Frequently Asked questions

by homesteaders of Geocities....

Geocities homesteaders often write to me with similar questions. Here I will answer the most frequently asked questions, in hopes that I can save you the time of feeling the need to write to me, or to post a message.


1) Membername not working

2) Password not working

3) Counter Problem

4) Register Site in Search

5) Starting your Page

6) FTP Help

7) Posting a Background

8) The WaterMark

9) Create New HTML File

10) Posting Graphics

11) Image Files on the Web

12) Site Critique/Featured Pages?

13) Uploading Files

14) Files Allowed in GEOCITIES

15) EZ Upload

16) Banners in GeoRewards

17) Catch to "Free Pages?"

18) Community Leader Chat Monitors

19) Where does the GeoGuide Belong?

20) Posting a Link

21) Geoguide not Working

22) Building Subdirectories

23) GeoTickets and GeoPoints

24) Page Changes not Showing Up?

25) Setting up your Geomail

26) Changed Email Address



1) My Membername is not working. I keep getting the response "Membername does not exist!" What do I do?
Keep in mind that your site is located on a multi-million dollar, wonder of modern technology. You can expect a few bugs. Usually when your membername is not located, it is because Geocities is doing some construction and has temporarily lost the File Manager tool. I suggest that you wait for about a day, maybe two days, and see if your membername is located again. If it happens that your membername STILL has not been found, then the community manager of Athens. The Community Leaders do not have any power to locate membernames or passwords.

2) My password is not working. I changed my e-mail account in Geocities, and now I cannot get my new password. What can I do?
e-mail the Athens community manager. Only the people who actually WORK at Geocities can have access to passwords. The Community Leaders often have nothing to do with this problem.

3) My counter has been reading strange numbers lately. I know that I haven't gotten 3 million hits in one day. How can I fix this?
Geocities has recently installed a new tool called the Counter Manager. All you have to do is go here and follow the instructions listed on this page. It is very self-explanatory, but post a message on the board, or e-mail me if you have any trouble with the Counter Manager.

4)How do I register my site in the search engines?
To register your site, go to the main Athens Page and look for the "Topics" listing towards the bottom, left-hand corner. You will see there something that says "Register your page" at the very bottom, in the left-hand corner. If you want your site to be advertised in the search engines, you must register it, first. The directions, once again, are fairly self-explanatory, but you can always feel free to e-mail me with any troubles.

5)I have just moved into the Athens neighbourhood and I was wondering if you had any idea how I can start building my page.
I always receive this question. The best place to begin is at the File Manager. If you do not know where to begin as far as setting up your site, I suggest you go here. This site has a large listing of helpful links which will guide you through establishing your first home on the web. It has HTML help links, free web page graphics, format guideline linkes, and much more. Once again, e-mail me or post something on the message board. I highly suggest a post on the message board rather than a letter to me; the message board has many readers, and I am but one person with my own ideas on web design. You can get more opinions from the board than you can from me!

6) I cannot get the FTP to work at Geocities. What do I do?
Before I go on, I have set up a special FTP page since FTP questions are usually the most difficult. The instructions below contain much concerning FTP programs, but I suggest you look at the FTP page for a more elaborate answer.

Okay, first thing to do is to ignore what Geocities tells you, other than the membername, the password, and the server (ftp.geocities.com) name. Next, I suggest that you go here for a program called Crystal FTP. This page contains a place where you can download the program, and it supplies links which describe how to use Crystal FTP.

Another FTP program is RFtp. You can download RFtp from this site. RFtp is exceedingly simple. All you do is put in your Geocities membername where the program asks for the "Log-in name." The FTP Server is ftp.geocities.com, and the password that the program requests is your Geocities password. (These instructions can also apply to Crystal FTP.) Both FTP programs are excellent. Feel free to post a message on the board, if you have any other suggestions for FTP programs, or if you have any questions.

7)How do I post a background into my page?
To post a background on your site, simply upload to your file manager the background that you want to use. (Do this by using the EZ Upload Utility or by using FTP.) If you need a background, try visiting here, where you can find some backgrounds. To post the background, do this:

< body background="http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9999/help/addressofthebackgroundyouareposting.jpg" >

(Backgrounds can also be .gif files.)

8)I am having trouble with the Watermark. Can I remove this from my site?
The Watermark is Geocities' way of categorizing your site and getting it more traffic. You are not allowed to remove the Watermark and anyone who does remove it faces penalty of automatic alert. The Watermark is going to improve, so please wait a month or so before deciding that you hate it enough to move away from Geocities.

9)How do I create a new HTML File?
Creating a new HTML is a very simple thing. All you have to do is look in your File Manager, just under where the files in your directory are listed. You will see a button that says "Create New HTML File." Click on this button. Make out your page with whichever editor you use, and then save the page. If you wish to preview your page first, then you must re-title it before you can save it. (The File Manager will warn you off this.)

10)How do I post graphics on my site?
To post graphics on your site, you must have the address of a certain graphic. I suggest uploading the graphic into your file manager, just as you would do with a Background. (See question #7 for uploading a graphic.) Now to post the graphic!
< img src="http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9999/help/addressofgraphic.gif" >

Graphics may also be .jpg files.

11)How do I post a .bmp file onto my page?
The only image files that can be posted in Geocities are *.jpg files and *.gif files. If you wish to convert a file to a .gif or .jpg extension, I suggest that you download Paint Shop Pro. If you have any questions about using PSP, e-mail Melisa. She is the Goddess of Computer Paints.

12)How do I become a Featured Page of Athens?
The featured page program has come to an end, but you can still get a site critique at the Site Critique Team of Athens homepage. A site critique entails helping you to make your site compatible with various browsers, giving you the low-down on how to best accomodate web surfers and offering some ideas on what you can do to improve site traffic, if necessary.

13) I have uploaded a new page to my site, to replace another one of the same name, but it didn't work?
Keep in mind that the Geocities uploading utility often changes the case of the letters which name your file. (Case means whether it is in CAPS or in lowercase letters.) You can delete the old file and replace it with the new one, but try to make sure that the box that says "Always convert filenames to lowercase" is checked. This box appears just above the Upload Utility buttons.

14)What kind of files are allowed on Geocities?
Geocities allows .zip, .jpg, .gif, .txt, .exe and .html files. Anything else is not supported by the Geocities server.

15)My EZ Upload does not work. What should I do?
Oftentimes, the browser which you are using is not compatible with the Geocities EZ Upload Utility. If you cannot run Netscape 2.0 or above, or Microsoft's Internet Explorer, I suggest that you FTP your files to your account. (See Question #6 for FTP explanation.) Also, your ISP might have a Firewall up, which will also hinder using the Geo EZ Upload. I believe that there are special settings in the FTP programs for firewalled folks.

16)Where can I get a banner to put into the Geocities Banner Rotation? How do I put it into the banner rotation?
There are some dedicated Geocities volunteers who offer to make banners for homesteaders. You can find them at this page. Once you have received your banner, you must upload it to your file manager account, and then you must submit the new address of the banner at the banner submit page. The directions are fairly self-explanatory, but you can e-mail me, or post a message on the board if you have any troubles.

17)What is the catch to these "Free Homepages?" Are they REALLY free?
The free homepages means that you pay no money towards the upkeep of your site, unless you order Geoplus, and even with Geoplus, you can opt to pay for it by using Geopoints, which come from the hits on your site per month, rather than with money. The other catch is that you must undergo torment by the Geoadvertisers who come up with such ideas as pop-up window advertising and the Geoguide. The pop-up window advertising IS mandatory, and there is not really anything you can do about it. That is the main catch.

18)Are there regular Community Leader Chat monitors? Will they keep the chatrooms free of bad language and nasty chatters?
Yes, there are chat monitors in the Athens Chatrooms. These monitors ARE community leaders. You can often speak live to a community leader if you go to the Athens Chatroom.

19)Where do I have to have my Geoguide if I want to be featured?
In order to be nominated as a featured site, you must have the Geoguide at all main entrancees to your site. Main entrances are those pages from which any user can access the whole of your site. For instance, I have the Geoguide at the top of my index page AND at the top of my main page, for the simple reason that you are actually forced to go to both pages if you want to see the whole of my site.

)20)How do I post a link on my page?
To post a link, do this:
< a href="http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9999/help/www.link.com" >

You must post the full address of the site to which you wish your page to link. So if I wanted to link to the Not-So-Official Spork website, I would have to type: < a href="http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9999/help/www.spork.org" >

21)Why doesn't my GeoGuide work right?
You must always activate your Geoguide in order for it to show up on your page. To first get the Geoguide to show up, you must have the following coding at the top of your page, just below the
tag.
< !--#Geoguide-- >

After you have put the coding in, you must go to Geoguide Manager to activate your Geoguide. Follow the Geocities instructions by putting in your membername and your password. Click into the GeoGuide area, and set up your Geoguide if you have not already done so. To make your Geoguide appear on the page, after you have set it up, you must go to the button located in the Geoguide manager which says "Activate Geoguide." After clicking on the "Activate" button, you will see a listing of all the HTML pages in your Geocities account. On the pages where you have placed the coding, click "Yes" for activation. After you have clicked yes on the bubbles, scroll below your file listings, and click on the "Activate" button. Your Geoguide should appear.

22)How do I get subdirectories into my site?
The regular Geocities account does not provide the opportunities for subdirectories in hommesteader sites. In order to have subdirectories, you must apply for Geoplus. Geoplus is paid for by Geopoints or by montly monetary charges. Either way, there are many benefits to having Geoplus.

23)What are Geotickets and Geopoints?
Geotickets are like lottery tickets. You earn a certain amount of tickets which are placed into a drawing at the end of the month. If one of your tickets is drawn out of the proverbial hat, you are eligible to win varioius prizes, supplied by the Geostore. At the end of the month, your Geotickets are erased and you begin all over again at zero.
Geopoints are also earned once a month. Geopoints are like cash. You can use them to buy various things at the Geostore. You can also use Geopoints to pay for Geoplus (see above question to learn about Geoplus). Geopoints, however, accumulate in your account for as long as you let them. Unlike Geotickets, they do not disappear.

24)I made a bunch of changes to my site, but after I saved them, and looked at the page, none of the changes appeared. What happened?
Usually the reason that you do not see the changes is because you need to hit "Reload" while looking at your page. The changes simply don't appear because a previously cached copy is still showing up. Hitting "Reload" will replace the previously cached copy and will show all of your changes.

25) How do I set up my Geocities email account?
To set up your Geocities email account, you must go into your mail options menu and put in the following information:


26)How do I inform Geocities of a change of email account?
To do this, you must go into the Personal Profile Editor and find the box where your email address is listed. Type in your new email address. NOTE:YOU MUST TYPE THIS ADDRESS IN CORRECTLY!!! When you change your email address, Geocities gives you a new password via the new address. This is why it is imperative that you to type in the new email address properly.








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