Listing/Link Guidelines

ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES

Enter name, not username of desired "contact person" to insure all email is correctly addressed (directed) to the party responsible for communicating with, and receiving notices from, BizBlack.info.
Links to website (or webpage) of listing business, organization or professional only. No links to parent company corporate sites or third-party (3rd) directory listings.
Absolutely no profanity.
No attacks on, or criticism of, competitors.

IMAGE GUIDELINES

ALL IMAGE LINKS:

All link images must be in GIF, PNG, or JPG formats.
Image text may contain entity name, locality, or slogan only.
Absolutely no telephone nos. and addresses on links.
Images must be clear, ledgible and easibly read.
Images must be a minimum of 100 DPI.

SIDEBAR IMAGE LINKS:

Must be 139 pixels wide, with a maximum height 75 pixels.
Maximum file size 10K.

FRONT PAGE & CATEGORY IMAGE LINKS:

Link dimensions 125 x 165 pixels.
Maximum file size 12K.

Creating an image for use on our site is not nearly as hard as you might think. Most of you already have a photo/image editing program loaded on your computers and/or use a Microsoft operating system (Windows 2000, XP, Vista,7,8 etc.) which includes Windows Paint, an image editing program. That's all your link is, a small picture. The following instructions will show you how to create your link image.

CREATING 125 x 165 PIXEL IMAGE LINKS
Please read all steps before starting!!

STEP 1:
Create a holding folder (on your hard drive or elsewhere) for saving all files (art, text, etc.) used in creating the your image. Open Windows Explorer (Start>All Programs>Accessories>Windows Explorer) and click My Documents. Now click File>Open>New Folder. A "New Folder" will open within the My Documents folder. Type in a name for this folder, i.e., "Holding". You may now close Windows Explorer.

STEP 2:
Decide what you want your link image to contain. Your logo, if you have one on your site, may be a readily adaptable image. A web search for "free clip art" will identify numerous sites containing free images you might use. Look at link images on www.BizBlack.info for layout ideas. Save any art you select in the holding folder created in Step 1.

Be sure to review the "Link Guidelines" above. We don't want you wasting time creating an image that does not meet our guidelines.

STEP 3:
Click here for good instructions on using Windows Paint or Irfanview, a good photo-editing program you can download free. Use the editing program to create and save (File>Save) the 125 x 165 pixcels background frame (name this file "Background") and then edit the content files saved in your holding folder (resize, etc.) Remember, all elements must fit within "Background" frame) you saved earlier. Save (File>Save As...) the edited version(s) of the elements, adding a numeral or a letter to the filename(s) so you can distinguish them from the original art/image.

STEP 4:
Now you are ready to combine everything and create your link image. In your editing program, open (File>Open...) your background frame file (in your holding folder). Now, click Edit>Paste From... and click on the art, image, or text file you want to import onto your background frame. You will be able to position and re-size further the imported element until you repeat the import process (Edit>Paste From...) for additional elements. NOTE!! Don't panic if you need to adjust the sizing and/or position of an element after adding another. You do not have to start over. Just backtrack to the element you need to adjust by clicking Edit>Undo until you are back to the element you need to adjust.

STEP 5:
Once you have finished, save (File>Save As...) your your image link in its final form. Name this file by your entity name with no spaces in the name, i.e, "XYZ_Co.jpg".

STEP 6:
To upload the image while submitting a selected link or listing, click here. Complete the form and submit your request. Fill in all the requested information. Click the "Browse" button on the form and use the dialog which appears to attach your final image file to the form.