Instructions for wordpress.com

1. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Blogging
with
WordPress
.com)
WordPress.com
offers
free
hosting,
but
has
limited
options
for
plugins,
etc.
Data
can
be
moved
to
WordPress.org
if
a
domain
name
/some
webspace
is
purchased
(but
don’t
purchase
the
$18
a
year
suggested
on
the
site).
See
also:
http://prezi.com/svdi72l9gmtk/raising-­‐your-­‐academic-­‐profile-­‐with-­‐a-­‐blog/
URL
to
log
in:
http://odhegroup.wordpress.com/wp-­‐admin/
You
will
enter
at
the
dashboard
(there
are
a
range
of
roles,
some
have
access
to
more
functions
than
others)
Admin
gives
users
rights
to
change
EVERYTHING
on
the
site
–
Editor
or
contributor
are
usually
a
safer
option
–
contributor
posts
can’t
be
posted
until
editor
approves.
New
Post:
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
1

2. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Once
in,
the
editing
is
very
much
like
using
a
Word
document.
You’ll
see
the
editing
bar
–
select
the
highlighted
button
to
ensure
that
that
the
second
row
appears.
Hover
over
each
item
for
a
description
of
what
it
does.
It’s
worth
taking
note
of
the
‘Format’
button,
as
Google
assigns
different
levels
of
importance
to
headings/regular
text
–
so
rather
than
bold/enlarge,
use
the
various
heading
settings.
Formatting
Text
It’s
important
to
FORMAT
the
text,
making
it
suitable
for
speed
reading.
The
general
advice
for
online
text
is
cut
50%
out,
then
cut
50%
more
out!
It
depends
what
the
purpose
of
the
post
is.
As
with
all
writing,
it’s
important
that
each
paragraph
deals
with
a
single
issue,
and
good
advice
is
to
highlight
a
sentence
in
each
paragraph
with
the
core
meaning.
Look
for
opportunities
to
use
bullet
points,
and
“
allows
blocks
of
text
to
be
indented.
Adding
a
Link
One
of
the
particularly
valuable
aspects
of
being
able
to
offer
material
online
is
that
you
can
‘hotlink’
to
other
resources,
externally
or
within
this
blog.
Highlight
the
phrase
that
you
want
to
use
as
a
link
(avoid
‘Click
here’,
as
Google
again
adds
emphasis
to
links/the
words
used
in
links
–
so
try
&
be
descriptive
whilst
using
normal
English).
The
‘link’
button
will
activate
–
click
on
it,
add
the
web
address/URL
(see
below
the
2
boxes
there’s
an
option
to
link
to
a
pre-­‐existing
file
on
the
website)
–
ignore
‘Title’.
The
other
icon
is
to
‘break
link’.
Adding
a
Picture
Each
post
should
include
an
image
–
helps
contextualise/people
to
remember
the
post.
Whilst
in
editing
mode,
look
for
the
‘Add
Media’
button
(some
other
file
types
other
than
image,
e.g.
PDF).
Click
on
the
button
to
bring
up
the
following
menu
–
if
the
image
you
already
want
is
there,
then
simply
click
on
it:
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
2

3. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Upload
Files
–
to
find
any
file
that
you
have
saved
on
your
hard
drive
Insert
From
URL-­‐
to
embed
a
picture
from
somewhere
on
the
internet
(doesn’t
release
from
copyright)
Media
Library-­‐
images
that
you’ve
already
uploaded
and
can
be
re-­‐used.
Assuming
that
you
are
uploading
from
new
(care
with
copyright,
etc.
–
you
can’t
just
take
any
old
pic
from
Google
Images
-­‐
e.g.
http://bigbible.org.uk/about-­‐2-­‐2/policies/image-­‐policy/
gives
you
some
idea
of
where
to
find
legal
images.
Uploading
a
File
from
your
hard
drive.
Select
‘Upload
Files’,
then
either
‘drag
&
drop’
an
image,
or
‘Select
Files’
to
search
your
hard
drive.
It’s
worth
thinking
about
what
you’ve
named
your
file
–
if
you
can
name
it
something
that
people
might
search
for,
this
can
send
more
visitors
to
your
site):
Once
in,
select
the
image
that
you
want.
You
can
rename
the
title,
consider
adding
a
caption
underneath
the
image
(this
is
a
good
place
to
enter
the
web
address
of
the
image
that
you
are
using).
Don’t
forget
to
add
‘ALT
Text’,
which
should
offer
a
brief
description
of
the
image,
particularly
valuable
for
those
who
may
be
reading
your
content
via
a
screen
reader)
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
3

4. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Link
URL
–
by
default
uses
the
file
name
of
the
image,
but
can
be
changed
to
an
external
link
to
work
as
a
link
–
double-­‐check
that
it’s
worked.
Sometimes
I
have
to
press
‘none’
before
I
can
enter
the
internal
link.
Alignment/Size
–
as
it
says
–
right/left
align
will
cause
text
to
wrap
round
image.
Center
is
worth
using
for
larger
images:
None
will
align
left,
but
text
won’t
wrap
around
the
image.
When
uploading,
ensure
that
you
choose
the
right
size
image
…
Medium
(300)
is
usually
about
right
for
aligned
images,
whilst
Large
(590)
is
about
right
for
a
full-­‐width
image.
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
4

5. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Featured
Image
This
blog
requires
a
‘featured
image’
on
each
post
(visuals
are
important
as
part
of
your
communication).
Look
to
the
right-­‐hand
side
menu
for
‘Set
featured
image’,
click
on
‘Set
featured
image’.
It’s
usual
to
use
one
of
the
images
already
used
in
the
post.
Select,
and
click
on
‘Set
featured
image’,
and
the
content
will
be
added.
Editing
the
Image
Once
Loaded
In
editing
mode,
click
on
an
image,
and
2
options
will
come
up.
The
one
that
looks
like
an
old-­‐
fashioned
slide
will
take
you
into
a
space
where
you
can
update
most
of
the
options.
You
can
also
resize
the
image
in
this
section
–
reducing
it
by
60-­‐90%
(this
can
be
done
multiple
times
if
you
need
to
shrink
smaller;
you
can’t
always
make
images
larger
again
afterwards,
so
watch
out
for
that).
If
you
need
to
delete
the
image,
click
the
‘delete’
button.
Embed
a
file/video
Finding
the
embed
code
is
usually
fairly
straightforward,
but
as
an
example
–
here’s
how
to
find
the
code
on
YouTube
–
look
below
the
video
for
‘Share’,
find
‘Embed’
and
copy
the
HTML
code.
To
post
the
content
into
WordPress,
you
may
need
to
use
the
HTML
tab
(otherwise
ensure
that
you’re
in
the
Visual
tab
at
all
times).
<p></p>
or
<div></div>
indicate
the
beginning/end
of
paragraphs/sections
–
look
for
the
right
part
of
the
page,
and
paste.
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
5

6. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Categories/Tags
Look
to
the
right
of
the
blog
post,
and
select
1
category.
Try
to
keep
these
options
really
TIGHT,
top-­‐level,
so
try
and
keep
these
to
around
8-­‐
10.
Think
really
carefully
before
adding
a
new
category,
and
try
and
ensure
that
Uncategorised
is
not
left
clicked.
We
have
defined
the
following
categories
so
far:
• Food
for
Thought:
Discussion
Topics
• Digital
Literacies:
JISC
project,
digital
tools,
etc.
• Meet
a
Member:
Once
a
month?
Who/what/why?
• National
Meeting:
Thoughts
&
Reports
• OD
Case
Study:
Example
of
OD
at
work
• Recommended
Text:
Book
Review
• Resource:
Online
or
other
resource
Tags
–
we
can
use
a
lot
more
of
these,
but
are
still
looking
for
consistency.
Both
categories
&
tags
are
‘interactive’
clickable
links
within
the
blog,
so
e.g.
if
you
click
on
‘Digital
Literacies’
(http://odhegroup.wordpress.com/category/digital-­‐literacies/)
you
will
get
all
the
posts
in
that
category,
or
if
you
click
on
one
of
the
tags
below
a
post,
it
will
bring
up
any
other
tags
with
EXACTLY
the
same
tag
(remember
–computers
are
stupid
&
can’t
tell
the
difference
between
e.g.
friend
and
friends!):
Publishing
Very
simply
–
look
to
the
left
for
the
‘Publish’
button:
Pre/Post-­‐Setting
Posts
Posts
can
be
placed
as
if
published
at
a
past
date,
or
pre-­‐prepared
for
a
future
date
(meaning
you
could
write
several
at
once
and
then
let
them
go
slowly).
Look
for
‘Edit’
next
to
Publish
immediately,
and
select
the
date
that
you
want,
then
press
OK.
If
it’s
a
future
post,
it
will
come
up
with
‘Scheduled’
and
show
the
date
that’s
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
6

7. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
coming
up
–
if
past
it
will
just
publish
and
settle
itself
into
the
list
of
posts
in
date
order.
Post-­‐Publication
Editing
Once
a
post
is
published,
it
can
still
be
edited/deleted.
Simply
go
to
‘All
posts’.
Once
you
are
logged
in
you
should
be
able
to
see
’ODHE
Group’
in
the
top-­‐left
at
all
times.
Click
that
to
trigger
between
the
dashboard/
the
live
site.
It
can
be
a
bit
faster
to
work
with
2
tabs
open
–
editing
in
one/viewing
in
the
other).
Click
on
all
posts…
A
list
of
posts
will
come
up
–
most
recent
post
first
(although
posts
can
be
filtered/re-­‐ordered
etc.).
Hover
over
a
post
title,
and
the
4
options
will
appear.
Edit
–
takes
you
to
full
edit
mode
Quick
Edit
-­‐
quite
limited
but
can
allow
the
tags,
categories,
etc.
to
be
changed
Trash
–
delete
the
post
View
–
View
the
live
post
New
Page
Editing
pages
functions
exactly
the
same
way
as
a
post.
Posts,
however,
will
appear
in
reverse
order,
and
should
be
used
for
content
that
develops.
Pages
are
STATIC,
and
should
be
used
for
content
that
would
traditionally
appear
on
a
website
(so,
we’re
looking
at
http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-­‐resources/resources/organisational-­‐
development/odhe-­‐group.cfm
to
see
what
is
worth
transferring
across).
We
currently
have
‘About’
(about
ODHEG),
What
is
OD?
And
Events
that
should
be
kept
updated.
Comments
You
do
need
to
set
a
schedule
for
monitoring
these
(if
upgrade
to
wordpress.org,
install
Disqus),
but
in
the
meantime.
To
add
a
comment:
Look
below
the
post
for:
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
7

8. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Type
&
press
‘enter’.
To
check
the
comments:
Select
‘comments’
Then
hover
over
a
comment
to
bring
up
the
options
–
which
are
pretty
self-­‐explanatory:
Don’t
allow
spam
to
be
published
to
up
the
‘comment
numbers’,
as
it’s
better
to
allow
the
real
comments
to
shine
out.
Gaining
comments
can
be
REALLY
hard
work
–
you
often
have
to
target
specific
people
to
ask
them
to
comment
–
at
least
until
the
conversation
has
gained
some
momentum.
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
8

9. WordPress
for
ODHE,
January
2013
Encouraging
People
to
Share
Look
below
each
post
for
this:
Changing
the
Look
of
the
Site
With
WordPress,
you
only
need
to
call
on
the
services
of
the
designer
if
you
have
very
specific
wishes.
Many
people
have
provided
free
‘themes’
(and
others
have
provided
paid
ones),
but
it
must
be
remembered
that
it
doesn’t
just
change
the
LOOK
of
the
site,
it
also
changes
the
functionality…
so
think
before
you
click.
The
latest
option
for
WordPress
offers
the
option
to
see
the
site,
with
customised
headings,
etc.
before
you
press
publish.
Dr
Bex
Lewis:
Creative
Commons
Attribution-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
3.0
Unported
License.
9