FAQ: Jamroom Operation Related Questions
- I have set the Jamroom Signup System to not require Admin Validation, yet "Pending Users" still shows in my Control Panel - Why?
- How do I link User accounts for individual band members to an Artist account?
- How can I allow my users to embed links to YouTube videos in their profile pages?
- My IP Address has changed and I can no longer log in as the Master Admin - what can I do?
- What is the difference between the Jamroom Store and the Jamroom Vault?
- I have installed Jamroom 3.1, but I don't see options for customizing my profile pages?
- My Songs and Videos are set to "streaming only" yet I can still see the Download button - why is that?
- I am using the Jamroom Payment Pack - why can't the song I upload in the Vault be streamed or previewed?
- I have installed the Power Pack and my skin/theme supports flash players, but my media items (songs, videos, etc.) are not using them - why is that?
- A user has purchased a media item in the Jamroom Vault, but the file they purchased is not showing in their "My Files" link in their control panel - why isn't it showing up?
I have set the Jamroom Signup System to not require Admin Validation, yet "Pending Users" still shows in my Control Panel - Why?
This is normal, and the Jamroom Signup System is functioning as it should. The Pending Users link will automatically show up in your Master Admin Control Panel whenever anyone has signed up for your system, even if the "Artist Admin Validation" and/or "Member Admin Validation" settings in your Jamroom Config -> Signup Settings section are set to "yes":
Jamroom functions this way for a few reasons:
- It gives the Master Admin the ability to see what users have just signed up, and which users have yet to perform self validation.
- It allows the Master Admin to manually validate any user that might not receive their validation e-mail.
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Tip: If you have set the "Artist Admin Validation" and/or "Member Admin Validation" settings in your Jamroom Config -> Signup Settings section to "no", then seeing a user in your "Pending Users" section does not mean you must manually validate that user - it just means the user has not responded to their validation email yet. |
How do I link User accounts for individual band members to an Artist account?
First you need an Artist account for the band. If you create this yourself when logged in as Admin there will be no associated Users. However, if the Artist account has been created via the signup form there will already be a User account linked to the Artist.
Creating new linked User Accounts
To create additional new User accounts, for example when the drummer, Manager, etc. needs to be added to an existing Artist Profile:
Admin > Create User > select Create A New User Account Linked to Artist Profile(s)
Continue creating the User, selecting which Artist to link the new User to. The new User will then appear in the Members box in the side menu of the Artist site, alongside the existing Artist user. The drummer or manager will be able to log in and alter the Artist profile, create blog items and events, upload songs and photos, and generally contribute to the Artist site.
Linking an existing Artist User
To link an existing Artist User to an Artist account (they must be an artist user rather than a member user) go to Modify User, select the user and proceed to the Modify User page. Scroll down and click Assign Artist Profiles to this User Account. You get the Assign Accounts popup window. Add the artist account you want to link the User to. Then click the Save and Close button (top right). Ensure that you then scroll down the Modify User Account page which the popup opened from and click the Update User button to save the changes.
Note: Clicking the Save and Close button in the popup window does not commit the changes, you must Update User as well.
Delete the old Artist account
If the drummer had already signed up as an Artist, once you have linked them to the correct Artist you may want to delete the Artist account that was created when they signed up. To do this go to
Admin > Artist Menu > Delete Artist, choose the unwanted Artist account and delete, but do not select to delete the User in the Delete Artist Users section.
Linking an existing Member User<
If the drummer has already signed up but via the Member signup form rather than as an Artist, you will need to convert them to Artist User status before linking them to their band.
Admin menu > modify user > choose your user > Convert to Artist User Account. Note that this also works the other way around, you can convert an Artist User to a Member User from here as well.
Listing Band Members in the Artists Profile
If you do not need multiple Users in your Artist account, but want to list individual band members in the Artist pages this FAQ may provide a simpler solution.
How can I configure Jamroom to allow YouTube videos to be embedded in the artist profile pages?
Jamroom can easily be configured to allow your users to "embed" YouTube® (and other embeddable online media) directly into their profile pages:
- First, decide which Jamroom Quota(s) will have the ability to embed the videos (or other external media).
- Next, go into the Admin Menu → Browse Quotas → "Modify" the Jamroom Quota you would like to add this ability to.
- Click on the "Extra Features" tab in the Jamroom Quota Config, and make the following configuration changes:
- Make sure the "Allow HTML" setting is set to "yes"
- Make sure the "Allowed HTML Tags" includes the following additional tags:
param|embed
- Make sure the "Allow Editor" is set to "no" - currently the ability to embed external <object> and <param> tags into artist fields will not work if the HTML Editor is turned on.
- Save your Changes to the Jamroom Quota
That's it - your artist's will now be able to embed YouTube® videos into any textarea entry box that allows HTML (Jamroom tells you to the left of the form fields which fields accept HTML).
My IP Address has changed and I can no longer log in as the Master Admin - what can I do?
Jamroom has the ability to make it so the Master Admin can only log in if coming from an "Allowed IP Address". If you have configured this option in the Jamroom Config -> System Settings section, and now your IP Address has changed, you can reset the Admin Allowed IPs using this procedure:
- Within your Jamroom directory, you will find a file called "settings.zip". Download this file using FTP to your local PC.
- Unzip this file - you will see that it contains 2 files - a readme text file and a file called "settings.php"
- Upload the settings.php file to your web server, and place it in your Jamroom directory.
- Load the settings.php file in your browser - i.e:
http://example.com/jamroom/settings.php.
- When you see the new settings for, make sure and place a check in the box "Reset Admin Allowed IPs" and press submit. This will reset the Admin Allowed IPs setting, and you should now be able to log in again.
What is the difference between the Jamroom Store and the Jamroom Vault?
- The Jamroom Store, which is part of the Jamroom Core, allows your artist profiles to sell "physical" items, such as T-Shirts, CD's, etc - it does not allow the user to sell "digital" items (such as an MP3 download). It is a very simple store - each item is created as a "Buy Now" PayPal button, that when clicked on by a visitor will redirect the visitor to PayPal so they can make payment. There is no shopping cart support, and the email address that the payment is sent to is the email address that the artist enters into the form when they create or modify the item for sale.
- The Jamroom Vault (which is part of the Jamroom Payment Pack add-on) allows your artist profiles to sell digital items - i.e. MP3 files, video files, photos, - anything. Jamroom supports dozens of file extension types. This is integrated with a Jamroom shopping cart, so visitors to your Jamroom can select multiple digital items they want to purchase, then "checkout". These items are not available to users until they purchase them, and the PayPal transaction is sent to the Jamroom site owner instead, who can then distribute funds to the artist profiles on a scheduled basis with Jamroom's assistance.
I have installed Jamroom 3.1, but I don't see options for customizing my profile pages?
With the release of Jamroom 3.1, a new module is available that allows your Users to "customize" their artist or member profile page. In order for this feature to work, the Profile Theme must support the option by having a special config file (called "config_css.cfg") that tells Jamroom which section of the profile template can be customized. Without this file, which is located in the Profile Theme directory (i.e. jamroom/themes/Sage), the Profile Theme cannot be customized, and the "Customize Your Site" option will not show on the Artist and Member Menu.
With the release of Jamroom 3.1, the "Sage" and "Cobalt3" themes that come standard with the Jamroom Core suport full profile customizations. If you are using a 3rd party theme, you will need to contact your theme designer and ask about an update to your theme that will support customizations, or ask them to assist you in adding it to your Profile theme.
My Songs and Videos are set to "streaming only" yet I can still see the Download button - why is that?
If you are logged in as the Jamroom Master Admin, and you view a Profile page, you will always be able to see the Download Button, since the Jamroom Master Admin can always download a media item regardless of the Media's setting in the Jamroom Quota or the actual media item page itself.
I am using the Jamroom Payment Pack - why can't the song I upload in the Vault be streamed or previewed?
This is a frequent question for users that have just recently installed the Jamroom Payment Pack, or are not familiar with how the Jamroom Payment Pack operates. Jamroom requires that the file that is going to be "sold" be uploaded separately into the Jamroom Vault (you will see the Vault File form at the bottom of the Create Song form, for example). This is done for security reasons - if you were to allow a User to "preview", or stream the Vault file, then it can be stolen! This is because no streaming technology (even DRM enabled audio files) are SAFE to allow streaming, as they can stolen by anyone that understands how streaming technology works. Since Jamroom needs to protect your Vault files from being download and taken without being paid for, Jamroom does not allow streaming or download directly from the Vault without the user first paying for the Vault item.
If your goal is to make it as easy as possible for your users to upload media files for sale, it is recommended that you set your Jamroom Artist Quota(s) with the following configuration:
- (Payments tab) Allow Digital Sales - set to "yes"
- (Payments tab) Show Media In Vault - set to "no"
- (Media Support tab) Show LOFI Audio - set to "no"
What this will do is prevent the LOFI Audio file section from showing on the Create/Modify Song form. Instead, your users will upload a HIFI version of the audio file, which will become the "streamable" and "previewable" version of the Audio File, and then they will upload the version of the audio file that they want to sell as the VAULT FILE.
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Tip: If you are looking at how to sell the most audio files you can from your Jamroom Vault, there are some things we have learned from working with hundreds of sites that are doing online Digital Sales, and here is our recommendations:
- Give your purchasers great value for their money. This means that the Audio File that is being purchased MUST be a very high quality audio file - not a 128kbps MP3 file. Sell a 320kbps MP3, or a WAV File - something that is higher quality then the user can get on iTunes or Yahoo Music. As an independent site, you'll need to use quality and service to your advantage.
- Consider setting up a full subscription service instead of trying to sell downloads a single track at a time. A Subscription based site can allow your subscribers full access to songs if they are a member, but only have a 30 second preview if they are not a member.
- Avoid using any type of DRM. While it may seem counter-intuitive to allow your users to download high quality DRM free tracks, many studies have pointed out that this is what users want - they want to be able to transfer the files between their iPod and their computer without any hassle. While it may be enticing to use DRM to have more "control" over the user in regards to their use of the audio file, as an independent site, using non-DRM encumbered audio files can be a big selling point, so use that to your advantage.
Of course these are just some recommendations to think about, and we're here to assist you in setting up your Jamroom any way you would like. Make sure and stop by the Jamroom User Support forum if you have any questions or are looking for ideas on how to improve your site. |
I have installed the Power Pack and my skin/theme supports flash players, but my media items (songs, videos, etc.) are not using them - why is that?
This is a frequent question for users that have just recently installed the Jamroom Power Pack and are not seeing their media items being played in the Flash players provided with the Power Pack. Most often, the reason behind this is that the type of media item being played is not the correct filetype. Flash only supports streaming .mp3 audio files and .flv video files. This is a limitation of Flash itself, not Jamroom. If you would like other media to be streamed from on-site players, you might look into using a {jr_windows_media_player} or {jr_quicktime_player} Smarty template function.
A user has purchased a media item in the Jamroom Vault, but the file they purchased is not showing in their "My Files" link in their control panel - why isn't it showing up?
This is a frequent question for users that have just recently installed the Jamroom Payment Pack and are not seeing purchased media files in the "My Files" section of their control panel. First, make sure that your Jamroom can connect to your payment processor by going to the jamroom config > Payment Settings screen, and clicking the "Test Connection" button next to your payment processor. If the test returns "Success," make sure that the payment has "cleared" (or been approved/completed) in your payment processor (NOTE: if you are using the "sandbox" mode for testing a payment processor, you may need to "manually" approve the payment inside your payment processor). If the payment has been completed, but the file is still not showing in the "My Files" page, check your transaction log to see if there are any relevant errors regarding the purchase (jamroom config > Admin Browser > Payments Tab OR jamroom config > Payment Settings > (Payment Processor) Transaction Log).
Jamroom admins can also manually grant users access to a specific vault file by going to the Modify User screen in the Master Admin control panel, selecting the user to grant access to the vault item to, and then clicking the "Vault Item Manager" button to manage that user's vault items.
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