Your first post will be a reflection on your experience at the BioBlitz on August 26th. Please make sure to categorize these posts as “BioBlitz” using the menu on the bottom right side of your screen. For additional help, here is a brief tutorial on how to begin:
Writing & Publishing a Post
In order to make a post, simply click on “My Sites” on the gray menu bar in the upper left hand corner of the screen, choose your website, and then go to “New Post.” You can also add a new Page or Post by going to “Add New” on the gray menu bar and selecting either “Post” or “Page.” Or go to your Dashboard from the same dropdown menu, and this will take you to the “back end” (the control panel) of the site. From there, you can post or do a number of other things.
If you want to edit a previous post, you can look it up under “Posts” in the Dashboard view, or you can simply go to the post itself on the website and at the end of the post click “Edit.”
When you are done writing your post, be sure to either click “Save Draft” on the right side bar (in the “Publish” box) or click “Publish.” You can also opt to “Preview” the post (also located in the “Publish” box) before publishing.
IMPORTANT NOTE: For this course you must always add the correct category and tag to EVERY post.
Categorizing your Posts
You must “categorize” your posts so that it will be easier to navigate our site later on. You need categories so your professor can find your work and give you credit for it (you want credit!), and so the members of your class and the other sections can find, read, and comment on your work.
After you finish typing your post up, choose the appropriate “category” from the right side of the screen. For example, after you type up your “BioBlitz” blog, you should make sure to check off “BioBlitz” otherwise the post will simply show up as “uncategorized.” You will always need to include your section category.
For additional help, check out this “how to” video on WordPress.tv: Adding Categories and Tags to your Post
One of the great things about WordPress is that you can always go back and make changes later. You can also revert to an earlier draft of your post by looking in the “Post Revisions” box at the bottom of the page.
For additional help, check out this “how to” video on WordPress.tv: Writing & Publishing a Post
**A few notes on terminology: a post is like a blog post that will show up in a blog roll or as individual posts under a specific category (we can talk about adding categories to your site). While posts are dynamic and you can add many, pages are static and don’t change (though you can update them as often as you like).
