Family Blog

Start here

Welcome

Family Blog is a private-feeling home on the web for one family, a group of friends or a meetup. Members share photos and short videos, everyone can enjoy the public posts, and a small team of staff looks after the site.

The site has three kinds of people:

• Visitors see the posts marked for everyone, can like them, comment by name and report something that looks wrong.
• Members sign in. They post photos and videos, see the posts kept for members, comment as themselves, talk in the chat rooms, share files in folders, and write or call each other privately. People become members by asking to join; staff say yes or no.
• Staff sign in on a separate staff page. They approve members, look after posts, comments, chat rooms, shared files and reports, edit the website pages and change the settings. Each staff member only sees the areas they have rights for.

Everything, including every photo, video and file members share, is kept in one SQL Server database. Backing up that database keeps the whole site safe.

This manual follows the same order: setting the site up, the public website, what members can do, and every staff page.

Start here

Installing the site

The site is an ASP.NET Core (.NET 10) application that runs on Windows with IIS, or anywhere .NET 10 runs. You need:

• the .NET 10 runtime (the ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle on Windows with IIS)
• SQL Server 2019 or newer; SQL Server Express is enough for a family site

1. Create the database

Open data\GroupBlog_Init.sql in SQL Server Management Studio (File → Open → File) and run it with Execute. It creates the database GroupBlog, all its tables and one manager account, admin. If GroupBlog tables are already there, they are removed first, so run it only when you start a new site. Once the site has started, the script refuses to run so your data is not wiped by mistake.

2. Fill in the settings file

Open appConfig/application.cfg in a text editor and set these lines:

3. Publish and start

Publish the project (dotnet publish -c Release) and copy the output to your web server, or run dotnet run while trying it on your own computer. Keep the folders appConfig, htmls, scripts, styles, images and data next to the program. The site makes the logs and temp folders itself when it may; on Windows with IIS, give it write permission as shown in Hosting on Windows Server.

Updating a site that already runs

When a new version adds features to the database, it comes with an update script. Run each one once, in this order, then copy the new program files and restart the site:

Each script is in the data folder. It keeps all your members, posts and settings, and can safely be run again. Until a needed update has run, the site does not start and writes which script to run to the log file in the logs folder, for example The database needs the update for the calendar. Run data/GroupBlog_Update_Calendar.sql.

Start here

Hosting on Windows Server

A small Windows server is enough for a family or a group: 2 processors and 4 GB of memory to start, 8 GB for a big, busy group. You can rent one by the month from a cloud provider such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services, or use a computer of your own. Windows Server looks and works almost like the Windows you know.

1. The server and your domain

• Choose Windows Server 2025 and make the server's public IP address static, so it never changes.
• In the cloud firewall, allow ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) from everyone, and Remote Desktop (port 3389) only from your own IP address.
• At your domain registrar, add an A record for @ and one for www, both pointing to the server's IP address.
• Connect to the server with Remote Desktop Connection and the administrator account you created.

2. The web server

1. In Server Manager, choose Add roles and features, tick Web Server (IIS) and install it.
2. Install the ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle for .NET 10 from Microsoft's .NET download page, then restart the server. IIS must be installed first.
3. Put the site's files in a folder such as C:\websites\GroupBlog. If you copied a zip file, open its Properties and tick Unblock before you extract it.
4. In IIS Manager, add an application pool named GroupBlog with .NET CLR version: No Managed Code.
5. Add a website named GroupBlog: application pool GroupBlog, physical path C:\websites\GroupBlog, binding http, port 80, host name yourdomain.com.

3. Folder permissions

The site runs as the account IIS AppPool\ followed by the application pool name: IIS AppPool\GroupBlog for the pool above. A pool named MySite-groupblog uses IIS AppPool\MySite-groupblog.

Give that account Modify permission on four folders inside the site folder (folder Properties → Security → Edit → Add, type the account name, Check Names, then tick Modify). Create logs or temp first if they are not there yet.

Everything else in the site folder needs only Read & execute for the same account. Under C:\inetpub this is usually there already; for a folder such as C:\websites\GroupBlog, add it on the site folder itself. Photos, videos and shared files that members post are saved in the database, so no other folder needs write access.

4. The database

• Install SQL Server 2025 Express (free, up to 50 GB per database; photos, videos and files all count). Choose Custom, keep the instance name SQLEXPRESS, and on Database Engine Configuration choose Mixed Mode and set a strong password for the sa account.
• Install SQL Server Management Studio and connect to .\SQLEXPRESS with SQL Server Authentication, login sa, and Trust server certificate ticked.
• Then follow Installing the site: run data\GroupBlog_Init.sql and fill in appConfig/application.cfg.

5. HTTPS

HTTPS is needed for calls: browsers allow the camera and microphone only on secure pages. The free tool win-acme gets a free Let's Encrypt certificate, adds the https binding on port 443 to your site and renews it by itself. Run wacs.exe as administrator, choose N (default settings), pick the GroupBlog site and follow the questions. Your domain must already point to the server, and ports 80 and 443 must be open. With a certificate you bought instead, import the .pfx file under Server Certificates and add an https binding on port 443 with your host name.

6. Calls on mobile data (optional)

Most calls on home Wi-Fi connect straight between the two browsers. Phones on mobile data often need a TURN server that passes the call along. Run one yourself (coturn is free; set use-auth-secret and a static-auth-secret), open its ports (3478 UDP and TCP, 5349 TCP, and its relay range, for example 49152 to 65535 UDP), then enter its address and the secret on Settings. Keep the GroupBlog application pool at one worker process: who is online and calls in progress are kept in the site's memory.

7. Your own app icon (optional)

Members can put the blog on their home screen (see Install on your phone). The app takes its name from the Site title on Settings and its icon from four files in images/app. To use your own logo, replace them with PNG files of the same names and sizes:

Phones that already installed the blog may keep the old icon until it is removed and added again.

Start here

The first staff sign-in

On its first start the site gives the manager account admin a random one-time password.

1. On the server, open the appConfig folder and open initial-admin.txt. It holds the user name, admin, and the one-time password.
2. Go to yourdomain.com/AdminLogin and sign in with them. You are asked to choose your own password right away.
3. After that the one-time password stops working and the file is deleted.

When the staff sign-in page is opened as http://localhost/AdminLogin on the server itself, it also shows the one-time password in a box.

The staff sign-in page is also linked as Staff at the very bottom of every website page.

Start here

First-day checklist

1. Settings: enter the site title, whose site it is, a tagline, the contact email and a logo. Decide who can join, who can post and whether visitors may comment. See Settings.
2. Pages: rewrite Home, About, Contact and Policies in your own words and add your own pictures. See Pages.
3. Shared files: check which kinds of files members may share and the size limit on Settings.
4. Staff: add the people who help you and give them only the rights they need. See Staff and permissions.
5. Members: invite your family or group to ask to join on the Sign in page, or add them yourself. See Members.
6. Backups: plan a regular backup of the database. See Backups and storage.

The website

Home and the latest posts

The Home page opens with a large title, a short introduction and two buttons, all set on Pages. Below it, the latest posts appear as cards, newest first. More posts load by themselves as people scroll.

• Each card shows the first photo or video, who posted it and when, the caption, likes, comments and the place.
• Click the picture or the caption to open the post. Click the heart to like it right there, and click it again to take the like back. The speech bubble opens a small window with the newest comments and a box to add one; replies, deleting and reporting are on the post page.
• A small number in the corner, such as 1 / 3, means the post holds several photos or videos. Swipe the picture sideways on a phone, or point at it on a computer and use the ‹ › arrows, to see the others right on the card; the number follows along. A play button marks a video.
• A word in a caption that starts with # becomes a link. Clicking it shows every post with that tag.
• Visitors only see posts marked for everyone. When some posts are for members, a note at the end of the list says how many and offers Request to join.

Videos play by themselves

A video on a card starts playing as soon as it comes on screen and pauses when it scrolls away. Only one video plays at a time: the one most on screen. The same happens on member profiles, on Search, under More from and on the post page.

• Sound: every video starts without sound and shows a round speaker button in the corner. Tap it to hear that video; tap it again to turn the sound off. Tapping the button does not open the post.
• Sound is turned on for one video at a time. The next video, or the same one after scrolling away and back, starts without sound again.
• In a card with several photos and videos, a video plays only while its slide is showing.
• On the post page, pressing play, pause or the sound control yourself stops the automatic playing for that video.
• Videos do not start by themselves on a phone or computer set to reduce motion, or on an iPhone in Low Power Mode. Open the post and press play.
• A video streams while it is on screen, which uses more mobile data than a photo.

Day and night

The site opens in the night look. The moon or sun button at the top switches to the day look and back, and the browser remembers the choice.

The menu

On a computer the menu at the top is a row of icons. Point at an icon to see its name. Signed-in members see Home, Calendar, Post-it, Shared files, Chat rooms, Contact and Search; visitors see Home, Contact and About. Members still reach About from the links at the bottom of every page. The page you are on has a soft circle behind its icon.

On a phone the top of Home shows only the title. The introduction, its buttons and the picture show on larger screens, and on a phone the newest posts start right below the title. Visitors find Request to join in the menu.

On a phone the menu folds into the button with three lines. It opens from the right, with an icon and the name on each line, plus My account for members.

At the top right, signed-in members also have round buttons: the phone opens Call a member, the envelope opens Messages with a number for messages not read yet, and the moon or sun switches between night and day. On a phone the site name is left out for members to make room; the logo stays.

Holding a phone

The site is made for holding a phone upright. When a phone is turned sideways, a card covers the page with Turn your phone upright. Turning the phone back removes it, and nothing on the page is lost, not even text being typed. A video playing full screen can still be watched sideways. Tablets and computers are not affected.

The app on the home screen of an Android phone stays upright by itself, so the card never shows there. iPhones do not let a website or a home-screen app hold the screen upright, so on an iPhone the card does that job.

The website

A post

Clicking a card opens the post.

• Photos and videos: use the arrows, the dots or swipe on a phone to move between them. Videos play right on the page and start by themselves when they come on screen (see Videos play by themselves).
• Like: the heart. Visitors can like too; each browser counts once.
• Views: the eye shows how many people opened the post. Each person counts once a day.
• Share: the share button opens the phone's share menu or copies the link.
• Comments and replies: anyone can comment on a post marked for everyone. Visitors write their name; members comment as themselves. Reply answers one comment. Depending on Settings, comments from visitors show at once, wait for staff, or are not allowed.
• Delete a comment: the person who wrote it, and the person who posted, can delete it. Replies go with it.
• More from the same person is listed under the post.

A post for members only shows a short note and a Sign in button to visitors.

The website

Reporting something

Anyone can report a post or a comment with the flag button or Report. Members can also report a chat message. The person chooses a reason (spam, hurtful, private information, not for this group or something else) and can add a note.

Reports go to staff on the Reports page. The same person cannot report the same thing twice while it waits.

The website

Member profiles

Every member has a profile page, opened by clicking their name or picture. It shows the photo, name, profile address, place, a few words about them, how many posts and likes they have, and their posts.

Visitors only see the posts marked for everyone. Profiles of closed accounts are not shown.

The website

About, Contact and Policies

These pages hold the story of the site, the contact form and the rules. Staff write them on Pages.

A message sent from Contact appears for staff on Messages. If someone asks for a photo of themselves to be taken down, they can choose Photo removal as the subject.

The website

Signing in and joining

Sign in at the top of every page opens the sign-in page. Members sign in with their email and password. Keep me signed in keeps them signed in on that browser for 30 days.

Request to join

On the Request to join tab a person enters their name, email, a password and a short line about who they are to you, then agrees to the terms.

• When email is set up, they first get an email to confirm their address. The request reaches staff after they click the link.
• Without email, the request goes straight to staff.
• Staff say yes or no on Members. When email is set up, the person is told by email; otherwise tell them yourself.

Forgot password

Forgot password? sends a link to set a new password, when email is set up. Without email, the page tells the person to contact you; staff then give them a new password on Members.

For members

My account

A member's picture at the top right opens My account.

• Profile: name, profile address (the end of their profile link), where they live and a few words about themselves.
• Photo: choose a picture; the site crops it to a square. Remove photo shows their initials instead.
• Email: a new email address, confirmed with the current password.
• Password: the current password and a new one.
• Install on your phone: on a phone or tablet, the steps to put the blog on the home screen (see Install on your phone).
• Calls: the switch Let members call me. When it is off, nobody can call you and you can’t start calls.
• Recent calls: the last calls you made or got, with missed calls in red, and buttons to call back. A red dot on your picture at the top means a missed call; opening My account clears it.
• Blocked members: the people you blocked, with Unblock.
• Alerts on this device: calls and messages on the lock screen or, on a computer, in the corner of the screen (see Call and message alerts).
• Devices: sign out on every other phone and computer.
• Leaving: to close the account, the member sends a message to staff from Contact.

For members

Posting photos and videos

The Post button at the top opens New post.

1. Click Add photos or videos or drop files on the box. Up to 10 files per post: photos as JPG, PNG or WebP up to 20 MB, videos as MP4 or MOV (the iPhone format) up to 300 MB and 3 minutes. Staff can change these limits on Settings.
2. Each file uploads with its own progress bar. Big videos go up in small pieces, so a short drop in the connection does not start them over.
3. Use the arrows on a file to change the order. The first one is the cover.
4. Write a caption. Words starting with # become tags.
5. Add a place and a country if you like.
6. Choose Everyone or Members only, then post.

For members

Changing or deleting a post

On their own post, a member sees Edit.

• The caption, place, country and who can see it can be changed at any time.
• Photos and videos cannot be swapped after posting. To change them, delete the post and post again.
• Delete removes the post with its comments and likes for good.
• If staff hid a post, its author still sees it, with the reason staff gave.

For members

Chat rooms

Chat rooms in the menu is only there for signed-in members. Each room is about one topic: a trip, a birthday, recipes.

• The list on the left shows every room. Pinned rooms come first, then the rooms with the newest messages. A number shows messages you have not read yet, and the browser tab title shows the total.
• New messages appear by themselves within a few seconds.
• Enter sends a message; Shift + Enter starts a new line. Links become clickable.
• Your own messages can be edited for 15 minutes and deleted at any time. Hover a message (or look at its small buttons on a phone) for Edit, Delete or Report.
• Show earlier messages at the top loads older ones.
• A locked room can be read but not written in.

Starting a room

New room asks for a name and, if you like, what the room is for. Every member can start rooms; staff can rename, lock, pin or delete them.

On a phone the room list comes first; a room then fills the screen, with an arrow back to the list.

For members

Shared files

Shared files in the menu is only there for signed-in members. Files are kept in folders, one folder per topic: a trip, family papers, a party.

• All files at the top of the folder list shows the newest files from every folder. Pick a folder to see only its files.
• A number next to a folder counts the files other members added since you last opened it; the number next to All files adds them up. Opening the folder clears its number, and the new files carry a New tag for that visit. Your own uploads and hidden files are not counted.
• Each file has a number in its folder (1, 2, 3 and so on, in the order they were added), a description, the file name, its size and type, who uploaded it and when.
• The list shows 20 files at a time; Next and Previous move between pages.
• Click the file name or the download arrow to download it. Only signed-in members can download; a link copied to someone outside the site does not work.

Searching

The search box looks through every folder at once: the description, the file name, the type (for example pdf or xlsx), the size, the folder name, who uploaded it, or the number. Results show which folder each file is in.

Uploading

Open a folder and choose Upload files. Pick up to 10 files, give each a short description so people know what it is, then choose Share files. Without a description, the file name is used.

• Which kinds of files can be shared, and how big they may be, is set by staff on Settings. Usually PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, up to 50 MB.
• Every file is checked on the server. A photo renamed to .pdf, a file whose name does not match what is inside, or a file with macros is refused, and the site says why.
• Big files upload in pieces, so a weak connection can carry on.

Folders, deleting and reporting

+ New next to the Shared files title (New folder on a phone) asks for a name and, if you like, what the folder is for. Every member can make folders; the person who made a folder can rename it. Only staff delete folders.

You can delete the files you shared yourself (the bin icon). For someone else's file, the flag icon sends a report to the people who run the site. A locked folder can be opened and downloaded from, but nothing can be added or deleted in it.

On a phone the folder list comes first; a folder then fills the screen, and each file shows as a small card.

For members

Calendar

Calendar in the menu is only there for signed-in members. It holds the plans for the whole group: birthdays, trips, calls, the book club. Any member can add an event.

• Month shows six weeks with the events of each day; Week shows seven days side by side, each event with its time, its repeat and who added it. The choice is remembered.
• ‹ and › move a month or a week; Today jumps back. Today has a filled circle.
• Click a day to list everything on it below the calendar, with Add on this day. Click an event for its details.
• A small ↻ marks an event that repeats.

Adding an event

Add event (or Add on this day, or + on a day in the week view) opens the form:

Every repeating event carries a badge with its kind: Daily, Weekdays, Weekend, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly. A monthly event on the 31st skips months without one; a yearly event on February 29 shows only in leap years.

Time zones

Times are shown in each person's own time zone, named under the calendar. An event added for 10 am in New York shows as 11 pm in Seoul. A repeating event keeps the time of the person who added it, so a weekday 8 am class stays at 8 am for them, also after the clocks change. All-day events stay on their date for everyone. When an event comes from another time zone, its details say the time it was set for, for example Set for 7 am – 12 pm Asia/Seoul time.

Changing or deleting

Open your own event and choose Edit or Delete. Deleting a repeating event removes all its repeats. You can only change your own events; staff can delete any event on Calendar (staff).

On a phone each day shows small coloured dots; tap a day to see its events under the calendar.

For members

Post-it

Post-it in the menu is only there for signed-in members. It is a wall of short notes for everyone: a shopping list, a reminder, a thank you.

• The newest note comes first. Scroll down and older notes load by themselves; Load more does the same by hand.
• The small date at the top left says when the note was written: Today, Yesterday or the day, for example Thu, Oct 29. A note that was changed also shows when, for example Today · edited Yesterday. Point at a date for the exact time.
• A note shows its first 150 characters; longer notes end with …. Click a note to read all of it, with who wrote it and when.

Writing a note

New note opens a box for up to 1,000 characters, with a counter, and five paper colours. Post note puts it at the top of the wall.

Open your own note to Edit or Delete it. You can only change your own notes; staff can delete any note on Post-it (staff). Notes from other members appear when you come back to the page.

On a phone the wall has two columns.

For members

Search

Search in the menu, the magnifying glass, is only there for signed-in members. It lists every post on the site, newest first: posts for everyone and posts for members.

1. Type a word in the box and press Search or Enter. It looks in captions, tags (type #summer to find a tag), places, countries and members' names.
2. Choose All, Photos or Videos to see only posts with photos or only posts with videos. The list changes right away.
3. The line above the cards says how many posts were found. Show all clears the search.
4. Twenty posts show at a time. The page numbers and arrows at the bottom move between pages.
5. Click a card to open the post. Cards work like the ones on Home: several photos can be swiped through, and videos play by themselves without sound.

On a computer up to five cards fit in a row; on a phone there are two.

For members

Messages and calls

The envelope button at the top right opens Messages. It is only there for signed-in members and holds one-to-one conversations with other members. A number on the envelope counts the messages you have not read, on every page.

• The list on the left shows your conversations, newest first, with the last message and a number for unread ones. A green dot on a picture means that member has the blog open right now.
• New opens a list of members with a search box. Pick someone to start writing.
• Enter sends; Shift + Enter starts a new line. New messages appear by themselves.
• The bin icon deletes your own message for both of you. The flag icon reports someone else's message: only that one message is sent to staff, and their copy is removed when they close the report.
• The circle icon at the top blocks a member. They can’t message or call you, you don’t see each other online, and they are not told. Unblock here or on My account.
• The note under the list says how long messages are kept on this site: 1 day or 7 days, then they are deleted for good. When staff choose Live only, messages are never saved and reach the other person only while you are both online.

Calling

The quickest way: the phone icon at the top of every page, next to the day and night button. It opens Call a member:

1. Choose Voice (the default) or Video.
2. Pick a member. Members who have the blog open right now are at the top with a green dot and Online · will ring. Members who turned on alerts say Alerts on · will ring: their phone rings by alert even when it is locked (see Call and message alerts). The others say Offline · gets a missed call; the search box finds anyone by name.
3. Choose Call, or Cancel. For an offline member the button says Leave a missed call: it does not ring, but they see the missed call the next time they open the blog.

You can also call from a member's profile, from the phone and camera icons at the top of a conversation, or from Recent calls on My account.

Calls need the microphone (and the camera for video). Call a member shows a line at the top when they are not ready yet:

• Calls use your microphone · Allow: the browser has not asked yet. Choose Allow, then Allow again in the browser's question, so the first call is not held up.
• Your microphone is blocked for this site · How to fix: the browser or the phone said no earlier. How to fix shows the steps for that browser and a Reload page button. Calling while it is blocked opens the same steps. See The microphone is blocked.

When everything is allowed, the line is not shown.

• The call rings on any page of the blog the other member has open, with their phone making a ringing sound. It rings for 30 seconds, or 45 seconds when it reaches the other member by an alert, and the caller hears a ringing tone while waiting.
• A phone plays the ring only after the page on screen has been tapped once. On the first page of a visit a bar at the bottom says Tap to turn on the call ringer; one tap anywhere is enough. On the pages opened after that the bar stays hidden, and the first tap on each page turns the ringer on again. A call that comes in before that tap still shows on screen, without the ring sound.
• Android phones also vibrate. On an iPhone with iOS 17 or later the ring plays even when the phone is set to silent; iPhones cannot vibrate for a website.
• They choose Decline, Voice or Video. A voice call has only Answer. Decline sits on the left, well apart from the answer buttons, so it is hard to press by mistake.
• If their microphone is blocked, a red note under the caller's name says Your microphone is blocked, so answering will not work, with How to fix.
• The screen stays on from the first ring until the call ends, so the phone does not lock in the middle of a call.
• During a call: Mute, Camera off and End. The time is shown under the name. Your own picture is in the corner on a video call.
• On a phone, a call starts on the earpiece. Speaker switches the sound to the loudspeaker and lights up; tap it again to go back to the earpiece. With headphones or AirPods connected, the call stays on them. The button shows only on phones that let a web page choose the speaker, such as an up-to-date iPhone.
• If the network changes (for example from Wi-Fi to mobile data), the call shows Reconnecting and carries on by itself. After 30 seconds without a connection it ends.
• If the other member is not online, is on another call, or has calls turned off, you are told at once. A call they could not take shows as missed on their Recent calls.

On a phone the conversation list comes first; a conversation then fills the screen. Call a member and an incoming call fill the whole screen. On Android phones the call screen hides the browser bar and stays upright while the call lasts; iPhones do not let a website lock the screen, so there the Turn your phone upright card covers the call screen until the phone is turned back; the call goes on meanwhile.

For members

Install on your phone

The blog can sit on the home screen like an app: it opens full screen with its own icon and no browser bar. Nothing comes from an app store; it is the same website. On Android phones it also stays upright; on an iPhone the site asks for the phone to be turned upright instead (see Holding a phone).

On a phone or tablet, My account shows an Install on your phone card with the steps for that phone. It disappears once the blog is installed.

Android with Chrome

iPhone or iPad with Chrome

iPhone or iPad with Safari

The pictures are drawings; menus can look a little different in other versions of Chrome, Safari or iOS.

The start screen

Phones keep a page silent until someone touches it, so a call could not ring right after the app opens. When the app on the home screen opens on a phone or tablet and the phone is still keeping it silent, it starts with a full picture and a large round ▶ button and the words Tap to start. One tap anywhere closes it and calls can ring from then on. It shows once each time the app is opened, only for signed-in members with calls on, and not when the phone already allows sound.

Computers

Chrome and Edge show an install icon at the right end of the address bar, and Safari on a Mac has File › Add to Dock. The blog then opens in its own window. Messages, calls and alerts work there too.

For members

Call and message alerts

A phone stops a web page or an app like this one as soon as it is locked or put aside, so on its own a call rings only while the blog is open on screen. With alerts turned on, calls and new private messages reach the phone anyway: they show on the lock screen with a sound, like any other app. A computer can get alerts too; they show in the corner of the screen while the browser is running, even when the site is not open.

Turning alerts on

1. On the phone or computer, open My account and find Alerts on this device.
2. Tap Turn on alerts.
3. The phone or browser asks to allow notifications. Choose Allow.

That is all. Do it once on each phone or computer. Send a test alert shows how an alert looks; on a phone, lock it after tapping.

When a call comes in

• The alert says who is calling, for example Elena is calling, Voice call · Tap to answer. The phone vibrates, and on Android the alert stays on screen until it is tapped.
• Tapping it opens the app with the call on screen, without ringing a second time: tap Answer.
• A call that reaches a member by alert rings for 45 seconds instead of 30, so there is time to unlock the phone.
• If nobody answers, the alert changes to Missed call from Elena. Tapping it opens My account with Recent calls.
• When the call is answered or declined, its alert disappears from the member's other phones and computers.
• When the blog is open on screen, the call rings inside the app as usual and no alert is sent.

When a message comes in

The alert shows the sender and the first words of the message. Tapping it opens the conversation. Several messages from the same person within 10 seconds give one alert. The alert comes even while the blog is open on another page, so a new message is not missed; it is not sent while the Messages page is open on screen, since the message shows there already.

Good to know

• An alert plays the phone's notification sound, not a ringtone. On silent or in a Focus mode it shows without a sound.
• Signing out stops alerts on that phone; signing in again starts them again. Turn off alerts stops them for good on that phone.
• If the card says Blocked, notifications for the site were turned off in the phone's settings. It says where to turn them back on.
• Alerts travel through Apple's or Google's alert service, encrypted so that only the phone can read them.

In the Call a member list, members who turned on alerts show Alerts on · will ring.

For staff

The staff area

Staff sign in at /AdminLogin with their user name and password. A staff sign-in ends 8 hours after the last thing they did.

The menu on the left lists only the areas the staff member may view, each with its icon. Under Content it holds Posts, Comments, Chat rooms, Shared files, Calendar, Post-it and Reports. Red numbers show work waiting: join requests, comments to check, open reports and new messages. View site opens the website in a new tab.

For staff

Dashboard

The dashboard is the first page after signing in.

• Tiles count join requests, members, posts, comments to check, open reports, new messages, chat rooms and the space photos and videos take. A red tile has work waiting. Click a tile to open its page.
• Last 14 days shows new posts, comments and chat messages per day. Point at a bar for the exact day and number.
• Most viewed lately lists the five most viewed posts of the last 30 days.
• Join requests, Open reports and Recent activity show the newest of each.

Each part only appears when the staff member has rights for its area.

For staff

Posts

Every post, newest first. Filter by Everyone, Members only or Hidden, or search by caption, author or place.

Click a post to see its photos and videos, its details and what you can do with it:

• Show to members only or Show to everyone changes who sees it.
• Hide post asks for a reason. The post disappears from the website; its author still sees it with your reason. Show it again brings it back.
• Delete removes the post, its photos and videos, comments and likes for good.

For staff

Comments

Comments and replies on all posts. Waiting holds visitor comments that need a yes when Settings say to check them first.

• Say yes publishes a waiting comment; Say yes to all publishes every waiting one.
• Hide takes a comment off the post; Show puts it back.
• Delete removes it and its replies for good.

For staff

Chat rooms

Every chat room with who started it, its status, how many messages and people, and when the last message came.

• Room name and What it is for: change them and save. Members see the change within seconds.
• Lock room: members can still read it but not write. Unlock room opens it again.
• Pin to the top keeps a room first in the members' list.
• Messages shows the latest 30, with older ones on request. Remove replaces a message with "Removed by a moderator" for members; staff can still read it and Put back undoes it.
• Delete removes the room and all its messages for good.

For staff

Shared files (staff)

Every folder members made, who made it, its status, how many files it holds and how much space they take.

• With hidden files lists the folders that have files hidden from members.
• Folder name and What it is for: change them and save.
• Lock folder: members can still open it and download, but nobody can add or delete files. Unlock folder opens it again.
• Files lists the files in the folder, newest number first, with a search box. Download lets you check a file. Hide takes it away from members without deleting it; Show again undoes that. Delete removes it for good.
• Delete at the bottom removes the folder and all its files for good. Only staff with the Delete right on Shared files can do this.

For staff

Calendar (staff)

Every event members added, newest first. Members change their own events; here staff can only delete one that should not be there. The line at the top says how long events are kept.

• All, One-time and Repeating filter the list; the search box looks in titles, notes and member names.
• The list shows 15 events at a time, with Previous and Next.
• Click an event for its note, date, time and time zone, repeat and who added it, then Delete. Deleting removes all its repeats; the member is not told. The deletion is written to the Activity log.

Managers always see Calendar. Other staff need the View right for Calendar to see it and Delete to delete; see Staff and permissions.

For staff

Post-it (staff)

Every Post-it note, newest first, with who wrote it, when, and when it was last edited. Members change their own notes; here staff can only delete one that should not be there.

• The search box looks in the text and the member names. The list shows 15 notes at a time.
• Click a note for the whole text, its dates and length, then Delete. The member is not told. The deletion is written to the Activity log.

Managers always see Post-it. Other staff need the View right for Post-it to see it and Delete to delete.

For staff

Reports

Everything people flagged. Each card collects every report about the same post, comment, chat message, shared file or private message, with a preview, its author and each reason and note. For a shared file, Download to check opens it.

• Hide post asks for a reason the author will see. Hide comment, Remove message and Hide file take the item away. The reports are closed.
• It is fine, keep it closes the reports and leaves the item up.
• Close reports appears when the item is already hidden or deleted.
• Count a warning adds one to the author's warnings. The number shows on their record in Members; nothing is sent to them.
• Handled lists what was done, by whom and when. Open again puts a card back on the list.
• Private messages: staff never see members' private messages, only a copy of the one message a member reported, and to whom it was sent. Use Close report when done; the copy is deleted then, so a private message card cannot be opened again. To stop someone, count a warning, pause or close their account on Members.

For staff

Members

Everyone who can sign in to the website, and everyone who asked. The filters are Requests, Active, Suspended, Banned, Declined and All.

Join requests

Open a request to read what the person wrote, then Say yes or Say no.

A member's record

• Details: name, email, profile address, place, a staff note only staff see, and Site owner, which lets this member post even when Settings say only the owner posts.
• Pause account for 1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days. The member is signed out and cannot sign in until the pause ends by itself or you choose End the pause.
• Close account signs the member out for good and hides their posts and chat messages. Open the account again undoes it.
• New password makes a temporary password, shown once, to give the member.
• Sign out everywhere ends the member's sessions on every device.
• Delete removes the member with everything they posted, their private messages, calls and blocks. Type DELETE to confirm.

Adding a member yourself

Add a member creates an account right away and shows a temporary password once.

For staff

Pages

The text and pictures of Home, About, Contact and Policies. Choose the page with the tabs at the top.

• Click any text to change it. Bold, italic, lists and links are available on longer text.
• Drag a block by its handle, or use the arrows, to move it. Hide keeps a block but takes it off the page.
• Pictures come from the Media library; click a picture to choose another.
• Add a block offers: Page top, Text, Picture and text, Cards, People, Picture wall, Questions, Picture or video, and Call to action. Home also has the Latest posts block and Contact the contact form.
• Write {name} to show the site title from Settings.
• Save page makes the changes live. View page opens it on the website.
• Versions keeps the last 20 saved versions; restoring one makes it live and keeps the current one as a version too.

For staff

Media library

The pictures and videos used on the website pages and as the logo. Photos and videos members post are kept with their posts, not here.

• Upload photos or videos: photos as JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF up to 10 MB, videos as MP4 (H.264 or HEVC) up to 25 MB, up to 20 files at a time.
• Open a file to change its name and the description read aloud for blind visitors, or to Replace it with a new file. Every page that uses it shows the new one.
• In use marks files a page uses. They cannot be deleted until no page uses them.

For staff

Messages

Notes sent from the Contact page. Filter by New, Read, Replied or All.

• Opening a message marks it as read.
• Reply by email opens your own email program with the address filled in. Afterwards choose Mark as replied.
• Delete removes it.

For staff

Staff and permissions

Staff are the people who run the site. Each staff member gets View, Add, Edit and Delete rights per area.

Adding a staff member

1. Add a staff member: full name, user name, job title and email.
2. Pick a permission set to start from, or tick the rights yourself. Manager gives every right in every area, including Staff.
3. Save. A temporary password is shown once; the person chooses their own at their first sign-in.

• Can sign in off keeps the account but stops it signing in.
• Reset password gives a staff member a new temporary password.
• Nobody can change their own access or delete their own account; another manager can. Your own profile and password are on My account.

Permission sets

A permission set is a named group of rights, for example Moderator or Website editor. Changing a set changes the rights of everyone using it. Changing one box for a person makes their rights Custom.

Calendar and Post-it have only View and Delete: members add and change their own events and notes. The Moderator set includes both. Existing staff who should look after them need the boxes ticked.

For staff

Settings

The name of the site, its house rules, and how long calendar events and Post-it notes are kept.

Below the form, Settings also shows how much space photos, videos and shared files take, whether email is working, and the run mode.

For staff

Activity log

Sign-ins, changes made by staff and members, and requests that were refused, newest first. Search, or filter by who and by result. Entries are kept for a year.

For staff

My account (staff)

Every staff member can change their own name, job title, email and password, see their rights, and sign out on their other browsers.

Help

Backups and storage

• The database holds members, posts, every photo and video members post, the shared files, comments, chat, private messages (locked, for the days chosen on Settings), the call list, calendar events, Post-it notes, the phones that get alerts, reports, settings and the page content. Back it up regularly with SQL Server's backup, for example a nightly job.
• The images folder holds the Media library (images/library) and the logo. Copy it with your backup.
• appConfig/application.cfg holds your database and mail settings.

To move the site to another server, restore the database there and copy the site folder, then change app.sqldb.source if needed.

Once a day the site clears out what has expired on its own: old sign-ins, calendar events and Post-it notes older than the days set on Settings, and calls older than 90 days.

Help

Email

Fill in the app.mail.* lines in appConfig/application.cfg with your mail server, port, sender address and login. Settings shows whether email is working.

Help

Common questions

A video will not upload

Videos must be MP4 or MOV, recorded as H.264 or HEVC (what Android phones and iPhones use), within the length and size limits on Settings. Other kinds, such as AV1 or WebM, are refused. The site says why a file was refused.

A video shows a black picture or plays sound only

The video was most likely recorded in HEVC, the iPhone's default, and this computer or browser cannot show HEVC. Recent phones, Macs and most computers from the last few years can. Ask the member to set Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible on the iPhone, record again and post again.

How do I find an older post?

Open Search from the menu. Type a word from the caption, a #tag, a place or a member's name, or just page back through all posts, newest first.

A video does not play by itself

An iPhone in Low Power Mode, and any phone or computer set to reduce motion, does not start videos on its own. Open the post and press play.

A video plays without sound

Every video starts without sound so that scrolling never surprises anyone. Tap the round speaker button on the video to hear it.

A photo shows sideways

Photos show the way the phone was held. If an older post still shows a photo sideways, delete the post and post the photo again.

A card says Turn your phone upright

The site is made for phones held upright; turn the phone back (see Holding a phone). To watch a video sideways, play it full screen.

A file will not upload

Check that its kind is turned on and that it is under the size limit on Settings. Files with macros (.docm, .xlsm and the like) and password-protected files are always refused; save them again as a normal file first.

Someone wants a photo of themselves removed

Open the post on Posts and choose Hide post with a reason, or delete it. Requests usually arrive on Messages or Reports.

A member forgot their password

With email set up they use Forgot password?. Otherwise open them on Members and choose New password.

A staff member forgot their password

A manager opens them on Staff and gives them a new password.

The only manager forgot the password

Run this in SQL Server Management Studio, then open /AdminLogin once (or restart the site). A new one-time password is saved in appConfig/initial-admin.txt, as on the first start:

UPDATE GroupBlog.dbo.STAFF SET STAFF_HASH = N'' WHERE STAFF_LOGIN = N'admin'

This works when no other manager can sign in.

Can my phone ring when it is locked?

Yes, with alerts. Open My account on the phone and tap Turn on alerts. Calls and new messages then show on the lock screen. On an iPhone this works in the app on the Home Screen. See Call and message alerts.

Alerts stopped coming

Open My account on that phone. If the card says Off, turn alerts on again; if it says Blocked, follow the steps it shows. Signing out stops alerts on that phone until the member signs in again. If staff turned Phone alerts off on Settings, the card is not shown. When Send a test alert reports that the alert could not reach the phone service, the server can't make outgoing connections; see Installing the site.

Why does the app ask me to tap Start?

A phone keeps a web page silent until someone touches it, and no website can get around that. The start screen is that one touch, so an incoming call can ring. See Install on your phone.

An event or a note disappeared

Calendar events and Post-it notes are deleted automatically after the days set on Settings, and staff can delete them on Calendar (staff) and Post-it (staff). The Activity log shows who deleted what.

A call does not ring

The other member must have the blog open on their phone or computer, in the browser or as the installed app, with calls turned on in their My account. Browsers also need the site on https. If the ring is silent, they should tap anywhere on the screen once, or the Tap to turn on the call ringer bar, which shows on the first page of a visit; phones keep pages quiet until someone touches them, and a website cannot get around that. An iPhone set to silent rings only with iOS 17 or later. A closed app, or one in the background, rings only as an alert, when the member turned on alerts in My account (see Call and message alerts).

A call rings but never connects

One of you is probably on mobile data or a strict office network. Set up a TURN server on Settings (see Hosting on Windows Server).

Calls drop or sound choppy

Usually a weak signal or a strict network on one side. A TURN server often helps, especially on mobile data and for calls between countries. If you already use one, check that it is close to the members and has enough bandwidth.

The microphone is blocked

The call screen shows Allow the microphone for this site, then try again and closes after a few seconds. The caller sees Name's microphone could not start, and Recent calls shows Did not connect. A website cannot turn the microphone on by itself; only the person holding that phone or computer can. How to fix in Call a member shows the steps below for their own browser.

Chrome on iPhone

1. Open the iPhone Settings app, scroll down and tap Chrome. Turn on Microphone (and Camera for video).
2. Back in Chrome, if you see a microphone icon to the left of the address bar, tap it and turn it on.
3. Reload the page.

Safari on iPhone

1. Tap aA in the address bar, then Website Settings.
2. Set Microphone (and Camera) to Allow and tap Done.
3. Still blocked? Open the iPhone Settings app, find Safari, and set Microphone to Ask or Allow.
4. Reload the page.

Chrome on Android

1. Tap ⋮ (More), then Settings › Site settings › Microphone.
2. If the site is listed under Blocked, tap it and choose Allow.
3. Still blocked? Open the phone's Settings › Apps › Chrome › Permissions and allow the microphone.
4. Reload the page.

The app on the iPhone home screen asks again each time it is opened. Set Settings › Apps › Safari › Settings for Websites › Camera and Microphone to Allow (see Install on your phone).

Can staff read private messages?

No. Saved messages are stored locked in the database and are deleted for good after the time chosen on Settings. Staff only see a message a member reports, until the report is closed. Messages are never written to the Activity log.

What time zone do the dates use?

Every person sees times in their own computer's or phone's time zone.

Can members see who viewed their posts?

No. They see only the number of views.