INSTANT MAGAZINE QUICK GUIDE

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1 INSTANT MAGAZINE QUICK GUIDE Create an online magazine in a jiffy It s great that you ll be working with our tool! We hope you ll enjoy the creative process. Take a moment to read this quick guide and become a true Instant Magazine hero! If you have any questions, don t hesitate to get in touch with us. Your best bet is to contact us through the support center in our system. Good to know You can manage multiple titles in your account, and you can publish an unlimited number of issues of one title. You can also purchase an one-off for a single issue of a title. So how does all this work? This diagram explains the structure: as you can see, you publish individual issues under a single title. Suppose you use our tool to create a staff newsletter and a corporate brochure in our tool. These are then two titles. Your domain name, Google Analytics code, logo and magazine archive are linked to each title. If you create a second issue of a title, then all these settings will already be in place. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 1

2 Let s get started Log in at The dashboard will show you an overview of your most recent issues and titles. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 2

3 Getting started with your first magazine STEP 1: Create your first magazine Click on new title, name it and click on Start. (If you're going to create a second issue of an existing title, then choose new issue ). In these title settings, you can add the title name, logos, hostname and Google Analytics code. Logo: This logo is in the navigation bar. Icon: This appears as a favicon in your navigation bar on the mobile display and as an avatar on your mobile/tablet when you add the magazine to your home screen. The image has to be square. Loader: The first logo you see on the loading screen of your magazine. We recommend a.png file for logos with a transparent background.. In other cases use a.jpg file. In terms of size, we recommend a width of 1024 pixels. Tip : create a directory in the Image Library containing all your logos. Hostname Enter the URL where the magazine will be published under. If you leave the hostname empty the structure of the URL is: Instant Magazine Quick Guide 3

4 If you want to run it on your own (sub) domain, fill in your own URL hostname. After publication this becomes: or (Your account name, our URL and the title is replaced by your hostname) Google Analytics If you want to analyze your magazine with Google Analytics, create a profile at and enter the UA code in the bottom field of the title settings. STEP 2: Theme styling (the overall design) To make it easier for you, we can automatically fill in all style elements. This can be based your website s URL or your logo or an existing magazine or a number of base colors you select or apply a default preset. In the next window, choose one of the navigation forms, a set of icons and select the fonts. These presets are saved per magazine. If you already have a color scheme and choose "Create new theme" then you will overwrite the existing settings. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 4

5 In the color picker you can use RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colors or Hexa colors. Hexa colors are web colors. The A stands for Alpha. This allows you to set the transparency of a color. These can be set by a percentage or changed with the scroll bar. Use the icon to adjust make an item transparent. When the colors and fonts are set, click Step 3: Creating a page Now the fun starts: you can start creating your first page! We have developed a variety of page templates. These are predefined page types that you can fill in any way you want. We have created these standards so that: you can create your pages quickly we can guarantee they will work well on different devices and browsers your readers will be able to navigate your magazine with ease You can choose a different template for each page. Give your page a name and choose a template. We have developed templates for every type of content covers, index pages, photo galleries, videos, long reads, products, etc. Filter according to your content or scroll through the list. Click USE TEMPLATE to select the template or click PREVIEW for more information about the template. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 5

6 Tip: View and learn about the available templates beforehand. View all the templates at: or browse through the Template Instructions (you ll find these in the support center in the Editor). Next, the content tabs show all the fields you must complete. Some templates have two text fields, one for mobile, one for desktop/tablet. This allows you to present a shorter text on smartphones if you wish. Text Texts are often cut into short content chunks. But we also have some attractive templates for long reads. Make sure the text is easily scannable for the reader. In most templates we state the maximum number of words the template is suitable for. However, it s up to you to determine the size, so you should make sure to check the pages on all resolutions. Images All images are stored in your Image Library. These can be accessed by clicking the Browse button. Tip: use a logical directory structure to keep things organized. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 6

7 For background images, we recommend the following: save for web as.jpg 1400 x 900 pixels (height is cropped based on reader s screen) use a portrait version for mobile devices (640 x 960 pixels) reduce image quality to 30%-60% try to make sure that a background images are no larger than 150KB Heavy visuals increase loading time. The formats for the other visuals are under the icon. Tip: if you don t have Photoshop try Pixlr: This is a free web-based tool. Once all the content is loaded, click Save. Click Preview to view your page. Does it look good? If you wish, you can now do some fine-tuning to your design in Theme. You can customize the appearance at page level in the Page Style tab. This is where you ll find the specific elements of the template you ve chosen. This will overwrite the theme styling. Changes you make here will only affect this page. Some templates have an Item style button. Use this to style items individually. The Item style can be found in the more advanced templates like one-pager, one-pager tiles, timeline, or long read. In the SEO tab (Search Engine Optimization) you can optimize your pages for visibility in Google. Here, use only texts and words that are actually in your magazine. This description is also used when you share it on social media. You can create an overlay in the Overlay tab. Click the + symbol. Fill the overlay with content and save it. The overlay is now ready to be connected to text. Go to the Content tab and select the text to connect to the overlay. Go to Insert link on the right side of the text block. Select your overlay. You can create a button with the style dropdown. By default, it will be a text link. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 7

8 STEP 4: Issue settings Enter or edit the name of the publication and select which social share buttons will be included in your magazine, set the language and then click save. You can migrate it to another title if necessary. A brief explanation about the other items on this page: Buttons in navigation bar: for navigation bar buttons such as a publisher s imprint. Form builder: if you want to create forms in your magazine. Coockie check: if you want to have one for your magazine. Header: if you wish to add a logo or call-to-action on each page. Access control: you can use two access methods in Access Control. - Use 'by password' if you only want to grant access to readers that have a password. - Use Whitepaper if you want people to register for complete access to the magazine. You will have to fill in an address where all the leads will be forwarded to. Advanced: there are several advanced functionalities for your issue. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 8

9 Step 5: Publish your magazine Now you re ready to publish! You ll automatically receive a link from us where you will find your issue. If you entered a host name and changed your domain s DNS settings your issue will be available at your own host name. Here are some points you should consider: Checklist for publishing: Is the host name correctly entered in the title settings? Did you change the DNS settings of your (sub) domain? Have you filled in the UA code if you want to analyze your magazine with Google Analytics? Have you tried out the magazine in tablet or mobile format? Are all the links in the magazine correct? Have you tested all the overlays? Have you tested the forms, if any? Have you received the confirmation ? Several of these points are explained in the FAQs. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 9

10 FAQs Where will I find the logos? When creating or editing a title you ll see three logos on the right side. The first logo refers to the logo in the navigation bar. The second logo is the app icon (must be square). The app icon will display as an icon in the navigation bars for mobile devices and as app icon when you add the magazine to the home page of a smartphone/tablet. The loader logo appears above the loading bar when you open the issue. How do I link my domain name? Do this by adding a domain name (host name) under the title. This may be a specific domain or a subdomain (e.g. magazine.yourdomain.com). Next log in to the admin panel of your domain. You will have received these credentials from your provider. This is where you can create a subdomain in the DNS settings. For the type, choose CNAME. Under the server address fill in: s1.instantmagazine.com. (this dot' is important for some providers). It might take up to 4 hours before the DNS changes are visible. Can I link multiple domains to one title? No. We can recognize only one domain name per title. If you want to refer multiple domains to your issue, you can use your provider s forwarding service (most providers offer this option). This is the same as an URL redirect. You can also use this option if you want your magazine to be accessible both with and without the www address prefix. What video streams can I embed? You can post a YouTube, Vimeo or Wistia link in the video template. You can also post videos under a button or overlay. How do I integrate Google Analytics? You can enter a UA code with the title if you want a more extensive analysis of your magazine than the standard analysis function in Instant Magazine. You will receive a UA code If you create a profile or property using Google Analytics for your magazine ( How do I post a background video (full-screen video)? If a template supports a background image (as most of them do), you can set your background to play a video instead. Videos can be added and selected in the video section of the image gallery. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 10

11 Background videos are not supported on mobile devices, so you ll also need to select a fall-back image. This is the same image that is displayed after your video has ended. You can also set your video to play in a loop, or set its start and end time. How do I customize the page order? At Pages you can use the icon to drag the pages up or down. How can I personalize my magazine? You can address the recipient even more directly by personalizing your magazine. You might, for example, place the reader s name and company name on the cover. Step 1: Edit the issue, go to Settings > advanced and tick Enable personalization. Step 2: You can indicate the personalized variables in the URL when you distribute your magazine. For example: John You can then use the variable name anywhere in your magazine. Do this by entering {{name}} in the desired position. If you want to show an alternative text (fallback) if the variable name is not provided, use the following code: If there is no name then the fallback is finish as {{^name}} Welcome {{/name}} If there is a name then display finish as {{#name}} Dear {{name}} {{/name}} Example of a final result: {{#name}}dear {{name}}{{/name}}{{^name}}welcome{{/name}}, I--- personalization ---I--- fallback ---I How do I share my magazine on social media? You can share your magazine on social channels at page level. The text to be displayed can be entered in the SEO tab in the Meta description field. On Facebook, you can show the displayed items by filling in your link at the following URL: Instant Magazine Quick Guide 11

12 How do I create a button? If you type (for example) Read more and you select these words, you can create a button when you go to insert link URL: to create a link to an external site. Use Text to display: the text for the button/link To page: to link directly to an internal page To overlay: to link to an overlay (you must first create one in the Overlays tab) Target: New Window to link to an external site Style: Optionally you can style the link as a button instead of an ordinary text link Can I use different text styles in the title or textarea? All text in a field is of equal size. This can be customized in the Theme settings, page style or item style. If you are familiar with HTML coding, then you can add font styles to the source code. Instant Magazine Quick Guide 12