–Wordpress: A Hands on Learning Session for Researchers

KMb Learning SessionApril 3, 2012

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Agenda

1. Introduction to social media

2. Blogging 101

3. Blogging for research

4. Setting up a blog with Wordpress.com

5. Strategies for getting started

6. Additional resources

7. Q and A

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1- Social Media- Some Definitions

• “A group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and

technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange

of user-generated content”

• “Includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into

interactive dialogue”

• “Online communications in which individuals shift fluidly and flexibly between

the role of audience and author. To do this, they use social software that

enables anyone without knowledge of coding, to post, comment on, share or

mash up content and to form communities around shared interests.”

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010).Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons,53(1), 59-68

Social media. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 10, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

Thornley, J. (2008, April 8). What is “social media?”. Retrieved January 10, 2012 from ProPR blog http://propr.ca/2008/what-is-social-media/

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1- Social Media: Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0

http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/08/18/web-10-vs-web-20-the-visual-difference/

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1- Social Media and Knowledge Mobilization

Why use social media for KMb?

Social media provides the tools to help support the process of KMb• Disseminate knowledge and

research in an iterative and interactive way

• Build communities for partnerships, collaboration and sharing

• Get academic research into the hands of people who can use it

Image adapted from http://webbiquity.com/social-media-marketing/the-four-cs-of-social-media-marketing/

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2- Blogging 101

• The word blog is short for web log

• Blogs contain entries, more commonly called posts, displayed in

reverse chronological order typically pertaining to a single subject

or theme

• Readers may leave comments about blog posts, making blogs

more interactive and social than static websites

• People can subscribe to updates to a blog via RSS or email

• There are a number of free blogging tools available. The most

popular are- WordPress, Blogger, TypePad

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/blog. Accessed on April 2, 2012

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3- Blogging for research

Why blog for research activities?

• Blogs allow you to connect in a more interactive and less formal

way than traditional websites

• Provides you with a wider audiences and lets interested readers to

follow your blog posts

• An alternative to traditional academic journals- blogs are open

access, some blogs are now peer reviewed and they can reach

readers who may not have access to academic journals

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3- Blogging for research

8 Reasons Why Researchers Should Blog:

1. Public engagement

2. Raise your profile and digital identity

3. Networking

4. Writing practice

5. Helps shape your thoughts/ideas

6. Gets your material out quickly

7. Allows for a quick response from your audience

8. Opens your eyes to the bigger world of social media

Morris, Gareth. (2010). 8 reasons why researchers should blog. Retrieved from

http://www.homelesshub.ca/%28S%28cbktsc45bmzvmjn31tluzrqw%29%29/Library/8-reasons-why-researchers-should-blog-48123.aspx

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3- Blogging for research

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3- Blogging for research

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3- Blogging for research

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4- Blogging with WordPress

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com

• WordPress.org is a web publishing system that can be used to

create small websites and blogs that you install on your won

server. York computing services can set up a York-branded

wordpress.org blog for York faculty members and departments

• WordPress.com is just a blog that lives on WordPress’ servers.

You don’t have full control over the PHP code, and you can’t

upload plugins but it is easier to set up and maintain and you can

still customize the look and feel of your blog

From Wordpress http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/. Accessed on April 2, 2012

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4- Setting up a blog with WordPress

Go to http://wordpress.com and log in

Username: kmbyork

Password: kmbunityork

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Break

Please be back in 10 minutes

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4- Setting up a blog with WordPress.com

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4- Setting up a blog with WordPress.com

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5- Strategies for Getting Started

Things to Consider Before You Start:

• What will you blog about?• What topics will you blog about?• Do you think you have enough to blog about?

• If you are part of a project or team- who will do the blogging? • Who will be responsible for writing the posts, putting them into WordPress and

monitoring any comments?• Will you have one blog author, for example ResearchImpact, or will each person

who writes a post publish it as themselves?

• How often will you post?• Aim to post at least one blog story per week

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5- Work Plan for Getting Started

• Decide on a blog name and register for an account

• Set up the appearance of your blog by:• Choosing a theme• Adding widgets to your sidebar• Adding your logo (if you have one) to the header • Filling out your profile• Adding an About page

• Configure settings such as:• Your personal settings• Connecting your blog to your other social media sites• Set up notifications for new comments

• Add some categories and tags to help organize your content and facilitate searching

• Write a blog post!

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5- Tips for posting

• Try to keep post between 300-500 words• Include pictures for visual interest and to break up the text so it is

easier to read• Add hyperlinks where appropriate• Remember to add categories and tags• Click on Preview to see what it will look like before publishing• Change the title of pictures so that they are a description of the

picture for people using screen reading technology• If the picture seems really close to the text, go into Advanced

Settings and enter in 5 in the Vertical space and Horizontal space boxes

• If you re-use the same picture often, you don’t need to re-upload it everytime. Instead, click on Media Library and select the picture from there

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Resources

8 Reasons Why Researchers Should Blog

http://www.homelesshub.ca/%28S%28cbktsc45bmzvmjn31tluzrqw%29%29/Library/8-reasons-why-researchers-should-blog-48123.aspx

Doorey’s Workplace Law Blog

http://www.yorku.ca/ddoorey/lawblog/

How to Write a Good Research Blog Post

http://scienceofblogging.com/how-to-write-a-good-research-blog-post/

Research Blogging

http://researchblogging.org • A list of blogs that talk about peer reviewed research

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Resources

Research Matters: Finding Solutions to Homelessness

http://www.homelesshub.ca/researchmatters

Science Blogs

http://scienceblogs.com/ • A collection of over 80 science focused blogs

Vanderbilt University Social Media Handbook http://web.vanderbilt.edu/resources/social-media-handbook/

• Very good resources on how to create a social media strategy and how to start using various tools

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6- Resources

YorkU’s Graphic Standards Manual http://www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/standards/graphicstandards.htm

• Follow this to ensure you following York’s visual identity standards and are using the York logo correctly

YorkU Web Publishing Services

http://www.yorku.ca/computing/facultystaff/webpages/publishing.html •Can help you set up a Wordpress.org blog

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Questions?

Krista JensenKnowledge Mobilization Officerkejensen@yorku.ca x 88847

www.researchimpact.ca Website

researchimpact.othree.ca O3 Space

Mobilize This! Blogresearchimpact.wordpress.com

Deliciousdelicious.com/researchimpact

twitter.com/researchimpact

Twittertwitter.com/KMbYork

SlideSharewww.slideshare.net/KMbYork

YouTubewww.slideshare.net/KMbYork