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This introductory guide
helps first-time visitors
to our site
gain an understanding
of our services and how to best use them.
The many illustrative screenshots
that feature below do not act as live links.
Three
Quick Links
Quick
Tours: sit back, relax,
and discover the benefits of AbleStable®
Updates:
news about AbleStable®
Library:
articles, reviews, our glossary and more
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Contents
•
What we do
• Computers
and browsers that are supported at AbleStable®
• Help
is always one step away
• More
help links
•
Registered Users
• Navigation
• Finding
a creative professional
What
we do
AbleStable®
is an Internet destination that serves the creative community.
We provide an international directory of creative professionals,
and feature many resources for creative people including
a Freeware Centre,
Library,
and Exhibitions
Area. Users access our directory using any of our
domain names, the most popular of which is www.ablestable.com.
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Computers
and browsers that are supported at AbleStable®
The
AbleStable® beta
site is fully functional in both PC and Mac (Apple computers)
using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 7, and Opera
7. Our site is optimised for Internet Explorer as around
90% of our user-base browse using this software (Netscape
users amount to around 8% of site visitors).
Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape are: available
free of charge at www.microsoft.com
and www.netscape.com
respectively; shipped with new PC's and Mac's; make up 98%
of the browser market; support many languages; and are readily
available free of charge on computer magazine cover CD's
throughout the world.
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Help is always one
step away
Every
page at AbleStable® has a help link situated at the
top right of the page, and in the left hand column.
Screenshot 3
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Screenshot
3 shows the top right segment of our Top Navigation
Bar. You'll be able to go to our Help
centre from there.
Directly below the Top Navigation
bar is a search link button that is available throughout
AbleStable®. The Search
button will take you to a page where you can search
our entire site or filter your search request by choosing
a 'realm' like 'Creative Professionals' or 'Help and
Information'.
If you're searching for a creative professional start
by using the multicoloured buttons at the top of this
page, go to our Directory
Index, or use our
Search facility. |
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More
help links
Many
pages at AbleStable® have an additional help
link situated in the left hand column.
Screenshot 4 |
You
can access our Help centre
from an additional help button situated below the
lilac coloured 'Music' and 'Music Video' buttons (shown
on the left). This additional link to our Help Centre
is available throughout our site.
Help is a useful
starting point for any query, whether navigational
or informational. Another source of useful information
is at our Frequently Asked Questions
Centre (FAQ centre). If you're uncertain about
a term or phrase the best place to inquire is at our
Glossary.
On this page you'll also notice a number of context
sensitive navigational buttons: help; FAQ centre;
guide centre; quick tours; search; sitemap; directory
index, glossary.
Notice that the context sensitive navigational buttons
are sometimes separated by a thin horizontal line.
These lines separate the different areas of our site.
For example on this page the first six buttons are
all part of our Help area, while the Directory Index
and Glossary are situated in different areas on our
site. |
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Registered
Users
People
can use much of our site without the need to register. People
are free to search for creative professionals and browse
our Resources without restriction. Many of our services
however require registration to facilitate more complex
service requests.
Screenshot 5 |
AbleStable®
has
six kinds of registered users who also access premium
free and paid services:
1) Registered Syndication
Licensees: people who republish selected content on
their web site or print publication
2) Website owners who use our Website
Critique service
3) Clients:
users searching for creative professionals who wish
to post projects
4) Members:
creative professionals
listed on our directory
5) Graduates:
creative graduates using our Graduate service
6)
Partners:
businesses and non-profit-making organisations providing
services and/or products to creative professionals
Each
user type has a dedicated 'centre'. |
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Navigation
All
our pages are available within three clicks to reach a given
destination page. We've provided screenshots of
key navigational features throughout
this guide, so make sure you've taken in this page from
top to bottom, it'll save you time in the long run.
Screenshot 6 |
The
first place to look for information about where you
are is at the top of your browser window.
For example, at the top of the Microsoft Internet
Explorer 6 browser window shown in Screenshot 4 (Windows
XP) you'll see the words 'AbleStable | Guide Centre
| Introductory Guide'. This is the title of the page
you are currently viewing. |
Screenshot 7 |
In
screenshot 7 notice the page headers situated underneath
the top navigational bars on every page. These page
headers provide a description of the current area
you are in (for this page the page header reads 'introductory
guide').
The AbleStable®
logo (top left) acts as a homepage button throughout
our site. There are three main navigational bars (two
of which are shown in screenshot 7):
1) Top Nav Bar above the main text header
2) 'Creative Area' Nav Bar below the
main text header (the coloured
buttons beginning with 'Buildings', 'Crafts' etc)
3)
Bottom Nav Bar: at the base of every page (see screenshot
8) |
Screenshot 8 |
The
third
navigational bar is always at hand at the base of
every page and includes a link to our Frequently
Asked Questions hub. |
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Finding
a creative professional
There
are four methods you may use to locate creative professionals
at AbleStable®:
• Use the Creative Area buttons to start your search
for a creative professional (see screenshot 9)
• Go to Directory
Index to view the full listing of our Creative Areas,
Disciplines and Job Descriptions
• Visit Search which
provides a broad summary-search of AbleStable® limited
to creative professionals (use the drop down menu adjacent
to the search box to select 'Creative Professionals')
• Post a project at our Project
Centre for creative professionals to view
Screenshot 9 |
Using
our 'drill-down' Directory
1. Begin by choosing one of 16 'Creative Areas' that
are signified by two rows of multicoloured buttons
(beginning with 'Buildings', 'Craft', 'Dance' etc).
2. Choose a 'Discipline' from the list of Disciplines
that appears on the next page (Disciplines are signified
by large underlined text links).
3. Choose a creative professional from the search
results pages that appear.
4. A detailed profile page on the creative professional
of your choice will now open. |
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Copyright
Notice
Although our contents are free and
may be browsed without restriction, copyright resides with
the originators of all works accessed at AbleStable®,
and unauthorised copying or publication of our site contents
for profitable use is strictly prohibited. To use selected
content go to our Syndication
Centre.
AbleStable © 2002-2008
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