This Post was created using just some of the questions I get asked from ActiveRain members. Some of the ones you won't find posted here, I could never repeat in public! lol~ You can't even imagine some of the kinds of questions I get. My Favorite this week has to be just "Bob?"
Now does Brad sound like Bob to you? haha! Seriously though, no such thing as a dumb question.
Here are the TOP 10 FAQ's for the week of March 16th, 2009. If you know of any other member who may have some of these same questions or issues, please feel free to forward them this post. Otherwise, I think you all know where to find me... lol~
My broker would like to change his status from Real Estate Agent to Real Estate Brokerage. but we can't find the way. Help!
This is an "admin feature" that only the AR staff can change. It is encrypted in the system once you sign-up. We can change it for you easily, just send an email to support@activerain.com. This will also give Jeremy Blanton some job security and something to do... lol~
Brad, if I have an outside blog can someone who is a member but not grandfathered or paying be on my team blog?
If any member has the ability to post on their Blog publicly, they can also post on your outside blog after you invite them. If they are not able to post to the public, they will be unable to post to your Outside Blog, but they will still receive the invitation.
How do I know if anyone is reading my Blog posts on AR? Is there a way to track stats and traffic?
Yes. There are a few ways you can. The first is to check your "Statistics" Link on AR. Go to "My Home" scroll to the bottom of the sidebar located on the left of your screen. Click on the "Statistics" link, and you can view your comments, views, and clicks.
You can also install Cluster Maps, SiteMeter, or ActiveMeter on your Blog by using the HTML codes they provide, then place the code in the description box (HTML Only), on your "settings" page. Here's How to install Various Widgets. Oh Yeah, there's always getclicky.com and MyBlogLog.com too.
I think it was you who had done a video with what looked to be an Active Rain gathering. It was a whole bunch of people saying how great the Rain was. Could you give me a link to that video or tell me where I might find it? Thanks!
The video was taken at the Real Estate Connect in San Francisco, it was added to one of the ActiveRain landing pages. Here is a link: ActiveRain Voices in the Rain.
I just purchased my AR outside blog and all the Themes are created for other companies. My company is not available. How do I create my own custom themes and sidebar?
There are many company Themes available now that are branded, but there are two you can use that are NOT branded to any brokerage of company. They are "Elements of SEO" and "Legacy". These can both be customized by adding your own header and sidebar images. We'll be adding additional themes (both branded and non-branded) down the road. Also, watch for the new text widget, I think it's actually "LIVE" now. (hint:)
I have been a FREE member on AR now for over 4 months and was just wondering how this Network makes money? What other products or services do you offer, if any? I love Activerain, thanks.
FAQ - Pick of the week! ActiveRain does have the FREE limited membership which many do use and benefit from, however there are other tools we offer to members that include: Sponsoring Localism Communities, Setting up Listing Router Campaigns, Creating ActiveBlog Outside Blogs,and Market Leader & Vision. FREE memberships can upgrade to an ActiveRain "RainMaker" membership if they choose. We also have Channel sponsorships available and advertising in our ActiveRain Newsletter. There's so many ways you can benefit from some of these additional services on AR, but they are not free.
You can also just make your check out to "Brad Andersohn" and I'll see that it goes to good cause. :-)
Just curious...How many "Channels" are there and how many posts does it take in a given channel to get it visible?
All the channels are listed on the main page of AR. There are 8 consumer and 8 professional, then there are the top 3 topics in each channel based on member content. The more content about a subject, the more chance it will show up in the top 3 topics for that channel. No idea how many posts it takes, I think it's based on the majority of posts generated. Maybe consider writing posts about the current top 3 topics in any channel for some additional exposure in those channels. More On Channels
Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Size of a request header field exceeds server limit.
Easy Answer for this one. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE FROM WORD! Text or Images. When you do this, HTML codes and scripts also get copied over that in many cases, are not compatible with our network. This will also happen when you try to copy too much information from any other source. Instead, use ActiveRain to create your post, then save it in "draft" mode. You can make all your edits in AR. If you must use an outside source, I have used ScribeFire.com for Firefox and it seems to work well. There are no hidden codes or malicious scripts that I'm aware of.
For some reason I have stopped receiving the daily AR newsletter. I did recently change my email address to the one above and this was also changed in the system. Is it possible for you to remedy?
Yes. If you have us change your email address in ActiveRain, you'll need to notify us by email with the new email address so that you can be added to the distribution list for the newsletter. Just send your email update request to support@activerain.com and we'll make the changes in our database. If you're NOT currently getting the AR Newsletter, and you'd like to, just email us your request to be added to the list.
Is there a help section or link to search for answers to my questions on ActiveRain?
There are a few areas you can find help and answers to your questions: Start with the "SEARCH" link located at the Top of every AR page. You can check the HELP/FAQ group located at the bottom of every page. Another place to find help is the ActiveRainGuide.com site, which has tutorials and help posts by other members. My Profile has a few tutorials as well. If you are brand new, a great place to start is the "Getting Started" link located on the main page of ActiveRain. (below the channels area) Then Join Groups.
I hope these FAQ's have helped some new members. There is so much great information on AR, and now with over 1,000,000 articles/posts, you can probably find almost every answer to any question you may ever have about AR or the RE Industry. :-)
March 2009 Related Posts:
Week In Review - Top 10 ActiveRain FAQ's - Volume I
Week In Review - Top 10 ActiveRain FAQ's - Volume II
Week In Review - Top 10 ActiveRain FAQ's - Volume III
Week In Review - Top 10 ActiveRain FAQ's - Volume IV
We've got the questions. You have the answers. What a perfect system that TALKS for real...talks to real people...real people talking to real people...Living the questions, loving the answers, in the Rain...Thanks Brad! :-) (REtech rocked a little less without you...hope all is well)
WOW Brad...Thanks for the headache! But in a good way! So many things here to know about!
I think I have copied and pasted from Word before. Don't think I had a problem. Don't we have an issue that if we start a blog in AR and save in "draft mode" that whenever we finish it and post it, it DOES NOT COME TO THE TOP OF OUR BLOG, but rather whatever date it was started? Or have the AR Gods changed the programing on this?
We missed you here in ATL and hope to see you somewhere in the Blog world soon!
Hi Brad,
I have a question and forgive me if you have answered it previously. When are we going to be able to start uploading photos on Localism.com again?
Thanks
Brad - Great post - This answered some of the questions I had.
This compilation is huge - I'm sure it took lots of work! Thank you for your dedication to service Active Rain, helping to make it so resourceful and user friendly for newbies and oldies alike!
Diane Rice
Brad, maybe the one question you were asked this week was a typo, "BYOB?" I get asked that one all the time, lol.
Brad...Very well put..you used a great system..v
ery easy to understand...Thank you
Helpfulhannah your friend in philly
Brad I think you should write an AR song...Have you seen the video of the mom who sings to the William Tell Overture...You could write an AR version...Everything you tell people in 3 minutes or less...
I know you are musically talented so you can do it!
Brad, good stuff. Thanks for putting this together.
I only have one thing to say.
With over 700 comments, did you actually find time to read ALL of those. HOLY COW!
sorry guys... all out of answers for today! Kitchen's Closed!
rofl....
Hi Brad!
If I make my check out to you does that count for your Tahiti vacation? And when you go are you going to bring me back something? I was just curious. :) Oh and btw, you rock!
-Lisa
Brad, amazing the amount of information/wisdom/knowledge you have. I am learning to be selective in reading these posts of yours as they seem to lead to several hours of research, editing and updating. All good and much appreciated.
DO NOT COPY AND PASTE FROM WORD! Text or Images. When you do this, HTML codes and scripts also get copied over that in many cases,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yupper that has happened to me, so I would use wordpad or just create an email then copy it...BUT I just downloaded scribefire to my firefox browser, very cool & way better option...
ahhhh another lesson learned from Brad's week in review :-) Thanks Brad!!
Hi Brad!
I realized how many "How To's" there were in the Rain when I was preparing to teach a class on it...I decided it would be overwelming, so I just showed them the blog site and said go for it! (Of course, it was a little more detailed than that, but you get the idea! I was going to do scribefire, and even subscribed to Foxfire...but could never find where to actually write the post!
Brad, Thank you for the information. I have always copied from Word but lately have been having problems. I'll create my posts directly in AR now.
Awesome FAQ collection here, many of these were quite useful. Thanks Brad!
Brad, I love FAQ type posts. It feels like I found the owner's manual to this place.
My favorite
I have been a FREE member on AR now for over 4 months and was just wondering how this Network makes money? What other products or services do you offer, if any? I love Activerain, thanks.
I wonder why this one got chosen. LOL
This is a great idea for a post. We have so many new people here, and many of them don't have a clue where to start; especially since they jumped in this long after the site became so well-known. I was helpng someone on the phone yesterday. Some people have so many questions that they don't even know where to start!
Hi Brad - Thanks for answering those questions for what must seem like the millionth time to you!
Some of them helped some not so new members tooo Thanks Brad
Thanks Brad, you always help to make us see clearly when walking thru the Rain.
Mara - I missed being at RETechSouth this year, my father in law's funeral was the same day and came unexpectedly. Will be there next year though. :-)
Thom and Ray - Not sure on that one, I'll have to check. I usually don't leave in draft for more than a day or two.
Jenny - Localism photo uploads does work on certain browsers and computers, it's something we'll have corrected in the next release. When? When it's fixed along with many of the others items programmers are dealing with. No set date just yet.
Robert - BYOB? All the time. lol~
Melina - We've talked about it many times, maybe I really should! haha...
Tammy - I actually did. I normally read and respond to the comments quicker than I do my calls or emails.
That 700 sure does take a while to load, it may be the exception to the rule. lol~
Lisa - did you say Tahiti? Ah yes, make sure you include the "H" in Anderso"H"n when writing out that check, I promise I'll bring you back something. :-)))))
Kelly - you can't imagine the hours I get to spend doing some of this stuff, but it's to help others from getting some of those same headaches you and I get to experience. lol~
Bob - I know sometimes copy and paste works from other sites, like word, but more often than not, folks have issues with it eventually. Glad you liked the scribefire, I only use it when I need a colored or larger font.
Paula - once you add the scribefire addon to FireFox, you can just press the Func+F8 key and the box will pop up. I don't use it to write the entire post, just to do like I mentioned above to Bob. I suppose you could write the whole post there, I just never have. :-)
Thanks Brad. I always read your blog posts.
Well, if that is all it takes for job security, then I think I will be in business for the next several years!
Brad - We'd all be lost without you. Thanks for another post full of helpful info. Where do I send the check?
Brad, this not only helps the new members but gives me a new instruction manual. Thanks for all the great information in one spot. Bookmarked for future reference. It's good to know you're watching out for us.
Thanks for the extremely useful information and tips you've posted here Brad...it seems as though I'll NEVER know everything I need to about this forum!
Brad, I am new to AR and have read tons of your posts. I still have a number of questions, particular with regard to the difference between the outside blog as a stand alone and the rainmaker program. But, your posts have really helped me to figure it all out.
Thanks Brad,
Great post. Your always the "go-to" guy for questions; I know I've pestered you enough.
Wow, what a wealth of information and thank-you very much for sharing with us.
Brad - so much information so few brain cells on my end to comprehend and retain! :-) Thanks for taking the time to explain so thoroughly.
I learn a lot from your topics....thanks for all the info!
These are alwyas great posts and I seem to pick up something new each time I read!
Those questions are terrific. I was interested in finding out how the channels work and how much context needs to be in a channel. Very informative post.
Brad, I honestly think it would take me a solid month of just reading all of your amazing tips. Do you EVER sleep? Great to know about not cutting and pasting on word. I had problems with that and couldn't figure out why! As always, thanks for your tremendous knowledge! If only I could retain 1/10th of it, rotfl. :)
I'm not new but I always learn something new from you! Good ideas here for the newbie.
I like these posts. They answer many questions that come up from AR members each day but perhaps do not ask or send an email. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Lot's of great info again! Thanks Brad!
Thanks about how to change status. I need to do that and had no idea!
Thanks again!
~Alisa
Alisa Stone Herring, CRS, GRI
Broker/Owner
Stone Real Estate Group LLC
850-596-2456 Cell
www.thebeachpeach.com
"The Georgia Peach that Sells the Beach"
Brad, I read this thread every time you put it up...great stuff. Keep it up!
Hey Brad! Thanks for posting your Week in review it is a great way to get great information all at one time.
Yeah, I am one that was using MS Word for my posting ...but I have just downloaded ScribeFire and am starting to us this now! I made sure they knew you/Activerain was the one who referred me too!
Love the FAQ on the Week in Review. It gives me more to work with on AR.
Thanks!!!!
Hi Brad,
How come my photo doesn't appear when I submit comments? Thanks for all that you do!
Hi Kate - you'll need to upgrade to a RainMaker acct. or aquire 10,000 points. Your photo will appear in coimments then. :-)