail interface, then the server and e-mail system are working fine.

Many ISPs are blocking what is called “Port 25″ which is the port used to send e-mail. They are doing this to cut down on the amount of spam that is sent from their networks.
Port 25 blocking allows ISPs to block spam sent out through their networks, but it tends to punish people using their own domain for e-mail, as e-mail addressed in that manner can no longer be sent through your ISP.

This only affects outgoing e-mail! If you can receive e-mail but not send it, then there is a 99.9% chance this is your issue. If you can send and receive e-mail through web mail, then there is a 100% chance this is your issue. If your technician has told you that the problem is with your web host, but you can use web mail normally, we would suggest outsourcing this issue to a different technician or company.
Please note that almost all ISPs are now blocking port 25, and those that do not will be doing so in the near future. Here is a recent news release from Comcast, one of the largest ISP’s in the country:

Comcast, the nation’s largest broadband Internet service, this week began selectively blocking a network loophole commonly exploited by spammers.
The cable giant, whose broadband Internet service has more than 5.7 million subscribers, said it will block what’s known as “port 25″ for accounts suspected of sending mass amounts of unsolicited e-mail. The company will implement blocks based on subscriber accounts with the most outbound activity.

To bypass the port 25 blocking you have these options:

Use a different ISP. You can use a different ISP to connetc to the Internet. Smaller local ISPs usually do not block Port 25.

Try using port 587 as your SMTP server.

Use your ISP’s outgoing mail server. Contact your ISP and ask them for the correct settings for the mail servers.

Unfortunately, we, as your web host, cannot support or correct issues concerning your ISP. If web mail is working, but your e-mail client is not, you will need to contract with a qualified technician or contact your ISP for additional help.

DNS – Changing Your Preferred DNS

webmaster — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:42:58 +0000

In most cases, the following instructions will speed up your Internet access. In addition, using these DNS entries gives you access to additional services and filtering for your Internet connection. You can find out more at Open DNS.

• Right click on the My Network Places icon on the desktop and select Properties. (If the icon is not available, go to Start menu | My Computer | My Network Places | View Network Connections.)

• Locate the network connection that is associated with your Internet connection. This may be labeled something like “Local Area Connection.” If you have more than one connection to choose from, be sure you determine the right one before proceeding.

• Right click on the appropriate connection and select Properties.

• In the list that appears under the General tab, double click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

• In the window that appears, you want to select the option to Use the following DNS server addresses…

• At this point you will want to enter your personal preferred DNS servers of 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

• Press Ok out of all windows until you are back to the Network Connections window. You can now open your web browser and browse to a website to see if it connects faster.

Office 2007 Saving Files To Older Versions

webmaster — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:51:18 +0000

To change default file save options in Office Excel 2007
1. Double-click Microsoft Office Excel 2007, double-click Excel Options, and click Save.
2. In the right pane, right-click Save Excel files as, and select Properties.
3. In Save files in this format, select Enabled.
4. In the drop-down box, select a default file save format.
5. Click Apply to save the settings.

To change default file save options in Office PowerPoint 2007
1. Double-click Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, double-click PowerPoint Options, and click Save.
2. In the right pane, right-click Save files in this format, and select Properties.
3. In Save files in this format, select Enabled.
4. In the drop-down box, select a default file save format.
5. Click Apply to save the settings.

To change default file save options in Office Word 2007
1. Double-click Microsoft Office Word 2007, double-click Word Options, and click Save.
2. In the right pane, right-click Save files in this format, and select Properties.
3. In Save files in this format, select Enabled.
4. In the drop-down box, select a default file save format.
5. Click Apply to save the settings.

Creating A Spam Filter Rule In Outlook

webmaster — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:48:03 +0000

Outlook Correcting PST File Errors

webmaster — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:43:23 +0000

This document will provide detailed instructions on things you can try if you are having problems with your Outlook mail. The problems discussed in this document have to do with opening mail, Outlook closing down when you are reading mail, corrupt mail, etc. It does not have any information about sending and receiving mail.

Correcting PST File Errors In Outlook

Domain Name Renewal Scams

webmaster — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:21:37 +0000

Many domain name registrars send out notices, and bills, even though you do not have your domain name registered with them. Worse, they tend to charge more money, and, sometimes they can tie up your domain name to the point where you end up losing it or paying an extraordinary sum of money to get it back.

For most clients, your web site included a domain name and is included and paid for with your annual fee. If you get a domain name renewal notice or bill, please do not renew or pay without checking with contacting us. We will be happy to assist you in whatever way we can.

For the record, a domain name should only cost approximately $10. Normally, the companies that send out notices charge significantly more.

Following are examples of domain renewal notices or bills that were not legitimate. We will be posting more as we can.

Domain Registry of America

Outlook Creating A Whitelist

webmaster — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:23:43 +0000

Although this document explains how to create a white list filter in Outlook for any situation, it has been posted for our client using our advanced spam filtering system for their Email.

The document explains how to prevent a “good” piece of Email from going to your spam folder.

Creating A White List In Outlook