Post Tips
Here are a few tips for better blogs:
Titles and subtitles: Remember that you don’t need to refer explicitly to the assignment topic—that’s indicated in the tag.
Tags: Remember to scroll in the “course” box to your course and again in the “topic” box for your course to the appropriate assignment. This “tags” the post so it shows up in the right places on the website.
Image: Spend some time searching for the right image. Avoid those that may seem irrelevant (or the relevance has not been explained in the post), a little silly (not that irony is a bad thing), or visually not so interesting (like simple signs). Perhaps write about the image in the post. Also, check to make sure someone else hasn’t already used the image. If you think your images are pixelating, try using bigger images.
Image source: Provide the URL for the website page where the image came from, not the URL for the image itself (which usually ends with .jpg).
Paragraph formatting: The function that sets spacing between paragraphs on the website is quirky, and when you paste from Word sometimes the spacing goes wrong. Some posts look like they’re triple spaced between paragraph instead of just one extra space. You may need to adjust this after you post—just click on the post title, then the edit tab at the top.
Content: When you respond to the reading, keep in mind the themes of the course. Remember to write your post in Word and save your posts on your computer.
Text links: If you reference a book, a place, a concept, etc., it’s often helpful to create a link to a relevant website. Highlight the word or short phrase you want to link from, then click on the link icon and paste in the URL. Avoid pasting a URL itself into the text of your post.
Additional images: In addition to the main image, you can insert additional images into your post. First put the cursor where you want the image to go—but notat the beginning or near the beginning of the text of your post (that will mess up the layout). Then click on the image icon in the top row of the text editor, and either use the URL for an image on the web or upload an image from your desktop. Set the width—about 300 pixels—and the website will automatically determine the height to maintain the proportions of the original. Make sure the image is no bigger than 640 pixels wide—the width of the main image. Give the image a border if you like (about 3 pixels), and set the Hspace and Vspace at 3 pixels to create a margin around the image. Set the alignment to Left or Right, and the text will wrap around the image. If you don’t like the way it turned out, you can go back and edit it, just by clicking on the image when you’re in edit mode.
Videos: These are always a good addition Just paste the URL in the field box at the bottom.
Comments: Give the comment an interesting title, or else the site will automatically create a title from the first words of your post. Remember to write one comment for every assignment, as soon as possible, even before you write your own post. You can keep track of the comments you write and the ones written on your posts by going to the Blogs page and clicking on the comments link in the menu on the left.
Editing your post: You can go back and edit the post after it’s submitted, so don’t worry if you see the post and need to make some changes. Just click on the title of the post so you go to the post’s own page, then click on the edit tab at the top.
