Script

Basic Blogging Script

Slide 1: Title Slide

HELLO, MY NAME IS ___. WELCOME TO THE FIRST HOUR OF A THREE HOUR BLOGGING INSERVICE. WE WILL BE COVERING BASIC BLOGGING IN THIS HOUR. THE NEXT HOUR WILL BE ADVANCED BLOGGING. AND THE FINAL HOUR WILL BE BLOGGING INTEGRATION. EACH OF YOU WILL START A BLOG AND THEN AS THE COURSE PROGRESS IMPROVE UPON IT.

A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT MYSELF: 

Slide 2: Blogging Introduction

LET’S GET A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON BLOGS. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE INTERNET, WEBPAGES WERE MOSTLY STATIC PAGES LINKED TO OTHER STATIC PAGES. IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO UPDATE THE PAGES UNLESS ONE HAD KNOWLEDGE OF EITHER HTML PROGRAMMING (THE LANGUAGE OF THE WEB) OR A HIGH LEVEL WEBSITE EDITOR (LIKE DREAMWEAVER).

SO THE NEXT STEP WAS TO MAKE UPDATING A WEBSITE EASIER. PEOPLE TOOK THE IDEA OF A JOURNAL- OR A LOG- SEQUENTIAL ENTRIES AND APPLIED IT TO THE WEB. AND THAT’S WHERE THE NAME COMES FROM- WEBLOG OR BLOG FOR SHORT.

SO PUT SIMPLY A BLOG IS AN EASY TO UPDATE WEBSITE THAT HAS SEQUENTIAL ENTRIES. THESE ENTRIES ARE CALLED POSTS, AND THEY VIEW IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

Slide 3: Viewing a Blog

SO LETS LOOKS AT A BLOG AND GET A BASIC IDEA OF THE DIFFERENT PIECES OF A BLOG AND WHERE POSTS FIT IN.

GO AHEAD AND OPEN UP [|__http:/blogs.pennmanor.net/matt/__] IN FIREFOX.

AT THE TOP WE HAVE THE MASTHEAD, WITH THE TITLE OF THE BLOG AND A TAGLINE. BELOW THAT WE HAVE TABS TO PAGES. AND THEN BELOW THAT THERE IS THE POSTS. ON THE SIDE THERE ARE LINKS AND OTHER WIDGETS.

Slide 4: Viewing Posts

OKAY, LET’S LOOK AT THE ANATOMY OF A POST. YOU’LL NOTICE THAT POSTS GO IN REVERSE TIME ORDER. IE THE NEWEST POST IS AT THE TIME. THAT’S PRETTY STANDARD ON BLOGS. THAT WAY VIEWERS CAN ALWAYS SEE THE MOST RECENT CONTENT. AT THE BOTTOM IS AN “OLDER” BUTTON. THAT WAY YOU CAN GO BACK IN TIME AND READ OLDER POSTS. SOMETIMES ITS LABELED PAGE 2, 3, ETC.

GO AHEAD AND CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THE FIRST POST. THIS IS HOW YOU CAN VIEW JUST A SINGLE POST, AS WELL AS EMAIL A LINK TO A SINGLE POST. NOTICE UNDERNEATH IT HAS THE AUTHOR AND THE DATE. THERE CAN BE MULTIPLE AUTHORS ON A SINGLE BLOG, SO THAT IS HOW YOU FIND OUT WHO WROTE IT.

Slide 5: Comments

NOW LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT POST. YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE IS A COMMENT. YOU CAN SEE WHO WROTE IT, THE TIME, AND THE BODY OF THEIR COMMENT. UNDERNEATH THAT YOU CAN SEE WHERE PEOPLE CAN LEAVE COMMENTS. THIS ALLOWS VIEWERS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE DISCUSSION OF A BLOG. GO AHEAD AND LEAVE A COMMENT EXPRESSING YOUR OPINION ON THE TOPIC. NOTICE THAT IT DOESN’T APPEAR RIGHT AWAY. THAT’S BECAUSE WHILE GUEST COMMENTING IS TURNED ON, THE AUTHOR HAS TO APPROVE THE COMMENT.

Slide 6: Viewing Pages

LETS GO BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE. AT THE TOP, CLICK THE TITLE OF THE PAGE. SEE HOW YOU GO BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE? THAT’S A STANDARD ON MOST BLOGS TO GO TO THE “HOMEPAGE” AND IN FACT MANY WEBSITES DO THAT TOO. OKAY, LETS CLICK ON ABOUT THIS BLOG. NOTICE HOW THERE IS A TITLE, AN AUTHOR AND A DATE ON THIS. BUT ALSO NOTICE THAT THIS DOES NOT SHOW UP IN THE POSTS SECTION. THIS IS WHAT DIFFERENTIATES A POST FROM A PAGE. POSTS ARE SEQUENTIAL, PAGES ARE STATIC. THIS IS USED TO HAVE PAGES THAT WILL ALWAYS BE VISIBLE ON THE MAIN PAGE AND NOT GET PUSHED DOWN BY NEWER CONTENT. PAGES USUALLY HAVE ABOUT INFORMATION ON THEM, CONTACT INFORMATION, AND OTHER RESOURCES.

Slide 7: Creating a blog

SO THAT’S THE BASIC BLOG STRUCTURE. LET’S LOOK AT SETTING UP YOUR BLOG. EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED AND EMAIL WITH THEIR BLOG LINK, USERNAME, AND PASSWORD. GO AHEAD AND PULL THAT EMAIL UP.

CLICK ON THE LINK, ENTER YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD, THEN HIT “LOG IN”. YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR DASHBOARD. THIS IS THE STARTING POINT OF YOUR BLOG. AT THE TOP IS A LINK TO VIEW YOUR SITE, AND A QUICK NEW POST LINK. ON THE LEFT IS LINKS TO DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE BLOG- POSTS, PAGES, MEDIA, CONFIGURATION OPTIONS, AND PLUGINS. IN THE CENTER IS A BRIEF LOOK AT THE STATS OF THE BLOG- NUMBER OF POSTS, PAGES, COMMENTS AND OTHER ITEMS WE WILL COVER IN THE NEXT SESSION.

Slide 8: Blog Configuration

LET’S FIRST START OFF BY SETTING UP THE IMPORTANT SETTINGS FOR THE BLOG. ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, CLICK SETTINGS. HERE YOU CAN CONFIGURE SOME BASIC SETTINGS FOR YOUR BLOG- YOUR TITLE, TAGLINE, AND DATE FORMATTING. YOU SHOULD LEAVE THE EMAIL ADDRESS ALONE HOWEVER. GO AHEAD AND TITLE YOUR BLOG AND HIT SAVE CHANGES AT THE BOTTOM.

NEXT LETS TAKE A LOOK AT THEMES. A THEME IS THE “LOOK” OF THE BLOG. THEMES CHANGE THE COLOR OF BLOG AND THE POSITIONING OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS- FOR EXAMPLE THE SIDEBAR CAN BE ON THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT. THE APPEARANCE CAN BE VERY IMPORTANT AS THE LOOK AND FUNCTIONALITY OF YOUR BLOG CAN AFFECT HOW OFTEN STUDENTS WANT TO VISIT AND USE IT.

TO SEE THE AVAILABLE THEMES CLICK ON APPEARANCE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE. HERE YOU CAN SEE YOUR CURRENT THEME. BELOW IS THE A SAMPLE VIEW OF TEACH THEM. IF YOU CLICK ON THE PREVIEW LINK, YOU CAN SEE WHAT YOUR BLOG WILL LOOK LIKE IF YOU CHOOSE THAT THEME. WHEN YOU FIND A THEME YOU LIKE, CLICK THE ACTIVATE BUTTON. AGAIN, REMEMBER THAT NOT EVERY THEME IS CREATED EQUAL, NOR DO THEY INCLUDE EVERY FEATURE OF A BLOG- SOME DO NOT SHOW PAGES, SOME DO NOT HAVE A SIDEBAR, ETC.

FINALLY, LET’S LOOK AT SOME PERSONAL PROFILE INFORMATION. CLICK ON THE USERS LINK ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE. HERE YOU CAN CONFIGURE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF. THIS IS USED IN VARIOUS PLACES- INCLUDING AN ABOUT PAGE IF THE THEME SUPPORTS IT. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN CONFIGURE HOW THE AUTHOR SHOWS UP- AS THE USERNAME, FIRST NAME, FIRST & LAST NAME, ETC. THERE IS ALSO AN AREA FOR BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION. AND AT THE BOTTOM IS THE AREA WHERE YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD. GO AHEAD AND CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROFILE NOW.

Slide 9: Creating Posts

SO, NOW THAT WE HAVE CUSTOMIZE THE BLOG TO OUR PREFERENCES, LETS ACTUALLY START TO USE IT. AT THE TOP CLICK THE “NEW POST” BUTTON. YOU WILL SEE THE PAGE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO CREATE A NEW POST.

IN THE FIRST BOX IS THE TITLE OF THE PAGE. THIS SHOULD BE SOMETHING DESCRIPTIVE SO READERS CAN SCAN YOUR BLOG FOR SOMETHING THAT CATCHES THEIR EYE. THINK OF A GOOD FIRST POST AND WRITE A TITLE FOR IT. “HELLO OUT THERE” OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.

THE NEXT BLOCK DOWN IS THE BODY OF THE POST. THIS IS WHERE THE TEXT OF THE POST WILL BE. ABOVE IT IS A BAR THAT IS SIMILAR TO A WORD PROCESSOR. THERE IS OPTIONS TO BOLD, ITALICIZE, STRIKETHROUGH, CLICK A LIST, TEXT JUSTIFICATION, AND THE GRAYED OUT ONE IS TO CREATE A LINK. LETS TYPE SOME TEXT IN ABOUT THE FIRST BLOG POST. ITALICIZE A WORD. .

OKAY, NOW LETS CREATE A LINK. TYPE “Penn Manor Website” AT THE BOTTOM. SELECT THOSE THREE WORDS. SEE HOW THE LINK BUTTON NOW BECOMES ACTIVE? CLICK THAT LINK. UP POPS A WINDOW TO ENTER THE LINK. TYPE “[|__http://www.pennmanor.net__]”. THE TARGET LETS YOU OPEN UP A NEW WINDOW WITH THE LINK, OR KEEP IT IN THE SAME WINDOW. USUALLY A LINK TO ANOTHER WEBSITE SHOULD BE OPENED IN A NEW WINDOW, SO SELECT THAT. NOW HIT INSERT. SEE HOW THE TEXT NOW TURNS BLUE AND UNDERLINES? THAT’S A LINK. LETS GO AHEAD AND SAVE THIS POST AND HIT PUBLISH. NOW THE POST IS LIVE. UNDERNEATH THE TITLE OF THE POST IS A “VIEW POST” BUTTON. CLICK THAT AND YOU CAN SEE YOUR LIVE POST. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU NOW HAVE A BLOG AND ARE USING IT.

OKAY, HIT THE BACK BUTTON AND GET BACK TO THE EDIT POST VIEW. OVER ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, IS EDIT. CLICK THAT. THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN SEE YOUR POSTS. YOU CAN EDIT THEM TO MAKE CHANGES. LETS CHANGE THE TITLE ON THE POST WE JUST MADE. CLICK EDIT, CHANGE THE TITLE, AND CLICK “UPDATE POST”. NOW CLICK “VIEW POST” AGAIN. YOU CAN SEE THAT THE TITLE CHANGES. NOW GO BACK, AND CLICK THE EDIT ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AGAIN. HERE YOU CAN ALSO DELETE POSTS FROM HERE.

Slide 10: Creating Pages

THAT’S HOW YOU MAKE POSTS WHICH IS PRETTY SIMPLE. LETS MOVE ON TO PAGES WHICH IS VERY SIMILAR TO MAKING POSTS.

AT THE TOP WHERE IT SAYS “NEW POST” CLICK THE TRIANGLE NEXT TO IT AND YOU WILL SEE A MENU WITH “NEW PAGE”. CLICK THAT. AS YOU CAN SEE, ITS A VERY SIMILAR TO A NEW POST CREATION PAGE. GO AHEAD AND CREATE A PAGE ABOUT YOURSELF AND THEN PUBLISH IT.

Slide 11: Conclusion

WELL, THAT’S IT FOR THIS SESSION. NEXT TIME WE WILL COVER MORE OPTIONS OF POSTS, INCLUDING TAGS AND CATEGORIES, AS WELL AS MEDIA USAGE, SUCH AS IMAGES, AUDIO, AND VIDEO