If you caught Gav on RTE's "Ice" show on Wednesday, you'll have seen him showing you some basic tips to make your Bebo better looking and more secure. Below you'll find all the instructions he gave on the show, so that you can try it out for yourself without being in a rush.

Making your Profile Private, and approving comments
Setting your Comments to require approval

1. While logged in to your Bebo, go to the very bottom of the page and under the heading 'You' on the right-hand side, click the 'Account and Settings' link.

2. Scroll down a little bit until you see the 'Preferences' heading, and click the blue 'Change Preferences' link.

3. On the next page there's a little drop-down box with three options in it:

Don't Approve Comments
If you choose this option, any comments left on your page will be made public and can be viewed by anyone looking at your page.

Review Comments from Non-Friends Only
If you choose this option, then comments from your Bebo Friends will be automatically displayed, and comments left by anyone else will need to be approved by you before they are made public.

Review All Comments
If you choose this option, every comment submitted to your profile will need to be approved before it will appear on your Profile where others can read it.

4. When you've chosen the setting you want, hit the silver 'Save' button at the bottom and your settings will be saved.

Making your Profile Private

If you want, you can set your Profile so that only people you have chosen as your Friends can see your page and have a chance to comment on your page or look at your stuff.

1. While you're logged into Bebo, go to the very bottom of the page, and under the heading 'You' on the right-hand side, click the 'Edit Profile' link.

2. Scroll down a little bit until you get to the big red 'Public Profile Settings' heading. The first box here is automatically ticked, and it reads 'Make My Profile Public' - if you want to have your profile private, just un-tick this box.

3. Go to the bottom of the page and hit the 'Save' button, and your profile will be made private.

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Finding and applying new Skins for your Bebo

Bebo profiles are automatically very plain and ordinary looking but you can very quickly make them far more colourful by using a Skin.

There are a couple of ways that you can find new Skins for your profile:

Using the Bebo Skins Chart
Go to your own Profile, and under your main profile picture, there's an option called 'Change Skins'. Click that and you can view the latest Bebo Skin charts, where you can see what's most popular or keep an eye on any new Skins that are available for you to copy. From here you can also search for skins that suit your hobbies - like 'soccer' - or you can search for skins by colour, by just typing 'green'.

Getting Skins from other Websites
Outside of Bebo, there are loads of websites that you can use to copy some Bebo skins from, and some of them are very easy to use. You can go to any of the following websites and see what other Bebo skins are available - some of them might even make a skin for you, so if you're a fan of, say, Hannah Montana or the Dublin footballers, and there's no skins with them on it, these sites might make one for you!

http://bebostation.com/
http://www.beboskins.us/
http://www.bebobox.com/
http://www.bebobling.com/
http://www.bebosites.com/
http://www.beautifulbebo.com/

Taking Skins straight from other Profiles
The one thing that a lot of people don't realise about Skins is that you can just take one straight from someone else's page if you really like it!

Just go to a Profile that has the Skin you want, and under the Profile picture, just click 'Use This Skin'. If the skin they're using is public, you will automatically be shown a preview of your profile with the Skin showing, and you ca

Interactive Design
Does the site do what it says it does?
How easy is it for people to do simple things on the site?

Marks get picked up for...
How easy it is to navigate the site
How similar the navigation is on every page
Whether your site has a sitemap
Whether your URLs look friendly - e.g. www.myschool.ie/classes/ instead of www.myschool.ie/index.php?option=com...
Whether your site has a Search option
Feedback/Contact pages - Can you ask questions easily?

Content
Is the information on the site correct and useful?
Is the information relevant to what the website is about?

Marks get picked up for...
Appropriate language - if your site is meant for children, don't use too many big words!
How up to date is the content?
Are there images on the site - if so, do they look good?
Quality of pictures on the site.
Have they used a spellchecker?

Can you share content easily - like sending videos/content to friends?
Are special features easy to understand?

User Interface Design
Does it convey the purpose of the site well?
Can you easily view the content?
Can you copy and paste text?
Does it look well on all browsers and computers?
How long does the website take to load on broadband connections?
Is the design consistent throughout the site?
Are forms/tables etc well laid out, easy to understand?

Feedback
Are there contact details?
What methods of communicating are there? Is there a Contact page, Feedback form, a chat room, or any forums?
Are there location map(s) where appropriate?
Is it easy to find an address and phone number?
Are there specific email addresses depending on what areas you’re looking for?
Are there specific phone numbers depending on what areas you’re looking for?
Are queries answered quickly?

Final Thoughts
Was the site engaging?
Was it good enough for you to want to tell others about it?
Does the site achieve it’s goals?
Was there anything cool/new/exciting/special about it?
Has the site made life easier or better for you?

Extras
Extra points for passing web standards tests, accessibility tests
Displays properly on a phone or other devices
Fallbacks for no flash, no javascript
Consideration for screenreaders
Prints well

Best Online Publication - sponsored by Red Cardinal
Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/

Best Radio Website - sponsored by IGOPeople
Phantom FM
http://www.phantom.ie/

Best Podcaster - sponsored by Irish Mortgage Brokers
Playlist Mix
http://www.playlistmix.com/

Best Videocaster - sponsored by eType Ireland
RTE
http://www.rte.ie/

Best Sports Site - sponsored by Spinnakerpro.com
munsterfans.com
http://www.munsterfans.com/

Best Music Site - sponsored by UMusic.ie
State Magazine
http://www.state.ie/

Best Entertainment Website - sponsored by Sensorpro.net
Entertainment.ie
http://www.entertainment.ie/

Best Technology Site - sponsored by BH Consulting
Silicon Republic
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/

Best New Web Application/Service - sponsored by InterTradeIreland’s SeedCorn
Poll Daddy
http://www.polldaddy.com/

Most Innovative Website - sponsored by iQ content
Pixenate
http://pixenate.com/

Best Discussion forum - sponsored by Brand Ignite
Boards.ie
http://boards.ie/

Best Government Website - sponsored by Interactive Return
Aras Kids
http://www.araskids.ie/

Best Council Website - sponsored by Peter Donegan Landscaping Ltd
Dublin.ie
http://www.dublin.ie/

Best Third Level Website - sponsored by the Irish Computer Society
Access NUI Maynooth
http://access.nuim.ie/

Best Education website
FIS Book Club
http://www.fisbookclub.com/

Best eCommerce / Services Website - sponsored by Cybercom
Spicendipity
http://www.spicendipity.com/

An Suíomh Gaeilge is Fear - sponsored by Edgecast Media
Focal.ie
http://focal.ie/

Best Practice - sponsored by Lightbox
Pix.ie
http://pix.ie/

Most Beautiful Website in Ireland - sponsored by Beaut.ie
Twitterfone
http://twitterfone.com/

Most Useful Website in Ireland - sponsored by DoneDeal.ie
Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/

Most Accessible Website - sponsored by iQ content
Kanchi
http://www.kanchi.org/

Grand Prix: Best Website - sponsored by Moviestar.ie
Boards.ie
http://boards.ie/