FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and General Website Guidance

Seriously, read the entire page. 

Register For Your STA74 BDC Website In 6 Easy Steps

1. Read all the information on this FAQ page; if you are not into reading it all just now, then skip to # 2 below.

2. Click "Classmate Profiles" in the menu panel to the left.

3. Find your name and click on it.

4.  Your email will be your login and you will be asked to create a password.  Unlike other websites which require you to verify a new password by entering it twice, our system currently only requires one entry so be sure that you enter it correctly and write it down in a secure place.

5. Once you are in your profile, add any information you want to appear in your profile and then SAVE it.  You can include a short bio, photos, videos, school memories, etc.  It’s your profile and you can include whatever you’d like. 

6. Most importantly - please add siteadmin@stthomasaquinas74bdc.com to your address book and adjust your spam settings and filters so that you can receive email from the website, otherwise email from the website will likely end up in your junk or spam folder.

 

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Lets Get Rolling, Raiders:

Once your STA74 BDC profile is created, you will have full access to the website.  You can start exploring the website, check out the senior year photos, contact other classmates, join the User Forum discussions, and generally start having fun!

Email Privacy - Classmates will not be able to see your email, although they will be able to contact you via email by using the contact box at the bottom of your profile.  However, if you reply to or send a message to someone through their profile, they will then be able to see your email address so that they may respond to you.

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What is the purpose of the STA74 BDC website?

Your website, and your classmate profiles, will serve as a master database for the STA74 BDC Reunion Committee.  It will help classmates stay in touch with other classmates, allow for a central location for news and information about our class and classmates, help old friends reconnect with each other and perhaps form new friendships.    Your website will also help the Reunion Committee plan and execute reunions and other events and make communication of these events much easier and faster.  We ask our classmates to please keep your profile up-to-date with your current contact information as circumstances change.  We also ask that if you know any classmates for whom we do not have current emails (listed as missing) please let them know about this website and ask them to join.  We hope you will enjoy using your website as a portal to reconnect with old friends and fellow classmates and share your memories of our high school days

 

Who can join the STA74 BDC website?

Membership in the website is by invitation only and although the website is set up for the class of 1974 (The Best Damn Class!), we welcome classmates who attended STA with us but may have graduated from other schools.  We also welcome STA faculty and administration and STA alumni from other graduating years.  We realize that there may be siblings and spouses who attended STA over the span of years who might like to join our class website.  If you  know someone who might like to join or if you would like to be an Admin for your own class website please send an inquiry via the Contact Us page.

 

What can I do on this website?

• You can setup your personal STA74 BDC profile with pictures and videos and whatever content you’d like to share with our classmates (within the general boundaries of good taste and discretion).
• You can send and receive email to and from other classmates.
• View other STA74 BDC profiles and participate in discussion forums.
• Post announcements on the home page (announcement is subject to approval by the administrator; to verify that the announcement falls within the purpose of the website).

 

Will the general public, classmates, or anyone else besides the website administrator have access to my email address?

No. To protect your privacy, your email address is not publicly available on the website. However, classmates can send you a message through the contact box at the bottom of your profile page.  To check if you've received any new messages, click on "Check Messages" under the Member Functions menu.  You will also receive notification from the website of their message; however, your email application or email server may classify the notification  as spam or junk email.   Please check your spam and junk folders regularly and, even more importantly, please add siteadmin@stthomasaquinas74bdc.com to your address book and adjust your spam settings and filters so that you can receive email from the website.

 

How will I receive emails from the website?

Emails to individual classmates or to the entire class will be sent from the following address: siteadmin@stthomasaquinas74bdc.com.  However, the individual's name that will be attached to the email address will be that of the website administrator who actually sends the email.  Please add siteadmin@stthomasaquinas74bdc.com to your address book and adjust your spam settings and filters so that you can receive email from the website.  You can send emails to the website administrator by clicking on the "Contact Us" link in the main menu.   We will reply as soon as possible.

 

What are examples of some emails that I may be sent?

We will occasionally email you information about upcoming class reunions or events, general announcements about classmates, new website features and other important news. You will also receive an email every New Year's Day suggesting that the start of the new year is a good time to update your profile.  You will also receive a reminder email if you haven’t updated your profile within six months.  This will help us all stay in touch in case you change your email address.  We realize that many people receive an incredible amount of email every day and it is sometimes difficult to read and manage them all.  We will try our very best to keep our emails to an absolute minimum.

 

What if my spouse or partner and I share the same email account?

In the case of a couple who share the same email, one member of the couple may want to create a unique email address for themselves to distinguish between the two individual profiles.  Google Mail (Gmail), a free email system via Google, is highly recommended.

 

What if I change jobs or internet service providers (ISP) and my email address changes?

If your email address is your work email or is through your ISP (i.e., AT&T, Comcast, Bell South, Verizon, AOL, etc.), if you change jobs or change your ISP, you will lose your email account with them.  We recommend that you set up a personal email account with Google Mail (GMail), Yahoo, Hotmail, or any other internet based email service (most of them are free) that won't be lost if you change jobs or ISP.  Your computer's email application can be easily configured to receive these emails or you can simply check your personal email using a web browser from anywhere in the world.

 

What if I forget my password?

If you click the "Remember Me" box when you log in your browser should automatically retain your password.  If you do forget your password, click on  "Forgot Password?" Your password will be sent to your email.

 

What if I’m having trouble logging onto our STA74 BDC website?

Your computer is probably not retaining its “cookies”.  A cookie is a bit of data stored on your hard drive and is used by ClassCreator.com (our website hosting service) to maintain the login system. Although cookie problems are rare, when they do occur you have several potential resolutions. Try any of the following:

• Make sure you are logged into your website.
• Upgrade your browser to the most recent browser.
• Switch browsers. For instance if you are using Internet Explorer, try Firefox.
• Clear your Temporary Internet Files (cache) and clear your current cookies so you are starting fresh. Click here for instructions for clearing browser cookies.
• Make sure you are doing nothing to block cookies on the website. Our login system depends on cookies working. If you are blocking cookies in general, you need to at least permit them for this website so you can log in.
• Reboot your computer.

 

Aren't computer cookies bad?

No. The "cookie scare" of the late 1990s was largely based on misconceptions that cookies stored on your computer's hard drive somehow violated privacy. Erroneous information regarding cookies has long since been corrected, and cookies are a common programming practice used today by some of the Internet's largest websites. There is nothing Class Creator does with cookies that will in any way jeopardize your privacy, store personal information about you, or submit your personal information to other websites.

 

Can I post my own photos or videos on the website?

Yes! You can upload a current photo of yourself, your family, pets, vacations, old photos from days gone by, past reunions, etc. -- anything you want to share -- by clicking on "Edit/Upload Photos" under the Member Functions menu on the left.

• There is no limit on the number of digital photos that you can store on your "Classmate Profile" page.
• Each photo is automatically resized to fit on your Profile page.
• You can also upload your own videos that you've posted to YouTube.com by clicking on the "Classmate Profiles" link, then following the instructions.
• And yes, you can add, delete, or replace your own photos or videos at any time.

 

How can I upload my current photo to my profile?

Be sure you are logged in on the Home Page. In the links on the left side under MEMBER FUNCTIONS, click on the link: Edit/Upload Photos.

1. The Photo page will appear and you’ll see a gray box titled: Upload New photo. Click on this box and you will be at the Add Photo page.
2. The Add Photo page gives basic instructions for uploading your photos. There are 3 places on this page to make entries.
3. Sort: The sort number controls the order in which photos display on your page. By default your pictures will appear in the order you entered them, so this isn’t important for your first picture. But later if you want picture #5 to appear as #1, you will have to change the sort numbers on your pictures. If you delete a picture, the sort numbers for the remaining pictures do not change (e.g., if you delete picture #2 out of 4 pictures, you will show pictures #1, 3, and 4.)
4. Caption: Caption is the description you write for your picture.
5. Browse: This is the most important one, for this is how you find the picture on your computer and get it to appear on your page.
6. Your first picture will automatically be Sort Number 1.
7. Now click the Browse button. A list of folders on your computer will show up. Locate the folder that holds your picture. For most classmates this will be the My Pictures folder located in the My Documents folder. When you have clicked through to your picture file, click the view button at the top to show icons as pictures. This makes it easier to find the specific picture you want to upload.
8. Select the picture you want to upload by clicking on it once, and then click Open at the bottom of the box.
9. Now you will be taken back to the Add Photo page and in the Upload Photo box you will see the path to your picture.
10. Enter the Caption for your picture in the box.
11. Click the SAVE CHANGES button.
12. Now go to your Profile page and look for your picture and caption.

Shortcut for multiple pictures: If you are uploading several pictures that are in different folders, you can copy them to your desktop, then delete them later. Make sure you COPY, not move, your pictures, so you won’t delete the original.

If you are still having problems, please contact the website administrator.

How can I upload a YouTube video to my profile?

On YouTube, make sure your video is showing in the play box.  To the upper right of the video you’ll see a gray shaded box, and near the bottom of this box is the grayed word “Embed.” And just to the right of that a long horizontal white box that contains the code for the video. When this code is placed  in the Video box on your Edit Profile page, the video player with your video will appear and classmates can view it from your page. Here are the steps to get the code on your page:

1. With your mouse, left click once on the white window that contains the code. It should turn blue. (Alternately, you can move your mouse across the box until all the code turns blue.)
2. On your keyboard hold down the Control key (Ctrl) and click the letter C key. This copies the code. (Or right-click, copy)
3. On your Edit Profile page, locate the box “Videos.”
4. Place your cursor inside the box and left click with your mouse.
5. Now press the Control key and the letter V key on your keyboard. (Or right-click, paste) The Embed code will now appear in your box. The code should look something like this:
   
   <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/QTXyXuqfBLA&hl=en&fs=1&color 1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name= "allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/QTXyXuqfBLA&hl=en&fs=1& color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x- shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height= "344"></embed></object>
6. In the Video Description box just below, enter a caption for your video or something about your video, like: “A day at the races.” This will appear just below your video.
7. Now click the Save button and go view your page.

If you are still having problems, please contact the website administrator.

Who maintains our STA74 BDC website?

This website was designed by a fellow classmate, who also maintains the website using an internet service called ClassCreator.com that provides free website designs to high schools, colleges, and alumni associations worldwide.  Although membership to you is free there is an annual cost of about $115 to maintain the domain name and website hosting.  We encourage you to help support your website with a nominal donation.  We have provided a Donate button on the right side of the homepage.  Thank you very much for your support and generosity.  Questions, suggestions, or general comments can be sent via the "Contact Us" link in the menu panel.

Does ClassCreator.com rent, sell, or in any way profit from having our classmates' names, addresses, and personal information? How does classcreator.com it make its money?

• No. ClassCreator.com does not rent or sell any Classmate information or engage in any marketing or solicitation to Classmates.
• All personal contact information is held strictly confidential.
• Class Creator does not sell advertising on the website or display banner ads or pop-up windows.
• Class Creator does charge a monthly or annual fee to maintain the class websites and it sells domain name registrations through its ClassNames.net subsidiary.