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General Settings

 

What This Page Does

The Settings Control Center is the central hub where you manage all the core settings for your site. From here, you can set your site name, control how thumbnails look, manage content submissions, configure error pages, and much more. Think of it as the master control panel for everything your site does.

 

Note: Many of the settings on this page directly affect what your visitors see. After making changes, always open your site in a new browser window to make sure everything looks right.

 

[Screenshot: config-setup-main-interface]

How to Get Here

Navigate to Admin Panel > Settings > Settings Control Center

Understanding the Page

When you open the Settings Control Center, you will see a row of tabs across the top of the page. Each tab groups related settings together so you can find what you need quickly.

The Tab Bar

There are seven tabs along the top:

Tab What It Controls
MySQL Setup Database connection, error pages, click protection, and remote thumbnail storage
Site Information Your site name, description, domain, and contact details
Admin Control Image processing, help tooltips, and admin display preferences
Operation Control Content refresh timing, click tracking, proxy detection, and content building
Links & Thumbnails How links are formatted and how thumbnails are created and displayed
Gallery Submit Who can submit content, submission limits, and email notifications
Gallery Scanning Content quality checks, security scanning, and image validation

Click any tab to switch to that section. The active tab is highlighted with a green border at the bottom.

 

Tip: You can bookmark a direct link to a specific tab. For example, if you often visit the Gallery Scanning settings, bookmark the page with #scanning at the end of the web address.

 

The Save Button

At the bottom of the page, you will find the Submit button to save your changes and a Reset button to undo unsaved changes.

Common Tasks

How to Set Up Your Site Name and Details (First-Time Setup)

When you first install ComusThumbz, this is one of the first things you should do.

  1. Click the Site Information tab.
  2. Type your site name in the Site Title field. Keep it under 60 characters. This is what appears in browser tabs and search engine results.
  3. Type a short description of your site in the Site Description field. Keep it between 150 and 160 characters. This is what search engines show below your site name.
  4. Type your domain name in the Domain Name field. Use just the domain without "http://" or "www." -- for example, example.com.
  5. Type your email address in the Admin Email field. This is where system notifications are sent.
  6. Type your name or company name in the Owner Name field.
  7. Click Submit at the bottom of the page.
  8. Open a new private/incognito browser window and visit your site to confirm the title and description appear correctly.

 

Warning: The Domain Name field is used across your entire site to build links. If you enter it incorrectly, links throughout your site will break. Double-check this value carefully.

 

[Screenshot: config-setup-siteinfo-section]

How to Configure Thumbnail Sizes

Thumbnails are the small preview images that appear in grids on your site. Here is how to set their size and quality.

  1. Click the Links & Thumbnails tab.
  2. Scroll down to the Thumbnail Settings section.
  3. Set the Thumbnail Width in pixels (for example, 220).
  4. Set the Thumbnail Height in pixels (for example, 180).
  5. Set the Thumb Quality to a number between 1 and 100. Higher numbers mean better quality but larger file sizes.
  6. Click Submit.

 

Tip: A quality setting between 75 and 85 gives you a good balance between image quality and page loading speed.

 

How to Configure Error Pages

Error pages are where your visitors are sent when something goes wrong. Setting these up properly keeps visitors on your site instead of showing them confusing error messages.

  1. Click the MySQL Setup tab.
  2. Scroll to the Error URLs section.
  3. Fill in each field with a full web address (including https://):
  • Database Error URL -- Where visitors go if the site has a temporary problem. Use a simple "We'll be back soon" page.
  • 404 Error URL -- Where visitors go when they try to reach a page that does not exist.
  • No Cookie Error URL -- Where visitors go if their browser blocks cookies.
  1. Click Submit.

 

Warning: Always include the full web address starting with http:// or https://. If you leave off the prefix, the address will be silently cleared when you save.

 

How to Set Up Click Protection

Click protection prevents automated bots from abusing your site by clicking links too quickly.

  1. Click the MySQL Setup tab.
  2. Scroll to the Click Tracking section.
  3. Set the Click Flood Limit to control how many clicks are allowed before a visitor is temporarily blocked. The default of 180 works well for most sites.
  4. Enter a web address in the Click Flood Error URL field. This is where blocked visitors are sent.
  5. If you want to make sure you or trusted partners are never blocked, add your internet addresses to the Click Flood Whitelist field, separated by commas.
  6. Click Submit.

How to Send Thumbnails to a Remote Server

If you use a separate server or CDN to serve your thumbnail images, you can set up automatic syncing.

  1. Click the MySQL Setup tab.
  2. Scroll to the FTP Settings section.
  3. Set Remote Thumbs to Yes.
  4. Fill in your remote server details:
  • FTP Host -- The address of your remote server
  • FTP Username -- Your login name for the remote server
  • FTP Password -- Your password for the remote server
  • FTP Path -- The folder on the remote server where thumbnails should be stored
  1. Click Submit to save the settings.
  2. Click the SYNC THUMBS button to start uploading.
  3. A progress window appears showing each file being transferred. Wait for it to finish.

 

Warning: After thumbnails are successfully uploaded to your remote server, they are permanently removed from your main server. Make sure your remote server settings are correct before syncing. There is no undo.

 

 

Success: When the sync finishes, you will see a message showing how many files were transferred.

 

[Screenshot: config-setup-ftp-sync-modal]

How to Control Content Submissions

You can control who is allowed to submit content to your site and how often.

  1. Click the Gallery Submit tab.
  2. Under Accept Galleries, choose who can submit:
  • No Submits -- Nobody can submit (useful during maintenance)
  • All -- Anyone can submit
  • Partners Only -- Only approved partners can submit
  • Preferred Only -- Only your VIP submitters can submit
  1. Set the Submit Period to control how many hours a person must wait between submissions.
  2. Set Max Guest Posts to limit how many submissions a non-partner can make per day.
  3. Set Max Partner Posts to limit daily submissions from partners.
  4. Click Submit.

 

Tip: Start with All to accept submissions from everyone. If you start getting spam, switch to Partners Only and turn on Block Auto Submitters for added protection.

 

How to Set Up Content Scanning

Content scanning automatically checks submitted galleries for quality and security before they appear on your site.

  1. Click the Gallery Scanning tab.
  2. Set Scan Submissions to Yes to turn on automatic checking.
  3. Under Script Checks, set these recommended values for safety:
  • Allow Popups -- No
  • Allow Flash -- No
  • Allow IFrames -- No
  1. Under Duplicate & Word Checks:
  • Set Disallow Duplicates to Yes to prevent the same content from being submitted twice.
  • Set Use Blacklist to Yes to block known problem sources.
  1. Under Image Validation, set minimum quality standards:
  • Min Image Points -- Start with 15 (increase for stricter quality)
  • Max Server Ping -- 3000 (blocks very slow servers)
  1. Click Submit.

Settings and Options

Site Information Settings

Setting What It Does Recommended for New Users
Site Title The name of your site shown in browser tabs and search results Keep it under 60 characters with your main keywords
Site Description A short summary shown in search results below your title 150-160 characters that describe your site's purpose
Domain Name Your web address used for building links across the site Just the domain, like example.com
Reciprocal Link The web address partners should link back to Your homepage address including http://
Admin Email Where system messages and notifications are sent Use a monitored email address
Owner Name Your name or company name for communications Appears in automated emails

Thumbnail Settings

Setting What It Does Recommended for New Users
Thumbnail Width Width of preview images in pixels 220 for standard grids
Thumbnail Height Height of preview images in pixels 180 for landscape format
Thumb Quality Image quality from 1 (worst) to 100 (best) 80 for good balance
Auto Thumb Style How images are cropped to fit the thumbnail size Center Crop works well for most content
Censoring Whether explicit thumbnails are hidden or replaced Choose based on your advertising requirements

Submission Control Settings

Setting What It Does Recommended for New Users
Accept Galleries Who is allowed to submit content Start with All, restrict later if needed
Auto Approve Whether submissions go live immediately or wait for review No -- review before publishing
Block Auto Submitters Block automated submission bots Yes
Block Proxy Block submissions from users hiding their identity Yes
Submit Period Hours a person must wait between submissions 24 (once per day)

Operation Settings

Setting What It Does Recommended for New Users
Refresh Hour The hour of day (0-23) when daily stats reset 0 for midnight
Refresh Period Minutes between automatic content refreshes 60 for hourly updates
Count Clicks Track clicks on outbound links for statistics Yes
Hack Protection Block suspicious-looking requests automatically Yes
Gallery Framing Show galleries inside your site's template Yes to keep visitors on your site

Admin Control Settings

Setting What It Does Recommended for New Users
Help System Show help tooltips next to settings throughout the admin panel On while you are learning
Security Alerts Show warnings about security issues in the admin panel On
User Mode Simplified or full admin interface Start with Basic, switch to Advanced when comfortable

Tips for New Users

 

Tip:
  • Save often. After changing a few settings, click Submit before moving to another tab. If something goes wrong, you will know which change caused the issue.
  • Test after every change. Open your site in an incognito window after saving to see how your changes look to visitors.
  • Start simple. You do not need to fill in every setting right away. Begin with the Site Information tab, then set up thumbnails, and adjust other settings as needed.
  • Use the Help System. Turn on the Help System in the Admin Control tab. Helpful tooltips will appear next to each setting to explain what it does.
  • Keep notes. Before changing a setting, write down what it was set to previously. This makes it easy to undo if something breaks.

 

Troubleshooting

You see "Access for this address is banned"

What you see: A message saying your address is banned when you try to open the Settings Control Center.

How to fix it: Your internet address needs to be added to the access list. Contact the person who installed ComusThumbz or your hosting support team to add your address to the allowed list.

Settings are not saving

What you see: You click Submit but your changes do not stick, or you see an error about a token.

How to fix it:

  1. Refresh the page completely by pressing Ctrl+F5 (or Cmd+Shift+R on Mac).
  2. Make your changes again.
  3. Click Submit.
  4. Avoid using the browser back button after saving -- always navigate forward.

 

 

Note: If you have the same page open in two browser tabs, saving in one tab may cause the other to fail. Close the extra tab and refresh.

 

A web address field keeps going blank after saving

What you see: You enter a web address into a field like the Click Flood Error URL, but after saving it is empty.

How to fix it: Make sure you include the full address starting with http:// or https://. Addresses without this prefix are not accepted.

Thumbnail sync fails

What you see: You click SYNC THUMBS and see an error message in the progress window.

How to fix it:

  1. Double-check that your FTP Host, FTP Username, and FTP Password are correct.
  2. Make sure the FTP Path folder exists on your remote server.
  3. Save your FTP settings by clicking Submit before clicking SYNC THUMBS.
  4. If you continue to have problems, contact your remote server provider to confirm your login details.

 

Thumbnails are missing after a sync

What you see: You ran a thumbnail sync and now some thumbnails are not showing.

How to fix it: This is expected behavior. After a successful sync, thumbnail files are moved to your remote server and removed from the main server. If your remote server settings are correct, the thumbnails should load from the remote server. If they are not loading, check that your remote server is accessible and the files were transferred successfully.

Your site looks broken after changing settings

What you see: Pages look different, links do not work, or images are missing after you saved changes.

How to fix it:

  1. Go back to the Settings Control Center.
  2. Check the Domain Name field on the Site Information tab. Make sure it matches your actual domain exactly (without http:// or www.).
  3. Check the Thumbnail Width and Thumbnail Height on the Links & Thumbnails tab. Make sure they are reasonable numbers (not zero or extremely large).
  4. If you cannot figure out which setting caused the problem, contact support with a description of what you changed.

 

Page When to Use It
Dashboard To see an overview of your site's activity and status
Blacklist Manager To manage the list of blocked domains and web addresses used by content scanning
Database Manager If you need to look at or fix data directly (advanced users only)

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