Using Murdoch Blogs
TLC277
Kathryn Greenhillhttp://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/kathryngreenhill
August 2008
About you
Outline•What are blogs?•Legal Terms and Conditions•Creative Commons and our blogs•What not to change•How to change the theme•How to upload a custom header image•How to change the sidebar•How to make a post•How to upload an image•How to embed media from elsewhere....•How to make a page•Decisions to make about your blog
Preconceptions
Blogs areBlather
about ...
Blogs are also
Conference site
http://datamining.it.uts.edu.au/conferences/wi08/?page_id=17
Curriculum vitae
• http://www.fionabradley.com/
e-book
• http://castleofotranto.blogspot.com/
Instead of powerpoint
• http://presentingblogs.wordpress.com/
Dictionary
• http://moneyterms.co.uk/
1. WHAT’S A BLOG ?
What’s a blog ?
• “ .... a website
Wikipedia entry, Blog(Accessed 7 July 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=223455162 )
What’s a blog ?
• “ .... a website, usually maintained by an individual,
Wikipedia entry, Blog(Accessed 7 July 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=223455162 )
What’s a blog ?
• “ .... a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
Wikipedia entry, Blog(Accessed 7 July 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=223455162 )
What’s a blog ?
• “ .... a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.”
Wikipedia entry, Blog(Accessed 7 July 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=223455162 )
What’s a blog ?
• “ .... a website
Wikipedia entry, Blog(Accessed 7 July 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=223455162 )
1.2 ELEMENTS OF A TYPICAL BLOG
A blog is not a series of web pages
A blog is a database. Each post is a record.
Why do people blog in universities?
• Online “home”• Clarify thoughts• See progress through time.• Connect• Communicate• Converse• Claim ideas first• Part of network effect• Human voice
Blogging is often about•Reading•Commenting•Linking•Answering comments•Writing•Embedding from other sources•Communicating with other bloggers using other web media
...so blogging takes ...
Murdoch BlogsPilot project
http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/yourblog
Software
Legal Terms and Conditions
Only post things you are have permission to.
Creative Commons
Why Creative Commons?
• Sometimes you *want* your content to be remixed and reused• Your content will possibly be remixed
and reused anyhow.• About sharing• About distribution
• Image of CC
Customising your blog
You don’t *have* to change anything
Start here ...
Customising your blog
What it does• Settings• Plugins• Users
Change the title and tagline
Customising your blog
How it looks• Themes• Sidebar and widgets
Themes
Themes
Over 80 themes to choose from
To activate a theme,just click on it.
Themes
• Look different to each other• Display different information
Features of Themes
Customisable header images
Sidebar(s)
Widgets
Pages and posts
How to make a post
Title
Wordprocessor style buttons
Add a link
Format text from your clipboard
Use HTML
Other things you can do
Categoriesand Tags
Save
Preview
Publish
Change publish date
Add an image
Add an image•Make sure you are legally
allowed to.
• Look for Creative Commons
Two ways
•1. Upload
•2. Link to a URL
Upload an image from your computer
Insert image from URL
Insert an image from URL
•1. Find your image and copy its *location*• This is not the same as the
URL in the address bar
Right click on the image
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Embed other media
eg.YouTube.com
Copy the embed code
Write a post and open the HTML tab
Paste in the embed code
Save and the post will look like this:
To write a Page
Manage and Comments
Decisions to make about your blog
• Define purpose• Define success• Time• Audience• Conversation• Comments
Decisions to make about your blog
• Voice• Image on header• Schedule• Name / tagline• Would you read your own blog?• Your privacy, others’ privacy
Image credits• Jelly Sandwich Heart (Blood Sugar Low?)
http://flickr.com/photos/fornal/363700193/ Uploaded on January 21, 2007 by Bob.Fornal
• Baby red http://flickr.com/photos/fofurasfelinas/9357496/ Uploaded on April 14, 2005 by fofurasfelinas
• tight curve http://flickr.com/photos/enigmatic/361525280/in/photostream/ Uploaded on January 18, 2007 by Bashed
• XML is colorful http://flickr.com/photos/willpate/63813414/ Uploaded on November 16, 2005 by Will Pate
• Great Flexibility ! http://flickr.com/photos/khalid-almasoud/474399662/ Uploaded on April 27, 2007 by khalid almasoud
• Time Warp http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/314372109/ Uploaded to Flickr on December 5, 2006 by The Rocketeer
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