About the website

Welcome to the new-look diocesan website.
We hope you enjoy using it and can find the information you are looking for -
if not, please let us know: webmaster@ portsmouthdiocese.org.uk .

The site has had several incarnations during its development
and is still very much a work in progress.
If you come across a page that looks "out of place" do let us know!
Also typos - changes - corrections...

Below are some questions we think people might be asking... If you have another - get in touch.

How do I tell someone else what the new website address is?
What is a U.R.L?
How do I find what I'm looking for?
Our parish website is hosted on the portsmouth-dio.org.uk server - will we lose it?
How do I download resources?
Who do I contact if I have a problem with the website?
Can I help with the website?
Why can't I just click on the e-mail address and get an automatic message window?
How can I reduce Spam?
I am being bombarded with Spam - what can I do?
 

How do I tell someone else what the new website address is?
It has become common for people to describe a U.R.L like ours as www dot portsmouth diocese (all one word) dot org

What is a U.R.L?
A Uniform Resource Locator is a way of identifying individual pages or documents on the World Wide Web.

How do I find what I'm looking for?
As the site is already large and likely to get much larger, we have colour-coded various sections. These are what we have so far:

     Bishop Crispian
     Department for Pastoral Formation
     Department for Finance and Property
     Directory
     Pastoral Councils
      General web-pages
You can also use the A to Z which is gradually being built up.
There will be also a Search box on many of the pages.

Our parish website is hosted on the portsmouth-dio.org.uk server - will we lose it?
No! The portsmouth-dio.org.uk server will be in used for some time and you can continue to upload to it. Over the next few months, you will be assigned a folder and password on the new server and can start to direct people to that.

How do I download resources?
Right-click the link to the item you want to download.
Choose "Save as..."
Choose a destination for the file to be saved to and click OK.
The file will download to your computer.
Run a virus check (Note: our virus software is constantly updated so the downloads should be safe - but it is good practice to check anything you download).
Open the file.

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Who do I contact if I have a problem with the website?
Please get in touch with webmaster@ portsmouthdiocese.org.uk

Can I help with the website?
Yes!
We want to create a more accessible, screen-reader friendly website. If you could help to create a text-only site, contact Kathryn Turner who is currently working on the site: webmaster@ portsmouth-dio.org.uk?
Also, it would be helpful to have key pages translated into the other three main languages used in our Diocese: Polish, Portuguese and Tagalog.
If you can take Word and Publisher documents into HTML and/ or PDF, you could help to adapt current resources for online use.

Why can't I just click on the e-mail address and get an automatic message window?
Spam, Spam, Spam! By adding the space, we reduce the amount of unwanted e-mails because the automatic "gatherers" of e-mail addresses look for the @. Simply copy and paste the address into the address bar - delete the space - and the e-mail will go. Try to send the e-mail without deleting the space and see what happens!

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How can I reduce Spam?
A million dollar question. Here are a few ideas...

	NEVER reply to unsolicited e-mails - your reply confirms that the address works.
	Don't use your main e-mail address if you join chatrooms or messageboards - some programs have been designed to harvest e-mail addresses from them. Use a Hotmail or Yahoo account which you can stop using if the Spam builds up. (Note: the settings on our own Guestbook/ Messageboard have been set to protect users' e-mail addresses).
	Use a Spam filter - but check the Spam folder before emptying!

I am being bombarded with Spam - what can I do?
Spam tends to come in waves - it might be worth giving it a couple of weeks and see if it slows down.
If you have a portsmouthdiocese.org.uk address, contact email_admin@ portsmouthdiocese.org.uk. It will mean a small change to your address but will ease the situation.

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I am getting offensive images - what can I do?
In your E-mail options, choose Read all messages in plain text. You will see a message. The downside is that you will lose colour and other formatting - and will see lots of links - but you won't get the images.
If it is from a trusted source (such as a diocesan department newsletter which has clickable links in it) try these options:
Outlook Express - On View menu choose Read as HTML
Microsoft Outlook - Just above the "To ..." line you will see a message that says "This message was converted to plain text". Click on that and you should get an option to  Display as HTML - click that and spot the difference!  

If you suspect that the abusive images are involving children - go to http://www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com/ who will be able to help.

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