About MainCloud

MainCloud User Guide

Getting to Know MainCloud

The following diagram shows some of the main interface components available in this version of MainCloud:

Current Feature Set

The following features are active in this version of MainCloud:

1. Top Menu Bar

1. Welcome - Adds the "Welcome to MainCloud" text block to your current page

2. About MainCloud - Adds the "About MainCloud" text block to your current page

3. Getting Started - Adds the "Getting Started" text block to your current page

4. User Guide - Adds the "User Guide" text block to your current page

6. Hide/Show Quick Start - Toggles on and off the Quick Start instructions at the top of the MainCloud screen

7. See Top Published MainCloud Pages - Launches the MainCloud Top Published Pages interface

8. User: [CurrentUser] - Displays the current user logged into MainCloud

9. Logout - Logs you out of the MainCloud system

10. Change Password - Allows you to change your MainCloud password

2. Quick Start

Quick Start - The Quick Start instructions displayed at the top of the screen and can be toggled on and off by clicking the Hide/Show Quick Start link in the Top Menu Bar

3. Cloud Menu Bar (dark blue menu bar)

1. Show/Hide Tool Panel - Toggle button which hides the Tools in the left panel if they are currently being displayed, or displays the tools in the left panel if they are currently hidden

2. Set Columns Per Page - Allows you to set the number of columns (from 1 to 10) for the current page

3. Set Items Per Block - Allows you to set the number of items displayed (from 1 to 100) in each of the Feed blocks and Search blocks on the current page

4. Refresh Page - Refreshes all of the Feed blocks, Tweet Blocks, and Search blocks on the current page

5. Share Page - Allows you to share the current MainCloud page with your friends by emailing them a unique link which will load a copy of your current page into their MainCloud account

5. Publish Page - Allows you to publish the current MainCloud page to the world by generating a unique web address for the current page

6. Help - Displays a menu showing a list of available help topics

7. Search News - Allows you to add a new Search Block to your page by entering a search term into the Search Box and clicking the Search News button. This will open a new Search Block on your MainCloud page containing matching news headline results from across all of the MainCloud feeds. Additionally, a new node is created and checked within the My Searches folder of the Searches Tool Tree. This allows all of your historical searches to be saved and easily accessed by opening the Searches Tool.

8. Select Page - Allows you to select and view any of the pages in your account, or to add a new page, by using a simple drop down menu interface

4. Tool Bar

1. Pages Tool - Opens the Pages Tool in the left panel which allows you to add new entire premade Pages of content to your MainCloud account. Click it once to show the Pages Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Pages Tool

2. Feeds Tool - Opens the Feeds Tool in the left panel which allows you to add News Feed Blocks to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Feeds Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Feeds Tool

3. Tweets Tool - Opens the Tweets Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Tweets Blocks to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Tweets Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Tweets Tool

4. Widgets Tool - Opens the Widgets Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Widgets to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Widgets Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Widgets Tool

5. Photos Tool - Opens the Photos Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Photos to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Photos Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Photos Tool

6. Videos Tool - Opens the Videos Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Videos to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Videos Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Videos Tool

7. Music Tool - Opens the Music Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Music to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Music Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Music Tool

8. Notes Tool - Opens the Notes Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Notes to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Notes Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Notes Tool

9. Websites Tool - Opens the Websites Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Websites to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Websites Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Websites Tool

10. Searches Tool - Opens the Searches Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Search Blocks to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Searches Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Searches Tool

11. Clips Tool - Opens the Clips Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Clip Blocks to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Clips Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Clips Tool

12. Documents Tool - Opens the Documents Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Documents to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Documents Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Documents Tool

13. Friends Tool - Opens the Friends Tool in the left panel which allows you to add Friends to any of your MainCloud pages. Click it once to show the Friends Tool on the left side of the screen, click it again to hide the Friends Tool

5. Using the Page Tabs to manage your MainCloud Pages

1. Adding a new Page - MainCloud allows you to have an unlimited number of pages, with an unlimited number of blocks on each page. With this multiple page architecture, you can create many MainCloud pages, each dedicated to a specific category, subject, or news source. When you first login to MainCloud, you will have one page labeled as your Home Page. In order to add a new page, click on the dimmed tab labeled (add page). You’ll then see a dialog window prompting you to enter a unique name for your new page. You can add as many pages as you like (i.e one for Entertainment, one for Politics, one for Sports, etc.).

2. Switching Between MainCloud Pages - Switching between pages is easily done by simply clicking on the tab for that page.

3. View the Options Menu for the Page - Every MainCloud Page that you add can be customized to look however you like. Many of these customization settings are available through the Options Menu for each Page. The Page Options Menu may be accessed for your currently active Page by clicking on the button containing the downward arrow located within the tab for that page. When you click on this button, the Options Menu for that Page will appear showing a variety of settings that can be updated.

4. Refresh a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Refresh Page". This will refresh all of the Feed blocks, Tweet Blocks, and Search blocks on the current page

5. Move a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Move Page...". A pop-out window will appear allowing you to select the page that you would like to move the current page before.

6. Edit the Page Name - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Edit Page Name". A dialog window will appear allowing you to enter the new name for the page.

7. Delete a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Delete Page". A dialog window will appear allowing you to confirm that you would like to delete the current page.

8. Set Number of Columns on a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Set Number of Columns on this Page". A dialog window will appear allowing you to set the number of columns (from 1 to 10) for the current page

9. Set Number of Items for all Blocks on a Page -From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Set Number of Items for all Blocks on this Page". A dialog window will appear allowing you to set the number of items displayed (from 1 to 100) in each of the Feed blocks and Search blocks on the current page

10. Set Header Color for all Blocks on a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Set Header Color for all Blocks on this Page". A dialog window will appear allowing you to choose the new color for the block header. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

11. Set Header Text Color for all Blocks on a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Set Header Text Color for all Blocks on this Page". A dialog window will appear allowing you to choose the new color for the block header. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

12. Share a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Share Page". A dialog window will appear displaying a unique link for the current MainCloud page that you can share with friends by emailing them the unique link which will load a copy of your current page into their MainCloud account.

13. Publish a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Publish Page". A dialog window will appear displaying a unique public web address for the current MainCloud page that will allow anyone to visit the published page.

14. Publish a Page as the HomePage - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "Publish as HomePage". A dialog window will appear displaying a unique public web address for your MainCloud account's public homepage, that will by default display the current MainCloud page.

15. UnPublish a Page - From within the Page Options Menu, select the option "UnPublish Page". A dialog window will appear confirming that the current MainCloud page is no longer published as a public page.

6. Using the Current Active Tool

Using the Feeds Tool to add a News Feed Block to your Page

1. Adding a Feed Block to your Page - In order to add a Feed Block to your page, simply click on any of the Feed Checkboxes within the Feeds Tool. This will open a Feeds Block within your MainCloud page, and will also check the checkbox for that Feed within the Feeds Tool.

2. Removing a Feed Block from your Page - To remove a Feed Block from your page, simply uncheck the desired Checkbox on the Feeds Tool, and the Feed Block will be closed. Additionaly, you can also click the [X] close button in the upper right corner of the Block that you would like to close. That Block will be closed, and the corresponding checkbox in the Feeds Tool will be automatically unchecked.

3. Selecting a Feeds Category - There are two ways to select a Category within the Feeds Tool. You can select a Feeds Category by clicking on a category button on the left side of the Feeds Tool, or by using the scroll bar on the right side of the tool to scroll to the desired category in the Feeds Tree.

4. Adding a New Feed - To add a new Feed to MainCloud, enter the web address (URL) for the feed into the text box at the top of the Feeds Tool (in the form of http://site.com/rss) and click the Add New Feed button. This will open a Feeds Block within your MainCloud page, it will create a new node for that feed in the My Feeds folder of the Feeds Tool, and it will also create a new node in the New Feeds folder of the Feeds Tool. A detailed explanation of adding a New Feed to MainCloud is included in the Getting Started documentation block within Step #23.

5. Deleting a Feed Node from the My Feeds Folder of the Feeds Tool Tree - Any of your newly added Feed Nodes may be deleted from within the My Feeds folder of the Feeds Tool Tree. To remove a Feed Node from the Feeds Tool Tree, simply left mouse click on the desired Feed node that you would like to delete, a menu will then appear that displays a Delete Node option. Left click on the Delete Node option within the menu and that Feed node will be deleted.

Using the Searches Tool to add a Search Block to your Page

1. Adding an Existing Search Block to your Page - In order to add an existing Search Block to your page, simply click on any of the Search Checkboxes within the Searches Tool. This will open a Search Block within your MainCloud page, and will also check that Search within the Searches Tool.

2. Adding a New Search Block to your Page - In order to add a new Search Block to your page, enter a search term into the Search Box at the top of the Searches Tool and click the Add New Search button. This will open a new Search Block on your MainCloud page containing matching news headline results from across all of the MainCloud feeds. Additionally, a new node is created and checked within the My Searches folder of the Searches Tool Tree. This allows all of your historical searches to be saved and easily accessed by opening the Searches Tool.

2. Removing a Search Block from your Page - To remove a Search Block from your page, simply uncheck the desired Checkbox on the Searches Tool, and the Search Block with be closed. Additionaly, you can also click the [X] close button in the upper right corner of the Block that you would like to close. That Block will be closed, and the corresponding checkbox in the Searches Tool will be automatically unchecked.

3. Deleting a Search Node from the Search Tools Tree - Any of your historical Search Nodes may be deleted from within the My Searches folder of the Searches Tool Tree. To remove a Search Node from the Search Tree, simply left mouse click on the desired Search node that you would like to delete, a menu will then appear that displays a Delete Node option. Left click on the Delete Node option within the menu and that Search node will be deleted.

4. Selecting a Searches Category - There are two ways to select a Category within the Searches Tool. You can select a Search Category by clicking on a category button on the left side of the Searches Tool, or by using the scroll bar on the right side of the tool to scroll to the desired category in the Searches Tree.

Using the Clips Tool to add a Clip Block to your Page

1. Adding an Existing Clip Block to your Page - In order to add an existing Clip Block to your page, simply click on any of the Clip Block Checkboxes within the Clips Tool. This will open a Clip Block within your MainCloud page, and will also check that Clip block within the Clips Tool. Clips from the current page can now be added into this Clip Block.

2. Adding a New Clip Block to your Page - In order to add a new Clip Block to your page, enter a unique name for your Clip Block into the text box at the top of the Clips Tool and click the Add New Clip Block button. This will open a new Clip Block on your MainCloud page. Additionally, a new node is created and checked within the My Clips folder of the Clips Tool Tree. This allows all of your historical Clip Blocks to be saved and easily accessed by opening the Clips Tool. Clips from the current page can now be added into this Clip Block.

2. Removing a Clip Block from your Page - To remove a Clip Block from your page, simply uncheck the desired Checkbox on the Clips Tool, and the Clip Block with be closed. Additionaly, you can also click the [X] close button in the upper right corner of the Block that you would like to close. That Block will be closed, and the corresponding checkbox in the Clips Tool will be automatically unchecked.

3. Deleting a Clip Node from the Clips Tool Tree - Any of your historical Clip Nodes may be deleted from within the My Clips folder of the Clips Tool Tree. To remove a Clip Node from the Search Tree, simply left mouse click on the desired Clip node that you would like to delete, a menu will then appear that displays a Delete Node option. Left click on the Delete Node option within the menu and that Clip node will be deleted.

4. Selecting a Clips Category - There are two ways to select a Category within the Clips Tool. You can select a Clip Category by clicking on a category button on the left side of the Searches Tool, or by using the scroll bar on the right side of the tool to scroll to the desired category in the Clips Tree.

13. Interacting with Blocks on your Page

How to interact with a Feeds Block on your Page

Once a Feeds Block has been added to a page, the following functionality is active within a Feeds Block:

1. Moving the Block - Click and Drag anywhere in the header to move the block to another position on the page

2. Seeing additional headlines - Click the Next or Prev links at the bottom of the block to see older or newer headlines

3. Hovering over the headline to see the story description - Mouse over a headline to see a popup-menu showing a description of the story

4. Expanding the headline to see the story description - Click the small right pointing triangle to the left any headline to expand the headline within the block and see a description of the story

5. Collapsing the story description - Once a headline has been expanded, click the small down pointing triangle to collapse the description and see only the headline

6. Link to the original story - Click on the headline itself to link to the original story. This will launch in a new browser window.

7. Save the headline as a Clip to a Clip Block - MainCloud allows you to save your favorite articles as Clips within a Clip block. Articles can be “clipped” from a News Feed block or from a Search block. To clip an article, simply click on the paperclip icon that appears to the right of any article within a block – and a small menu will appear – then click on the “Clip to NEW CLIP BLOCK” option within that menu. A new Clip Block will be created on your page, containing a clip of your saved article.

8. Minimize/Maximize the Block - Click on the Minimize button in the block's header to quickly minimize the block, leaving only the block's header visible, and hiding its body. To once again view the body of the block, simply click on the same button on the block's header (which has now turned into a Maximize button), and the body of the block will re-appear.

9. View the Options Menu for the Block - To view the Options Menu for a block, click on the button containing the downward triangle located within the block header. When you click on this button, the Options Menu for that block will appear showing a variety of settings that can be updated for that block.

10. Set the number of items displayed in the Block - From within the Options Menu, select the option "Set Number of Items Displayed in this Block". A dialog window will appear allowing you to set the number of items displayed within the block to any number from 1 to 100. Once as new number of items is set for that block, then that number of items will also appear on a new page whenever you select the Next or Prev links on that block to scroll to a new page of headlines.

11. Set header color for the Block - From within the Options menu, select “Set Header Color for this Block”. A dialog window will appear which will allow you to choose the new color for the block header. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

12. Set header text color for the Block - From within the Options menu, select “Set Header Text Color for this Block”. A dialog window will appear which will allow you to choose the new color for the block header text. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

13. Link to the website associated with the Feed - Click on the name of the Feed in the title header of the Feed Block to link to the website associated with the Feed. This will launch in a new browser window.

14. Closing the Block - Click the [X] in the upper right corner of the Feeds Block to close it

How to interact with a Search Block on your Page

Once a Search Block has been added to a page, the following functionality is active within a Search Block:

1. Moving the Block - Click and Drag anywhere in the header to move the block to another position on the page

2. Seeing additional headlines - Click the Next or Prev links at the bottom of the block to see older or newer headlines

3. Hovering over the headline to see the story description - Mouse over a headline to see a popup-menu showing a description of the story

4. Expanding the headline to see the story description - Click the small right pointing triangle to the left any headline to expand the headline within the block and see a description of the story

5. Collapsing the story description - Once a headline has been expanded, click the small down pointing triangle to collapse the description and see only the headline

6. Link to the original story - Click on the headline itself to link to the original story. This will launch in a new browser window.

13. Closing the Block - Click the [X] in the upper right corner of the Search Block to close it

How to interact with a Clip Block on your Page

Once a Clip Block has been added to a page, the following functionality is active within a Clip Block:

1. Moving the Block on the Page - Click and Drag anywhere in the header to move the block to another position on the page

2. Moving Clips within the Block - Click and Drag on the left side panel of a clip, and position it to a new location within the clip block. Each clip is smart, and will automatically snap into place within the block - and the other clips around it will automatically move down to make room for it. Additionally, you can also drag and drop clips across different Clip blocks!

3. Hovering over the headline to see the story description - Mouse over a Clip's headline to see a popup-menu showing a description of the story

4. Expanding the headline to see the story description - Click the small right pointing triangle to the left any clip's headline to expand the headline within the clip and see a description of the story

5. Collapsing the story description - Once a headline has been expanded, click the small down pointing triangle to collapse the description and see only the headline

6. Link to the original story - Click on the headline itself to link to the original story. This will launch in a new browser window.

7. Minimize/Maximize the Block - Click on the Minimize button in the block's header to quickly minimize the block, leaving only the block's header visible, and hiding its body. To once again view the body of the block, simply click on the same button on the block's header (which has now turned into a Maximize button), and the body of the block will re-appear.

8. View the Options Menu for the Block - To view the Options Menu for a block, click on the button containing the downward triangle located within the block header. When you click on this button, the Options Menu for that block will appear showing a variety of settings that can be updated for that block.

9. Set header color for the Block - From within the Options menu, select “Set Header Color for this Block”. A dialog window will appear which will allow you to choose the new color for the block header. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

10. Set header text color for the Block - From within the Options menu, select “Set Header Text Color for this Block”. A dialog window will appear which will allow you to choose the new color for the block header text. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

11. Closing the Block - Click the [X] in the upper right corner of the Clip Block to close it

How to interact with a Text Block on your Page

Once a Text Block has been added to a page (like the "Welcome to MainCloud" block or the "About MainCloud" block), you can manipulate a text block in the following ways:

1. Scrolling the Block Drag the Scroll bar on the right side of the text block to see more of the text within the Block

2. Moving the Block Click and Drag anywhere in the header to move the block to another position on the page

3. Minimize/Maximize the Block - Click on the Minimize button in the block's header to quickly minimize the block, leaving only the block's header visible, and hiding its body. To once again view the body of the block, simply click on the same button on the block's header (which has now turned into a Maximize button), and the body of the block will re-appear.

4. View the Options Menu for the Block - To view the Options Menu for a block, click on the button containing the downward triangle located within the block header. When you click on this button, the Options Menu for that block will appear showing a variety of settings that can be updated for that block.

5. Set header color for the Block - From within the Options menu, select “Set Header Color for this Block”. A dialog window will appear which will allow you to choose the new color for the block header. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

6. Set header text color for the Block - From within the Options menu, select “Set Header Text Color for this Block”. A dialog window will appear which will allow you to choose the new color for the block header text. To select a color, first click a main color on the right vertical color bar, then click a gradient of that color on the left gradient panel. In this way you can select any possible color/gradient. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric color value directly into the bottom right text box. The currently selected color will appear in the lower left preview box. To restore the color to the original default color, simply click on the button “Set to Original Default Color”. Once you have selected the desired color, click on “Ok”.

7. Closing the Block Click the [X] in the upper right corner of the Text Block to close it

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at info@maincloud.com