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How to create a map to your church

Apr 8th, 2010 | Posted by Ray Waldo | Filed under How To's

Bishop Moore has WISELY stated that every church website should have a map to help visitors find the church building. This is VERY easy to accomplish with our system.

To create a map on YOUR website, just visit the ADMIN function (the dashboard for your dashboard). Under SETTINGS, click on “MapPress” and fill in the blanks.

GOOGLE MAPS API KEY: You are welcome to request your own key from Google. It is free and takes just a couple minutes here: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html

After you complete the setup and save your configuration,

  1. Click on the PAGES/ADD NEW.
  2. Name the page whatever you like (we used MAP).
  3. Type any introductory information in the content entry box.
  4. Enter the desired address in the “MapPress” box (just under the content entry box) and press “Add location”. (you can preview the map below the MapPress box).
  5. Click on the “Insert map shortcode in post”
  6. Type any additional info you wish below the shortcode (in square brackets)
  7. Click PUBLISH.

Here is a sample of what it can look like:

Map powered by MapPress
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Site getting SLOOOW to load?

Mar 5th, 2010 | Posted by Ray Waldo | Filed under How To's

As a new blog owner, it is tempting to turn on  every plugin that is available. However, that is NOT a good plan!!

WordPress PluginsPlugin authors do not always follow good programming rules and, while their plugin may work fine in some blogs, it may not in others. This is often the result of a CONFLICT with another plugin. The results can be as dramatic as a “FATAL ERROR!” which will shut down your site and require you to contact Tech Support to get it turned back on. Or, the plugin may refuse to load when you first activate it.

More often, a plugin conflict will just cause your site to DRAG and seem to never load.

Here are some helpful ideas on how to troubleshoot your slow-loading website. Work through the list until the site loads quickly again. (You will have to reload/refresh your browser each time.) When the site returns to normal load times (much faster), then assume that the last thing you changed was the problem.

Visit your site’s DASHBOARD and use the menu on the left side to:

  1. Appearance / Widgets: Move all the widgets into the “Inactive Widgets” area (at the bottom of the page). This will temporarily disable them and still retain their settings for re-activation later.
  2. Disable any cache plugin that you have installed. If the cache is misconfigured, it can easily slow the site – rather than speed it up.
  3. Disable all plugins. In the dashboard, select Plugins / Installed and then click on the filter to view only the ACTIVE plugins. Click the box just below the “Bulk Actions” link and all active plugins will be selected. Click on the “Bulk Actions” link and select “Deactivate.”  All of the active plugins will be deactivated and placed in the “Recently Active” list. (If you must take a break from troubleshooting, you can filter to the Recently Active list, hit the box to select all and then “Bulk Action / Activate” to quickly return your site to the current state.)
  4. If the site is fast again, then reactivate the plugins one-by-one (most important first) until you experience a slow down again. You can safely assume that the last thing you changed was the culprit.

If you discover a plugin that does not “play well” with the others, then please leave a comment for me. Report your findings here and/or in the forums so that others can benefit as well.

Ray

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series How to
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What Is The BLCOG & How Do I Use It?

Mar 4th, 2010 | Posted by Ray Waldo | Filed under Community Updates

The BLCOG Community is RADICALLY different!

You can do a lot of stuff on Beyond Limits. Click here to visit the main site & check out the “EASY MENU” in the right column:

  • Find information about a Church of God congregation in your area. Press the YELLOW button (Find a Church). You can find the location, contact info and browse the church’s website – all from this link.
  • Register (or log-in) to start using all the social features. Press the GREEN button  (Start). This community offers features much like FACEBOOK (Friends,  Groups, Timeline, etc). All features are free and available to every registered user.
  • Create a new Blog or Website. If you are a registered member of this community, then you may qualify to have a blog hosted here for free. After you are registered, just click on the REDCreate A Blog” button to start.
  • Get Help. A lot of what we offer here (for free) has only been available to a select group of “geeks” before. So, we understand that you may not be familiar with building a website or whatever. That is why we have built a Technical Support system to help you with each task. Just click the RED help button to read existing article, ask for help  or start a support ticket that will be tracked openly.
  • Just “Chill” with friends. After you have registered, you can find friends, make new friends, establish groups, discuss issues of general interest or send personal messages to other users. Press the FRIENDS button to see what is going on right now.
  • Add your Church to our database. All Church of God congregations in the State of Louisiana should already be in the database but if your church is not listed, Click the GREEN “ChurchLoc.com” button & add it. A staff member will review the entry and take the appropriate actions.

Just below the Title of this page is a menu of the other primary pages for this site. Click on a tab to view the following pages:

  • HOME – Returns to this page
  • ABOUT – More info about what we are doing here
  • FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions (and the answers)
  • TOS – Our Terms Of Service & Privacy Policy
  • CONTACT – How to contact the personnel who maintain this community.
  • CALENDAR – The list of events relative to the Churches of God in Louisiana.

Scroll down the page to read other articles that you may find helpful. Each article is written to help you find more reasons to visit us every day – and stay a while!

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series How to
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