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SBI! Resources: Using SonicMemo to integrate audio into your SBI! site will require slightly more effort from you then integrating an audio feed from a service like Armand Morin's AudioGenerator. However, this effort will be more than offset by the savings you'll incur -- we've arranged for you to receive SonicMemo for $67 (a $30 savings!). In comparison, AudioGenerator will cost you $29.95, month after month, after month. Here's what you'll need to get started using SonicMemo... i) A working knowledge of SBI!'s HTML Editor Compatibility module: You need to know how to use our tool and an HTML editor, as you will have to upload SonicMemo's supporting files to SBI!. ii) A microphone to record your message through your computer's sound card (SonicMemo works with both PC and Mac computers): No need to spend big bucks here, your local Staples or Office Depot will be able to hook you up with a basic microphone starting at around $20 or so. iii) A recorded MP3 file with your message: You'll need to download software that will enable you to record your MP3. Here are two freeware programs that work well... For the PC, Audio Record Wizard... http://www.nowsmart.com/arwizard/ And for the Mac, Amadeus... http://www.hairersoft.com/Amadeus.html If you've got all that sorted out, here's the process for integrating SonicMemo's audio into SBI!... STEP 1: Record your MP3 file. Using your microphone and downloaded software, create a MP3 file with your marketing message. Tweak it until it's perfect! STEP 2: Use the SonicMemo tool to generate your code. a) Follow the instructions in SonicMemo's accompanying PDF support file to open the sonicmemo.html file. Click the Continue button to advance past the intro screen. b) On the following screen, click the "Adv Prefs" (Advanced Preferences) button. c) On the following screen, change the Player File Prefix field to support-files. Change the MP3 File Prefix field to media-files. d) Click OK. These will now become your default settings. e) Back on the main screen, in the MP3 File field, enter the name of your MP3 file -- i.e., greeting.mp3. Do not enter the direct path to the file, or place the file name in quotes. f) Use the appropriate controls to customize your play buttons according to your preferences. g) Once you've completed customizing your buttons, click the Generate Code button. Copy and paste the code into a text file, making sure to eliminate the comments from the file (if you have problems copying and pasting from this tool, right click on the text, and select "Select All". Right click again, and select copy. The text will now have been copied to your clipboard. Again, be sure to remove the comments at the front of the code before you insert the code into your Web page). STEP 3: Integrate the code into an HTML page, and upload to SBI! a) Use your HTML editor to open the page you wish to insert your audio message in. Copy and paste the SonicMemo code directly into the page in the exact spot on the page where you want to buttons to appear. b) Next, create a text link to the MP3 file associated with this audio message. Something like this will be fine... <a href= SPECIAL NOTE: You must create a text link to the MP3 file because SonicMemo, for security reasons, encodes the name of your audio file when it generates the integration code. Therefore, SBI! cannot identify the MP3 file required for upload. This text link tells SBI! which audio file must be uploaded in order for SonicMemo to work. c) Upload this page and all its supporting files to SBI! (you'll find the required ".swf" files in the smplayers folder that came with SonicMemo. Other required supporting files can be found in the supporting files that accompany SonicMemo). d) Remove the text link from this page (see "b" above), and re-upload this page to SBI! (now only the buttons will appear!). e) Build your page. TIP #1: Now that the supporting files associated with this audio message have been uploaded to SBI!, you can integrate this message into any page on SBI! (including SiteBuilder pages), simply by cutting and pasting the generated code into the appropriate spot on the page. TIP #2: If you like, you can create a single HTML page for the express purpose of a SonicMemo upload page. For example... Suppose you have 3 or 4 audio messages you want to integrate into various pages throughout your web site. After generating the code for each message in SonicMemo, copy and paste the code for each file into this page. Be sure that each file includes a text link to each associated MP3 file (see step "b" directly above). Upload that page, and all the necessary supporting files to SBI!. Now anytime you want to insert the code for any one of your messages into any SBI! page (HTML editor page or SiteBuilder page), all you have to do is paste the code in the appropriate spot! Simple, right? SPECIAL NOTE: SiteSell does not provide support for SonicMemo, so please proceed slowly through the integration steps outline above. You shouldn't have any trouble. If you are unfamiliar with the use of HTML editors, and uncomfortable with SBI!'s HTML Editor Compatibility module, SonicMemo probably isn't for you. Instead, check out Armand Morin's AudioGenerator. SPECIAL NOTE: For an article detailing the best practices of using audio on your Web site, please click here!
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