How to Use Wix
Guide by Angel IzWicked
Welcome to my Wix guide! I just want to start by saying, if you are concerned or intimidated about learning Wix, please don't be! Wix is very user-friendly and takes all of the coding out of website creation! As long as you have basic computer skills, you can learn Wix quickly and easily. Thanks for being here! <3
Signing In
To sign in to Wix for a site that is already created, you must first sign in to the Gmail account associated with that site. (To receive the email & password, speak with MarianLove, your club president, or any Group Majestic VPs who already have access).
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Go to Gmail.com
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Sign in with email and password (you may need to know any backup emails or other security measures before signing in—once again, speak to your President or Group Majestic Website Creators for this information)
After signing in to Gmail, go to Wix.com.
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Select “Sign In,” at top right corner.
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Then, select “Continue with Google”
You are now signed in and can view your club's sites! Great work!
"My Sites" & Site Dashboard
After signing in, you will see the “My Sites” page, which shows the thumbnails of any sites that are associated with the account. One Wix account can have multiple websites associated with it.
From the site(s) shown, select which one you want to edit by clicking “Select & Edit Site,” which will appear when you hover the mouse pointer over the site’s thumbnail.
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You will be taken to the selected site’s Dashboard:
Under “Site Actions” at the center of the page, as well as “Settings” to the left, you can find options for making changes to the site, such as “Edit Site” or “Rename Site.”
From the Site Actions menu, select “Edit Site.”
After selecting “Edit Site,” the Wix Website Editor will begin to load.
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Read more about the Wix Website Editor below! <3
Wix Website Editor
This is where you will make all changes and edits to the selected site!
Using the vertical Editor Menu at the left, you are able to add new elements, such as images or text, as well as add or edit pages!
- Continue reading below to learn more about everything that can be done with the Editor Menu!
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Please note the following three options found in the top-right corner:
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Save - This saves your editing progress without making the changes "go live" (this means visitors won't be able to see the changes until you Publish)
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Preview - Use this option to view how your changes will appear to visitors, before you Publish. This option is very helpful for viewing any animations!
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Publish - Once you are happy with all of the changes and you have Previewed the site, remember to Publish so everyone else can see your changes, too!
Editor Menu
This left-hand menu is how you can access the majority of controls and elements to add in Wix.
Here you can view pages, add in various graphics and other elements, access and add special Wix apps, and see what things you have uploaded. There are also two other options: Promote and Start Blogging.
Our focus will be on the first 5 menu options
1) Menus & Pages, 2) Background, 3) Add, 4) Add Apps, and 5) My Uploads
explained below:
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1) MENUS & PAGES
This option allows you to view what pages and subpages are on your site.
You can add new pages and change page transitions here. This is also how you can move around from page to page when you are in editing mode.
To rearrange pages, click and drag them to the desired position.
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Each page listed has three dots next to it that will allow you to access even more controls. You can rename and delete pages, hide pages so they will not appear on the main menu, change whether a page is a main page or a subpage, and change the permissions of a page (for example, you can add a password that only members will know and be able to access).
2) BACKGROUND
This option lets you change what your background is. It can be an image, a video, or just a plain color. You can either use one of the default backgrounds Wix provides, or upload your own.
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You can also choose what pages will have the same background by using the "Apply to Other Pages" option, which is handy and saves time if you want to have the same background on multiple pages.
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NOTE: Page Background VS Page Design is discussed later.
3) ADD
This option is probably the one that is used the most and can be very fun!
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You can add all sorts of things to the website using this, including images, image galleries, videos, music, text, shapes, and more.
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Every time you add something to the site, you can then click directly on that element you added to access more settings and options that are unique to that element.
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For example, if you add a text box, then click on the text box and select "Edit Text" to type what you want and change font style, size, color, and effects.
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Many elements, like images for instance, let you apply animations and filters to them.
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NOTE: Image Galleries will be explained in more detail later
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So, once you add an element, click on it to see what options you have access to and what settings you are able to change.
I think the best way to learn everything that you can do is to explore and play with it yourself.
4) ADD APPS
Here you will find that Wix has lots of other special apps that you can include on the website.
For example, things like music players and social media can be added in this way.
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This is the option that is used when adding Polls to the website. Read more about Polls later.
5) MY UPLOADS
Finally, this option lets you view what things--images, videos, etc--you have uploaded to Wix. Anything you want to add to Wix from your computer will be stored here.
If you delete a picture off of the website, it will still remain stored here for future use. Likewise, if you delete something from here, it will not remove it from appearing on the website.
Page Background vs Page Design
In Wix, there is a difference between the Page Background and the Page Design:
^ In the above image, the Page Background consists of the Majestic Angels logo and the image of the angel. The Page Design, on the other hand, is the middle section, where the main content of the page is found.
You can see in the image that I have changed the Page Design to a more solid white, so the text is easier to read. This is very handy to do if you want the consistency of a page background, but still want to be sure visitors can easily view and read the content of the page.
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To change the Page Background or Design of the page you are on, simply left-click on any empty area and the option to change both will appear (Page Design is indicated by an image of a paintbrush).
(Of course, you can also use the left-hand menu option for the Page Background, which I describe above).
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If you decide to change the Page Design, you can choose what color to apply as well as how opaque or transparent it is.
Image Galleries
Knowing how to use Image Galleries is very important for displaying member pics or group collages.
To access the Galleries, go to “Add” on the left-hand Editor menu and to “Galleries.”
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Here you will see many different Gallery options. Some galleries are basic grid formats, while others are much more dynamic, with unique shapes and/or animations.
- When making your choice, keep in mind what the purpose of your Gallery will be.
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You can either click a gallery to automatically add it to the current page, or click and drag it onto the page to a specific spot of your choosing.
Once a gallery is added to the page, you will see that it will have default sample images in place of where your images will eventually go. Click the gallery and a small menu with additional options will appear.
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Settings – this option lets you decide how images are resized and what happens when visitors click images
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Layouts – use this to change the Layout of the selected gallery to another on the Gallery menu
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Design – use this to change the background colors, text font and size, borders, and the distance between images
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Animate – can use this to add one animation from a variety of animations to the selected gallery
Click on “Change Images” to open the “Organize Your Gallery Images” window. In this window you can change the order of images, as well as rename, delete, and add new images.
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Some of the options here are described below:
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Delete – hover over a photo to see the trashcan icon; click to delete the image
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Settings – this is how you can change where new photos are added when uploaded; choose whether pictures are added at the end of the gallery, at the beginning of the gallery, or after a specific selected image
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Add Images – this is how you can add images; clicking this will open the Uploads window, where you can view and add pictures that are already uploaded to the account or upload new ones from your computer
Polls (For Club Contests)
1. First, to add a poll, go to the left-hand menu and choose “Add Apps”
2. Then click "Categories"
3. On the Categories menu,
Select "Forms"
4. On the Forms menu, you will see multiple options for forms and polls. Choose 123 Form Builder.
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I have done a lot of comparisons between the different poll and form apps that Wix offers, and this one by far seems to be the best. Other forms require payment, or have incredibly limited options with the free versions.
5. When you choose to add this app to the website, it will start by giving you a default template (view at right).
To customize the form, double-click on the template (or click on it once and choose “Settings”).
6. After doing this, a little window will appear to the left. From this window, you can use “Manage Forms” to edit or delete forms you already have, or you can use “Create a Form” to make a new one.
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Choosing one of the above options will open a new, larger window. This is where you will do all the editing of the forms to then be published to the site.
7. When creating a new form, one way to create a contest poll is to use the “Trivia Quiz” template and edit it (or if there is an option to use a Blank Template, that will work as well).
8. Change the heading to something appropriate for your needs.
To do this, first click the header.
A new window will open for you to edit the heading.
9. After changing the heading text, change the fields.
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For our club polls, I use the left-hand menu to delete all fields until I am left with only one.
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Make sure this last field is set to “Single Choice,” if you want visitors to only choose one option.
10. Then, in this last field, you can change the Label to give extra directions or something exciting to grab the visitor’s attention.
Then, you can change each choice to a Lady’s name who submitted a look for the contest. Use the “+” symbol to add more names as you need.
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Finally, when you have included all the appropriate information and made changes to your liking, make sure to click “Publish” in the top-right of the form editing window. This will update the form on the website to match what you have done.
OTHER IMPORTANT POLL OPTIONS
Thank You Page: When in the form editing window, use “Settings” at the top to set a Thank You Page that will leave a message when a person has finished casting their vote.
Security and Submission Limits: Another very important option if you want each person to cast only one single vote is to go to “Security” and set the Submission Limit for each IP address to “1 per eternity”
^ If you don’t do this, one person can spam vote over and over, drastically skewing the results. Without this option, one member participating in the contest can vote for themselves again and again, ensuring they will win the contest regardless of other votes being gathered. So this is VERY IMPORTANT to avoid any forms of cheating or general sneakiness.
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ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE, the Free Plan for 123 Form Builder only allows 100 votes to be cast a month. This is another reason why only allowing one person to cast one vote at a time is so important, otherwise they will use up all the available votes.
OTHER STEPS TO TAKE FOR A SUCCESSFUL POLL
Insert Gallery: Once all the Poll settings are to your liking, and any changes have been saved and published in the form editing window, you can insert a gallery of Ladies’ images above the poll so visitors can view the submissions they are voting for. Make sure to include each Lady’s name on their picture.
Setting Email(s):
During the form-making process, the form app will ask for an email address to use as the account-holder for the form. It’s best to use the same address associated with the entire site or the club email.
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When the entire website is published with the poll you have created, visitors will be able to start casting their votes!
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Submissions will appear in the website within the form editor and will also be sent through email to the email you have indicated.
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You can add other emails that will receive voting submissions by double-clicking the poll, going to “Settings” on the left, and changing the “Notification recipients” option. Using this option, you can have the Club President and any VPs receive poll results in their emails, too.
