Index
Orientation
Excellent Tooth was made to be both flexible and simple. You can create up to 25 pages, whether they are media or text pages. The pages can exist as a list in your site's main menu, or you can create submenus to organize your site by category. You can create as many or as few menus as you wish, or again, none at all. Because your site is updated whenever you create a new page, save changes to an existing page, or edit your list of pages and menus, you can view your site as you build it. Also, note that you can leave any text field in any form empty. Enter only the information appropriate to your needs.
Site Limitations
There is a 25 page limit. Media pages may contain up to 28 images. You can create up to 20 submenus. Text fields have various length limits.
How To Start
Please note that the Excellent Tooth editing application requires the Flash Player version 9 or later. If it is not installed on your computer, you are prompted to install it the first time you use the editor.
- 1. Go to your editing page: yourname.excellenttooth.com/edit.
- 2. Log in.
- 3. Click "Create New Media Page." A page icon titled "Untitled" shows up in the page list.
- 4. To rename the page, double-click the name, enter a new name and press Enter.
- 5. Next, double-click the page (to the right of the name) to open the Media Page form.
- 6. Choose one of the 10 styles from the page style pop-up menu. The menu displays icons representing the various layouts.
- 7. Fill in any text fields you wish, including date, medium, and the large area for the project description.
- 8. Click "+ Standard Jpegs" and select images for your page. Wait for them to upload and display as thumbnails.
- 9. To add a caption to an image, select the image, and type the caption into the field above the images.
- 10. To delete an image, drag it to the fire.
- 11. To rearrange the images, drag them into place.
- 12. When finished with all changes, save the page.
- 13. Go to your site at yourname.excellenttooth.com to view the page you created.
- 14. Repeat.
About Preparing Images
Excellent Tooth does not require you to prepare your images besides two basic rules: 1) they must be jpegs, and 2) they must be less than 1.7MB. Assuming your images meet those restrictions, standard images uploaded are resized to fit within a 400 by 400 pixel square and resaved. Images smaller than 400 pixels in both dimensions are not enlarged. If you choose to upload "pop-up" images, then a second larger version of your image is also created to fit within a 600 by 600 pixel square. This enlarged image appears in a pop-up window when users click the standard image on your site.
Keep in mind that large images take time to upload and process. Although uploading unprocessed jpegs is the most convenient method of adding images to your pages, other methods may produce better quality images. The 1.7MB upload size limit is intended for a quick upload of images. But if you selected 10 1.5MB images, that's 15MB of data to upload. Beware the wait with slow and testy internet connections.
Because an image less than 400 pixels in both dimensions is not processed by the application, but simply saved on the server, you control the quality of your images by processing them yourself (with an application such as Adobe Photoshop) and saving them with the longest dimension set to 400 pixels. Or, in the case of "pop-up" images save them with the longest dimension set to 600 pixels.
For your convenience, two droplets to automate the processing of images are available as downloads for Mac users. These droplets produce standard 400 pixel size images. To use a droplet download it via the icons below. After downloading, uncompress it. Then simply drag a group or folder of images onto the droplet (they don't need to be jpegs) and let it do the work. All images are sized appropriately, renamed, and saved as jpegs ready for quick uploading to your Excellent Tooth site.
The XtoothConstrain droplet uses an image processor built into the Mac operating system. The convenience of this droplet is that you don't need to have Photoshop and you don't need to wait for Photoshop to open. This droplet is fast, convenient, and produces good quality jpegs. For best quality, but slowest processing, use the XtoothConstrain_PS droplet which processes the images in Photoshop. (You must have Photoshop installed.)
Finally, you can use Photoshop (or any other image editor) to process them individually in order to make color and other corrections to each image. When saving, be sure to make the longest dimension 400 pixels, so the Excellent Tooth application does not re-process them.
Download the droplets here:
About Preparing Video
To work with Excellent Tooth, video clips must be smaller than 5MB and must be .mov, .mp4, or .flv files. Videos saved as .mov or.mp4 must be .H264 encoded. iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and Quicktime Pro can save in this format provided you have Quicktime Pro installed. Look for the .H264 option in the compression settings. Because many page styles use thumbnails, the video must have a thumbnail associated with it. There is a default thumbnail, but it's recommended that you upload your own relevant image. Thumbnail images are sized to constrain within an 80 pixel square. To change the thumbnail for a video double-click its thumbnail in the editor.
Opening the editor
To edit your site add "/edit" to the end of your site's address. For example, if you have your own domain name type www.yourname.com/edit into your browser's address field. If not, type yourname.excellenttooth.com/edit. Enter your username and password. The editor opens with a list of your pages and submenus displayed as a folder structure. There are also buttons here to add new pages and submenus.
The Pages and Submenus List
When the editor first opens, you are presented with a list of your pages and submenus. To move a page or submenu drag it up or down the list to a new location. You can move a page into a closed submenu by dragging the page right on top of it. To rename an item, double-click the name, enter the new name, and press Enter. To show or hide a page double-click the ON/OFF text for the page. To delete the page click "DELETE" on the far right of the page. Changes made to the page list require saving. When finished making changes, click the "Save Changes" button.
Account Details
Select "Account" from the menu on the editor's main page to view your account details. You can change your contact information and password here. Please keep us up to date with your email address.
Site Header
Each site has a one line header at the top of the page. Although this is intended for your name and contact information, you can put anything or nothing in these text fields. Each field is formatted differently. Enter your email address in the email field to make it linkable. The url field is also linkable. Enter the site address as: www.sitename.com
Opening Page
You can choose whether or not you want an opening page to act as an entry point for your site. Opening pages consist of a single large image and your main menu. If you do not select an image and leave the opener page as not visible, then the opening page of your site will be the first page at the top of your main menu. If a menu is the first item in the main menu, then your opening page is the first page within that menu. Note that this image is sized to constrain within 500 by 500 pixels. See "About Preparing Images" for more about images.
Media Pages
Media pages can contain up to 28 images or videos. Images must be jpegs, and each image must be smaller than 1.7 megabytes. To add images, click the "+ Standard Jpegs" button. To add larger images that will pop open in a new window click the "+ Pop-up Jpegs" button. Click the "+ Video Clip" button to add a video clip. A dialog box opens. Select images from your hard drive. To select multiple images use the Shift or Apple (Ctrl on PCs) key. You cannot select a folder. (To select all of the images in the folder, open it, and select all of the images.) If you have not processed the images and they are large it may take a moment or two to process them depending on the speed of your connection. For more information about images see "About Preparing Images." Reorder images by dragging them to a new location. Delete them by dragging them into the fire. To add a caption to an image, select the image and enter the caption in the field above the images.
Media pages display in one of 10 styles. Choose a style from the Page Styles pop-up menu in the upper left. The menu displays icons representing the various layouts. Be sure to save your changes.
Media Page Styles
Currently, there are 10 styles of media pages. To set the style of a page double-click the page to open it in the editor. In the upper left, choose one of the styles from the Page Styles pop-up menu. The menu displays icons representing the various layouts. The styles are intended to serve the needs of different projects. For example, some styles may work better for pages that need more room for text, while others may be better for pages that have many images.
Text Pages
Text pages have two styles: Wide and Narrow. Narrow is best for paragraphs of texts, such as statements. Wide pages are preferred for lists, such as resumes. You can also attach a PDF file to a text page. Click the "Add PDF" button and select a file on your computer to upload to your site. A special PDF download icon will be placed at the top the text page on your site. Be sure to save your changes.
How do I create a new submenu?
From the main page of the editor, click the "Create New Submenu" button. The submenu is placed in the page list. To name it, double-click the name, enter the new name and press Enter. Be sure to save changes.
How do I move a page to a different submenu?
In the page list, drag the page to the new submenu. If the submenu is open, you can move the page directly to a specific location in the submenu. If the submenu is closed, drop the page on the closed menu. The page is placed last in the submenu.
How do I reorder pages and menus?
Drag them to a new location. Watch the black bar to see where the page or submenu will land. Save the changes.
How do I delete a submenu?
Click the "DELETE" text at the right of the submenu. All pages within the submenu are deleted. This action cannot be undone.
How do I hide a page?
Double-click the ON/OFF text in the Visible column for the page you want to affect. Be sure to save the changes.
How do I rename a menu?
Double-click the name, enter the new name in the textfield, and press Enter. Be sure to save the changes.
How do I add a caption to an image?
In an image page, select an image thumbnail. The cursor is placed in the caption field. Type the caption. Be sure to save the page when finished with all changes.
How do I add a link to a text field?
Use HTML tags. Format the link as such:
<a href="http://www.thesite.com" target="_blank" >Link Text</a>.
How do I bold or italicize text?
Use HTML tags. Format bold text as such: <b>Bold Text</b>.
Format italic text as such: <i>Italic Text</i>.
How do I get my own domain name?
When you sign up with Excellent Tooth your sitename will be yourusername.excellenttooth.com. You may also use your own domain name by purchasing it from a domain name registrar and pointing it to your Excellent Tooth site. On the cheap end, you can buy your name at sites such as godaddy.com, namecheap.com, name.com (a current favorite), or any of many others. You can use your domain name for your Excellent Tooth site without purchasing any of the extras these sites try to sell you. The one extra worth considering is private registration. Without private registration your name, address, and phone number are available to all who go looking on a public registry. Private registration inserts the registrar's contact information in place of your own. Some registrars charge extra for this feature while others include it. Once purchased, you need to set the "A-record" of your domain name to point to the Excellent Tooth IP address. Instructions for making this change vary by registrar. Contact us and we'll send you the IP address.
How do I email a link to a specific page or image?
The URL addresses of your pages and images enable sending to someone a link to your home page, to a specific page, or even a specific image on a specific page. To do this, simply navigate in a browser to the page or image. Then copy the link in the browser address bar. Paste it into an email and send it. When the recipient clicks the link, they will bypass your home page and go directly to the specific page or image.
How do I connect my site to Google Analytics?
Sign up at the Google Analytics page. To sign up you must have a Google account. Upon completing the Google Analytics sign up, some code is generated. You can ignore that, but you need to get your ID number. You can find the number in the profile for the site you set up. It will look something like this: UA-1234567-1. (It's also embedded in the code you ignored.) Go to the page where you edit your Excellent Tooth site. Go to the General Settings page, and enter the ID number in the appropriate field. Save. That's it. Access your site statistics through the Google Analytics site.
Why can't I see the menus I created?
Only menus that have visible pages within them appear in the menu list on your live site. If all pages in a menu have their visible option turned to off, or there are no pages in the menu, the menu does not appear.