Overview

Mission :

• Provide general and in depth information of a specific city in an easy intuitive way about the location and activity of businesses and other places of interest for both occasional visitors and residents.
• Be as complete, accurate and accessible as possible. Free of charge for the involved companies, every visitor can see all information, permissions set as liberal as possible to submit or edit content by the users themselves.

Types of content:

Map marker:
Longitude and latitude info that makes a pinpoint  appear on the map. Goes along with a title, category, contact data and optionally some notes and a picture. This data will show up in an info balloon if you click on the pinpoint or on the companies name in the list next to the map. It links to the company's own website (if it exists) and a "more info" page (see More Info Page below) .

More Info Page:
Every marker has a dedicated More Info Page. It will exist from the moment marker is created. A More Info Page is like a mini-website and is linked to from the map marker's info balloon. It shows the basic data of a marker as described above, plus Upcoming Events, News Items, Photos, Videos and optionally an own Rotating Header Banner (for sponsors).

• Photo galleries (any visitor, even anonymous):
  An album title and a collection of images. Can be created by any user (even anonymous).
• Videos (any visitor, even anonymous):
  A short description and a field in which the embedded code or URL of a third party video service (e.g. YouTube) can be pasted.
• Comments (any visitor, even anonymous):
  All content can be commented on by default. It can be switched off by the creator of the content. If enabled, anyone can leave a comment, but some anti-spam measures are activated. The comments on the general More Info Page can be disabled only by sponsors.
• Events (registered user):
  An agenda can be maintained of upcoming events. These will also be displayed in our general Event section on our Home Page.
• News Items (registered user):
  A teaser (the first part) or a complete post will be displayed on your More Info Page. You can alter the order of posts by giving it a certain "weight". If not they will be displayed with the latest post on top. A Rich Text Editor is available to create the layout (a bit like MS Word). Images can be integrated in the text. The news items will be put in the News section on SharmWeb.net's Homepage and can be included in our newsletter as well. Leave the box checked in the News Item page form settings to approve this (default on).
• Rotor Items (sponsor):
  An image to be presented in a rotating banner. If related to a marker, it shows automatically at the top and/or bottom of the associated More Info Page. Two sizes are available; big, 931x186 px and leaderboard 728x90. The banner can also show site wide for a certain period.

If you have or don't have a website, you can maintain a More Info Page here
(checkis if it already exists) that:

• is FREE
• links to your own website
• gets linked to from the "more info"  in the marker balloon
• you will be able to edit any time you want
• presents all photos and videos automatically in a professional viewer
• will be found by the search engines after a while
• gets integrated in different sections on our Home Page.

Sponsors:

• get more control over the content
• get access to the visitor statistics
• will be exposed better
• can keep their page advert free (only their own banners).

Roles:

• Visitor (anonymous user):
  Can view all content and create photo albums, videos and leave comments. You can edit own content only until you clear your visitor cookies.
• User:
  Recommended is to register. It uses your username when submitting content. This way you can always edit or unpublish your own content after log in. Anyone can create an account, even not being a resident of Sharm El Sheikh. A user can create a marker, news item or an event.
• Sponsor:
  Can choose a marker to be displayed bold and at top of all lists and in search results. Their chosen More Info Page will be advert free. A sponsor can upload banners, unpublish content created by others on their own More Info Page, see visitor statistics and gets an email address.

How to use the map

Create/edit a Photo Album

A collection of images. Can be created by any user (even anonymous). Will automatically be presented in a professional viewer.

Fields:

• How you want to name this album?:
  • A concise short title. Don't mention the title of the marker this content will be appended to. This will be added anyway by choosing a marker in the next field.
• Where are the pictures made?:
  • The marker(s) you want to append this Photo Album to. If left empty (e.g. an aerial photo of Sharm) the picture will only appear in the Photos section on the Home Page.
• Upload images:
  • Click on the icon  to select the images from your computer. Click on  the desired thumbnails while holding the Ctrl-button down.
  • Open to confirm your selection.
  • Save at the bottom to start uploading.
  • Next step to add a description for each image. Leave empty and do it later if for any reason the thumbnails don't show.
  • Done Editing to finish.
• Comment settings:
  • Can only be disabled after login. Read/write is default.

Create/edit a Video

A short description and a field in which the embedded code or URL of a third party video service (e.g. YouTube) can be pasted. Can be created by any user (even anonymous).

Fields:

• Title:
  • A concise short title. Don't mention the title of the marker this content will be appended to. This will be added anyway by choosing a marker in the next field.
• Where is this video made?:
  • The marker(s) you want to append this Video to. If left empty (e.g. unknown location) the video will only appear in the Videos section on the Home Page.
• Video:
  • Enter the URL or Embed Code here. The embedded third party content will be parsed and displayed appropriately from this.
  • The following services are provided: archive.org, Blip.tv, Dailymotion, Google, GUBA, IMEEM, JumpCut, Last.fm, Live Video, Megavideo, MetaCafe, MySpace, Revver, Sevenload, Spike TV, Tudou, UStream.TV, UStream.TV (Live Streams), Veoh, Viddler, Videojug, Vimeo, Yahoo! Music, YouTube.

Create/edit a Marker

Longitude and latitude info that makes a pinpoint appear on the map. The data you enter here will show up in an info balloon if you click on the pinpoint or on the company's name in the list next to the map. If the marker is already existing, go to the associated "More info" page and click the "Edit" tab.

Fields:

• Title:
  • The company name you are known by. Add a distinctive term if necessary, e.g. Makani Hadaba. This makes choosing the right marker in related content easier.
• Latitude & longitude:
  • Using he best way to find the correct location is dragging the red marker to the desired position. The lattitude and longitude fields change automatically to the apprioate values.
  • The pinpoint on the general big map or any position changes will appear within 24 hours after submission.
    
• Marker categories:
  
  • Check first the category definitions. Make a selection (only one). Create a new marker if more then one category applies.
• Tel.:
  • Land-line or mobile. Put a +20 prefix if you expect calls from abroad. In that case, omit the leading zero from the number (e.g. +20 10 1234567 or +20 69 1234567).
• Email:
  • Will only be visible for registered user to avoid being seen by email harvesting spam-bots. You can also leave it blank.
• Website:
  • No need to use the http:// prefix.
• Address:
  • Besides street and number, use also the geographical area (e.g. Hadaba, Naama). Any other indications are welcome, like opposite of or next to.
• Notes:
  • Opening times, a promo text, extra services, a description or whatever text you find appropriate to show in the info balloon when someone clicks your map marker. If you want your email to be visible for anonymous visitors, put it here as well (not recommended).
• Related to:
  
  • Type the first characters of the title and select other places related to this marker. Based the location (e.g. a diving in a hotel), making part of the same company (a chain) or cooperating (e.g. a boat being used by a diving). Don't forget to provide also for the relationship back in the other markers. If not, it only goes in one way, which sometimes can be preferable.
• Image:
  • If people can see how the front of a place looks like from the street side, they recognize it when they arrive. To fit nicely in the info balloon it will be re-sized to a maximum of 300x150, retaining ratio and up-scaled if smaller than that.

Create/edit an Event

An agenda can be maintained of upcoming events. These will also be displayed in our general Event section on our Home Page. Can only be created and edited by a registered user.

Fields:

• Title:
  • A concise short title. Don't mention the title of the marker this content will be appended to. This will be added anyway by choosing a marker in the next field.
• Short description:
  • Prices, admission rules etc.
    
• What:
  • What type of activity does your Event belong to? Only one.
• Where:
  • The marker(s) you want to append this Event to. If left empty (e.g. a CleanUp day or the expiration date of the CDWS card) the Event will only appear in the Events section on the Home Page.
• When:
  • The first date this event occurs.
• Repeat:
  • Optionally you may indicate if this event repeats daily, weekly, monthly. Certain days can be omitted, e.g. national holidays.
• Time:
  • You can put it blank if the Event is covering the whole day (e.g. promo on Mondays).
• Comment settings:
  • Can be disabled, set on read only or on read/write (default).
• Signup settings:
  • Optionally enable the signup possibility. Get notified by mail of any people that signup for your event, automatically send them a reminder for the event starts, optionally set a signup limit.

Create/edit a News Item

The first part of a News post displays on your More Info Page. A Rich Text Editor is available to create the layout (like MS Word). Integrate images in the text. Can only be created by a registered user. The news items will be optionally appear in the News section on the SharmWeb Homepage (default on).

Fields:

• Title:
  • A concise short title. Don't mention the title of the marker this content will be appended to. This will be added anyway by choosing a marker in the next field.
• Marker:
  • The marker(s) you want to append this content to. If left empty (e.g. a general  article about Sharm) the text will only appear in the News section on the Home Page and on your personal Blog pages.
• Body:
  • The actual content. Above the main text area you will find some rows with small icons. You can compare these with the ones you probably know from other text editors, like MS Word. If you roll over them with your mouse, they tell you what function they perform. For a more comprehensive guide, go here.
  • THE RECOMMENDED BROWSER IS ANY OTHER THAN EXPLORER! You edit with Mozilla, Opera, Safari or Google Chrome. Apart from editing, it will show fine also in Explorer.
  • Don't be afraid to make a mistake. While still editing you just press the "undo" button  . Before clicking "save" at the bottom of the page, use the "preview" button next to it  . If you are happy about your changes, save the page  .
  • To add images press .  Press Browse Server  . From there you use Upload (top line on the left). Once uploaded press Send to FCK-Editor (top line on the right). Adjust dimensions and alignment as desired.
  • The Break button   indicates up to where the text should be used for the teaser (the part displayed on the More Info Page). The whole article will be shown after the visitor presses the Read More link. If you omit to put a Break approximately 600 characters used in the trimmed version of a post (it will break possibly after a period mark).
• Site wide news allowed:
  • Leave it checked if this content is suitable for the SharmWeb newsletter and the Home Page "News" block. This is the most effective way to attract visitors to your More Info Page and from there to your own website.
• Node Weight:
  • The teasers of News items you add will be ordered with the newest on top. Giving it a weight value will change that. Light items go on top. Items of the same weight still continue to display with the newest on top.
• Comment settings:
  • Can be disabled, read/write by default.

Using your email

Sponsor accounts and above get one or more email adresses (e.g. yourname@sharmweb.net or admin@yoursite.com).

You can enter your mail online by going to mail.sharmweb.net. This provides our RoundCube webmail service. Your username is your email address. If your address ends with ..@sharmweb.net, you can omit the last part. Go here for the complete user manual.

Besides RoundCube you get server access with many more configuration options. In that case you have to use the full email address as your username, e.g. mymail@mysite.com.

• change your password
• forward your mail to any other address (e.g. to a collegue when you're temporary unavailable)
• autoreply (e.g. to say when you will be back when you are on holiday and that your mail has been forwarded to a colleage)
• configure automatically your local application like Outlook to receive the mail also on your own computer. Many other applications are supported like iPhone, Blackberry and Apple Mail.
• BoxTrapper and filtering

After you use our RoundCube mail service for a while, it's likely you are going to prefer it over the other mail services you use. Besides what's already mentioned above, here is why:

• You can create more identities, even using other email adresses you have (yahoo, gmail, etc.) to reply. The mail leaves from your RoundCube, but if someone replies it goes to the mail you indicated.
• You have a Rich Text editor, enabling you to integrate images and even videos in your mail. Also right to left writing (arabic) is supported.
• Your inbox has unlimited quota.
• You have highly customizable user preferences.

Pricing

Overview:

The main characteristics of all websites we make, from a free More Info Page to a customized website:

• Add or modify content yourself with the ease of working with a Word document.  read more »
• Search engine friendly. All content will appear in Google.  read more »
• Support of RSS feeds.  read more »
• Regular backup.
• A clear online manual.
• An unlimited amount of pages and traffic.

Account:	Free	Sponsor	Subdomain	Domain standard	Domain customized
Website:	SHARMWEB.NET/NAME example		NAME.SHARMWEB.NET example	WWW.NAME.COM example more demos
One time cost	FREE !			€ 280	> € 380
Hosting fee	FREE !	€ 120 / 2 yrs	€ 120 / 2 yrs (*price guarantee)
Discount:	NA	Promo Partners get a € 40 discount on their next subscription period. € 40 discount right away for additional markers of the same company.
Own pages advert free	NO	YES
Upload banners	NO	yes, displays in a rotating bannner space on your own page (see example)
Position in map  list:	alphabetic	top + bold
Position in search lists	alphabetic	top
View statistics	NO	YES
Unpublish permission	on own content	on own page	YES
E-mail	NO	1		>1
Also for not Sharm related	NO		YES
Newsletters	NO		YES
Multi-language	NO		YES
Own style	NO		YES
Personal assistance	NO		additional fee	YES
Analytics account	NO			YES
SEO	NO			YES
Registered on your own name	NO			YES
Customization	NO				YES

More Info Page (sharmweb.net/yourpage):

• Free, under Terms of Use.
• Links to your existing website (if you have one).
• Linked to from your map marker, included in our search results and visible for the Search Engines (Google, Yahoo!, Ask, etc.).
• Submit comments, photos and videos (all visitors).
• Create markers, news items or events (registered users, free for anyone).
• Comments can be switched off for all your own content (default on) except the More Info Page itself. 

Sponsor:

€ 80 for a two year period. It includes:

• As above.
• Your own Pages advert free. Instead, upload your own banners on your own page. Displays automatically at the top of your main page in a rotating banner space. Can also be just images to be shown as a banner slideshow (see example). We do it for you if you provide us with photos and a logo.
• Your company name bold above those of the free accounts (sticky) in the map list, search results and category overviews in SharmWeb.
• Unpublish permission for all content items related to your marker (except the basic data), also the ones created by others.
• Optionally switch off comments also for the More Info Page itself.
• A secure email address (yourname@sharmweb.net) with unlimited space, webmail online and on own mail client (Outlook, Apple mail, iPhone, Blackberry, Thunderbird,etc.). read more »
• Sponsorship is needed before you can advertise on SharmWeb.net.
• Promo Partners get a € 40 discount on their next subscription period. Additional markers of same company get a € 40 discount right away.
  

Banner advertising:

Our sponsors can display their banners also site wide¹.
¹ The advert top banner displays on all generic pages. The big size advert bottom banner displays on all pages (over 1300 pages), except the More Info Pages of our sponsors. Sponsors will only have their own big size banners at the top of their own page (if present). This is included for free in their account.

Banner type	Rotating leaderboard	Rotating big size
Display on own page	NA	Free for sponsors
Site wide1 display (over 1000 visitors)	LE 200 / month	LE 100 / month
Max number of advertisers2	3	5
Max number of banners per advertiser3	2	6
Size	728 x 90 px (ratio ± 8:1)	931 x 186 px (ratio 5:1)
Position on own page	none	top
Position site wide	top	bottom

² If present, if not the display time will be double or triple for the same price. This makes advertising more interesting when no other advertisers are present.
³  Single banners will show double, so the quantity of banners does not increase the total display time.

Unsold bottom banner space will be used randomly for our sponsors, but advertisers get all (even if only one advertiser is present, it excludes the sponsors from being displayed, all displayed banner items will be for the advertiser). The available banners display random on each page load (after server cache refresh). 

Price changes will not affect active contracts. Maximum contract period 4 months (pay 3, get 4). Anticipated payment. Prices are based on at least 1000 visitors a month (last month: 1188 visitors).

Subdomain (yoursite.sharmweb.net):

Get a website, but pay only for hosting, with additional services included, € 120 for a two year period (*price guarantee). Does NOT substitute the free More Info Page. It includes:

• As above, plus additionally:
• Hosting of your own website on a shared account.
• Multi-language. Depending on your visitor's browser language, they are directed to the right language version of your site (English, Russian, Italian, Arabic or whatever language you want). read more »
• Create categories of newsletters your clients and visitors can subscribe to.
• Create your own menus.
• Choose your own style.
• You fill the site with content yourself. If you want help to set it up, we can sent you a member of our support team. They ask an additional fee to be settled with them.

Domain standard (yoursite.com):

Initial one-time cost € 280, additional for hosting € 120 for a two year period (*price guarantee), with all the mentioned additional services included. Does NOT substitute the free More Info Page. It includes:

• As above, plus:
• The website's domain name, registered on your name (you can verify any time at whois.com)
• Choose from a standard range of website functionality based on your needs.
• Based on that we set up your fully functional website.
• Some help to fill your site with interesting content if needed.
• Multiple email addresses.
• An analytics account, so you can track the traffic on your website. This might take some time to get approved. Being a third-party service, we can not guarantee it's availability or functionality. If you are not happy about it, let us know and we can change to another provider of website statistics.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A lot depends also on your own actions. read more »
• As technology gets better all the time, we might improve the functionality or design of your site and upgrade to better security releases. We keep you informed by mail and ask permission first if it involves major changes.
• Copy-editing of grammar and spelling errors of your text content.
• A training session on how to maintain your website and assistance on all functionality if something is not clear.
• If you want to transfer your website to another hosting company, we provide you the database in a compressed file and all images files, at any time. In that case we unlock the domain and provide you the EPP-code. Assistance on making the website work on another hosting service is not provided.

Extra services:

On request extra services are available at a reasonable fee:

• Customization of functionalities. Allthough you have lots of settings to make the domain package above look and feel distinct, it is still a standard solution. It will fit the needs of most businesses. If you have requests that go beyond that our prices start from € 360 for a simple customized website to a thousand or more for complex sites. Think of things like:
  • a Virtual Tour for a hotel or resort. Let your visitors go from the reception to the restaurant. Show the rooms.
  • online secure management systems  for Diving Centers. Imagine, all your authorized staff can view or edit the transfer and crewlist from home or even from the boat. Every center you manage works on the same database. No more need for daily emails.
  • online purchase of services or goods. Accept creditcards and PayPal for online booking in a secure way.
• Although most writing and editing on your website you can do yourself, we can still do it for you, if needed, in English, Italian, Dutch or German.
  

Subscription:

Having any of the accounts above with us, involves your agreement on the following, in addition to our general Terms & Conditions:

• All text or image content provided by us on your site remains under license with us, if not arranged differently. This means you won't have the exclusive use of it. In fact, most of our creations are licensed under Common Creative. This means others can use the same content. On all other original content on your own website the copyright notice as seen in the footer of every page applies, unless you decide differently. Providing a CC license, like on SharmWeb.net, can lead to backlinks to your site, and that is good for your Google ranking.
• Having a link to our website as seen in the footer of every page of your site.
• Your website can be mentioned, displayed in a screenshot and linked to in our portfolio.
• *price guarantee:
  At expiration of your subscription period, you can prolong for the same period for the same price as before with at least the same services provided (not valid for the sponsorship).
• All payments are anticipated and not refundable. Prices are per marker.

Don't hesitate to contact us. 

NOTE:
You are on a page of the help manual. Get an impression of how this website works, navigate to the other chapters (see below).

Become a Partner

You want to make part of our support team?

Requirements:

• You speak and write good english.
• You own a good working modern laptop with mobile internet access.
• You are familiar with MS Word.
• You live in Sharm El-Sheikh. 

Earnings:

• A one-time 15% for each new sponsor, subdomain or domain you bring in (see Pricing).
• An additional fee for your support to the customer to help them setup their subdomain, to be settled independently with them. You receive a training on how to setup a subdomain and you have an online manual available.

You manage a Sharm related info source online or in printed form?

We are open for any kind of cooperation (banner exchange, customer sharing, promo sharing, etc.).

Help us to promote SharmWeb!

You get a € 40 discount on your next subscription period if you keep our business cards available for your customers on your counter or tables and have two A4 format leaflets exposed on visible places (even the public bathroom). We provide you with new business cards at any time. Presenting a new subscriber entitles to the same (discount applies only one time).

You want be a partner to make a similar website for another city?

Requirements:

• You speak and write good English.
• You own a reliable car or motorbike.
• You have an active bank account.
• You own a good working laptop with Skype installed with DSL internet connection or alike.
• You are familiar with MS Word.
• You are a resident of the city you have in mind.

Earnings:

• 50% of the advertising income. To apply you should insert at least map marker data of 300 companies (we will tell you where), write some articles with general info, a substantial amount of images made by yourself, videos (YouTube) and 300 email addresses for the launch (can be those related to the companies of your markers). After this we will make the website for your city and provide you a webmaster username and password for it. 
• A one-time 30% for each sponsor, subdomain or domain (see Pricing).
• An additional fee for your support to the customer to help them setup their (sub)domain, to be settled independently with them. You receive an on-distance training (Skype) on how to setup a (sub)domain and you have an online manual available.

You have no relation with Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), but still want a website from our hand? 

You have good reason to. Web developers in many countries can be overpriced. If you are not afraid to deal with us through Skype and Email, we offer you an economic but high quality alternative.

Don't hesitate to contact us. 

NOTE:
You are on a page of the help manual. Get an impression of how this website works, navigate to the other chapters (see below).

You created an account but have not received a confirmation mail

You might have misspelled your address.

• First, be patient, sometimes it takes a while for the email to arrive.
• Check your junk email box, the message might have been filtered as spam. Add noreply@sharmweb.net to your addressbook to avoid this.
• You can login with the username and password you submitted when you created your account. Then check "My account" on the left. Go to "edit" to correct your email address, press "submit" and re-send the confirmation mail.

Recommended browsers

Most common problem is the rendering  in Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). Upgrade to a more recent version (7 or 8) . To see how standard compliant your browser is, open the Acid3 test page. For the fastest use of our website we recommend the latest versions of Google Chrome (Windows) and Safari  (Windows & MAC).


Let us know what your experiences are. Add a comment below. Mention your browser, version and operating system, and what problems you experience.