Home. If you have not completed the setup procedure, you should do that first.
As a page is a component of a book, an "entry" is a component of a weblog. Each entry is date-stamped, and the newest one always appears on top of the page. New entries push older ones down the page, and eventually into archives arranged by date.
If you have just completed the setup procedure, then you are already logged in, and may skip to "2. Main Menu."
Point your web browser to http://blogs.setonhill.edu
Unless you changed it during the setup procedure, your user ID is "FirstnameLastname" (no spaces), and your password is "Firstname".
Click "Login"
and you should see the main menu, below.
By default, you are authorized to post on two different blogs. If you have an announcement that you want to call to the attention of a greater community, please feel free to post on the New Media Journalism blog.
If you are posting homework, it should go on your own personal blog.
Next to the line that includes your name, click "Create Entry". You should see a screen like the following:
The "Title" is a headline that should be appealing and interesting. Please don't simply title your work "Homework" or "Chapter 3 Response." People are far more likely to read a blog entry with a title like "Bernice Blogs Her Hair" or "Yes, I killed your bird, but HE started it!"
Make sure that the "Post Status" is set to "Publish."
If you need to save your work, but you aren't ready for others to see it yet, you can set this status to "Draft." If you're starting early on an assignment that's not due for a few days, you can set the status to "Future," and it should automatically appear on your blog early in the morning of that day (an hour or so after midnight).
When you are ready, click "Save." The screen should reload, and you should see the following:
To view your entry on your blog, click on "View Site" (at the top of the screen) or "View Entry" (under the yellow box).
After you have logged in (see step 1) and selected the blog you wish to edit from the main menu (see step 2), just click on "Entries" in the left-hand menu, and you should see a list of all your entries. Here's what it looks like when you have only one entry on the list.
Click the title of that entry, and you'll see a screen that looks just like the authoring screen. (If you forgot to give your entry a title, there may be nothing in the "Title" column for you to click on.)
Let's add a link to an existing blog entry. After you have logged in and viewed the list of entries on your blog, select one to edit.
Click on the title, and you should see a screen like the following:
Select the text that you want to turn into a linnk, and click the button that looks like chain links.
A box should pop up. Type the URL in that box, and click OK.
You should see some code appear in your blog entry.
Now you will need to scroll down and click "Save."
That's all you need to get started.
If you are blogging for Dr. Jerz, also take a look at part 3: QuickPost and Trackbacks.
25 Jan 2005 -- first posted by Dennis G. Jerz