Changing your Browser Popup Blocker and Cookie settings.

You will need to have cookies enabled in your browser to navigate thespiritofsantaa.com site and use the shopping cart.

To enable them, complete the instructions below that are appropriate for your browser. If you are running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 see the Windows XP SP2 settings section below.

Windows Internet Explorer:

1. Under the Tools menu, select Internet Options
2. In the Internet Options Window, select Security
3. Click the Custom Level button
4. In the Custom Level window, scroll down to "Allow cookies that are stored on your computer" and select Enable
5. Click the OK button
6. Answer Yes to Warning Message
7. Click OK

Mac Internet Explorer:

1. Under the Edit menu, select Preferences
2. In the Preferences Window, select Receiving Files/Cookies
3. In the Cookie Settings Panel, select When receiving cookies: Never ask
4. Click the OK button

Windows or Mac Netscape:

1. Under the Edit menu, select Preferences
2. In the Preferences Window, select Advanced
3. In the Cookies Panel, select Accept all cookies
4. Click the OK button

America Online:

1. In the Toolbar, under My AOL, select Preferences
2. In the Preferences Window, click the WWW button
3. In the Internet Options Window, select Security
4. Click the Custom Level... button
5. In the Custom Level window, scroll down to "Allow cookies that are stored on your computer" and select Enable
6. Click the OK button
7. Answer Yes to Warning Message
8. Click OK

Windows XP SP2 settings.

***Windows XP SP2 includes a basic software firewall. IF you have previously installed your own firewall software, such as Norton Internet Security, McAfee Personal Firewall, Zone Alarm, or others, then you now have 2 firewalls on your computer. HAVING 2 FIREWALLS WILL CAUSE YOU TO HAVE MANY PROBLEMS ON THE INTERNET. The typical recommendation would be to disable the new, basic XP SP2 firewall and continue using the firewall product already installed on your computer. To disable the SP2 firewall, click on Start -- Control Panel -- Windows Firewall. Select the Off option and click on OK. You may also need to disable the Security Center, also in the Control Panel, in order to not get complaints from Windows XP about the firewall being turned off. Beyond this, please refer to your normal technical support person for guidance and assistance.

Configuring the Popup Blocker to allow The Spirit of Santa web site to work.

Certain functions of The Spirit of Santa databases utilize popups. You may get a screen that displays the "Popup Blocked" message in the Information Bar. By clicking directly on the Information Bar just under the address bar, you will get a listing giving you the option of "Always Allow Pop-ups from This Site...". We recommend that you choose this option any time that you encounter this message while on our web site. Clicking on this option will add the current web address to the Popup Blocker Whitelist so that you never encounter Popup issues with that web site again.

Another method would be to add the thespiritofsanta.com web site to the Popup Blocker Whitelist all at the same time. To do this, open Internet Explorer and click on Tools and then on Internet Options. Now click on the Privacy Tab. At the bottom of the Privacy Tab, you will see an area called Popup Blocker. Click on the Settings button in this box. You will now see this window:

If you leave the Popup Blocker turned On, it would curb the many Popup advertisements that you get while browsing the Internet. However, you need to add the URL (web addresses) in to your "Allowed Sites" list in order to able to successfully use The Spirit of Santa systems. To do this, type the URL thespiritofsanta.com into the "Address of Web Site to Allow" box and then click on the Add Button. After you have added our web sites, click on the Close button and Close out of the Internet Options page.

Configuring the Cookie Manager to allow thespiritofsanta.com to work.

If the thespiritofsanta.com web site navigation doesn't work or stops you from completing your order, then your Internet Explorer "Privacy" settings are too high. Cookies are required in order to store your login information to our databases. To set your Cookies to work with The Spirit of Santa systems follow these steps. From within Internet Explorer, click on Tools and the on Internet Options. Now click on the Privacy Tab. Adjust the slider bar to Medium High. Click on OK and resume using the Internet.

Using the High Setting or the Block All Cookies Setting will leave you unable to use our databases. A Medium High setting, as the window states, will block the most insidious cookies that try to track personal information about you, while still allowing for complex databases to maintain your "login" or user session. Which is what needs to happen on The Spirit of Santa.

Configuring the Security Settings to allow web sites to work.

To appropriately adjust the Internet Security settings, you have 2 options. The first option is the easiest. From within Internet Explorer, click on Tools and then on Internet Options. Now click on the Security tab and adjust the slider bar to Medium. Click on OK and resume using the Internet.

A security setting of High will not allow the scripting of The Spirit of Santa site to work, in effect completely preventing you from navigating or checking out your order.

Option 2 is more secure but takes extra steps to configure. This option leaves the Security Settings at High, but allows our systems to work. From within Internet Explorer, click on Tools and then on Internet Options. Now click on the Security Tab. Next, click on the green Trusted Sites icon. Finally, click on the Sites button.

The window that you now see will allow you to add thespiritofsanta.com to your Trusted Sites list which will enable the scripting functionality of our programs to work while not allowing scripts to run on other web sites.

To add our web site to your Trusted Sites list, first uncheck the box "Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone" if it is checked. Then add the URL (web addresses) thespiritofsanta.com. When finished, click on OK and then on OK again to exit the Internet Options window. You are now ready to resume using the Internet.