1. Drupal Blog Training
March 1, 2011

2. Image credit: wantabetterwebsite.com
3. Blogs are
websites that consist of short newsy posts that are usually listed in reverse chronological order (newest at the top)
often centered around a topic of interest to the blogger(s)
perfect for posting news bits to the librarys home page
4. Didnt We Use Blogger?
The three public facing blogs used the free Blogger software until last fall
We used RSS feeds to put the posts into the Library FYI portion of our web page
We can now easily create blogs in Drupal with the following benefits:
No Google account/separate login required
Look and feel matches the rest of our site
Achieves the same thing with one product
5. Tips for Writing for the Web, 1/2
AVOID USING ALL CAPS. UNLESS YOURE REALLY YELLING.
Keep paragraphs short; in fact, bulleted lists are more scannable and easier to read
Avoid jargon; write so non-librarians can understand
Avoid marketese; give it to em straight
Avoid using free
6. Tips for Writing for the Web, 2/2
highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones)
bulleted lists
one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
the inverted pyramid inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
half the word count (or less) than conventional writing
Source: Jakob Nielsen, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
7. Logging in to the Web Site
Go to library.auraria.edu/user
Log in, using your network/email user ID and password
To log out, you can:
library.auraria.edu/logout, press enter/return
Click on the Log Out link in the Blogger Tools menu
8. Since youre a blogger now
9. Creating a New Blog Post
Create some SHORT copy about the event, news, or other topic about which you wish to post
Log in to the web site as described above and click Post to Library News Blog in the Blogger Tools menu
10. Blog Post Fields, top half
11. Blog Post Fields, bottom half
12. Filling out those Fields, 1/2
All fields are required except for Image
Title:
Something short and catchy!
Mention date, if appropriate
Image:
Attach just as you would via email
alt text required for users with visual disabilities
Body:
Keep it short and simple; more tips to follow
Use the formatting palette, but sparingly
Posted by:
Firstnamelastname, i.e., Nina McHale
13. Filling out those Fields, 2/2
Library News Categories
This is a taxonomy feature that lets us tag events so that we can label and classify them
There is an pre-existing taxonomy, BUT we can add new ones just by typing
Add new tags sparingly; having a lot of them doesnt really make sense
Separate multiple tags with commas
Publishing options drop down
Use to un-promote and un-publish posts
14. All Categories
Closure
Events
Exhibits
Holidays
Jobs
Resources
Scheduled Outage
Services
Skyline Catalog
Technology
Web Sites
15. then click Save
When you click the Save button, all of the information you have entered is published as a web page
As soon as you click Save, your post is automatically published and promoted, which means its listed under Library FYI on the librarys home page
16. Editing an Existing Post, 1/2
Log in to the web site as described above
Click on the List My Content link in the Add New Content menu block
Click the title of the post you wish to edit
Click the Edit tab
Make your edits
Click the Save button at the bottom of the page
17. Editing a Post, 2/2
18. Deleting Posts
We can un-promote posts, removing them from the Library FYI section of the home page
We can un-publish posts, so that our users cant see them, but we still can
Unpublished web pages have a pinkish background
We can delete posts, zapping them from existence forever
Use with caution!
19. Un-Promoting a Post, 1/3
Promoted=listed under Library FYI on the Librarys home page
All web content has an expiration date. You may want to remove a post from the home page because:
The information is no longer timely
The information is not longer accurate
Your post was for an event that already occurred
Theres too much stuff under Library FYI
20. Un-Promoting a Post, 2/3
Log in to the web site as described above
Click on the List My Content link in the Add New Content menu block
Click the title of the post you wish to edit
Click the Edit tab
Click to expand the Publishing options field
Uncheck Promoted to front page
Click the Save button
21. Un-Promoting a Post, 3/3
22. Un-Publishing a Post, 1/2
Log in to the web site as described above
Click on the List My Content link in the Add New Content menu block
Click the title of the post you wish to edit
Click the Edit tab
Click to expand the Publishing options field
Uncheck the Published
Click the Save button
23. Un-Publishing a Post, 2/2
24. Deleting a Post, 1/2
Log in to the web site as described above
Click on the List My Content link in the Add New Content menu block
Click the title of the post you wish to edit
Click the Edit tab
Click the Delete button at the bottom of the page
Click Delete to go ahead, or Cancel
25. Deleting a Post, 2/2
26. Questions & Feedback
Documentation outlining all of the steps weve covered today is on the wiki:
http://intranet.auraria.edu/wiki/index.php/Posting_to_Blogs
Feedback: How was this session?
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22BYNB4ACL4/