NOTES ABOUT DOWNLOADING YOUR NEW ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS
NOTE: If you have problems with your downloads, don't worry. I have a way of resetting them if necessary.
Once your order is complete, you will have unlimited access to your download links within an 8 day window. It will be best to plan on downloading your electronic items as soon as you receive the link to do so. Many of you will have experience with downloading files to your devices and will have a good idea whether all these steps are necessary (for example, my test download of the 112 Mb MP4 file took just a few seconds with multiple other browser windows open). Others of you who are less familiar with downloads or who have older devices or slow internet service will benefit from these suggestions. To be fully prepared please read through this long winded missive and pick out the steps that make the most sense for your situation.
1. Be sure that the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on each device you plan to use. If you don't have it already, go ahead and download the latest version of Adobe reader.
2. Have all the devices on hand onto which you want to load the files for either viewing or back-up purposes (such as your iPad, android tablet, computer, smartphone, flash drive, etc.). Note that it can be tricky to transfer files to and from an iPad to another device, however it CAN be done. To transfer PDF files from a computer to an iPad see this link. There are several apps that allow for file transfer (Celeste 2 being one of these), but I haven’t vetted any of them to know for sure if they are safe to use on your devices. One of these is available in the Apple Store so I think that one is pretty safe. Check it out at this link: fileapp.com.
3. If you are only ordering digital products, choose a day and time that you can be at your computer to monitor the downloads. You will be downloading one or more large files. Do not attempt this when a storm or other potentially disruptive event is anticipated that may interfere with your power supply or Internet connection. If downloading to a mobile device or a laptop computer, make sure the battery is fully charged and preferably plugged in.
After you place your order. Here is what happens, depending upon what you order:
E-book and/or software download access: If you ordered electronic items, you will receive a confirmation email from Labrys Press with the subject line: "Your download is ready!" shortly after placing your order. If you also ordered physical items, you will receive a separate confirmation email.
4. Once you get your download link you have access to it for 8 days from the date of purchase. During those days, you will have unlimited access to the file, so if an attempt fails, just try again. You are allowed to load your e-books onto two devices for viewing and save a copy as a back-up. You can load your software on up to 4 devices (laptop and desktop computers, one mobile phone and one tablet).
5. Most of these files are quite large and may take a few minutes to download. How quickly this actually occurs will depend on the quality of your internet connection; the Internet “traffic” on your service in general; the internet "traffic" in your home or office; your modem and other hardware, and a number of other factors. To maximize the chance of a hassle-free download experience:
A. Use either Chrome, Firefox or Safari for your browser as these are most compatible
with my shopping cart. Do not use Internet Explorer or Edge.
B. Erase your browser history and cookies. (If you don’t know how, in Google enter the
name of your browser and then "how to erase browser history and cookies").
C. Discontinue all other household use of your internet service during the download
(WiFi, smartphones, tablets, Roku, etc.).
D. Adjust the settings on your computer so that the display and the computer will stay
fully functional during the downloads (no monitor screen saving or going to sleep,
etc.).
E. Go to your email with the file links from my shopping cart and download the files.
6. My Shopping Cart does not have a progress bar to show you what is happening during the download process, however all the recommended browsers do have such an indicator. Monitoring your download will prevent you from accidentally interrupting it before it is finished. Below are notes on how these tools work in either Firefox, Chrome of Safari. All have some sort of basic download manager and most seem to have add-on apps that offer a more full-featured download manager. If you have never worked with these features, I recommend attempting to download something to experiment with the basic tools first, and then install the add-on app if the basic tool does not work to your satisfaction. I have personally found the basic tools more than adequate.
Firefox: Firefox appears to be very compatible with my shopping cart and I recommend trying it first. In the upper right-hand corner of the browser window, there are a series of icons. The one on the far left of the row is a large down-arrow. This is the download icon. It will turn from dark grey to green as a download progresses and the green color will rise up the arrow as the download progresses. Once the most recent download is complete, the arrow turns blue. During download, you can also click on this arrow and see the name of the file and a horizontal progress bar as well as a megabyte-by-megabyte progress indicator. This tool will let you know if the download was successful and if it wasn’t it will say “download failed.” When the download has finished you can click on this arrow and a list will pop-up showing your most recent download details such as the name and size of the file, the source of the file and the date of the download. To the far right of each line, you will find a black folder icon that will take you to the folder where the file is stored. At the bottom of this window, you will also see a message that says “show all downloads,” which allows you to see all the downloads you have performed, except any you may have deleted from your history. For a more full-featured download manager for Firefox go to this link.
Chrome (Google browser): When you click on the download link, a gray bar will appear along the bottom border of the browser window. The name of the file will appear in a light gray box on the far left end of this bar and it will give you progress information. On the far right side of this bar you will see a “show all downloads” message. Click on that to open a full-screen window with a horizontal progress bar showing the status of the current download. Here you can also check to confirm which files you have already downloaded.
Safari (Apple/Mac): Safari has a download arrow that works similarly to the one in Firefox, however since I am not an Apple/MAC person and have not got any Apple devices, I cannot explain the details of how it works.
Edge (Microsoft): Edge is the Microsoft browser that is included with Windows 10. It has a dynamic download indicator (that means it only appears when it is in use). When you click on a file to download, a gray bar appears in the center of the bottom border of the screen. It tells you the process of the download and indicates when it is complete. It has options to open the file and to “view all downloads.” I am not sure how compatible Edge is with my shopping cart and recommend using Chrome, Firefox or Safari for the best download experience.
Internet Explorer (Microsoft): Internet Explorer is not very compatible with my Shopping Cart and I do not recommend using it to download files obtained from me.
6. It will be best to use your first attempt to download all files to a PC or Mac computer because it should be the most straightforward method. If other attempts fail, you can still transfer the files to other devices. Next, download directly to another device of your choice. If an attempt to download to a particular device fails, try downloading to a different device or your next try. If the first attempt is successful but additional attempts fail and if you are working with PC or Android devices you can pretty easily transfer your files to a flash drive and then to other devices as long as you have the proper adapters.
Apple/Mac users: If you are using iOS devices, you cannot use a flash drive. For iOS devices, it will work best to open the email and download directly from there to your mobile device.
Notes on Downloading and Installing the Android App
Download all files from my website to one location, preferably a folder created for this purpose in your downloads folder on your desktop or laptop computer. This is to ensure that you have a copy of each file. Since you have multiple download attempts for each file, you can then attempt to install it directly to your Android devices.
As is true for Apple mobile devices, there are secured web-stores for licensing Android apps from which you can easily download and install apps to your device such as the Google Play Store. Unlike for Apple, developers are also allowed to independently offer apps for Android users.
My website is an unregistered site and therefore unknown to your device. In order to install an Android mobile app from any “unofficial” location, you must allow what is called “sideloading.” This can be done during the install attempt or prior to it.
There are primarily three ways to go about this:
1. Open a Firefox or Chrome browser on your Android device, navigate to the email where your download links are shown. Click on the Android file (ends with APK). It should download to your device (click OK on any warnings), once past the warnings, it will ask you to begin the installation (click OK).
2. If #1 didn’t work, set up your device to accept the file before making your next attempt. To set up your device in advance go to settings (usually a spoked wheel icon) and find the security settings. On my Samsung S7 phone this is called Lock Screen and Security. Scroll down to unknown sources and turn that on. After enabling this setting, you should be able to follow the steps in #1.
3. If neither of those suggestions were successful, you could also transfer the file you downloaded to your computer and then to your Android device's file system with a USB cable, use a file manager app to browse to it, and tap the APK file to start installing it. Click OK to any warnings that appear.
The exact details of how this will all be accomplished will vary slightly among different Android devices. You can try Googling “install app from unknown source on _______________” (fill in the blank with the brand and model of your device). If that doesn’t work and you still cannot figure it out, the best solution is to get someone that you know who is adept at such things to help you or to contact your device service plan provider for tech support. I find that going into the store and having someone help me on-the-spot can solve many problems quickly.
Once you have successfully installed the app, you may want to go back into your settings and turn the unknown sources permission off to prevent the accidental installation of malware or other evil software. If you gave permission for this download only during the installation process, no further action will be necessary.
Reviewed, revised and updated 4/27/2019