Step 1 – Set up

It is easy to set up your diary; all you need to do is complete the fields as they appear. To help you out we have put some useful information at the top of each page, this includes: “where you are”, “what you can see/do here” and “actions” for the current page.

To help you create your book, the diary is organised in seven chronological chapters. At this stage, you’ll be able to name each chapter, give it a time span and put in the key events that happened in this phase of the life story.

Step 2 – Invite

Here you can choose people to join you in building the diary. If you haven’t spoken to them yet, you can write a message here telling them what the diary is for and what you need them to do, with any instructions or request for stories or specific photos or images. Once you’re done, click on the ‘invite a contributor’ link, fill in their name and email address and send them their invite.

Step 3 - Contribute

This is where you and those that you have invited to help can upload content. Click on a chapter and upload the content that will be used. Don’t worry if someone uploads a photo or story that you do not want to use - you are the ‘chief editor’; you have overall control and only use the content that you want.

Step 4 – Design

On this page you get to choose the layouts: the design for each page. To provide plenty of flexibility we supply ten different layouts, these maintain the high quality and presentation of the diary. When you have chosen the layout you want, double click in a box and chose the photo or story that you want to add to the page.

Step 5 – Proof

Now it’s time to proof read the diary and check that you are happy with all of the layouts, photos and text, if not, changing them is easy. We show you each page with a button to preview the page in a larger size; you can even print draft pages at this point. Once you are happy that the diary is completed and you have approved all of the pages, you are ready to let us know that we can print your diary for you.

Step 6 – Print

That’s it, you are finished, the diary is completed and we are ready to print it. The diary pages will be printed, hand stitched and bound into the Diary of Your Life leather cover. We will then finish the diary in a silk lined presentation box, protect the whole package in a shipping cover and courier the Diary to you. All you need to do now is present this wonderful gift that will be cherished for years to come.