Edublogs RUM

Why blog?
What blogging package is offered and supported?
Why Wordpress?
Once I have a blog, where and how do I log in?
How do I change my password from this jumbled mess that was emailed to me?
How do I change my blog title?
How do I deal with issues of privacy?
How do I manage comments?
Why do I only see code buttons in the text editor?
How do I upload an image or a document and place it in a post or page?
How much upload space do I have ?
How do I import my existing blog to RUM Edublogs?
How do I export my data from RUM Edublogs?
What’s a plugin?
How do I make my front page a static page rather than a blog?
How do I make my blog look different?
How do I add a custom image to the header of my blog?
What are widgets?
How do I get an avatar?
How do I password protect a page or post?
How do I embed YouTube videos?
How do I delete my blog?
What’s the difference between writing a post and writing a page?
How do I add Flickr images to my sidebar?
How do I copy and paste word documents?

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Why blog?

Weblogs are powerful tools for members of a college community to communicate with one another, and also beyond the boundaries of the campus. Blogs can be used by faculty members in teaching their courses, by students to produce, disseminate, and compile their work, and by administrators interested in providing resources to and communicating with members of the college community.
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What blogging package is offered and supported?

The University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez supports the use of the Wordpress MultiUser blogging package. This package makes possible the central administration of unlimited number of Wordpress blogs, which members of community can maintain and customize RUM Edublogs. Currently, support of Wordpress blogs is limited to faculty members who are using blogs in their courses or for administrative purposes, and students who will be maintaining their own blogs in conjunction with a particular course.
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Why Wordpress?

Wordpress is the most robust, flexible, and user-friendly blogging package available. It’s also a free, open source application, and deploying it ties Baruch bloggers into a broad, international community of users who are thinking about and experimenting around the implications of new technology on the way we communicate and interact with the world around us.
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Once I have a blog, where and how do I log in?

First things first, where is your blog? Your individual blogs should be located at the address you specified on RUM Edublogs. Your initial blog address is determined by the domain you choose when creating your blog. For example, if the domain you chose is “myblog” your blog address will be http://blogs.uprm.edu/myblog.

To access the administrative back-end of your blog, you should see a login link on the main page. If you do not see this link, for whatever reason, enter the following line to the end of your url address: “/wp-admin” (no quotes) - the address should look like the following:
http://blogs.uprm.edu/myblog/wp-admin
Once you are there, you will see two fields asking for your login and password:
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How do I change my password from this jumbled mess that was emailed to me?

Once you sign-up for a blog, it’s a good idea to change your password first thing. To do this, go to the Users tab in the administrative backend and click on the Your Profile subtab. From here you can enter your personal information and change your password at the bottom of this page.
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How do I change my blog title?

To change the title of your blog go to the Settings tab in the administrative backend and you will see a field for blog title as well as a field for the site tagline–which is a space for a brief description of your site. Just type in a new title or tagline and save the changes.
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How do I deal with issues of privacy?

Privacy is a major concern and it is important to realize from the start that the spaces you create here are by default open and accessible to the general public. You can password protect individual pages and posts .
To make your blog or site private, go to the Settings tab and click on the Privacy subtab. From here click on one of the the five options for controlling external access to your space:
* I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers and in public listings around this site.

* I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors

* I would like my blog to be visible only to registered users from blog community

* I would like my blog to be visible only to registered subscribers of this blog

* I would like my blog to be visible only to administrators

It is important to keep in mind, however, that if you restrict your privacy settings to members of UPRM community, registered users, or administrator only, the RSS feed will be disabled (find out more about RSS feeds and what they do here).

The best way to address privacy issues is to discuss them with your students, who have the option to publicly display a nickname rather than their actual names (this can can be set up in the User>Your Profile submenu). They should know, though, that unless steps are taken to password protect their work, it will be publicly available.
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How do I manage comments?

Part of the logic of a blog is allowing people to comment on your work. Comments offer a way to have a discussion about a particular post.
You can manage comments on your blog through the Comments menu, and control the rules for them in the Settings>Discussion submenu.
Additionally, when writing a post, you can turn off the comments on a post-by-post basis by clicking on the Discussion section of the right-hand sidebar and un-checking the comments field.
Keep in mind that comments are extremely vulnerable to spammers. RUM Edublogs will do all it can to protect your blog from spammers, but inevitably, some slip through, You will see them show up in your ‘Comments cue; you can delete them or mark them as spam.
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Why do I only see code buttons in the text editor?

If, for some reason, you don’t see a visual text editor then you have to enable this option in the Users tab in the Your Profile section.

In the top-left hand corner of the Your Profile page there is a check box that says “Use the visual text editor when writing” -make sure this box is checked. After that, editing your blog will be much, much more intuitive.
If this does not work, another potential cause of the problem is that you are using Apple’s Safari web browser. Try another browser (we highly recommend Firefox), and see if the problem persists.
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How do I upload an image or a document and place it in a post or page?

You can easily upload images and documents, such as a photograph, course calendar, or syllabus, into a post or page. Doing this is relatively straightforward.
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Go to Write>’Post (or Page ) and look for the Add media button that looks like a gray asterisk.

When you click on that button, a dialog box will appear offering you the option to upload a file from your hard drive, or to link directly to a file that is already online. Once you have located your file (whether on your hard drive or online) click on the Upload button or Insert into Post button respectively.

If uploading a file from your hard drive, you will get a dialog box asking you to title the document, as well as to provide a caption and description (both of which are optional). Once you are done, click on the Insert into Post button and you are done.
If uploading in image, a dialog box will appear offering you the option to upload an image from your hard drive, or to link directly to a image that is already online. Once you have located your file (whether on your hard drive or online) click on the Upload button or the Insert into Post button respectively.

If uploading an image from your hard drive, you will get a dialog box asking you to title the image, as well as to provide a caption and description (both of which are optional). Once you are done, click on the Insert into Post button and you are done.
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How much upload space do I have ?

As of now you have 20 MB of upload space. If you need more, please contact us with the details.

Additionally, you cannot upload a single file that is larger than 2 MB.
If you are uploading large pdf files or images it may be preferable to use an outside service that you can integrate with RUM Edublogs such as Flickr for your photos, YouTube for your videos, and/or Scribd for your files. This is probably the best practice, for if you ever want to move your blog to another service you will have persistent links to documents, videos, and images that you will not have to update for the blog when it is moved.
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How do I import my existing blog to RUM Edublogs?

You can import a blog from numerous other blogging platforms such as WordPress, MoveableType, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Grey Matter, TextPattern, DotClear, and RSS.

Once you have exported your data from your blog, go to the Manage → Import subtab. From here click on the respective blog type you are importing. Browse for the file (which will most likely be an XML file) and click “import”.
Once you’re done here, you will be taken to a page that will ask you to map authors. If you are importing a blog with numerous contributors, you may want to allow each author to be associated with their respective blog posts. After that, click the “submit” button and the import should begin immediately.

Note: To import your blog from an application other than WordPress, please read your respective blogging platforms details for exporting your data.

Once you have exported your data from your blog, go to the Manage>Import subtab. From here click on the respective blog type you are importing. Browse for the file (which will most likely be an XML file) and click import.

Once you’re done here, you will be taken to a page that will ask you to map authors, if you are importing a blog with numerous contributors, you may want to allow each author to be associated with their respective blog posts. After that, click the submit button and the import should begin immediately.

One note of caution: Depending on your blog application, you may not be able to import pages, links, and theme customization.
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How do I export my data from RUM Edublogs?

Exporting your blog from RUM Edublogs is easy, but there are some important issues you may want to keep in mind

To export your data from RUM Edublogs, you need to do an export for your blog (or an individual export for each and every blog you have on this service). You do this in the Manage>Export subtab. When you export your blog you will be given an XML file that stores all of the posts, pages, and comments for your entire blog.
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What’s a plugin?

A plugin is a third-party application that interacts with WordPress to provide a certain, usually very specific, function for your blog or web space. For example, if you have a flickr account you can use the flickrRSS plugin to bring photos into your blog space.
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How do I make my front page a static page rather than a blog?

To make your front page a static page rather than a blog you need to create a static page that you would like as your front page. Then go into the Options tab and then click on the Reading subtab.

Select the radio button that says a “static page” and select the page you created for the front page.
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How do I make my blog look different?

You can change the look and feel of your blog using the Design tab. When you click on the Design tab you’ll notice you have over 120 themes for your site to choose from.

WordPress paginates the themes and provides users with a preview of each theme that they can either activate or close to select another theme to preview.
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How do I add a custom image to the header of my blog?
Not all themes allow you to add a custom header image. In fact, each theme has its own options through which you can customize the look and feel of your blog, so the theme in effect is much more than just look and feel -it is also functionality and possibility.

Below is a list of themes that allow for a customized header image:
- Ambiru
- Anubis
- BeachLand
- Blix
- BlueSky
- CityScape
- Contempt
- Cutline
- Fauna Beta 2
- Fjords
- Flex
- Freshy 1.0
- iLoveMusic
- K2 0.9.1
- LetoPrime 0.9.6
- MistyLook 3.3.1
- Mother Nature
- Ocean Mist
- PressRow
- Regulus 2.2
- Rubric
- SeaShore
- Semiologic 4.3.2
- Striped Plus 1.0
- Steam 1.0
- Sumenep
- Tarski 1.5
- TechLand
- Wordpress Default 1.6
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What are widgets?

Widgets is just a silly buzzword for the functionality built-in to WordPress that allows you to customize the sidebar of your WordPress site without knowing HTML. You can use widgets to add a list of recent photos, comments, flickr photos, del.icio.us links, and much more.

You can find your widgets in the Design>Widgets subtab.
You may also get access to more widget as you activate new plugins, for many of the plugins available have an associated widget -such as flickrRSS.
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How do I get an avatar?

Go to the Gravatar website and associate an avatar of your choice with the email you use on RUM Edublogs. Gravatar is an external service that links Avatars with e-mail addresses so that anytime you comment on another blog with that e-mail address your avatar will show up (if that blog is Gravatar enabled).

All RUM Edublogs provide the ability to enable Gravatars, just go to Design>Gravatar and check the enable "Enable Gravatars on your blog" button.
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How do I password protect a page or post?

Password protecting a post or page is quite simple. All you need to do is look for the “post password” or “page password” in the “Advanced Options” section of a Write Post or Write Page page and enter a value into the text field. This value can be whatever you want it to be, but if you want others to see what is in this page or post, you will have to share the password with them.
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How do I embed YouTube videos?
You have at least two options for embedding YouTube videos. And, in truth, embedding a video from most online video services has never been easier.
- Copy and Paste Embed Code: This is simply a process of copying the embed code from a site like YouTube into the HTML tab of the text editor.
- Vipers Video Quicktags: Click the "YouTube" icon on your Visual editor; insert the url for the YouTube movie you wish to embed.
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How do I delete my blog?

Deleting a blog on RUM Edublogs is simple. Go into the administrative backend of your blog and click on the Settings tab. From there select the Delete Blog subtab and check the box and click on the “Delete My Blog Permanently” button.

Once you have done this, you will receive a confirmation e-mail at your email address to re-confirm that you want to delete your blog. Just click on the link and your blog will be history. Keep in mind there is no way to get it back once you have confirmed this deletion.
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What’s the difference between writing a post and writing a page?

This is an important terminological/conceptual distinction to grasp, as posts and pages serve radically different functions. A post is an article that shows up in the chronology of your blog. In other words, posts appear in your blog, most recent at the top of the page.
A page is what most folks may be more familiar with. This is a static space that is not part of the chronological logic (try saying that five times fast) of the blog. A page sits outside of this inverted time line, and often features more static content like information about the site, the author, a syllabus, readings, etc.
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How do I add Flickr images to my sidebar?
Adding Flickr images to your sidebar is a three step process, assuming you already have (or want) your own Flickr account. Although, please keep in mind that you do not necessarily need a Flickr account to include images in your sidebar.
- First, go into the Plugins tab in the back-end an activate the flickrRSS plugin.
- Second, go to the Settings → flickrRSS subtab and you will see the following screen without the values in the fields:
- - The IDNumber is your unique id for Flickr if you already have an account. If you just want to stream images from Flickr in your sidebar but don’t want your own Flickr account leave the UserID blank and set the Display option to public and create a "tag" (or keyword) to filter Flickr images for your sidebar.
    - If you have a Flickr account and need to locate your UserID, then go to your Flickr photos page and locate the 11 digit string in the URL address of your Flickr account. it will look something like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9301848@N07/
    - Alternatively, if you have a Flickr pro account you may have been offered a text-based username for your Flickr URL, something like http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimgroom/
    - Please note: the username you use to login to Flickr will not necessarily be what you enter here, so look at the URL for your Flickr photos to find out the correct value to enter here.
  - Display allows you to select whether you want to display all public photos, your photos (User), or group photos -you can also specify how many images and how big (square size recommended for the WordPress sidebar). If you don’t have a Flickr account and don’t want one, set this option to public and create a "tag" (or keyword) you would like to filter Flickr images by for your sidebar, as described below.
  - Set allows you to display a set on Flickr. You need to find the number associated with the set, often found in the URL, and copy it in this field.
  - Tags allow you to specify particular tags you want to filter into your site. For example, only photos tagged with "UMW" would be brought into your sidebar if you specified "UMW" here. If you don’t have a Flickr account and don’t want one, set the Display option above to public and create a "tag" (or keyword) you would like to filter Flickr images by for your sidebar.
- Third, go to the Design → Widgets subtab and drag the flickrRSS widget into your sidebar. After that, you’re ready to go…
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How do I copy and paste word documents?

Click on the button the arrow is pointing to below- affectionately termed the "Kitchen Sink"- in order to get additional options for your editing toolbar.

Go from this:

to this:

After following the step above you will see an icon with the MS Word icon in your visual text editor (which the arrow is pointing to). Click on this and copy the Word Document text into this window and save it. This strips out all the MS Word code and "cleans" the text for publishing on WordPress. There may be some minor formatting you have to update afterwards, but most of the formatting from MS Word should remain intact.