Using the Website

1. Browsing the library

To browse our library, follow these steps:

• Go to the browse page. The same link is present on top of each page on our website.
• The newest 50 items in our library catalog will be displayed. Click on the title or cover of any book to open that book's details page. Click on the name of any author to view that author's details page.
• If you want to display more or less results on the page, enter the number of items you want to see in one page in the input field named: Records per page, then click Generate.

2. Searching the library

To search for a specific title or an author in our library, follow these steps:

• Go to the search page. The same link is present on top of each page on our website.
• In the Search for field, enter the name of the author or book you want to search for.
• You can refine your search by restricting search to the name of the author, title of book, or summary of book. You can also restrict the search to books in certain languages. You can search for books in a specific domain if you know the category of the book you are searching for.
• By default, your search will return at most 50 results per page. If you want to see more (or less) results per page, change the Results per page field to indicate the number you want.
• Click on the Search button to perform the search.

3. Logging in to your account

If you have an account on Layla Cultural Platform, you can log in as follows:

• Go to the login page. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• Enter your username and password.
• Click Login.
• After you are successfully logged in, the Login link on top of each page will be substituted with Logout and your username. If you click on the Logout link you will be logged out.
• Remember always to log out the session before you leave the site!

4. Signing up for a new account

If you don't have an account on Layla Cultural Platform, you can create an account as follows:

• Go to the signup page.
• Enter your username, password, and email address.
• Click Signup.
• We need a unique username in order to identify each member of our network as a different person. We also need a unique email ID so that we can communicate with you and send you email notifications of new books and events (you can change your preferences later).
• Usernames and Passwords must be between 6 and 20 characters in length
• If you provided a unique username and password, you will be registered on the system.
• You can now login to your account.

5. Changing your account password

To change the password you use to login:

• You need to be logged in to your account. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• After login, you will automatically be redirected to your User Home page.
• A summary of your account will be displayed, including your username and email.
• Next to the Password field, you will find 4 stars in place of your password. Don't worry, they are just a placeholder, this is not your actual password. click on the Change button right next to those 4 stars.
• You will be prompted to enter a new password twice. Both fields must contain the exact same password. Passwords must be between 6 and 20 characters in length.
• Click on the Change button.

6. Changing your system notifications

We contact you regularly to notify you of new books that we add to the library, new or blog entries, and any major event we think you would be interested in knowing. You can change how and when we notify you by following these steps:

• You need to be logged in to your account. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• After login, you will automatically be redirected to your User Home page.
• A summary of your account will be displayed, including two fields: Notify me about, and Method of notification.
• The Notify me about field determins what types of events you want us to notify you about. You can choose one of three options:
  1. All events and new books: you will receive notifications about all new books and other events on the platform.
  2. Only about authors I am following: you will receive notifications about new books and events concerning only the authors you are following.
  3. Do not send me any notifications: you opt not to receive notifications about any events or book additions. You may still receive emails and notifications about major events that we think it is mandatory you know about them.
• The Method of notification field tells us how you want us to deliver notifications to you. Unless you choose not to send you notifications in the Notify me about field, the options in this field are:
  1. Send me emails and messages through my inbox: you will receive notifications through your registered email, and a message will be deposited in your message mailbox.
  2. Send me emails only: you will receive notifications through your registered email, no message will be deposited in your message mailbox.
  3. Send me messages through my inbox: you will receive notifications through a message deposited in your message mailbox, no email will be sent to you.
• If you make any changes to the above two fields, you can save the changes by clicking on Save Changes. This has nothing to do with your password. If you want to change your password, see section 5 above.

7. Registering as an Author

Not all members are authors. When you first create an account with us, you are registered as a regular member. You can do everything a member can do, except publishing books. If you want to publish books with us, you will need to register yourself as an author. In order to register as an author:

• You need to be logged in to your account. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• After login, you will automatically be redirected to your User Home page.
• In the menu on top of the page, select User Home, then click on Author Hub.
• You will be presented with a message telling you that you are not a registered author. You will also see a link to register yourself as an author. Click on that link.
• Fill in the fields with your personal data, then click Register.
• You will be registered on the system as an author, and you will be given an Author ID to distinguish you from other authors on the system.

8. Using your Author Hub

As an author, you will be spending most of your time on your Author Hub. The Author Hub is the central place where you publish your books, manage your published books, broadcast a message to your followers, and much more.
Here is what you can do in your Author Hub:

• You need to be logged in to your account. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• After login, you will automatically be redirected to your User Home page.
• From the menu, click on User Home, and then click on Author Hub.
• A summary of your author account will be displayed, including your name, date of birth, nationality, and Author ID. The Author ID is a unique number issued to every author registered on the system.
• The list will show you the books you have published with us. Click on any of them to open the book's page.
• Under Actions field, you will see some of the actions you can perform as an author:
  1. Broadcast a message to my followers: You have no control over who follows you, but you can send a message to all your followers. This is called a broadcast message.
  2. Publish a new book: You can publish a new book by following the How to Publish with Us guide.
  3. Unpublish a published book: This option will be shown only if you have book(s) published with us.
  4. Upload new version of a book: This option will be shown only if you have book(s) published with us.
• The Followers field will show you how many users are following you on Layla Cultural Platform.

9. Using the Download Queue

We know that you probably have more than one device, and that you want to read your books on all of them. This is why we provided to you the Download Queue. The idea is simple: when you are browsing the library and you find a book you want to download, you click on the link on the side of the page that says: Get the Book. What happens next is that we add the book to your Download Queue. Later on, you can log in from any mobile or tablet and choose to download the books in your Download Queue to that device. You can repeat this process as many times as you want, on any number of devices.
To see what books are in your Download Queue, and to remove books from your Download Queue, follow these steps:

• You need to be logged in to your account. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• After login, you will automatically be redirected to your User Home page.
• In the menu on top of the page, select User Home, then click on Download Queue.
• The books in your Download Queue will be presented in a list, with a checkbox on the side of each book title.
• To remove a book from the Download Queue, uncheck the checkbox next to it.
• After you finish unchecking the books you want to remove from your Download Queue, click on Update.

10. Using the Mailbox

As a member, you can send a message to any registered author on the platform. When they respond to your message, they will send you the response in your message inbox. You can reply to their response, and so on.
As an author, you receive messages from your followers and other members of the platform. You can read those messages and reply to them from your message mailbox.
As such, there are two types of message mailboxes on our platform:

• Author mailbox
• Member mailbox

The member mailbox is accessible to any registered member. The author mailbox, on the other hand, is accessible only to registered authors. If you want to know how to register yourself as an author, refer to section 7 above.
To access your mailbox(es), follow these steps:

• You need to be logged in to your account. If you are not already logged in, the link will be present on top of the page.
• After login, you will automatically be redirected to your User Home page.
• In the menu on top of the page, select User Home, then click on Message mailbox.
• If you are not a registered author, you will be taken directly to your mailbox. If you are a registered author, you will be presented with a page that gives you the option to open either the member or the author mailbox. Select the one you want to open and click Continue to mailbox.
• The mailbox shows all the messages sent to you, as well as the messages you sent to others. A small red arrow on the left-hand side of a message means the message is incoming (i.e. you are the receiver), and a small green arrow means the message is outgoing (i.e. you are the sender).
• You can select one or more messages by checking on the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each message. If you check the checkbox at the header, it will check all the messages. You can then click on Delete selected to delete those messages from your mailbox.
• To open and read a message, click on any field (e.g. From/To, Subject, Date) and it will open. If the message is incoming (i.e. you are the receiver), a Reply link will be shown so you can reply to the sender. A Delete link will also be shown so you can remove the message from your mailbox.