Frequently Asked Questions
Click category below to jump to section:
General Questions
- I don't think I'm the best suited
administrator for my class web site. How do I determine
who should run our site?
Answer: The Site Administrator is usually
the person who maintains your class list (e.g. Class President,
Reunion Committee chair). If you are not the
best Administrator for your class we recommend you send
an automatic invitation to the individual most qualified
to be your site's Administrator. You can send
an invitation by clicking this link.
- What makes Class Creator unique?
Answer: With Class Creator you get
an actual home
page just for your own graduating class (some other
systems lump classes into 4 year blocks, which results
in most Classmates not knowing each other). Class Creator
is also free and ultra simple to use — we have removed
financial and technical barriers to classmate participation,
which means more Classmates participate, everyone has
more fun, and your site is a much greater success.
This is just the tip of the iceberg though. To see
first hand what makes Class Creator unique, try
creating a site yourself and see how it works first
hand.
- Do Classmates have to pay anything to use the site?
Answer: No. Charging Classmates a fee to
use your site is the best way to ensure the failure
of your site. It's that simple.
- Does Class Creator make money?
Answer: Yes. Although not required, some schools opt to purchase a domain name for their site from Classnames.net. Classnames.net is a domain Registrar owned and operated by Class Creator. We earn revenue from any domain name that is purchased.
- Will you ever start billing for
Class Creator?
Answer: No. Charging Administrators
and/or Classmates a fee for using Class Creator is counter
productive to encouraging the mass participation of your
Classmates. We will not change the rules after you have
completed a site. What you see is what you get.
- Can I use Class Creator to make a site
for our school, or other purpose, but not specifically for
a graduating class?
Answer: Yes. Note that
Class Creator comes with a lot of functionality specifically
designed for class web sites and you will need to turn off
this functionality. From
your Administration Area simply uncheck any class functions you do not wish to use, then use your site any way you wish.
- I want to make a site for my university, not my high school. Is this possible?
Answer: Yes. During the setup wizard just type in your university name instead of selecting a high school from our database. All functions of Class Creator will work just as well for your university as they do for a high school.
- How long have you been in business? Can I be sure my web site won't "go away"?
Answer: Class Creator was developed by a team of Internet Professionals who have been creating cutting edge web sites since 1998. This is our full time job — it's all we do. Schools all over the world rely on Class Creator every day. When you build your site with Class Creator you can count on it to be here today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. Class Creator is a communication system designed to last a lifetime.
- My Classmates and I have put a lot of effort into our site. Is it backed up anywhere?
Answer: Yes. We have two separate backups. One backup runs in real time on a duplicate hard drive called a Mirrored RAID Array. In the event of hard drive failure we have an immediate, full backup of the entire Class Creator system. We also have a second off-site backup that runs nightly on a different web server at a different location. In the unlikely event a total disaster (such as a fire) should wipe out our main systems and mirrored backups simultaneously, we would be able to quickly restore the Class Creator system from our off-site backup.
- I have a recommendation I feel will
make the Class Creator system better. Where can I send
it?
Answer: Send it to info@classcreator.com.
What makes the Class Creator system great is the recommendations
from our class site administrators. Rest assured, when
you make a suggestion we will read it and consider it.
All individuals who submit a feature recommendation will
receive a personal reply from us.
Questions About Building Your Site
- I want to build a web site for multiple
graduating years, such as the Class of 1983 through Class
of 1986. Is that possible?
Answer: Yes. Just follow the steps below:
- During the site creation wizard, when asked for graduating
year select the first year of Classmates you wish to
include (e.g. 1983).
- Complete all 16 steps of the wizard.
- After completing
the wizard click on "Edit School/Logos"
from your Administration area.
- Change your dates. (e.g. change 1983 to 1983-1986).
- That's it! Although optional, we recommend you purchase
a domain name for your site if your site includes Classmates
from multiple graduating years. If you don't, then only
the first year you selected will show in your web site's
address, for example: http://www.classcreator.com/City-State-YourSchool-1983.
With a domain name you can easily overcome this by choosing
whatever name you'd like (e.g. www.yourschool83-86.com).
- Where can I get my Class List?
Answer: If you have no class list,
or a partial class list, call your high school.
Most high schools can supply a complete list of students
who graduated in a specific year. In rare scenarios
where you cannot get a complete list of your Classmates,
simply enter all classmate names that you have. You
can always add more names to the system at any time.
- Why do I have to add all of my Classmates' names in advance?
Answer:
There are numerous benefits to doing this:
- You will be able to email all Classmates at the same time and invite them to your new site (this will swing your site into action
like you won't believe).
- With all Classmate names in your system we can easily formulate "Missing Classmate" pages for you.
- Having all Classmate names in the system encourages your Classmate to invite Missing Classmates to your site (no other system
will gain the participation of your Classmates the way that Class Creator does).
- There is a predetermined "slot" for each Classmate — this is a huge security benefit that prevents non-Classmates from tampering with your site.
- When Classmates see their own name on your Class List they are more likely to join your site and participate.
- Having all of your Classmates' names in your system is the best way to keep an active database and directory. You can download this information at the touch of a button at any time and use it for any purpose (invitations, labels, mail merges, phone calls, etc).
The benefits of entering in all of your Classmate names in advance cannot be overstated. The time you spend doing this will cause
your site to be successful in a way that no other system can match.
- Where can I get my school logo?
Answer: Call your high school and
ask for it. Most high schools can email it to you.
If you have a printed logo scan it
in, or have it scanned for you. If your high school has a web site, you can also right click on your school's logo, save it to your computer, and then upload it into your Class Creator web site.
- Where can I get a photo of my high
school?
Answer: We recommend you scan your
high school photo from your yearbook, or have somebody
do it for you (such as any local copy house like Kinkos).
Using a school photo from your yearbook is a nice touch
because it's exactly how your Classmates remember
the school looking.
- Where can I get photos of my Classmates?
Answer: Most people scan them directly from their yearbook. If you need a copy of your yearbook your high school will often retain copies. Call and ask! Tip: Be sure to check both the school Library and the Journalism departments — they often retain copies of old yearbooks.
- What happens if I don't have many
(or any) email addresses for my Classmates?
Answer: Enter your entire class list
and leave the email address field blank for any email
addresses you do not have. Your Classmates can supply
their email address later when they join the site.
If your class list contains mailing addresses you should
consider mailing out a flyer to announce the launch
of your site. One simple flyer announcement will usually
get many email addresses into the system, and your
site off to a great start.
- How do I upload photos to my home page or other pages of my web site?
Answer: To upload photos to your web site:
- Log into your web site.
- Click on "Edit Site Pages" from your Administrative links (the third block of links).
- Click the Edit button next to the page you wish to insert photos into.
- When your editor pops up, click the little yellow "Image button" near the left hand corner.
- Click the browse button, select your image, and press the "Send It To the Server" button.
- Press Ok, then press Ok again. You will now see your image in your editor.
- Right click (control click on Mac) on your image and then select "Image Button Properties" to set alignment options for your image.
Note: It's ok to upload oversized images to your site, such as large photo scans. Our system will automatically resize your images to fit perfectly on your web page. After inserting your image just press
the Save button, and you will see that your photo has been perfectly sized for your page.
- How do I add a deceased Classmate to the "In Memory" section of my web site?
Answer: Follow the steps below:
- Add deceased Classmate's Name to your active list of Classmates if you have not already done so.
- Click on Edit Site Pages from your Administration Area.
- Click the Edit button next to "In Memory."
- Select the deceased Classmate's name from the dropdown list.
- Click the "Add Deceased Classmate" button.
- Follow the instructions on screen..
- Repeat for any additional deceased Classmates.
- Do you have an option for an Alumni Association
to have a main site with each class having sub sites
like they can set up now?
Answer: Yes.
You can accomplish this with Class Creator by
performing the following steps:
- Alumni Association builds its web site with Class
Creator.
- Alumni Association turns off all pages of the
site except for the home page by unchecking them.
- Alumni Association turns off all right hand modules
on the home page by unchecking them.
- Alumni Association creates home page content or uses
any of the 8 custom link slots available to customize
its site. Alumni Association now has a totally functional
web site consisting of up to 9 links/pages with only
the content they've chosen to post.
- Each Class creates a site using Class Creator.
- Alumni Association links to each class site from its
main web site.
If you need assistance with the above procedure please
call us. We'd be happy to walk you through it by phone.
- What's the difference between a Poll and a Survey?
Answer: Here's an explanation:
Poll: The Poll embeds right into your home page and is often used as an entertainment feature. Polls can only have multiple choice answers. Each Classmate can only vote once, and after voting Classmates see the Live Poll Results in a graphical pie chart format. To create a Poll click on Edit Site Pages from your Administration Area, then click the Edit button next to "Home Page". Finally click on "Manage Poll" and then follow the instructions.
Survey: The Survey module allows you to create sophisticated surveys with simple point and click functionality. Surveys are usually used for collecting necessary information, such as information to assist you in planning a Class Reunion. The sky's the limit on the types of surveys you can design and the questions you can ask. You can even put more than one survey live at a time. Classmates must log in to vote, and each Classmate can only vote once. Surveys have their own visibility permission settings, allowing you to decide if Classmates see the results of a survey, or if the survey results stay hidden and only available to you, the Site Administrator.
Questions About Maintaining Your Site
- Can I control the navigational links
and content on my site?
Answer: Yes, you control all links and
content on your site. You can even add new links and
customize your site any way you wish. You won't believe
how simple we've made it to control your links and site
content. Click
here to give it a try yourself.
- Where will our class web site be hosted? Is there a monthly fee?
Answer: Your web site is hosted on high powered T3 Internet servers located in Texas. We have owned and managed our bank of servers for over 10 years. Our server up time is about as close to 100% as you can get. There is no monthly hosting charge to use the Class Creator system.
- I forgot my login and/or password.
What should I do?
Answer: If your Classmates lose their
password they can use our automated system to retrieve
it. For security purposes we don't offer the same automated
recovery system if you, the Site Administrator, have
lost your password. When this happens please email
us and
we will verify your credentials as Site Administrator
and recover your password for you.
Questions About Planning Your Reunion
- Can I use the Class Creator system to organize our reunion online?
Answer: Yes. You can announce all the details of your reunion with a simple one page setup wizard. You can also allow Classmates to register for your reunion online. Your Classmates can see at a glance who is attending your reunion.
- Can my Classmates pay for reunion tickets or other items on our site?
Answer: Yes, you can sell reunion tickets and/or other items on your web site. Class Creator integrates directly with your PayPal Business Account so you can accept major credit card and PayPal payments online. Click here to open your free PayPal Business Account in a new window if you need one. (Note: You must have a PayPal business account, not a standard PayPal account — the link above will take you to the exact account signup page you need.) Full instructions for easy integration with your site are provided inside the Class Creator system.
- Can you assist us with the details of our reunion?
Answer: No. We do not get involved in reunion details.
For some good tips on reunion planning see the Planning The Perfect Class Reunion article at Reunionannouncements.com. If you wish to hire professional reunion planners you might consider Great Reunions. As they state on their site, they do all the work, you take all the credit. If you are planning a class trip check out Class Reunion Tours.
- Can you help us locate missing Classmates?
Answer: No, but there are many tools online that can help you with this such as Whitepages.com. If you would like to try a more advanced people finder service click here to try Addresses.com.
Questions About Domain Names
- Do you recommend purchasing a domain name?
Answer: Yes. A domain name will be easier for your Classmates to remember than using the longer system-generated Class Creator address.
- Can I choose my own domain name
for my class web site (e.g. www.yourclassname.com)?
Answer: Yes. Simply register a domain
name at Classnames.net. All
you need to do is select and reserve a name. The system is automatically configured to point your domain name to your
site and everything will correctly without any manual data entry from either you or us. A domain
name is not required to use the Class Creator system,
but is strongly recommended.
- What does a domain name cost?
| Answer: |
1 |
year: |
$ |
19 |
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2 |
years: |
$ |
36 |
| |
5 |
years: |
$ |
85 |
- I already have a domain registered
with another registrar. Why do you require domain names
be registered through Classnames.net?
Answer: Classnames.net is uniquely
programmed and configured to automatically interface with the Class Creator system. No other registrar has this programming. If you already have
a domain name registered with another registrar please
transfer it to Classnames.net so it will work with
our system.
- I tried to transfer my domain name to Classnames.net but it didn't work. What should I do now?
Answer:
Here are the steps to transfer your domain name to Classnames.net:
- Domains often have what is called a registrar lock or a domain lock. This is generally a setting in the domain control panel at the domain registrar that you must select "unlock" in order to release the domain for transfer. This will sometimes be called "Transfer Prohibited" and you need to check off "allow transfer".
- You need a EPP Key or domain authorization key in order to transfer most domain name extensions. This key/code comes from the registration company that holds the domain name at the time of the transfer request. The key is sometimes included on your domain control panel — if it is not you may need to request this key from your current registrar.
- Make sure your email address is listed as the the administrative and/or registrant contact. Once the transfer beings this email address will receive a transfer authorization request. This request will include a domain authorization form that you must choose "I authorize this transfer" and submit. If any of the contacts check off that they do not authorize the transfer the transfer will cancel.
- Once you have completed the first three steps (the domain is unlocked, you have the EPP Key/Authorization Code, and you have verified that your email address is the email address listed as the administrative contact you can start the transfer process.
- Go to ClassNames.net and create a new account.
- Click on the Domain Names tab and choose the Transfers link.
- By default the form is set to "Auto Verification". If you have access to the administrative contact email address you will want this option so choose the Next button at the bottom of that form.
- In the box provided enter the domain name you wish to transfer follow by a comma, a space and then the EPP Key/Authorization Code mentioned above.
Example with Authorization Key:
myname.com, 00000000
- At the bottom of the form there are three check boxes on by default - keep those checked and click the submit button.
- The following page allows you to review the order before you submit. If everything looks accurate submit the order.
- Within the next 24 hours you will receive at least one email asking you to authorize the transfer. You will sometimes receive a second authorization request from the current Registrar as part of their final steps of releasing the domain. This process varies by Registrar so you may only receive the one.
- You will be notified via email when the transfer has processed.
Domain registration companies have added these extra steps over the years to ensure that domains are ONLY transferred by the owner. The steps are industry wide to ensure all registration companies are following the same rules. On rare occasions a registrar will have additional steps (such as calling them to verify the release), however, the majority of the large domain registrars follow the rules above.
- If I use Classnames.net as my Registrar,
do I still have full control over my domain name?
Answer: Yes. You maintain full administrative control over your domain name.
- I received a bill in the mail from "Website Listings" or from another Registrar who is not Classnames.net asking me to send money to renew my domain name. Did you send this to me?
Answer: No we did not. If you purchased a domain name from Classnames.net the annual cost is $19 per year, or less if you purchased for multiple years. Solicitations from "Website Listings" and other unscrupulous Registrars unfortunately disguise their solicitations as something that appears to be a bill. Many people who do not know any better wind up paying, falling victim to this scam and inadvertently transferring their domain name away from Classnames.net. If you fall for this not only will you be paying a significantly higher yearly fee for your domain name, your Class Creator site will no longer work correctly as well. If you receive something in the mail that looks like a bill for your domain name, and it is not from Classnames.net, DO NOT PAY IT. Simply throw it away. There are several Registrars out there willing to pray on domain name owners with these types of misleading solicitations. How unfortunate.
Questions About Email
- I want to create an email addresses using
my school's domain (e.g. info@yourschool.com) and have any
emails sent to it forward to my regular email
box so I do not have to check email at multiple places. Is
this possible?
Answer: Yes.
The ability to create and forward 100 personalized email addresses is included with your domain registration.
Please follow this procedure:
- Log into your account at Classnames.net using
the login and password you created when you initially
registered your domain name.
- Click
on the domain name(s) in your account, and then click
the domain name you wish to create an email address for.
- Click on the "Change Service" button
under the "Email Settings" heading.
- Select the Email
Forwarding radio button and click on "Save Changes."
- Enter
the email addresses you wish to create, as well as the
email address you wish to forward your email to. You
may create up to 100 email addresses using your school's
domain name by repeating this procedure.
- Be sure to click the "Save Changes" button when you
are done creating email addresses.
- Try sending a test email to the new email address you
just created to be sure the forwarding works correctly.
Please note that an email address that forwards is different from having a POP3 email box where email is stored on a web server. Email forwarding merely redirects email to a POP3 email box that you are already currently using.
- Can I forward email to multiple parties, such as a group of fellow Administrators or Classmates?
Answer: Yes. See our diagram about Email Forwarding Solutions.
Questions About Advertising, Solicitations, And Privacy
- Will you display advertising on my site?
Answer: No. Unlike other systems,
the idea behind Class Creator is to keep sites clean, professional, and uncluttered.
- Will you send unsolicited emails
to my Classmates?
Answer: Only in these two circumstances: 1) A reminder to update profile will be sent to Classmates if their profile has not been updated in more than 6 months, and 2) A New Year's Day reminder is sent to Classmates suggesting that the start of the new year is a good time to update their profiles. Other than these two reminder emails, the only person
we will ever email is you, the Site Administrators.
We'll only mail you when we have something important
to say, such as announcing a new feature of Class
Creator. We will never send you
spam email or solicitations of any kind that do not pertain to Class Creator.
- Do you rent, sell, or in any way profit
from having my Classmates' names and personal information?
Answer: No. We do not engage in renting
or selling your Classmates' information, or any form of
solicitation regarding your Classmates whatsoever. You
can have the utmost confidence that your Classmates' information
is held strictly confidential.
- I read in your FAQs that you don't rent or sell my Classmates' personal information, but how can I know that you really don't? (Yes, we really get this question...)
Answer: You're going to have to trust us. We do not rent, sell, or profit from your Classmates' personal information in any way. Really. Classmate information such as email address, physical address, and phone number is also never displayed on your web site. It is 100% safe from being indexed by search engines as well. We do not, nor will we ever, do anything that would allow anyone to obtain your Classmate information. That's about as clear as we can make it.
- Can people find my Classmates' Profile
pages by searching Google or other major search engines?
Answer: It depends. Your Classmates' Profile
pages are fully indexable by major search engines, but each individual Classmate has the ability to permit viewing of his or her Profile only to fellow registered Classmates. If Profile information has been restricted to only fellow Classmates, then search engines can not get into this information and index it, nor can any non registered Classmate get in. Please note that
your Classmates' public
profile is found in the search engines when no restrictions have been set by the Classmate him or herself. This is
the same information that anybody can see simply by visiting
your web site unless a Classmate has restricted Profile viewing to only fellow Classmates. Your Classmates' private
information is not findable and will never be
displayed even if their Profile is left open to the public. Specifically, your Classmates' email
addresses, mailing addresses, and telephone numbers are completely protected and not visible to the public, and not findable/indexable by search engines no matter what. Please note
that anyone can still send an email to your Classmates
by filling out the contact form at the bottom of any Classmate
Profile page. This allows open communication between Classmates and non Classmates alike, while protecting Classmates' personal information.
- We understand that Classmates' private information is not visible to the public, search engines, and even other Classmates, but that's still not good enough. We want to password protect our Classmate area so only our Classmates can read other Classmates' profile information. Is this possible?
Answer: Yes. When you are logged into your Administration Area click on Edit Site Pages, and place a checkmark in the Password column next to your Classmate Profiles page. Then set a root system password at the bottom of the page and click the Save button. When you have done these two things the public and search engine will no longer have access to your Classmates' profile pages. Classmates with an account will still be able to see all pages of your site, even if you have password protected them.
Note: If you choose to password protect your Classmate Profile page, new Classmates will no longer be able to join your site unless they have your system password to get in. For this reason we recommend you send a mass email to your entire class after password protecting your Classmates Profiles page informing them what your system password is. Classmates who have not yet joined your site will need this password so they can access your Classmate Profiles area and create an account on your site. If you don't have an email address for a Classmate and the Classmate finds your site on his or her own, the Classmate will need to email you to get the system password before an account can be established. Only 15% of schools choose to password protect their Classmate Profile page. You should do this only if you realize that you will have more work to do and will receive more emails from your Classmates trying to join your site. This is the tradeoff for having the extra level of security.
- If I do not password protect our Classmate Profiles page, can individual Classmates do anything themselves to protect their privacy?
Answer: Yes. Each Classmate can select an option that allows only registered Classmates to view his or her Profile. If this option is selected, search engines and the general public will be blocked from accessing the Classmate's Profile page. People have different security concerns for many different reasons, so we've put this security decision squarely in the hands of each Classmate. Note: Any registered Classmate who is logged in will be able to view all Classmate Profiles.
- I noticed a 6 digit security code must be entered in order to send fellow Classmates a message. Why is this there?
Answer: It is there to stop spammers from spamming your entire site. Without this security measure a spammer could easily send spam mail through your site to every single one of your Classmates. Having to type in a 6 digit security code is a small inconvenience in return for keeping your site free of spam.
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