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Websites > FAQs > Manage Your Site

Manage Your Site

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Q: What is the difference between participants, administrators and contacts?

A: Participants are registered users within Lutherans Online who have "joined" or "participated" in an individual website. Participants are allowed access to all public and private pages within that site, participate in online chats and receive email notification of changes within the website.

Administrators on an individual website, like participants, are allowed access to all public and private pages within the site. In addition, administrators also have access to the "Edit Page" and "Web Site Manager" areas where they can add, edit and delete content from the Web site, as well as manage the preferences and settings for the site. Administrators can also choose to allow participants access to the "Edit Page" area where participants can update content on the site.

The site contact's name will appear within all contact postings on the individual website, and the site contact also will receive website status change emails.

Q: How do I add a participant to my website?

A: Participants on an individual website are allowed access to all public and private pages within that site, and also are optionally allowed to publish content within the site. All users must have participant access before they can be assigned as site administrators. To grant a user site participant status:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Participants."
4. Search for a user by typing their first name, last name, and/or email, then click "Search for Users."
5. A list of Lutherans Online users that match your search will appear below. To add a user as a participant, click "Add" next to their name.

Note: If a user is not appearing in search results, they may have their privacy preferences turned off. To add this person as a participant, the user will have to either turn their privacy preferences on within "Manage my Profile" or click a participate button located somewhere on your website.

Q: How do I review pending participants to my website?

A: If you have a participate button located on your site and have turned off the setting to automatically approve participants, you will need to manually accept or reject participant access requests from users. To do this:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Review/Approve."
3. Click "Accept" or "Reject" next to each person that you would like to give or deny participantion rights to. Clicking "Accept All" or "Reject All" will add or deny participation rights to everyone in the list.

Note: You can also get to this screen by clicking "Website Manager," then "Approve Pending Participants."

Q: How do I set up my site to automatically approve participant access requests?

A:

1. Click "Web Site Manager."
2. Click "Set Participation Policies."
3. Under "Participation Policies for this Website", choose "Yes" next to "Automatically approve participation requests for registered users." Choose "No" if you would like to review all participant applications before approval.

Note: You can also turn off participation by choosing "No" next to "Let users participate in this website."

Q: How do I allow participants to publish content to the website?

A: Site administrators have control over whether participants are allowed to publish content onto the website. This essentially allows participants access to the "Edit Page" area, but not the "Web Site Manager," which only site administrators can access. By setting up participants to modify content on your website, you are creating a collaborative authoring, Wiki-style interface, which allows users you specify as participants to easily add, update and remove content.

To grant participants site publishing capabilities:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Set Participation Policies."
4. Under "Publishing Policies for this website", choose "Yes" or "No" based on if you would like to give all participants access to publish content on the Web site.

Q: How do I remove a participant from my website?

A: Removing a participant means they can no longer view private website content, participate in group discussions, or contribute any content to the Web site. If you remove participant rights, they still may view the website as a guest. To remove site participant status from a user:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Participants."
4. In the bottom frame where it lists current participants, click "Remove" next to any participant that you would like removed from participant status. You can also remove participants from the "Manage Administrative Roles" page.

Q: How do I add or remove an administrator to my website?

A: To add an administrator to your website, the user must first be a site participant. To add or remove access to the "Web Site Manager" section of your website, follow these instructions:

1. Go to Lutherans Online and click "Login" in the left-navigation.
2. Enter your login information and click "Login."
3. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
4. Click "Web Site Manager."
5. Click "Manage Administrative Roles."
6. To make a participant an administrator, click "Make Admin" next to their name.
7. To make an administrator a participant, click "Remove as Admin" next to their name.
8. To remove a user from both administrator and participant roles, click "Remove as Participant" next to their name. You can also remove participants from the "Manage Participants" page.

Q: How do I change the contact person for my website?

A: The site contact's name will appear within all contact postings on the individual website. The site contact also will receive website status change emails. To change the site contact:

1. Go to Lutherans Online and click "Login" in the left-navigation.
2. Enter your login information and click "Login."
3. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
4. Click "Web Site Manager."
5. Click "Manage Administrative Roles."
6. Under the Contact column, the current contact is shown where it says "Current Contact." Click "Make Contact" under any other site participant or administrator to make them the contact. Note that only one contact can be assigned per site.

Q: How do I email all participants and administrators on my website?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Email Participants."
4. Type in your email subject and the body text of the message.
5. To also send the email to another person who is not listed as a participant or administrator on the website, enter the email address(es) below the message body text. You can send the email to up to five non-participants.
6. Click "Send" to send an email with the above contents to every participant and administrator on your website.

Q: What are categories and subcategories?

A: Categories and subcategories are how other people can find your site in Lutherans Online. Websites are organized into website categories, for example: congregations, camps and education. Some categories, like education for example, are further broken down into subcategories like early childhood or K – 12. You can also pick your state as a category. When selecting categories and subcategories for your website, select those where you think people would be looking for you.

Q: How do I change my website categories listings?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Website Categories."
4. The categories you are currently a part of are listed to the right. Available categories are to the left. Clicking on any category link will move it from one column to the other.
5. Click "Done."

Notes: You can assign your site to a maximum of five categories. The list of available categories will change based on your affiliation. The Lutherans Online staff reserves the right to audit and re-assign websites into appropriate categories and subcategories.

Q: How do I update my website information?

A: Your website information is optionally displayed within all contact postings on your website.

1. Click "Web Site Manager."
2. Click "Manage Web Site Information."
3. Here you can change the name and description of the site, and also the contact information.

Q: How do I add or change my website URL alias (nickname)?

A: Your website URL alias (nickname) is a shortcut for users to quickly access your site. Visitors can find your site by going to: http://www.lutheransonline.com/myalias, where myalias is the nickname you choose. To add or change your alias:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Edit Web Site URL Alias."
4. Type in your new alias.
5. Click "Done."

Note: You can also create secondary aliases for each page within your site!

Q: What is a Web Site Logo?

A: Your Web Site Logo is an easy way to have your main logo, such as a small picture of a church, a family portrait, etc., display on any or all pages within your website. The Web Site Logo is stored in one place within "Web Site Manager", so if you ever need to update the image, you can just update it in one place and the changes will resonate in every place it is displayed on your site. To create a Web Site Logo:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Logo."
4. Click "Browse" to locate the image on your computer.
5. You can optionally change the height and width of the image, but this is not recommended in most cases. The default height and width will be used if these are left blank.
6. Click "Save" to save your new logo and stay on the current page.
7. Click "Done" to save your new logo and return to the main Web Site Manager page.
8. Click "Cancel" to return to the main Web Site Manager page without saving the logo.

Now, all you need to do is go to any page within your site that you would like the logo displayed.

Q: How do I update my affiliation?

A: Changing your affiliation will affect the channels (categories) you can choose from, and if you choose one of the three Lutheran church bodies listed (ELCA, LCMS, WELS), that church body's logo will appear within the upper-left section of your site. To update your affiliation:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Change Church Body Affiliation."
4. Your current affiliation is displayed at the top of the screen. Click "Select" next to any other affiliation to update your site.

If your site is not directly affiliated with a Lutheran church body, including personal websites, choose "Lutherans Online Default." If the site is a Thrivent Financial Chapter, choose "Thrivent Financial Chapter."

Q: How do I adjust my email preferences?

A:

1. Click "Manage my Profile" in the left-navigation.
2. Click "Web Site Profile."
3. Under "My Web Sites," a list will display of all Lutherans Online websites which you are either a site participant or administrator. Under "Select frequency of your update," choose how often you would like email recaps of updates made to your site. You can choose between daily, weekly, monthly, or never. You can also choose contents, events, or both by checking the two boxes under "Select content to be included in your email updates."
4. Click "Done."

Q: How do I register my site with search engines?

A: Your site will appear within the Lutherans Online search results within 24 hours of creating or updating a site. To register your website with search engines outside of Lutherans Online, go to a search engine or directory site (e.g., Yahoo, Google, etc.) and follow that site's registration instructions. Note that some search engines and directories charge for their services. The address you will want to give them is the one in the address bar of your browser as you are viewing the front page of your site on Lutherans Online, which should contain a GID followed by a series of numbers
(example: http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/
dbpage=page&mode=display&gid=01016013600968266956417118).

Q: How do I add a related site?

A: Adding a related site is a good way to branch out if certain areas have enough content to warrant having their own site. Having a related site also allows for a separate set of pages, links, message boards, chats, and its own separate calendar. To create a related site from your already existing Lutherans Online website, follow these steps:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Add a Related Site."
4. Follow the Create a Site process to build your new related site.
5. After this new site is built, you can link one to the other by creating a new posting, choosing the "Web Site Navigation" layout set, then "Link(s) to Related Web Sites."

Q: How do I delete my website?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Delete This Web Site."
4. Click "Delete" to delete your site from Lutherans Online.

Note: After deleting your website, it is no longer publicly accessible, but you have 14 days to call the Lutherans Online help desk (1-866-201-1522) to reinstate your site before it is permanently removed from the Lutherans Online servers.

Q: How do I nominate a site for Site of the Month?

A: A Lutherans Online church and chapter site are chosen at the beginning of every month for the Site of the Month awards. Sites are chosen for their wealth of information, easy navigation, appealing design and layout. Winning sites receive a logo to place on their site, a link to their site from the Lutherans Online home page and Previous Site of the Month Winners page, and a one-in-twelve chance of winning the coveted Site of the Year award in December! If you would like to nominate a good website hosted on Lutherans Online, go to the site, then click "Nominate for Site of the Month" in the gray bar at the bottom of the page.