Tips and News from Baby's First Site!

By request!

2008-11-11T19:30:00.002-06:00

The Little Birdie theme is now available in pink, too!

Little birdie...

2008-10-29T02:20:00.002-06:00

A new whimsical theme that's perfect for the upcoming winter in trendy tones of blue and brown.

Another new theme!

2008-10-27T23:40:00.002-06:00

Starlight... starbright:
a sparkling shooting star theme perfect for boys and girls!

Our theme library is growing!

2008-10-23T23:28:00.003-06:00

So far, five fun and fresh new themes have been added to our theme library. We invite you to easily preview them here (along with others that will be released in the coming days and weeks). Try out one of these new themes to spiff up your site!

More new themes are coming so keep checking the blog. Let us know your favorites by leaving a comment on the blog. It's a great way to ensure we make more in the styles you love!

Modern Girl:
a funky bold geometric in pink

Modern Boy:
just as bold and not quite so pink

A Mother's Love...:
Would you like to see more theme's with touching quotes about childhood and motherhood? Leave a comment on the blog to let us know!

Vintage Sage:
Perfect for boys and girls in subtle shabby chic tones

Fall with a Twist:
Bold fall leaves in a neat combo of blue and brown that's perfect for all ages

Let it Snow Layout Template (Advanced HTML / CSS)

2008-02-08T09:10:00.002-06:00

If you're stuck on how to organize your front page, all the code you need to create this layout is contained in this post! If you're a VERY advanced user, you can change this code to suit your tastes, or follow it to the letter. If you don't want to use the entire layout, you can choose the pieces you'd like to keep or add more elements. Just remember that when you change the code, it may change how the finished layout looks.

Before you begin, please log into your Baby's First Site account so that you can access the links to various sections of your parent tool. You will be editing your page title and each of the four custom text areas in your site. You'll add your own photo URLs and text to create your layout.

As you add your own text to the layout, you should not exceed the amount of text that is used in the sample code. If you do, you may exceed the character limit of the field resulting in your information not saving OR create an overflow of text that changes the look of the layout.

OK, let's get started!

Page Title Section (left column):

1. Select the "Let it Snow" theme from the "Select Theme" section of your parent tool.

2. Open Notepad or another text editor. You'll need somewhere to paste blocks of code while you are working with them. You can usually access Notepad by going to Start --> Programs --> Accessories --> Notepad.

2. Copy the code below and paste it into Notepad:

<img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/snow.gif"> Yep, it's still winter!<br /><br /><img class="photoalbum" src="http://quick.holdthatpic.com/images/YourImageID.jpg" width="400">

Change the main title text to whatever you'd like, remembering to keep it under approximately 25 characters.

2. Click Hold That Pic! Free Image Hosting and upload a *STANDARD SIZED* landscape style photo for your main left column image. When your image displays, right click the image and select Properties, copy the image's 6 digit ID code.

3. Replace "YourImageID" in the code above with your image's 6 digit code.

-- Note that if you are logged into an album on Hold That Pic instead of using quick upload, your URL will contain some extra characters and you'll need to copy the entire address for the photo and completely replace the one in the code above. You can also use any online photo hosting site, including an image from your Baby's First Site albums.

4. Click Site Profile -- Customize Left Column.

5. Copy your completed page title code and paste it into the page title text box.

6. Under "Select Image" un-check the box marked "Show Image" -- you've added your new main image to your Page Title Area.

You're done with your page title! Now is a good time to save your changes and take a look at the result. When you're satisfied, move on to the next step.

Left Column Custom Text Area:

1. Copy the following code and paste it into notepad. Change the text that is shown in red to whatever you'd like, remembering to keep it about the same number of characters as in the sample text.

<div style="text-align: left; width: 420px; position: absolute; left: 20px; top: 510px;">Winter in Wisconsin is a perfect excuse to stay indoors. We spent the day at the Rockford Discovery Center ... discovering. It'll be even better in the spring when they open their outdoor play areas!</div><br />

2. Copy your completed code and paste it into your "Custom Text" area in your left column. Click the "HTML" radio button and make sure "Show Custom Text" is checked. Click Save.

That's it! Your left column is finished!

Middle Column:

1. First, click the "Show No Info" radio button under "Growth Information."

2. Un-check the "Show Bubble" radio button.

3. Copy the code below and paste it into Notepad:

<div style="position: absolute; left: 450px; top: 215px;"><img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/userID/BabyName/ImageName.jpg" width="200" class="photoalbum"></div>

4. Choose a *STANDARD SIZED* portrait style photo from your photo album.

5. Right click your selected photo and select Properties. Copy the image location and replace the URL in the code above with the URL location of your chosen photo (be careful to keep the quotes intact).

6. Copy your completed code and paste it into your middle column custom text area. Click the "HTML" radio button and make sure "Show Custom Text" is checked. Click Save.

You've finished your center column. Just two custom text areas left to edit!

Right Column:

1. Click Site Profile -- Right Column.

2. Un-check all of the right column information boxes:

* Calendar Link
* Milestones Link
* Growth Chart Link
* Wish List

If you still want to make any of this information available to your site visitors, you can place text links to these sections in your custom text areas without taking up too much space.

3. Copy the code below and paste it into notepad:

<div style="text-align: left; width: 250px; position: absolute; left: 700px; top: 168px;"><div align="left">

<b>February 2008</b> <br /><br /><img src="http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/photo.gif" alt="Camera 2" /> I am so excited about the photography class I'll be taking later this month. Brian will be in New Jersey for the longest stretch he's done so far! <img src="http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/traurig/a025.gif" alt="Crying 10" /> I hate that he has to travel so much, but at least we didn't have to move!

Spring Break is coming and we hope to head down to Florida for vacation. I can't wait to fill up the March album with awesome photos of warm blue water!

I've put sewing on hold for a while. Photography is taking up all of my spare time and I'm excited to have a new (unfortunately expensive) hobby. <img src="http://www.xs4all.nl/~ernstmul/images/msnbonus/money.gif" alt="Money" />

4. Change the text in red to whatever you'd like. You can find smilies to replace the ones in the sample on this free smiley site. Just choose the smiley you'd like to use and paste the HTML code into your text. To preserve the look of your layout, remember to keep about the same amount of text as the sample text.

5. Copy your completed code and paste it into your middle column custom text area. Click the "HTML" radio button and make sure "Show Custom Text" is checked. Click Save.

Your right column is done! Let's finish up.

Footer Section:

1. Copy the code below and paste it into Notepad:

<div style="text-align: left; width: 1024px; position: absolute; left: 20px; top: 570px;">
<b>January / February 2008:<br /><br />

<img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/UserID/BabyName/ImageName.jpg" class="photoalbum"> <img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/UserID/BabyName/ImageName.jpg" class="photoalbum"> <img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/UserID/BabyName/ImageName.jpg" class="photoalbum"> <img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/UserID/BabyName/ImageName.jpg" class="photoalbum"> <img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/UserID/BabyName/ImageName.jpg" class="photoalbum">

</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 430px; top: 115px;"><img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/banners/letitsnow.gif"></div>

2. Choose 5 *STANDARD SIZED* landscape style photos from your photo album THUMBNAIL PAGE. For each thumbnail sized image, right click and select Properties, then copy the location URL. Paste your 5 complete location URLs in the appropriate spaces in the code above.

The completed image code will look like this:

<img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/brandon/Bailey/20080202-IMG_2128-copy_thumb.jpg" class="photoalbum">

3. When you have replaced the 5 photo URLs in the code and changed the header text to whatever you choose, copy the code and paste it into your Ticker / Additional Content text area here Site Profile -- Add Ticker / Additional Content.

4. Make sure the "Show Content" check box is checked. Click Save.

That's it! You're done!

Background Colors

2007-03-03T04:02:00.000-06:00

You can add background colors behind the elements in your custom text fields. With a simple CSS code, you can make colorful background blocks for your text or photos that look like this:

To create a color block, just determine the color you'd like to use either by name or by using a graphics program or hex conversion chart like the one found here:
http://www.december.com/html/spec/colorcodes.html

Replace the color code in the example code below with your own hex code, then paste the code in your custom text area right before the element that you'd like to have a background.

<div style="background-color: #DBD0E6;">

Use this code to close the tag and end your special background: </div>

The photo border shown above was created using this code:

<div style="background-color: #DBD0E6;"><img class="photoalbum" src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_images/brandon/Bailey/IMG_4455_large.jpg" width="400"></div>

Text Header

2006-12-20T12:14:00.000-06:00

With just a little code, you can add your child's name or any other text to your web site's header. The name header shown in this image:

was created with the following code:

<div style="position: absolute; left: 100px; top: 5px;"><b><font size="+3" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Brandon Connor</font></b></div>

To move your header, you can adjust the left: and top: numbers so the text fits on the theme you're using. You can also adjust the font size, font face, and even the color by adding a color attribute. If you do not use a color attribute, your text will be the same color as the rest of the text on your page.

Here's another example:

<div style="position: absolute; left: 100px; top: 5px;"><b><font size="+1" face="Arial" color="white">Welcome!</font></b></div>

You can also use hex codes to change the color of your text to any shade. Here's a great site where you can find hex codes for your favorite colors:

http://www.december.com/html/spec/colorcodes.html

#FFFFFF is the hex code for white. Here's an example of a hex code in place of a named color (using the same example as above):

<div style="position: absolute; left: 100px; top: 5px;"><b><font size="+1" face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF">Welcome!</font></b></div>

This code can be placed in any of your custom text areas, just make sure you select the HTML radio button.

Scrolling Text

2006-12-19T13:27:00.000-06:00

You can add scrolling marquee text to any of your custom text areas. You can choose the background, border, border style, colors, and more.

Click this link to see how a marquee can be used on your site:

http://www.babysfirstsite.com/haileynicole/
(the scrolling marquee is in the left colum)

The code below was used to create the marquee on Hailey's site.

<div style="border-style: dotted; border-width: 3px; background-color: transparent;">
<marquee>
<font size="20">♥ Our Baby Girl ♥</font>
</marquee>
</div>

Experiment with the code, changing the display text, colors and border sizes. Here are some ways to customize your marquee:

<font size="20" color="white">Your Text Here</font>

<div style="border-style: solid; border-width: 5px; background-color: pink;">

Check out this site: http://w3schools.com/css/css_examples.asp for examples of all the attributes you can add!

Be sure to post a comment if you run into any snags. Others can benefit from your questions, too!

Adding Music to your Site

2006-12-18T13:48:00.000-06:00

You can add sound to your site with a simple line of code and a single upload!

1. Upload the sound file you'd like to use to your Audio/Video section.

2. Open the album on your web site, find the file you've uploaded, then right click on the icon and click "copy shortcut" to get the URL of your music file.

3. Replace the "URL_of_your_sound_file" in the code below with the URL you copied from your site:

<embed src="URL_of_your_sound_file" autostart="true">

The finished code will look like this:

<embed src="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_media/
yourUserID/YourBaby'sName/Nameofsound.xxx" autostart="true">

Paste the finished code into a custom text area and make sure you select the HTML radio box. When your visitor's load your page, they'll hear the music you've selected.

Custom Link Graphics!

2006-12-17T14:22:00.000-06:00

If you have more than one site with us or you'd like to link to any other site from your Baby's First Site web page, you can create custom link graphics with just a few simple lines of code.

You choose the text and place it right in the code for a completely custom button that links to anywhere you choose.

The following code was used to create the button in the example above:

<div id="sitelink_bigboy"><br /><div class="sitelink"><a href="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/Brandon">Click here to visit Brandon's web site!</a></div></div>

1. This is where you'll place the ID of the button style you'd like to use:

<div id="sitelink_bigboy">

There are 6 button styles currently available:

ID = sitelink_whitediaper

ID = sitelink_pinkdiaper

ID = sitelink_bigboy

ID = sitelink_biggirl

ID = sitelink_blueplain

ID = sitelink_pinkplain

2. Change this address to the address of the site you'd like to link:

<a href="http://www.babysfirstsite.com/Brandon">

3. Change this text block to the text you'd like on your button:

Click here to visit Brandon's web site!</a>

For a 3 line button, remove the <br /> in the example code. If you use too much text, your text will run off the button and you will need to trim it to fit in the space. More button styles will be available soon!

Logo Kid Images

2006-12-17T13:27:00.000-06:00

Our popular logo kid images can be used on your web site, too. Just click the link below to find the image or images you'd like to place on your site, e-mail or blog post.

http://www.babysfirstsite.com/blogger/logokids/logokids.html

Right click the image you'd like to use, then copy the Address/Location of the file. Paste the address of the image in the code below:

<img src="address-of-photo-here">

Then place the code in any custom text area on your site!

You can use basic HTML to add decorative text to your images, too:

Brandon Connor

The text above was created with this code:

<font face="arial" color="navy" size="4">Brandon Connor</font>

Check out this basic HTML guide for more details.

Slideshow Creators

2006-12-16T22:52:00.000-06:00

Have you seen any cool slideshow creators? Did you know you can use them on your Baby's First Site page? You can even replace your main home page image with a more exciting moving image!

Try out these sites for options:

http://www.rockyou.com

http://www.photobucket.com (create a "bucketstamp" by clicking "BucketFeatures" inside your album)

http://www.slide.com

http://www.picturetrail.com

Just paste the code for your slideshow in any text area on your site. Make sure you click the "HTML" radio button!

Add some glitter!

2006-12-16T22:45:00.000-06:00

Try out http://www.glittermaker.com/ to make neat text like this:

Just use the first code on the right --> HTML (Websites, MySpace comments, etc.)

Paste it anywhere in your custom text fields or even in your page title!

Signatures and Tickers

2006-12-16T22:37:00.000-06:00

Create a custom photo signature like this for use in message boards, blogs, and on your web site.

You choose the photo, the colors, frame, text, and more. All the code is generated for you right on the spot -- and you can have as many free accounts as you'd like. Just log out and create additional accounts to make more signatures.

Create pregnancy and birthday tickers, too:

Make a Ticker or Signature

Additional Home Page Photos

2006-12-16T19:18:00.000-06:00

If you'd like a larger main image or multiple images, you can pull images directly from your photo albums to display on your home page.

If you'd like to replace your main image with a larger photo, first uncheck the "show image" check box in the left side customization area.

Then paste the following code in the custom text area where you'd like your image to appear:

<img src="LocationOfYourImageHere"/>

Next, find the photo you want to use in your photo album and copy the location (right click the photo and select "properties" from the menu).

Paste the location of your photo in the image tag.

You can place the code in your "Page Title" section so that it will be the very first thing on the page.

For bordered images, you can apply a CSS class to your img tag like this:

<img class="photoalbum" src="LocationOfYourImageHere"/>

That puts a neat border around any image of any size.

Free Photo Hosting

2006-12-16T19:15:00.000-06:00

If you have photos you'd only like to use on your home page and would prefer to have your HTML code generated automatically, you can take advantage of our free photo hosting service at http://www.holdthatpic.com.

You can upload single images or sets of images and our software will generate all the code you need to immediately post your photos on your Baby's First Site home page or anywhere else on the web!

Dollz

2006-12-16T19:09:00.000-06:00

Dollz are a great way to add personality to your site!

You can search the internet for dollz using Google, but here are a few great dollz creator sites to get you started.

http://elouai.com/doll-makers/candybar-doll-maker.php

http://64.246.54.26/dollzmania.com/dollmakerselection.htm

http://www.styledollz.com

** Remember, if you don't want your dollz to show up in any of your photo albums but you still want to use them on your home page, you can use the trick here:

http://yourbfs.blogspot.com/2006/12/photo-management-primer.html

to remove them from your album while keeping them accessible to your account.

If you notice that any of these links aren't working or if you have any dollz creator links you'd like to share, just leave a comment. Thanks!

Additional Web Sites

2006-12-16T19:08:00.000-06:00

You can maintain up to 4 web sites on your account at no additional charge. To have additional sites set up for other children in your household, simply send the following information to support@babysfirstsite.com.

* Your User ID
* Child's full name (if you have one)
* Birth or Due Date
* Web address you'd like to use

Photo Management Primer

2006-12-16T18:52:00.000-06:00

There are 2 ways to delete photos. First, you can go into the "Add Captions" section of your album, where you can see the thumbnail view. Under each image is a "delete" button that will delete the image from your album.

You can also access the "File Manager" in your site profile section. This method is a a bit tougher because it does not show thumbnails, but will allow you to delete a photo if you don't know which album it is in.

You can add photos from one album to another album in the "Add Captions" section, too. At the top of the page there is a section labeled "Add Photo" where you can select any photo you've already uploaded and add it to the album you're currently modifying.

You can delete entire albums and either delete their contents or move all photos to another album in the "Rename/Delete Album" section within the album you'd like to delete.

Neat tip: If you have a photo you'd like to use in your home page customization or on another site, but you do not want it to appear in any of your albums, here's a trick that might help:

- Upload the photo to any album

- View the photo on your web site and copy the location of the photo
* in IE, right click the photo, choose properties, and copy the contents of the "Address" field
* in Firefox, right click the image and choose "Copy Image Location"

The URL should look like this: http://www.babysfirstsite.com/members_imag...oname_large.jpg

- Use the "Add Captions" view to delete the photo from your album.

The photo will still remain in your account, but will no longer be visible in your album. Now you can use custom HTML to add that photo to your home page or use it as a forum or e-mail signature!

Column Widths

2006-12-16T18:44:00.000-06:00

Your site has 3 main customization areas -- left, middle, and right. If you add extra wide custom content to the middle column, it will stretch the center column of your entire site. Sometimes, this will push the content in the right column off your viewer's screen.

If you'd like to avoid stretching your site beyond a reasonable resolution, try adding your wider custom content to the "Add Ticker" customization box instead of the main customization areas. This box allows you to add content that can fill the entire width of the screen without stretching the rest of your site.

Check out http://www.babysfirstsite.com/bailey and take a look at the pregnancy photo collage. It spans the entire width of the page, but doesn't disturb the widths of the rest of the columns. This collage was added to the ticker area.

It's always a good idea to make sure your site can be viewed without forcing your visitors to scroll to the right. You can do this by keeping the content in each column close to the width of the standard elements. The measurements below are a good guideline.

Left: 400 pixels maximum
Middle: 200 pixels maximum
Right: 250 pixels maximum

Add a Stat Counter

2006-12-16T18:31:00.000-06:00

We already offer a basic hit counter for your site, but you can also get a more advanced tracking counter for free at http://www.statcounter.com. With a statcounter account, you can find out all kinds of information about your visitors and what they did while they were in your site!

You can choose an invisible counter that only you can access or a visible counter to match your site.

When you've signed up for your free account, you'll go through a few screens to get your special counter code. In this process you'll be asked a few questions. On the "Code Options" page, check "no" to "Does your website use frames?" and leave all other options unchecked.

You will be given a block of code to copy and paste into your custom text field.

In the first block of code, you'll need to remove the line breaks so it looks like this:

<script type="text/javascript">var sc_project=2125708;var sc_invisible=1;var sc_partition=19;var sc_security="c450a447";</script>

You can leave the second block of code unchanged.

If you run into any snags while installing, just leave your code pasted into any of your custom text fields and send an e-mail with your BFS user login ID to support@babysfirstsite.com.

Thought Bubble Tip

2006-12-16T18:17:00.000-06:00

Does your thought bubble look like this?

HoldThatPic.com - Free Image Hosting

If you find your thought bubble text doesn't fit inside the bubble, keep in mind that you may have to trim your lines depending on the width of the letters you're using.

The bubbles are a bit of a manual process. Since all letters vary in their widths, the content you use in the bubble ultimately decides how many words you'll have space for. We have set a limit on the amount of text on each line, but it's not possible to calculate the width of each letter.

We have provided extra space on the line to to account for narrower letters. If you use words with lots of narrow letters like l, i, or t, you'll have a bit more space to use than if you are using a lot of capital letters or wider letters like m or w.

You may need to shorten the lines of text until they all reside on a single line. Unless your combination of letters is very narrow, you'll rarely be able to use the entire length of the line provided. If you go over into the next line, your content will be uneven and your last lines will overflow your bubble.

Getting Started

2006-12-16T16:40:00.001-06:00

You can use HTML in any of the custom text fields on your site as well as in your page heading, ticker area, news entries, photo captions, and photo descriptions. This link should get you started with all the basic HTML tags you can use on your site:

http://www.ptialaska.net/~melissag/htmlguide/coverpage-guide.html

Basic HTML is just the tip of the iceberg! Use slideshows, music, video, Flash animations, hit counters, and more.

You can access your custom text areas by clicking "Site Profile" --> "Customize"

You'll find 3 columns that accept full customization. You can also turn off any or all of the features on your site from within their respective columns and with other settings inside your "Site Profile" section.

Tickers: Transparent Spots

2006-12-15T23:41:00.000-06:00

True black is the default transparent color in our tickers. If you have uploaded a photo that has true black and portions of the photo appear as transparent, you can correct this problem in a photo editor by *slightly* modifying the brightness of your photo. Bringing the brightness down should change any true black into a different shade (you should not notice a visible change when viewing your photo).

If you've attempted to modify your photo and you're still seeing transparent spots, e-mail your photo to us at support@babysfirstsite.com and we'll attempt to correct it for you.

Tickers: AOL E-Mail

2006-12-15T23:40:00.000-06:00

Outlook and Outlook Express require a 2-step process for creating signatures.

First, you need to set up an external HTML file with your ticker code saved inside.

Copy the code below to Windows Notepad:

<br />
<a href="http://www.babysfirstsite.com"><img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/xxxxx.birthday.png" border="0" /></a>

Change the xxxxx to your unique ticker ID number (you can find this in your ticker code). Then, make sure the ticker type is correct for the ticker you'd like to display (birthday, birthdue, sigmaker). Save the file as sig.html.

In AOL:

1. Open a new mail message.
2. Click the "Signatures" button at the bottom of the new mail screen.
3. Click "Set up Signatures"
4. Click "Create" in the resulting pop-up
5. Give your signature a name, then open the text file I attached to this message.
6. Copy the entire contents of the notepad file to your clipboard, then paste it into the signature area.
7. Click OK (and make sure your signature is set to ON)

Tickers: MS Outlook

2006-12-15T23:39:00.000-06:00

Outlook and Outlook Express require a 2-step process for creating signatures.

First, you need to set up an external HTML file with your ticker code saved inside.

Copy the code below to Windows Notepad:

<br />
<a href="http://www.babysfirstsite.com"><img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/xxxxx.birthday.png" border="0" /></a>

Change the xxxxx to your unique ticker ID number (you can find this in your ticker code). Then, make sure the ticker type is correct for the ticker you'd like to display (birthday, birthdue, sigmaker). Save the file as sig.html.

In Outlook:

1. Go to Tools --> Options
2. Choose the "Mail Format" tab
3. Choose "HTML" in the "send in this message format" drop-down box.
4. Click "Stationery Picker"
5. Click "New"
6. Under #1 - Enter a name for your signature.
7. Under #2 - Select "use this file as a template"
8. Click "browse" and locate and double-click the sig.html file that you saved previously.
9. click "Next", then click OK.

Tickers: Outlook Express

2006-12-15T23:32:00.000-06:00

Outlook and Outlook Express require a 2-step process for creating signatures.

First, you need to set up an external HTML file with your ticker code saved inside.

Copy the code below to Windows Notepad:

<br />
<a href="http://www.babysfirstsite.com"><img src="http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/xxxxx.birthday.png" border="0" /></a>

Change the xxxxx to your unique ticker ID number (you can find this in your ticker code). Then, make sure the ticker type is correct for the ticker you'd like to display (birthday, birthdue, sigmaker). Save the file as sig.html.

In Outlook Express:

1. Go to Tools --> Options
2. Choose the "Signatures" tab
3. Press "New"
4. Under "Edit Signature", select the button next to "File"
5. Click "Browse"
6. In the dialog, change the "Files of Type" dropdown to "All Files (*.*)"
7. Locate the sig.html file that you saved on your PC.
8. Check the box at the top of the screen that says, "Add signature to all outgoing messages"
9. Press "OK"

Tickers: Hotmail

2006-12-15T23:31:00.000-06:00

These instructions will only work in Internet Explorer (because hotmail does not support image signatures created on any other browser).

1. From your mailbox, click "Options" at the top right of your screen.

2. Click "Mail" in the left column.

3. Click "Personal Signature".

4. Check the box next to "Show the rich-text toolbar."

5. Go to your ticker customization screen on Baby's First Site and copy the actual preview of your ticker image. Just start at the left and drag over until it is highlighted. It may take a few tries to find the right spot. Once it's highlighted, use Ctrl-C to copy it.

6. Paste the image you copied into the signature box (use Ctrl-V) in your hotmail settings screen. You should see the image in the box. Then just click OK.

Tickers: Yahoo E-Mail

2006-12-15T23:30:00.000-06:00

Yahoo makes setting up your ticker signature simple. It may take a few tries to get the hang of highlighting, but this is the best method for setting up your Yahoo signature.

In your Yahoo mailbox:
1. Go to Mail Options
2. Click Signature

3. Go back to your ticker customization page and copy the actual image that shows up at the top of the page when you preview your ticker (use Control-C or Edit --> Copy to copy the image).

* Just start somewhere to the left or right of the image and drag over it to highlight it (turning it grey in the process).

4. Go back to your Yahoo signature settings page (make sure you're in "Color and Graphics" mode).
5. Paste the image into the signature box (using Control-V or Edit --> Paste). If the image was copied properly, it will show in the signature box.

Make sure you check the box to add it to outgoing messages and make sure you set yahoo to allow HTML when you are composing new messages.

Tickers: Additional Accounts

2006-12-15T23:28:00.000-06:00

Ticker accounts are designed to handle a single child from pregnancy through age 5. Your ticker account has just one due/birth date entry field, which carries through to you pregnancy, birthday, and sigmaker settings.

Each child needs his or her own account and will be assigned a unique ID. There is a link on the customization screen labeled "Logout / Create second ticker". When you are returned to the login screen, just click the registration link above the login field ("If you have haven't registered yet, click here to register.") to sign up for any additional ticker accounts.