FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS GETTING STARTED... Question....Why do I need to sign up? Answer......You cannot post or retrieve speeches until you do so. Posting is FREE! You can, however, peruse the site for content prior to signing up and, you can go to the search speeches area and read a cursory/abstract version of any and/or all speeches, but you must become a paid member to read any speech in its entirety. Also, even though posting is FREE, you must sign up to post. Question...What information is required to sign up. Answer.....Only a valid email address is required for you to receive your secret password for site access and site privileges. The other information asked for is not required, but we suggest that you fill out the form as completely as possible because this information is confidential and, compliance is a statement of honesty/full disclosure, but not required for the experience (see Privacy Statement)! Question...What areas can I view before signing up? Answer.....At the Homepage you can click anywhere in the blue areas to go to that specific page, i.e., click in the blue area of Most Recent Speeches and go to the ten (10) most recent speeches and see a cursory/abstract portion of any of these ten (10) speeches. Any "Relevant Website" link referenced in these shortened/abstracted speeches is active (just click on it), if one is referenced. You can also click on all the links at the FreeSpeechStore to peruse this site without signing up, but you MUST sign up to read speeches in their entirety and to post a speech. Be sure to view (About Us) and this entire page...(FAQ) for more details. REPLYING TO AUTHORS AND SPEECH INQUIRIES... Question...How do I reply to an author of a published speech? Answer.....To reply to an author of a speech, you must have reading privileges which requires one of the two (2) paid membership options. Once you have accessed the author's speech, just scroll to the bottom of the speech and hit the "Reply to Author (Reply)" button and your communication will be anonymous. Question...Why can't I reply/respond to someone's email inquiry to a Speech that I have posted? Answer.....Most likely, you are using America Online (AOL) as your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or a similar ISP which does not allow pop-up windows because this function is disabled! In order to reply/respond to someone emailing you regarding your speech, you must allow pop-up windows. Many of the interactive features on FSS and its web site utilize pop-up windows so be sure to enable this function in your browser when interacting on FSS! All internal emails between authors and FSS members are anonymous. SPEECH CABINET... Question...What is a Speech Cabinet and what purpose does it serve? Answer.....Your Speech Cabinet is where you can store speeches for future reference. Think of it as a filing cabinet where the speeches that you want to save are stored for easy and future access. You can only store a speech from the Search Results page, to include your posted speeches, and you must be logged on to store them. Once stored, all speeches in your cabinet will remain saved from session to session or, until you delete any or all saved speeches. DELETE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS FROM YOUR SPEECH NOTIFICATION ALERTS.. Question....How do I delete (opt-out) my email address from being notified when a speech is posted? Answer.....Remember, you are only notified once for any speech posted by an author, even if it is revised. So, if you wish to be removed from all future notifications then, when you receive a speech notification email from FreeSpeechStore (FSS), simply click on the hyperlink which says "Click here for instructions on how to be removed from this list." Once you enter the applicable email address which is getting the notification, it will be removed from the FSS database forever! Be sure that you want to be removed PERMANENTLY because this process is irreversible! The only way to reinstate notification privileges is by contacting/petitioning FSS with a special request. All requests are judged on an individual basis with no guarantees of reinstatement! BE SURE YOU WANT OUT! Question... What else can I do to remove my name from the FreeSpeechStore database? Answer......Once you become a member, you can "Reply to Author" after you have accessed a speech for reading. Just click on "Reply" at the bottom of the applicable speech, and notify the AUTHOR of your demands, since he/she is the one responsible for your notifications! For an explanation click on..(TOS) KEYWORD QUESTIONS... Question....How do I enter my keywords? Answer..... You are allowed eight (8) keywords per posting. It is very important that you use all the keywords allocated in order to increase the probability of your speech being found in the search engines on the Internet. Be sure to pick your keywords carefully, and put yourself in the position of someone searching for your topic, theme, and/or speech relevance! After each keyword enter a space before entering the next keyword. When using hyphens, they are treated as alphabet characters. Question...What keywords should I use? Answer.....This up to you, but try to be specific regarding the topic name, subject, etc., that you are searching for and try to be precise. If posting, try to insert the keywords that a person searching your topic would use. This is a universal keyword search and works similar to most on the Internet. Question...Do I have to use keywords? Answer.....Yes! If you do not put in a least one keyword, you will get an error message which reads "txtKeys required". Question...What happens if I duplicate keywords? Answer.....You are in luck! FSS has a feature which automatically checks for keyword duplication when you push the post button. An improvement from the original programming. POSTING QUESTIONS... Question....What hints can FreeSpeechStore.com give me to maximize the visibility and efficiency of my posts? Answer.....There are several things to consider when posting your speech. They are addressed in chronological order as you navigate the Posting Page. 1. Even though Posting is FREE, you must first register as a Member prior to posting. You need to have a valid email address to receive your password once you have completed your profile entries. All information is kept confidential (Privacy Statement) , therefore, your postings can be anonymous. 2. Speech Title....Be sure to keep this short, but informative, because all words will be entered for "Quick Speech Search" and "Keyword" searches within (internally) the FreeSpeechStore.com site, as well as Univeral (Virtual) Internet search engines, to include, GOOGLE, ALTA VISTA, etc. 3. Username....This can be your name or any authoring name you wish to use. Once you sign up, your email address and authoring name cannot be changed. To change either, you must create a new account. 4. Topic....Pick a topic from the drop-down list, or suggest a topic by clicking the link below the drop-down list. New topics will be considered by FreeSpeechStore.com and added within twenty-four (24) hours, if approved. Keep in mind, this area is NOT for posting your actual speech (see Item 7 below), but only for suggesting a Topic, pending approval. 5. Relevant Web Site....You can add a web site which is applicable to your speech. A hyperlink, picked by you, will be included in your speech to direct all speech readers to the that URL and/or site immediately. This a great feature, do not waste the opportunity to use it. If you do not have a relevant web site or URL in mind, then go to the FSS homepage and look for the box which says "Quick Speech Search" and enter one (1) to three (3) keywords which best describe your speech. Probably, the most logical keyword would be the topic of your speech, just for starters! This will give you some results on a web page with a URL address at the top of the page something similar to (http: freespeechstore......). Copy and then cut this URL. Then, paste it in the blank for your relevant web site in your posting on the "Edit Speech" page. Now, you have directed readers to your speech! If you do not enter a relevant web site, then FSS will default to...http://freespeechstore.com/public. This is a public area where ALL speeches are annotated. 6. E-mail notification....This is one of the most IMPORTANT AREAS of this site. It allows you, the author, to enter up to five (5) e-mail addresses that will be automatically and instantly notified once your speech is posted. No subsequent revisions of any speech are notified! If you wish the author to be notified of a revision, you will have to do it on your own, or simply author a "New" speech. The people who are notified by an author have the option to have their e-mail address deleted from the notification alert and the FreeSpeechStore.com (FSS) database forever, at their discretion. Be sure to check the box to have your (the author's) e-mail address notified each time your speech is read. You will want to know this and you will always have the option to change this setting. This is the only e-mail function which allows e-mail notifications on a repetitive basis. If somebody rereads your speech, there is a subsequent notification, if you (the author) have selected this feature. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you take full advantage of this feature because it will generate action and reaction to all speeches posted! The e-mail notification to you (the author) is separate from the other notifications in order to keep your e-mail address anonymous. The only person that will ever see your e-mail address is you, unless you give it up yourself! All FSS correspondence between parties is handled internally and anonymously! Whenever you delete a speech, no e-mail notifications will be activated and those e-mails specified in your speech will not be notified of your deletion. You will need to notify people of your deletion with a personal e-mail if you wish them notified. Be sure to click on our links tab/section for additional e-mail addresses for the various media, activists, governmental personnel, miscellaneous, etc. 7. Speech Body....This is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to post, for "FREE", your comments, accolades, data, complaints, etc. for all to read. Be sure to make the first 20 to 25 words meaningful because this is all that a person will see for "FREE" prior to joining FreeSpeechStore.com. Consider this portion a "TEASE" or "ABSTRACT" to get your message read in its entirety. This portion will also be listed with HTML TAGS (Internet jargon for search engines). When someone does a search on the INTERNET (Google, Alta Vista, etc.), these words will bring those search results to your speech at FreeSpeechStore.com. The remainder of the text should be informative, concise, and to the point. You are limited to 1500 characters, so edit your speech to the aforementioned criteria. Any speech which is deemed offensive and of no literary value will be removed at the FreeSpeechStore.com's sole discretion (see Terms of Service). 8. Keywords for Quick Search...see (Keyword Questions) above. 9. POST/SAVE SPEECH....This is another IMPORTANT AREA. Once you have finished writing, editing, or revising your speech, click on this rectangle and your speech is POSTED immediately. Be sure that you have re-read your speech for any spelling, grammatical, etc. errors before hitting this button! If you wish to change anything in this posting area, you may do so, to include title, e-mail notification, speech text, keywords, etc. (ALL AREAS). Nothing will be changed or posted until you click on this button. Once you post and/or revise a speech, you can go to the "Members Only Section" and hit "My Own Speeches" and you will see all your speeches with the dates of any revisions. In this section, you can click on "Date Created" or "Last Revised" to change the order the speeches are listed. 10. You can spell check and use a dictionary to check your speech by going to the "Links Section" and clicking on "Spell Check Your Speech" and "Dictionary Check Your Speech" respectively. Both items are located beneath the "Speech Editing Links". 11. Cancel....Once you hit this button/rectangle, all work is deleted and you must start over. This button WILL NOT delete a previously written speech. DELETION OF SPEECHES... 1. Only an author of a Speech can delete, modify, and/or remove it from the FreeSpeechStore.com database unless the staff of FSS feels the Speech to be in direct violation of our Terms of Service. 2. Should any member or simply a peruser of the site feel that he/she has been libeled, abused, etc. the communication of such should be with the author directly through our web site and not with the mangement of FreeSpeechStore.com directly, unless all satisfaction and/or communication with the author has been thoroughly exhausted. Please read our Terms Of Service (TOS) completely regarding indemnification, site liability, warranties, legal action, etc. You must be a paid member to communicate with any author. 3. In most cases, FreeSpeechStore.com will take no definitive action against an author, due to their First Amendment Guarantees unless he or she is in direct violation of our TOS, otherwise, it is up to the aggrieved party to seek a court order compelling FSS to act accordingly.