This document will assist you in logging in to Blogs@UWW for the first time, and making your first blog post. If you haven’t already, request for your blog.

Your blog’s address

Your blog address is http://blogs.uww.edu/blogname..The value of ‘blogname’ is what was entered when your blog was requested.

Logging into your blog for the first time

After your blog has been set up, you can access it for editing by going to the Blogs@UWW Website (https://blogs.uww.edu). To login, use your UW-Whitewater Net-ID and password. (What is my Net-ID?).

Navigating: an overview of tabs

Once you login, you will see your blog’s Dashboard. WordPress uses a tab paradigm for navigation. To navigate, use the Tab Bar. Tabs available to you include:

• Dashboard - The first page you see once you login to Blogs@UWW.
• Write - Make new blog posts or new pages.
• Manage - Edit pre-existing posts and pages, manage categories, import and export blog information.
• Comments - Approve/unapprove, delete comments and manage spam.
• Blogroll - Manage the ‘Blogroll’ section of links on your blog site.
• Presentation - Change the look and feel (”theme“) of your blog. If your theme supports it, you can also customize components (”widgets”) and the placement of elements of your blog.
• Plugins - Enable, customize and disable extensions which have been installed by Blogs@UWW support.
• Users - Add or remove UW-W users from your blog. Also, manage your user personal information which may or may not be shown on your blog.
• Options - The central location to change configuration options for your blog, and many of the plugins which you may be using.

More information on tabs, plugins and options are available in the Advanced Features page.

Turning on the Visual Editor

The first time you login to your blog, you should turn on the Visual Editor which provides a Microsoft Word-like editor for your blog posts. Once logged in, click the ‘My Profile’ at the top of the page.

Check ‘Use the visual editor when writing’. Click the ‘Update Profile’ button to save.

Making a post to your blog (Creating an entry)

To post to your blog, follow these steps:

1. If you can post to more than one blog make sure you are in the correct blog by clicking the blog name at the top left of the screen. A list of available blogs will appear.
   
   Click the name of the blog you wish to edit.
2. Click the Write tab at the top of the page.
3. Add a title. In the Title field at the top, enter a subject, title or name for your post.
4. Add your content. Enter your post into the Post box.
5. Add your post to a category. To the right of your post, check categories the post should be associated with.
6. Add tags (keywords) to your post. Enter your tags in the Tags field, sperated by commas.
7. Click the Publish button. Your post will appear on your blog. If you’d like to save and continue to edit your content, click the Save and Continue Editing button. When you are ready, click the Publish button and your message will be posted. Click the Save button to save a draft for later editing.

To view your page, click the ‘View post‘ link.

Making posts quickly (using “Press It“)

Press It allows you to perform one-click posting and publishing without going through the main WordPress interface. Press It creates a Favorite or Bookmark in your browse that goes to the Press It window with fields so you can enter a title and the body of your post.

To set-up ‘Press It’ do the following:

1. Login to Blogs@UWW and click Write.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of your screen and right click on the Press It link and choose “Bookmark This Link…” or “Add to Favorites…”

Five-step photo posting

Follow these instructions to add pictures to your post:

1. Beneath the Post and Tags field, you’ll see the Upload widget.
2. Click the Browse button and select the image you wish to upload. The ‘File Upload‘ window will appear. Choose the image you wish to upload from your computer.
3. Click the Upload button.
4. Your picture will appear on the Browse tab, scroll down and click ‘Send to editor‘.
5. Your picture will appear in your post, in the ‘Post‘ field. Click on and drag the lower right corner of your picture to resize your image.

Editing a post

In the tab bar, click ‘Manage‘. You will be presented with a list of your posts. Click the edit link to the right of the post title to edit it.

Deleting a post

In the tab bar click on ‘Manage‘. You will be presented with a list of your posts. Click the ‘Delete‘ link to the right of the post title to delete it.

About comments

Unless set up otherwise, Comments made to your blog are only viewable after the blog owner approves them. When someone makes a comment on your blog, the blog owner will receive an email asking to approve the post. Click the ‘Approve‘ link in the email or login to Blogs@UWW and click ‘Comments‘ from the tab bar to see comments waiting for approval.

Once you approve a comment from a user, he or she should be able to comment freely thereafter. If you go to the Comments tab you can view the comments on your blog as well as those awaiting moderation.

Archives

Archives of your blog are kept by month. On your blog page, you can go to the archives for a month by clicking on the month name under Archives on the right side of the blog page.

Using themes to change the look of your blog

You can use styles supplied with Blogs@UWW to change the look and feel of your blog.

1. In the tab bar, click on ‘Presentation‘.
2. At the top it shows you your current theme. Available themes will be displayed below your current design preview. To change your blog to one of these themes click on the image or the title.

The theme will automatically be changed to the theme you selected. To view your new theme, click the ‘View site‘ link above the title ‘Current Theme‘.