Help Desk



Here are answers to common concerns regarding sending and viewing greeting cards on tcastle.com

Server Status (Downtime)

Update 4/05/04: The server tcastle.com is hosted on was hit by a hacker early 4/1/04. Which resulted in days of downtime and all tcastle.com files were lost. It was uploaded and back online 4/04/04. If you come upon any corrupt or broken images or bad links, please so that I can correct it. Abundantfun.com poems and ecards was not affected by this downtime. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Update 1/22/04: The server tcastle.com was on, EV1servers.net (formerly rackshack.net), without warning decided to deactivate this site early on 1/21/04 because of the high volume of visitors. This site is now transferred to a new server. Abundantfun.com poems and ecards was not affected by this downtime.

Mail Delivery Issues

 November 2003
TafMaster is the new send service tcastle.com uses to email these greeting pages. Lately TAF Master has run into some issues getting mail delivered. Read the latest update and find out what they're doing to get it all resolved:

As email hosts are increasing their efforts to block SPAM (unsolicited commercial e-mails), and many legitimate email marketers, from tell-a-friend companies to webmasters sending e-mail to their newsletter subscribers, are having trouble getting some e-mails delivered. With email hosts becoming more active in blocking emails, TAF Master is committed to resolving any issues that arise to get all of our emails delivered properly.

Early this month, we began receiving reports of emails not being delivered to both Hotmail and AOL. We immediately began to try to resolve all of the issues, with the ultimate solution being 'whitelisted' by an email host. 'Whitelisted' means an email hosts will allow virtually all of a companies emails to get delivered. Here is the latest regarding the 3 biggest email hosts, Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL.

  • Yahoo Although we hadn't received reports of TAF Master messages not being delivered to Yahoo, we decided to try and get whitelisted as a pre-emptive strike. As of today, we have finished the application for getting whitelisted, and we are awaiting confirmation from them as they monitor our activity.

  • Hotmail Hotmail claims it does not have a whitelist, so we have worked on complying with their standards to get TAF Master emails through. As of now, most or all TAF Master messages are being sent to Hotmail, and we will continue to refine any processes we can.

  • AOL - Update 12/2/03 - We are pleased to announce that TAF Master is now whitelisted with AOL. This means all TAF Master emails will now be delivered to AOL without being blocked.



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AOL users~Images not loading (java applets)

Use An Independent browser
Yes you have one! Bypass your AOL browser by clicking on Start, then Programs, then select your browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator). This is the only sure way I know that AOL users will be able to view java applets.

AOL users~Email link not clickable

Create a hyperlink
If you are sending to an AOL email user and they can't click on the link to view their card, you can make a clickable link by using this method:
<A HREF="http://tcastle.com/">AOL users click here</A>
Change the http://tcastle.com/ to the page you want to send by using the copy and paste method or type the page name on the end. You may insert your own text in place of the AOL users click here For example if you wish to send the main greeting page here is a code you could use:
<A HREF="http://tcastle.com/greetings.html">Click here for Tess' Castle in the Sky Free Greetings</A>

I sent a card but it links to tcastle.com

Recipient can't find card because the email includes a link to tcastle.com instead of the chosen card.
Some visitors have reported a problem receiving the correct link when they send a card. The recipient should receive an email which includes a link to the greeting card chosen for them but instead receives a link to the home page. This appears to be a problem with the sender's browser not communicate properly with the send form you fill out. When it encounters a glitch it will send a default link to the home page instead of a blank link.

For an alternate way to send cards when this happens, please refer to the copy and paste, or sending with Web TV instructions below.

You don't have to send through TafMaster...there are many other ways to email a page. You can use the copy and paste method. Send through ICQ. Or in the top menu of Explorer browser, click File, Send, then Link by E-mail. This should bring your email up with the link already copied into the body of your email. Also...AOL, WEB TV, and other providers have their own built-in method of emailing links.

How to send through Email (Copy and Paste)

Copy and Paste the Card Address into your Email
Highlight the text in your browser box of the greeting card you want to send. You do this by clicking the left mouse button and dragging the mouse over the text. Then go to EDIT on the top menu bar and scroll down and click on COPY. Open your email. Put your cursor in the body portion of your email and go to EDIT again and click on the PASTE command. Shortcuts to these commands are Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste.

How to send through ICQ

Send a Greeting Card with ICQ
Go to the page you want to send. Click on the name of the person receiving the greeting. Select Web Page Address (URL) from the menu. The URL should automatically be selected, if not use copy and paste. Select Send.

(Optional) Send to multiple people by selecting "More" on URL screen.

How to send through Web TV

Send a Greeting Card with Web TV
Press the Send button while viewing the greeting card. Enter the email of the recipient and select SEND PAGE. To add an additional message with the greeting, select EDIT MESSAGE. The recipient will receive an email with a link to the greeting card address.

Can't hear music

You will be able to enjoy midi music on the cards if your computer has an audio component (sound card) and speakers (with volume on) and are using a web browser that is configured to play MIDI music.

To listen to the MIDI music on these cards you may need to upgrade to the most current browsers as follows:
Netscape Navigator 7.0, available here
Internet Explorer 6.0, available here

In addition to one of the above browsers you will also need a MIDI music plugin. The following free MIDI plugins are recommended:
Netscape and Internet Explorer users: Crescendo 4.0 by LiveUpdate
AOL and Internet Explorer users: Windows Media Player



Useful Resource:
Forum answers newbie questions

If you're looking for a place to ask all those puzzling questions you have, a good place to try is the forum at the Newbie Club.

You can ask a question or browse some of the more than 1,500 messages. Everything is listed by topic, so it's easy to explore and learn.

Topics include web page design, hardware concerns, backing up, browsers, tips and tricks and more.

Tom Glander and Joe Robson, who run the site, say participation in the message board is free and no password is needed.

Newbie Club


Broken Links/Other Concerns/Contact

Please if you find any broken links or images.

Unfortunately I have very limited time to answer the many emails I receive. I believe the greatest service I can provide is to put most of my time into creating and maintaining these cards. I operate this site by myself, so I don't have the support team and resources the large websites have access to. I will continue to provide links to helpful sites to assist you.

If you have any other problems not addressed here you can always visit The Newbie Club for loads of general PC help and information.

On a more personal note...I appreciate all the positive email and testimonials I continue to receive from visitors. I really appreciate them. I do not have a working guestbook, so if you'd like to have your comments posted, please . It's your support and visits that keep this site going! So thanks for visiting and if you can, please support tcastle.com by clicking on the sponsors listed throughout this site so it can remain free!  Thank you =)


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