CEP PALMA, 2014

ELABORACIÓ DE MATERIALS DIDÀCTICS MULTIMÈDIA

Àngela Pont Rosselló

WEBSITE

http://wordpress.com/

INTRODUCTION

WordPress is a free blogging tool and a content management system (a computerprogramme that allows publishing, editing and modifying content from a centralinterface).

Some of the things you can do with WordPress include:

- Create new pages for your blog (like an About Us or a Contact page). - Write articles or blog posts in a chronological order so the newest articles are

always at the top. - Allow visitors to leave comments to the articles (or posts) you have written. - The possibility to have multiple users that can create and update the information on the website. - Gives your site a unique design by using Themes (more on this later on). - Gives you the option of using Plugins that add extra functions to your site (something simple like a contact form or even a forum for your users). - Insert images, videos, links to other webpages...

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EASY WORDPRESS GUIDE

In this section there is a step by step beginner's guide on how to use WordPress. Belowyou will find detailed instructions for getting started:

First of all you need to create an account. Follow the instructions on the image below:

In order to activate the account you have to provide a valid e-mail address. Then, youonly need to think of a username and a password. After that, check if theusername/password are available. Finally, think of a name for your blog and click onthe "Create Blog" button at the bottom of the page:

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Remember that you have to check your e-mail to confirm the address you haveprovided. Click on "Confirm E-mail Address" and go back to the WordPress website:

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Once you have created the blog and confirmed your e-mail address you need to set upyour blog. This means that you have to write a title and maybe a brief explanation ofwhat your blog is about. In addition, you can select the language you will be using.When you are done click on the "Next Step" button:

Now it is time to choose the theme for your blog. The themes allow you to change thelook and functionality of your WordPress blog without altering the information contentor structure of the site. For now, choose a FREE theme:

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In this step you don't need to customize the theme. You can do it later. For now justclick on the "Next Step" button:

In this step you can share your posts with your friends/students if you have a Twitter orFacebook account. If so, click on the related buttons. If not, click on "Next Step"button:

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Now you are given the option to create your first post but you will do that later. Fornow click on the "Next Step" button:

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Here you will find an explanation of some terms that you might not be familiar with:

1. Dashboard: it is the main administration screen for your blog. It summarizes theinformation about your blog (posts, pages...) and also the external information(comments, likes, visits...).

2. Posts: they are like "articles". For example, you can write a reminder for yourstudents, tell them that you have uptaded a page and so on.

3. Pages: they are often used to present "static" information about your blog. Forexample, they can include material such as videos, grammar links or pictures todescribe.

4. Themes: they modify the way the blog is displayed without modifying theinformation. They are like a "skin" for your blog.

5. Customize: Change the font colour or background pattern. You can also choosewhether you want a static or dynamic front page that displays your latest posts. Withthis button you can also change your blog's title and even change the header image.

For now, however, let's just click on the blog's name as shown in the image below:

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Now that your blog is created it is time to customize it by changing the theme, theheader image, the privacy options...In order to do so, go to "Dashboard":

Now you have a general overview of the blog. As you can see, from the Dashboard youhave access to the Posts, Pages, Comments and so on. You can also change the blog'sappearance, settings or even manage who can access your blog.

First of all you are going to set your public profile up. Go to "Users" > "My Profile". Hereyou can add information about yourself: name, picture, location, e-mail, phonenumber...Remember that all the data you provide here will be public!

When you are done you can save the changes by clicking on the "Update Profile" buttonat the bottom of the page:

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When you are done editing your profile you can invite people to visit or work on yourblog. In order to do this go to "Users" > "Invite New":

You have to write their e-mail addresses and select the role you want them to have.There are 5 different ones:

- Follower or viewer: a Follower (public blogs) or viewer (private blogs) can read andcomment on posts and pages. Followers and viewers have signed up to receive updatesevery time you publish a new post.they can also leave comments if you have themenabled. Note that if your blog is private, nobody will be able to follow it unless youspecifically invite them (thus becoming viewers).

- Contributor: a contributor has no publishing or uploading (files or images) capabilitybut can write and edit their own posts until they are published. When their posts areready to be published they will need to be submitted to an Administrator for reviewfirst.

- Author: an author can write, upload photos, edit and publish their own posts. Theycan't create, modify or delete pages, nor can they modify posts by other users.

- Editor: an editor has access to all posts, pages, comments, categories, tags and links,not only their own.

- Administrator: an administrator can do everything; for example, they can invite newusers, remove users and change user roles. They have complete control over posts,pages, comments, themes...They can even delete the blog, so be careful!

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If you go to "Settings" you can customize the general settings and the reading,discussion, sharing and poll settings. You can also enable the option "send me an e-mailwhen a post or page changes".

As for "General settings", you can change the blog image, select the date and timeformats or change the language. This is what you will find:

If you go to "Reading Settings" you can change the display of the blog's front page, theposts to be shown in each page or the blog's visibility, as shown in the image below:

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From "Reading Settings" you can also add some options to the articles you will write inthe future. For example, you can display sharing buttons (Facebook or Twitter, forinstance), include a comment counter or simply classify your articles by usingcategories and tags. Note that a tag ("Present Simple", for example) is more specificthan a category ("Grammar").

You can also change the messages that will automatically be sent when other peoplesign up to follow your blog or when they post a new comment:

As for the "Discussion Settings", you can control different aspects related to themessages the bloggers will leave. For example, you can choose whether to allowcomments on the articles you have written. You also have the option to enablethreaded comments (other people can comment on other people's comments) or evenreceive notifications when someone posts a comment (in case you want to check itbefore publishing it). You can also activate a "Follow Comments" option if you wantother users to receive updates whenever a new comment is written:

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Remember to click on the "Save Changes" button on each page; if not changes won't besaved!

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If you go to "Sharing Settings", you can connect the blog to Facebook or Google+ toautomatically share your posts with your friends. You can also add some sharing buttonsto allow bloggers to share the posts with their friends:

You have two options: if you drag the selected sharing buttons to the left (see imagebelow) they will appear individually; if you want them to be hidden behind a sharebutton (if they click on the button the options will show) drag them to the right:

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From "Sharing Settings" you can also choose if you want the sharing buttons to show inposts, pages and/or media. You can even select if you want the "likes" to be shown onall posts/comments or if you want to do it manually:

If you go to "Settings" > "Polls" you can decide the general diagram in case you want toadd a poll to the blog. In this case you can:

- Select the type of poll you want (multiple choice, open questions...)

- Establish the results display (do you want to make the results public? Do you want toshow the percentages only?)

- Select the poll style

- Manage the voting (how many times can a person vote?)

- Choose the poll's expiration date (1 week, 1 month...)

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Once you have the "Settings" settled it is time to change the blog's appearance. Thefirst thing to do is to change the "theme". Go to "Appearance" > "Themes":

Remember to select the "Free" themes! Once you have selected the theme you want youcan make it more personal. Go to "Appearance" > "Widgets". Here you can , add self-contained areas that perform a specific function. For example, there is a widget thatshows a calendar or one that shows a "Follow Blog" button, among others:

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If you want your blog to be adapted to a mobile phone just go to "Appearance" >"Mobile":

If you want to download an app because you want to write posts, share pictures ormanage comments, for example, click on the picture below "Mobile Apps" and selectyour operation system:

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When you are done with all this you can start to write on your blog! :)

The first thing to do is to edit the "About" page. Go to "Pages" > "All Pages" and click onthe "Edit" button; it will appear below "About":

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When you click on "Edit" you can change the page's name and write a text; for example,a welcome message:

If you want to add a file, an image, a video or a webpage go to "Add Media" and selectthe file:

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Once you have selected an image from your computer a new page will open:

When the image appears on the page and you have written the text you wantremember to save the changes by clicking on the "Update" button. If you don't want the option of "Likes" or "Sharing Buttons" to appear on this page justdeselect the option as below:

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If you want to add a new page just go to "Pages" > "Add New":

Here you can not only add images but also videos, polls or links to other webpages,among others. For example, if you want to add a Youtube video on the blog all youneed to do is go to "Add Media" > "Insert Youtube" and write the link. Then click"search", select the video and insert it in the page:

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At first only the link will be visible because you are still editing the page but if you goto "Preview" a new window will open and the video will be available:

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With WordPress you can also insert links to other webpages. How can you do it? It's verysimple. Just go to "Add Media" > "Insert from URL". First you have to type the webaddress and then think of an appropriate word or sentence (once the blogger clicks onthe word will be redirected to that webpage):

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If you want to add a poll you have to click on "Add Poll" > "Create a Poll Now":

Next you can start to write the question and answers. You can also decide on the pollpattern or the sort of answers you want:

After this remember to save the poll and embed it in the page!

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As you are still editing, only a code will appear:

However, if you click on "Preview Changes" a new window will open:

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You already know how to include a picture on the page but you can also use this imageto "hide" some information, for example a link to another webpage. In other words, ifyou click on the image a new page will open with the information provided. How canyou do this? You have to repeat the steps to upload a new image, "Add Media" > "InsertMedia" > "Upload Files" > "Select Files". Once the file is selected click on "Link To" >"Custom URL". All you have to do then is type the web address and click on "Insert intoPage":

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Remember to update your changes before closing the window!

Are you ready to start your WordPress blog now? :)

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