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How to Tell a Commontales Story (It's So Easy!)
by Tom Kane
Thanks for signing up — we're glad you've decided to tell your stories!
The Commontales web site is very simple. To use it, you only need to know how to type. And if you ever get stuck you can always click the 'Help' link at the top of any page.
The 5 steps below will tell you all you need to know to write your own stories.
Let's get started!
STEP 1
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Sign in to the site using your email address and password (it's easy to tell if you are signed in — just look for the words 'My stuff' in the upper-right corner).
Click the  tab at the top of the page.
Enter a title for your story (you can always change this later) and click 'Continue.'
A screen that looks like a word processor (called the 'Editor') will appear. This is where you will type your story. The Editor screen looks like this:
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STEP 2
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Enter some or all of your story and add pictures using the 'Insert a picture' link.
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STEP 3
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Click the  button at the top or bottom of the page. (You can always come back later to edit or add more to your story.)
This will take you to the 'Privacy Settings' screen. The 'Privacy Settings' screen looks like this:
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STEP 4
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Privacy works like this:
- Everyone: Clicking the circle next to 'Everyone' allows anyone who visits the web site to read your story.
- Friend-to-Friend: This setting allows everyone in your contacts list, and everyone in their contacts list, to read your story. No one beyond your friends' contacts may read the story.
- Individuals: This setting gives you absolute privacy. Only people you specifically invite — either from your Contacts or by entering their email in the right-hand sidebar — can see your story. It will only appear in search results for people you've invited, and they cannot invite anyone else. If you invite no one, it's like your own password-protected diary. (TIP: Some people use this setting while they are working on their story, then change the setting to 'Everyone' when they're ready to publish it.)
The Parental advisory works like this:
- No: Select this if there's nothing "R-rated" in your story.
- Yes: Select this and when someone clicks on the title of your story, they'll see an interstitial page that says, 'This story may not be suitable for children.' Users can then click 'Continue' to go to your story or they can go back to the previous page.
We take this setting seriously. Parents should be able to share Commontales with their children. If your story contains anything that you believe would cause a parent concern, please use this feature. |
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STEP 5
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Now you're back at your story. Look above the title and click the green link that says Edit this story.
Add words and pictures, or use HTML by clicking the center button  at the bottom of the story window. (Click the magnifying glass to go back to regular mode.)
To add a video clip directly to your story rather than linking to it, click the HTML button, insert the <embed> code you've copied from your video hosting service (e.g. YouTube), then click the pencil icon next to the HTML button to make sure it's in the right place.
When you finish, click
Remember, if you ever need help, you can always click the white 'Help' link at the top right corner of the page.
One more time — remember to click the button before you sign out!
Want to add more? Just click Edit this story again to go back to edit mode.
And that's it. Pretty easy, right?
Great — now go have some fun!
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