Sustainable Atwood Blogger Orientation

March 28, 2010

Mea Maxima Culpa

That Said, Here's an Outline

Very brief introduction to blogging Basic training in WordPress tasks

Writing a post with text, links, images, embedded video and slides

Posting a calendar item Guidelines and rules for Sustainable Atwood

bloggers

Back In The Day...

A journal was: An online diary Or a place for any personal writing that was

regularly updated A weblog or blog was:

A place to record interesting things on the Web found by the maintainer

Different uses, same technology.. Just chunks of text ('posts') with a timestamp and a

title! And an engine to make the HTML look nice

WordPress

Widely-used blogging platform Expertise is widespread

Not hard to find people to administer it Documentation is freely available

Bookmark http://codex.wordpress.com Extensions are widely available

We use calendar and contact form plugins Can grow with our needs

Logging In

Go to http://sustainableatwood.org/wp-admin

The Dashboard

Everything is done from here.

Starting A New Post

Click “New Post” to start writing...

Adding Images

Click this button..

Bringing up this dialog..

Adding Images, II

Wait for upload to finish; go to Gallery tab Click Show next to the picture

Adding Images, III

Image should appear in editing box

Embedding Video or Slides

Go to Slideshare (or YouTube); get embed text

Paste into the HTML View of the New Post

Setting Categories and Tags

On right hand side of the page..

Reviewing and Publishing

“Preview” launches a new tab showing how the page will look (does not publish)

“Publish” makes the page public at once (so make sure everything is right!)

Editing

The “Edit” link under posts brings up a list of posts on the site

You can edit your own but not others'

Adding Events

Click 'Manage Calendar'

Adding Events, II

Recurrence patterns are super confusing Repeats for “0”, “None”: one-time event Repeats for “0”, “Weeks”: weekly event with no end

date Repeats for “5”, “Months”: monthly event for 5

months after the start date

Finding Your Post Again

Select it from the Edit page..

or..

Other Things to Notice

Your byline is a link Clicking on it brings up a list of all your posts

Each tag and category (see bottom of post) is a link .. bringing up a list of all posts with that tag or

category

Rules and Guidelines for Blogging on sustainableatwood.org

Short version (with apologies to Michael Pollan):

Post frequently.Not too long.Mostly words.

OK, that's not quite enough, so we developed a list of 16 rules. Some are just for guidance, some are pretty serious. It'll be pretty obvious which is which.

Before You Click 'Publish'

These are all the things to keep in mind before sending a post out into the world

1. Post Regularly

Figure out what that means and try to stick with it. It might just mean 'whenever your group has an

event, post an announcement before, and a report after'

It can mean daily, weekly, monthly.

2. Stay On Target

Make sure your posts are obviouslyrelevant to work on sustainability inthe Atwood neighborhood

.. and also relevant to the group or area you are responsible for

If it would be hard to explain why it's relevant.. it might not be.

3. Avoid 'Meta' Posts

Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. That's OK, life is more important than blogging!

BUT... Don't make 'placeholder' posts: “Sorry I haven't written in awhile, soon, I promise” When you do post again, you can mention the

hiatus briefly and then move on to the real topic Do, though, make 'away' posts for planned

absences: “I'll be kayaking in Antarctica for 2 months and won't have much time to write”

4. But Don't Shun the Personal

Rules 2 and 3 seem to suggest you should be All Business All The Time

Passion is important – try to convey why what you're writing about moves you personally

Connection to your day-to-day life is, too And of course vision: the why as well as the

what and how

5. Use Categories and Tags

Always give your post at least one category … besides 'General Interest'

Try to use tags as well And keep an eye on the frequently-used ones to

avoid similar-but-not-identical tags What this does:

Allows users to find what they're interested in .. and find more of what they're interested in And tracks how the site is being used

6. Keep In Touch With The Editors

(Who are: Donna and Amy) If you have concerns about the wording or

appropriateness of a post... If you're finding categories aren't suiting your

needs... If there's something you want to do that

WordPress isn't letting you.. PLEASE bring it up!

7. Be Sparing With Images And Video; Keep Accessibility in Mind

Images and video give flavor to a post They can also increase loading time .. and are less accessible to the hearing-

impaired, or people with slow connections, or using a mobile device

So be sparing! Always use alternative text for images

Transcripts for video are ideal, if possible Use descriptive text for links, not “click here”

8. Keep Readability In Mind

Paragraphs should be of reasonable length Use bold and italic text rather than “email

markup” (*this* or _this_) For longer posts, use subsections Be sure to format lists

9. Civility Is Paramount

The site represents the whole group and indeed the neighborhood

No hate speech or swearing will be allowed Discussions of politics should be as non-

partisan and oriented towards issues rather than personalities or parties

Avoid 'shaming' posts, e.g., discussing a neighbor's waste of water

10. Avoid Negativity

Avoid griping and complaining about problems If you have a gripe/complaint about something,

try to dig out what your vision is beneath that gripe and speak to that.

Griping and complaining circumvent positive action, and create debilitating talk which greatly slows down our effect as a group

11. Review Before You Post

Look over the whole text again Preview it to make sure you're happy with the

layout Make sure any links are working and videos or

slideshows still play

After Clicking “Publish”

Like plants in a garden, posts need attention after being published.

“The idea is like grass. It craves light, likes crowds, thrives on crossbreeding, grows better for being stepped on.”-Ursula K. LeGuin, The Dispossessed

1. Keep an Eye on Comments

You don't need to respond to every single comment

But replying to the following encourages return visits and fosters community: Compliments Constructive criticism Added information

Negative comments need attention too Warn people who leave attacking comments Severe (hateful) comments may need deleting

2. Avoid Deleting Posts

Sometimes you will end up regretting a post, or some particular choice of words...

It's better to avoid deleting posts, which makes people think you don't stand by what you say If comments get out of hand you can close the

comments section altogether

3. Edit Freely for Spelling/Grammar Errors

If you catch a spelling, layout, or grammatical error after posting, it's perfectly fine just to go back in and fix it silently, without letting anybody know

4. Call Out Edits for Factual Errors or Wording

If you change a post because the initial publication had a factual error, or because you regret a particular choice of wording, feel free to edit the post, but..

Add an erratum to the end, starting with “ETA” (for 'Edited To Add') to let readers know what change you have made and why Example: “ETA 4/2/10: in fact Saturn is the 6th planet. H/T to commenter Neil for pointing that out.”

5. Promote Tactfully

Do: Share a link to your post on Facebook Tweet about your post (see http://bit.ly for URL

shortening services) Use sustainableatwood.org as your 'home' URL

when commenting elsewhere Don't:

Email your whole address-book about the post Comment on a related blog, pointing to your post

This seems harmless but is considered poor etiquette