SailBlogs FAQ

Getting Started: How Do I...

Activate my account?

When you registered for membership in SailBlogs, you were required to use a valid email address. An activation link was sent to this address. This ensures that the person registering for the account actually owns the email address, and prevents account fraud.

Look for the registration email and link in this account. Check your spam box as sometimes automated messages get tagged as spam. If you still did not receive a registration key, contact support with the contact us form and we'll get you activated. Be sure to add sailblogs.com to your whitelist of approved domains allowed to send you email.

Add a post to my blog?

The main message widow in the Blog Manager displays a list of the messages currently loaded into the blog, ordered by date with the most recent at the top of the list. If there are more than 15 messages in your blog, links will appear at the bottom of the table to see other pages.

Messages with an attached image will have a symbol between the date and title.

Messages with comments will have a symbol - click the icon to manage the comments.

Messages posted via SailBlogs Remote will have a symbol between the date and title.

Messages can have 4 status values:

• On: the message is active and visible to visitors
• On-Future: The message is dated to appear in the future, and once that date happens the message will be active and visible to visitors. Until the date of the message, the post WILL NOT be visible to visitors.
• Off: Message is not visible to visitors.
• Off-Future: The message is dated to appear in the future, but since the message is off, it will never appear to visitors regardless of the date.

Clicking on either the date or the message title will open that message in the Message Editor window.

Use the Add New Log Entry link to open the Message Editor and add a new entry.

View my blog as a visitor would see it?

The URL for your blog was determined when you registered, based on the directory name you chose. That name is used to build your blog's address, and will always follow this format:

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/yourdirectoryname/

There is also a link you view your blog from the main welcome page of the SailBlogs Administration.

Update the title & description of my blog?

Using the form in the Properties tab of the Blog Manager, you can alter the title, description, email and home links, as well as change the directory name. WARNING: it is not recommended that you change the directory name after you start adding messages. Changing the directory name will change your URL and will affect any site that links to the blog. See Directory Name.

Change the colors & template of my blog?

In the Blog Manager, choose the Theme & Colors tab, then choose the desired template. After choosing a template, use the Theme Settings to further customize your blog, turn blocks on and off, and other options. Not all options are available for all templates.

Add posts with older dates?

The Message Editor will allow you to add posts with any date and will automatically sort the blog by date, not by the order the posts were added into the system. This makes it easy to backfill a blog with posts that have happened in the past while still keeping proper post order.

Remove a comment?

To remove a comment, first find the post in the main message list window. Next to the message title is the "talking balloon" icon . Click this icon to open the comments manager.

Next to each comment for that post is an on / off switch. To turn a comment off, click the off button. To turn it back on, click the on button.

Note: You cannot change a comment's text. However, you're not required to display something that you don't want appearing in your blog.

Link to another post within my blog?

If you put a link in a blog post, a new window will open when the user clicks on it. However, if you want to link to another post within your blog, this is kind of annoying. There is a code that will create a link to another post without opening anew window:

[%msgID*link text%b]

Using the above syntax, replace the "msgID" with the ID of the message you want to link to (this is usually seen in the URL or contents as xjMsgID=xxxx), and replace "link text" with what you'd like to see in the blog post. Leave the other parts as they are.

Retrieve a lost password?

If you've forgotten your username or password, access to your account can be reset for you. Use the Lost Password page to request new login credentials. Enter the email address you registered with, and the new login information will be sent to that address after confirming the request.

Send posts in via email?

To email a blog post instead of using the standard web administration, a Premium Membership at with the SailBlogsVR or XJSail level is required.

After you've upgraded your account, you'll receive email with your subject key and the email address to send send your messages to. This information is also available to you on the Properties page of the Blog Manager.

Refer to Using SailBlogs Remote for additional information about posting via email.

Add HTML to a blog post?

Main entry: HTML in blog posts Only a very limited set of formatting tags can be used in a blog post. Refer to the main article for specific tags allowed.

Image and Video

HELP! I can't add photos to my blog posts.

If images will not post to your blog, but it will take the text and it "appears to work" when you submit the form, here are some possibilities:

• Make sure you have short file names (i.e. less than 70 characters).
• make sure the file name of the image does not have spacial characters - spaces, !@#$%^*&() , etc.
• Sometimes the internet provider prevents file uploads through web pages, esp if it is a public hotspot or internet cafe
• The local internet provider might be limiting the size of files that get uploaded, so maybe reducing the file prior to uploading will allow it to go though.
• JPG files will be scaled automatically by the server, GIF files will not. If it is a GIF file, it must be smaller than image size for your blog. This is listed in the Theme Settings page.
• Very large image files could 'time out' during upload, if you're loading very large images (i.e. more than 4MB), try scaling them down first (see pre-processing images for additional information).

If it is the local ISP that is blocking file uploads, most of the time you can still attach files to email messages and they'll go out. If you have a SailBlogsVR or XJSail premium account, you could email your post with the photo attached and have it appear on the blog.

Add a YouTube video

Main Entry: Adding a YouTube video to a Post

A YouTube video can be added to a post by using this special SailBlogs tag in your blog post:

[%youtube*z9CS2fspk-8%v]

Where z9CS2fspk-8 is the code of the video clip.

Adding a Quicktime (.mov) or AVI video clip

To post a short video clip with the blog post instead of an image, a Premium Membership at with the SailBlogsVR or XJSail level is required.

Video Clips must:

• Not exceed 6MB
• Be in .MOV (quicktime) or .AVI format
• File name must include extension (.mov or .avi) for the system to recognize it
• Be added through the web interface (i.e. not via email)

To post a video clip, select the .mov or .avi file as you would any other image when creating the blog entry. Visitors of your blog must have the QuickTime Plugin to their browser in order to view the video.

Is there a file size limit?

Yes. Image uploads cannot exceed 4MB per file, video clips cannot exceed 6MB, and there is an 18MB limit to the total of all files uploaded together at one time (i.e. in the SailBlogs Gallery where multiple images can be uploaded together). However, SailBlogs will process any image down to proper web scale, so to improve performance and speed upload times it is recommended to pre-scale images before uploading.

Advanced Blog Usage

Adding Multiple Images Per Post

Main entry: Multiple Images Per Post

Additional images can be added to a post via standard HTML image syntax.

Remote Posting: Blog via Email

Account Requirements

In order to submit blog entries and images via email a Premium Membership at with the SailBlogsVR or XJSail level is required.

Email Address and Subject Key

Posts need to be submitted to a specific email address and have a specific subject key. When you upgraded your account, this information was emailed to the account holder. If you don't have this email, the information is also available on your blog properties page in the Blog Manager.

XPlot Mapping

HELP! My Map Is Showing The Wrong Position

If your map is showing the wrong position, the most likely cause is invalid latitude & longitude data. Refer to Latitude & Longitude Format used by SailBlogs. Next, make sure the location you are expecting is, in fact, the current position. Refer to the Positions Tab in the XPlot Manager for a list of all enabled positions and their dates. The most recent position will show with the cross.

Advanced Configuration

How do I add a visit counter?

Main entry: visit counter

Premium members can add a visit counter via a custom side bar block or custom footer. Free members cannot add a counter.