Help

Help With ZCom, ZNet, etc.

What Is Z Communications

"I have heard of Z Magazine and ZNet, but what, for Che’s sake, is ZCom?"

Z Communications is the name for the overarching entity including Z Magazine, ZNet, Z Media Institution, Z Video Productions, and Z Education Online.

We try to anticipate problems, below…but you can always write us for assistance, too.

Contact Us for Query or Submission

"Can I contact a human, a real live one, for direct help? And how do I submit content?"

Our email contact links are available at the Z Contact Page.
Email is by far the best way to reach us.

In the event of an emergency – though, in fact, email often reaches us quicker, you can call 508-548-9063. We try to put someone who is alive on the line with folks.

You submit content for possible display simply by emailing it to us. You can send to either:

[email protected]

or at:

[email protected]

Member Help

"There are places I can’t access, how come? Is this exclusivity? Is it private property? What is it and what do I do to get access?"

Using the site you may indeed notice that some areas are "off limits" for you. Beyond the conmpletely public main site that everyone can access with no conditions, this may occur for the forums, blogs, commenting, ZSpace, and diverse other areas as well. To be able to see content in any and all of these areas you need only sign up as a Z Member – which entails only a couple of minutes filling in an online form. It costs nothing. You can do it at our Sign In Page. We do this because we want to build community, we want you to have a ZSpace page, and we want to be able to contact you in the event of any problems, not to mention sending you weekly updates.

Once you are a Z Member, free though it is, you receive email updates about once a week, have access to forums, blogs, etc., and even get your own ZSpace page where you can enter your biography, your preferences about books, a photo, etc., and enjoy some other basic options as well.

To get more options, however, such as having your own blog, being able to post in all forums, being able to comment throughout the site, receiving nightly email commentaries, having full access to Z Magazine online, uploading your writing, photos, and even videos to your ZSpace page, enjoying steep discounts in the Z store, and much else as well, you would have to become a Sustainer – (see more below).

Sustainer Philosophical and Motivational Help

"What is this about being a Sustainer? Why give money to a web site?"

Sustainers are regular users who give Z a periodic donation and who get, for their support, various premiums. It is a little like donating to public radio, except you get more, and, well, we are way cooler, not to mention more radical. Sustainers, the short answer is, are what makes ZCom and all its parts, possible.

When you sign up as a Sustainer, you indicate the amount you wish to donate, how often, and by what payment means. Once you do that, you are not only a member (see above), but also a Sustainer, and any time thereafter you can alter your Sustainer information and do many other things with your ZSpace page, your blog, and so on.

The reasons to become a Sustainer are: (a) to help us survive and grow, and (b) because you get back some remarkable and otherwise more costly benefits as premiums showing our appreciation.

It is hard to anticipate types of problems a Sustainer may need help with, but below we give it a try…

Sustainer Account Help

"How do my donations work and what are my options?"

You make your donations via online forms through your Sustainer/ZSpace account page. You can do this by credit card, paypal, or even online check payment. The system charges your donation amount on the schedule you indicate.

You choose among donating monthly, quarterly, or annually. And you choose the amount, in light of your desires to help, your means, and the benefits we offer as premiums. You can change any aspect at any time.

Blog Help

"I have my own blog. Hooray. Now what?"

Now you log into your account, linked from the top of all pages. The blog interface can be found under the top tab menu titled "ZNet Content." Once there you will find instructions on how to upload and handle your ZNet content, including blogs! After reading the brief orientation there, go to the left menu and scroll down till you see the section labelled "Blog Posts." Click on "New Blog Post" and away you go! Your blogs will appear on your ZSpace page as well as on the Sustainers blog page.

Forum Help

What are the forums and how do I use them? For that matter, why do I use them?

 

The forums are a place where you can interact more directly with other Sustainers, ZWriters, as well as seek and exchange help, information, and skills with other forum goers. There are also numerous forums to ask about Z, Z policy, guidelines, problems with the site, and just about anything else.

RSS Help

"What is RSS? How do I indicate what I wish to receive?"

RSS feature coming soon…

Video Help

"You aren’t a multinational are you? Can I really upload videos? How can you support that? And how do I do it?"

Hardly a multinational, but more appropriately, an international of folks committed to changing the world. And we have videos from all over the globe both produced by the ZVideo project as well as uploaded by ZNet staff for ZNet video, and additionally uploaded by Z Sustainers using ZSpace. To upload video, you must be signed up as a sustainer. Once you have an account, read the instructions found under the top tab labelled "ZNet Content." There will find instructions for how to upload, view, and edit all your ZNet content — including video.

General Navigation Help

"What is all this high tech razmatazz about? Can I get rid of it?"

Z does indeed have some pretty fancy tech tools, so to speak. The tabbed menu has a submenu, below, that highlights subparts of main areas you might wish to access directly. But – yes – you can turn off the submenu so it disappears, by using the red up arrow on the tab menu itself. Should you want to put it back – we recommend doing so – you use the up green arrow.

The left hand menus also in many cases have a techie feature. You roll over the categories to see the list of availabel selections. You can click any to go directly to the associated page. But you can also, when what we call "roll on" is the condition, just roll your cursur over any item to see the display area change in accord. Try it, you will see how it works. Again recommend leaving roll on the condtiion, but, if you prefer, you can toggle, at least some of these menus, to be roll off. Try it, you will see.

As far as getting around, the site is gargantuan but we have populated these tabbed menus and left hand menus in such a way that from pretty much any page you get to pretty much any other page in two clicks at most – or that was the plan, at any rate.

Political and Material Help

"What if I have a political, economiic, or social question? How do I get answers? "

The site is a vast repository of information. For help with ideas, vision, etc. etc. you can use Watch Pages, Instructionals, Reading Lists, and of course you can always use the search system.

You can also ask questions in a forum.

If all that doesn’t work, well, you can resort to an online course….

ZMutual Aid

"Is this a community? If so, can I find places to stay when travelling, get advice for my life and actions, look for jobs, and so on?"

We have made special use of the forum system – creating a whole group of forums especially earmarked for Sustainers to post queries, requests, and offers to one another – about everything from ideas to driving partners, housing, and really anything you want. So this is the way to get such aid…

ZStore Help

"You got a store, I hear. What can I buy and how can I buy it? I am a good lefty, can I get a discount?"

Yup, we got a store… Linked from the left, and the top tab menu above. There you will find many offerings produced by Z, featuring many Z contributors, including videos, subscriptions to ZMagazine, ZBooks (coming soon), as well as all kinds of other paraphernalia. We do have discount prices which come with various levels of sustainer donations — for instance we offer 20%, 30%, and 50% discounts, and even a whopping $200 of free store products each year to sustainers at various levels. To find out more about discounts and sustainer levels go to our sign up page.

ZSearch Help

"I’m lost. Well, no, I lost something and I want to find it. Or maybe its that there is something I want to find, and I don’t even know what it is. Help?"

Well then, it seem the ZSearch page is the place for you! All over the site you will find an easily accessible search field toward the top of most ZCom pages. However, the ZSearch page is special in that you can search any and all content types, places, topics, ZWriters, Guest Writers, words and phrases – singularly or in any combination. All you have to do is select those areas you want to search, and click the search button on the bottom of the page.

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Institute for Social and Cultural Communications, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Our EIN# is #22-2959506. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

We do not accept funding from advertising or corporate sponsors.  We rely on donors like you to do our work.

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