Create A New Blog (MT 3)

You can no longer create a blog in this system. If you need to create a new blog, please use the Login to Current System option to create a blog in the new Blogs at Penn State software. See http://blogger.psu.edu/gethelp for details.

Write and Publish Blog Entries (MT 3)

Note: If you are not sure what to write in a blog read Blog Writing Tips.

First, make sure you have

1. Activated your Personal Web space
2. Created a blog

To create an entry

1. Go https://blogs.psu.edu/mt to write and edit your blog posts.
   Note: You can also log in from http://blogs.psu.edu by clicking the Log-in Now link to the right.
2. You should see a display of blogs you have created. Click the link "Create a new entry on this weblog" to the right of the blog.
   Note: You can also click on the name of the blog, then the the New Entry button on the left menu.
   [inline:09Blog.gif=Screen capture of blog listing]
3. Click the New Entry button on the left menu.
   [inline:leftmenutop.png=Screen capture of left menu]
4. Fill in the Title field and enter text in the Entry Body field. You can use the formatting buttons.

   Note: The buttons will create HTML code. The formatting buttons may not be visible on Safari.
   [inline:10EntryForm.png=Screen capture of editing form. Formatting options include Bold, Italic, links and indentation]

5. If you wish your entry to be visible to the public immediately, change the entry status to Published In the upper right pull-down menu,
   Note: The Scheduled option lets you post entries at specific times in the future. To include a link in your text, highlight the text you want to be a link (e.g. “Penn State Home Page”), then click the chain icon and fill in the URL in the pop-up window.
6. The following formatting options are available. In this screen, the formatting will be converted to HTML commands.
   Note on Safari: The formatting buttons may not be visible on Safari.
   1. Click the B and I icons to add bold face and italics to your text.
   2. To include a link in your text, highlight the text you want to be a link (e.g. “Penn State Home Page”), then click the chain icon and fill in the URL in the pop-up window. Make sure the URL includes the http:// prefix.
   3. To include an e-mail link, highlight the text you want to be a link (e.g. “Contact the Webmaster), then click the envelope icon and fill in the email address in the pop-up window.
   4. To indent an entire paragraph as a quote, highlight the text and click the quote mark icon. This will enclose the text in an HTML <blockquote> tag.
   5. Other HTML tags can be manually inserted into the entry as needed.

   Note: You can can also Activate the full WYSIWYG editor to enable tools for lists, alignment, adding headers and emoticon insertion.

7. Click Preview to review how the HTML formatting tags will be displayed.
   Note: This is only an approximate display.
8. If you click Preview, then you MUST click Re-Edit this Entry to return to your entry.
   Note: If you see a blank blog entry form, click the forward button in your browser, then click Re-Edit this Entry.
9. To see your live entry, click View Site on the bottom of the left menu.
   Note: If you do not see your blog or the blog entry make sure the Status menu is set to Published. See Troubleshooting Unpublished Entries for more details on troubleshooting problems.
   [inline:leftmenu.png=Screen capture of left menu in blog]

Activate Full WYSIWYG Editor (MT 3)

The Blogs at Penn Stat includes a full WYSIWYG editor which includes options for header tags, lists and alignment options.
Note: If you activate the full editor, you may not be able to see the

To activate the editor.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the Settings link next to your blog.
   Note: If you have multiple blogs, you will need to click the Settings link for each blog.
3. Click Switch to Detailed Settings in the right to reveal all settings tabs.
   [inline:SettingsBasic2.png=screen capture of Settings Tabs]
4. Click the New Entry Defaults tab in the Detailed Settings screen.
   
5. Change the Text Formatting pull-down menu to WYSIWYG.
   [inline:WYSIWYGSet.png=Screen capture of New Entry Default Settings]
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.
7. Click New Entry in the left menu and check to see that the full editor has been enabled.
   [inline:WYSIWYG.png=Entry Editor with WYSIWYG options including lists, alignmnent, emoticons, format (headers)]

Toggle between WYSIWYG and HTML Source

If you wish to switch between WYSIWYG and the HTML code, you need to enable the field for the blog entry form.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the link "Create a new entry on this webblog " to the right of the blog.
   Note: You can also
   click on the name of the blog, then the the New Entry button on the left.
3. On the entry page, click the link for click the link “Customize the display of this page” at the bottom.
   [inline:14CustomizeDisplay.png=Screen Capture New Entry screen]
4. In the Editor Fields options, select Custom. Place a check next to Text Formatting and any other items you wish to edit for each entry.
   Note: If you cannot place a check, make sure Custom is selected.
5. Click Save to close window and change preferences.
6. The entry form will be changed to include a Text Formatting menu.
   Note: The Status menu where you set the publish option may be pushed to the bottom.
7. To toggle between views, change the Text Formatting menu, then click Save. The entry window will change.
   Note: The Converted Line Options is the recommended HTML source view.

Find Blog URL (MT 3)

First, make sure you have

1. Activated yor Personal Web space
2. Created a blog
3. Written and published an entry

To find your blog URL

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu. If necessary, click the mt link.
2. You should see a display of blogs you have created. The URL for each blog will be displayed beneath the title of the blog (e.g. http://www.personal.psu.edu/xyz123/blogs/courseblog). This is the URL you would send to your friends and colleagues.

3. Click the URL link to view the live blog.

View Blog Entry (MT 3)

First, make sure you have

1. Activated yor Personal Web space
2. Created a blog
3. Written and published an entry

What is the Blog URL?

The blog URL you share with your friends and colleagues is different from the one used to create your blog (http://blogs.psu.edu).

The URL of your published blog is structured as follows:

http://www.personal.psu.edu/<your Userid>/blogs/<URL Name>

For instance, if user xyz123 had a blog with the URL name “worknotes”, the URL would be

http://www.personal.psu.edu/xyz123/blogs/worknotes

The following instructions tell how to find your published blog URL from within http://blogs.psu.edu.

If you have just written an entry

1. After you have written an entry, cick the View Site button in the left menu.
2. The blog will open and show the URL on the Penn State personal server
3. If you do not see your blog or the blog entry make sure the Status menu is set to Published. See Troubleshooting Unpublished Entries for more details.

If you not logged in

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu. You will see a list of blogs you have written.
2. To see your live blog, click the View Site link to the right of the blog.
   Note: you can also enter the blog, then click
   Click View Site on the bottom of the left menu.
3. The blog will open and show the URL on the Penn State personal server
4. If you do not see your blog or the blog entry make sure the Status menu is set to Published. See Troubleshooting Unpublished Entries for more details.

Edit a Previous Blog Entry (MT 3)

To edit an older entry.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the Entries link next to your blog (or if you are in your blog, click Entries in the left menu).
3. Click the Entries button in the upper portion of the left menu.
4. Click the link for the missing entry.
5. Make changes as needed. See the Writing Entries documentaiton for more details.
6. Set the Status menu to Publish if you wish the entry to be visible to the public.
7. Click Save to change the setting.
8. Click the View Site button to be sure the entry is visible to the public.

Delete an Older Entry (MT 3)

To delete an older entry

1. Log in to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of your blog to enter it.
3. Click the Entries button in the upper portion of the left menu.
4. Check the entry or entries you wish to delete, then click the Delete button at the top.
5. Click Rebuild Site in the lower part of the left menu to post the changes then Rebuild again. This will remove the entries from the public site.

Note: If you have deleted an entry, but it was not removed from the site, try the Rebuild Site process again.

Subscribe to the Blog Feed (MT 3)

Find the Blog Newsfeed

You have the option of subscribing to a blog's newsfeed (or "RSS feed") by doing the following.

1. Navigate to your published blog (e.g. http://www.personal.psu.edu/xyz123/blogs/).
2. Click the link for Subscribe to this blog's feed in the sidebar. Right click and select the option for copying the link URL.
3. Open a news reader application such as Feed Reader (Windows), NetNewsWire Lite (Mac), Bloglines (Web), Google Reader (Web), Thunderbird (Mac/Windows) or Firefox 2.0.
4. Create a new subscribtion and paste the blog's feed URL. The most recent headlines for the blog will be displayed.

Aggregate and Monitor Course Blog Feeds

If you are instructor or staff member monitoring multiple blogs, then you can use the folder feature in a newsreader to monitor multiple feeds in one location.

Just create a folder for each course or topic you monitor then move your subscriptions to the appropriate forlder. Each folder will list stories for all feeds in the folder and distinguish read and unread stories. Below are instructions for how to set up a newsfeed folder for a course.

What is an RSS Blog feed?

A news feed is a text file which lists the headlines for new blog headlines. The Newsfeed can be viewed in new browsers such as Internet Explorer 7, Safari 2 or Firefox 2.

News feed applications such as Blogines.com (Web), Google Reader (Web), Thunderbird (Win/Mac), Feed Reader (Win) or NetNewsWire Lite (Mac) allow you to subscribe to favorite feeds and organize them into folders by topic.

Read the Using RSS Newsfeeds to Get the Latest Headlines page for more detailed information on RSS and RSS newsreaders.

Control Spam Comments & Trackbacks to Blogs (MT 3)

By default, blogs are set to allow anyone from inside (and possibly) outside of Penn State to post comments. Unfortunately, some operations create “spam” comments, which are really advertisements or something else related to your topics.

Set Comments to Manual Approval

To reduce spam, but still allow comments, change your blog Settings to allow moderated comments which you manually approve one by one.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the Settings link to the right of your blog.
   Note: You can also click the name of the blog, then the Settings button in the left menu.
3. Click the Switch to Detailed Settings link in the right.
   [inline:SettingsBasic2.png=Screen capture with switch view link to right]
4. Click the Feedback tab.
   [inline:SettingsDetailedTabs.png=Detailed Settings Tab. Feedback tab is third tab]
5. In the Feedback tab use the following settings:
   
   1. Set Accept Comments from to Anyone.
      Note: The No One setting will disable comments, and
      The Authenticated commentators option is not connected to Penn State authentication. It would require you to create a separate Six Apart Typekey blog password.
   2. Check the Option for Require E-Mail address from commenters.
   3. Set Immediately publish to No One. This will put all comments on hold until they are approved.
      Note: Trusted Commenters only works with the Six Apart Typekey blog password.
   4. Set E-Mail Notification to On to that you receive an e-mail message for each comment posted.
      [inline:CommentsSettingsRev.png=Screen capture Comments Settings]

Approve Comments

1. For each new comment, you will receive an e-mail message including the e-mail address and the content of the comment.
2. Log in and enter your blog then click the Comments button on the left. The list of comments will be displayed.
3. To approve comments, place a check beside each allowable message and click the Publish button above. The icon will change from a yellow caution to a green check.
4. To set a comment as junk, place a check and click the Junk button above.
5. To delete a comment, place a check and click the Delete button above.

[inline:CommentsPanel.png=Screen capture comment waiting to be approved]

Disable Comments

Disabling comments will block all spam, but will also make it impossible for anyone to make comments. To disable comments;

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the Settings link to the right of your blog.
   Note: You can also click the name of the blog, then the Settings button in the left menu.
3. Click the Feedback tab.
   Note: If you only see two tabs, click the Switch to Detailed Settings link in the right if necessa.
4. Change the top Accept Comments setting from Anyone to No one.

Settings for Trackbacks

Trackbacks is a feature in which a blog system sends an electronic message or "ping" to any blog you have linked to. These messages are published on another blog much as your comments are. To "accept trackbacks" means your blog will listen for these pings and publish links to blogs who have linked to you (it's a way to find out if anyone is reading your blog).

Like comments though, trackbacks can be used to send spam messages so moderated trackbacks are suggested.

Read http://www.learningmovabletype.com/a/000250what_is_trackback/ for learn more about Trackbacks.

Set Moderated Trackbacks

1. Click the Settings link to the right of your blog.
   Note: You can also click the name of the blog, then the Settings button in the left menu.
2. Click the Switch to Detailed Settings link in the right.
3. Click the Feedback tab.
4. If you want to accept Trackbacks (see who links to you), then check the option for Accept Trackbacks.
5. Check the options for Moderation and set E-mail Notification to On.
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom.
7. You will receive an e-mail for each trackback received with a link. Click on the link to read the Trackback then choose Publish in the Status menu or Delete.

Troubleshooting Unpublished Entries (MT 3)

Set Status of Entry to "Publish"

If you have written an entry, but it does not appear when you click View Site, the most likely problem is that your entry is still set to Unpublished. To change its status

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of your blog to enter it.
3. Click the Entries button in the upper portion of the left menu.
4. Click the link for the missing entry.
5. Change the entry status to Published In the Status pull-down menu,
6. Click Save to change the setting.
7. Click the View Site button to be sure the entry is visible to the public.

Set Default Status to "Publish"

If you want all entries to be immediately visible to the public, then you can set the default status of new entries to Publish.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of your blog to enter it.
3. Click the Settings button in the left menu.
4. Click the link Switch to Detailed Settings link on the right. More tabs will be displayed.
   [inline:SettingsBasic2.png=screen capture of Settings Tabs]
5. Click the New Entry Defaults tab in the Detailed Settings screen.
   [inline:SettingsDetailed.png=Screen capture of Detailed Settings tab]
6. Change the Post Status pull-down menu from “Unpublished” to Published.
7. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.
8. Click the Rebuild My Site button. Click Rebuild in the next window.
9. Click New Entry in the left menu and check to see that the Status menu is set to Published.

Rebuild A Blog (MT 3)

If you change a setting, change colors for fonts, add categories, change the sidebar or change entries, you may need to Rebuild your blog to implement and post changes to your public pages.

To rebuild a site

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of your blog to enter it.
3. Click Rebuild Site in the lower part of the left menu. A pop-up window will open.
   Note: In some operations you may prompted with an additional Rebuild button at the top.
   [inline:leftmenubottom.png=Screen capture of left menu]
4. Click Rebuild in the pop-up window. You will see messages indicating how many pages are being rebuilt.
   [inline:rebuildpopup.png="Screen capture Rebuild Pop Up"]
5. Click View Site in the left menu to see your public pages.
6. If you have changed the Theme, click Control+R (Windows) or Command+R (Mac) to refresh all the pages in your browser.

Screencasts: Start Your Blog (MT 3)

To give you a visual way to learn how to upload an image to your blog we've created a screencast. Click the image below or click this link to watch the movie. You can also view the detailed instructions.

Screencast: Create New Entry (MT 3)

To give you a visual way to learn how to create a new entry on your blog we've created a screencast. Click the image below or click this link to watch the movie. You can also view the detailed instructions.

Change Colors and Fonts with Stylecatcher (MT 3)

Use the Stylecatcher utility to change fonts and colors in your blog.

Select the Theme

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of your blog to enter it.
3. Click Templates in the middle of the left hand menu.
   [inline:05leftmenu.png=Screen capture of left menu]
4. Click the link Select a Design Using Stylecatcher at the bottom of the Templates screen.
   
   [inline:pluginmenu.png=Screen Capture of Plug in Actions links]
5. In the next window, click the Find Styles button in the upper right to see available themes.
   Note: To preview even more styles, enter http://thestylecontest.com/browse into the field for Theme or Repository URL
   [inline:07FindThemes.png=Screen capture Stylecatcher]
6. If you have created more than one blog, scroll to the bottom of the page and select the blog you wish to modify in the drop-down menu.
   Note: If the menu is not visible, go to the next step.
7. Highlight a theme image and click Apply Selected Design , then confirm by clicking Choose this Design.

See the New Theme

1. Click Main Menu at the top of the blog screen to return to your list of blogs.
2. Click the URL of the blog to see the public site.
3. If the new theme is not visible, click Control+R (Windows) or Command+R (Mac) to refresh all the pages in your browser.

Custom Themes

See the Advanced Documentation section for information on uploading custom theme stylesheets.

Upload an Image or other File (MT 3)

For best results, it is recommended that you upload the image then create your blog entry. GIF and JPEG are recommended for best results.
Note on Audio and Video: You can upload other file formats including video and audio, but there is a 50 M size limit. For larger files, use the Pass Explorer or SFTP to upload files into your Personal Web Space www directory.

Upload Image

To upload an image, do the following:

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of the blog to enter the blog,
3. Click Upload File button in the left menu.
   [inline:05leftmenutop.png=Screen capture of left menu]
4. In the upload window, click Browse and navigate to your image file on your local drive.
   [inline:BrowseImage.png=Screen capture browse window]
5. Click Set Upload Path link beneath the browse button, then select the option for the current date in the Path drop-down menu. This will allow you to find images more easily at a later date.
   Note: If no path is set, the image loads directly into your /blogs directory on your Penn State Personal Web site.
   [inline:SetDirectoryPath.png=Screen capture of Set Upload Path]
6. Click the Upload button to upload the image. A new window will open with additional options which will be described below.

Include the Image in a Blog Entry

Immediately after you’ve uploaded image (see previous section) you will see a new window with additional options for including an image in an entry.

[inline:UploadThumbnail.png=screen capture of image options - see details below]

1. Click one of the options below
   1. Create a new entry using this uploaded file - Check this option to begin a blank entry with the image inside of it.
   2. Show me the HTML - Check this option to if you’ve created an entry and typed in a significant amount of text.
2. Select the image link type
   1. Popup Image - Creates link to an image from the entry. Best for large images
   2. Embedded Image - Embeds the image directly within an entry. Best for smaller images.
3. If you want to create a smaller image which links to a larger version, then follow instructions below:
   Note: The thumbnail option does not work for PNG images.
   1. Check the option for Create a thumbnail for this image.
   2. Select a target height or width (e.g. a width of 400 pixels or less)
      Note: the Constrain proportions option ensures that the image scales down smoothly

See the sections below for more detail on each option.

Create a New Entry

A new entry window will open with the HTML code for embedding or linking the image inside it. Insert text before or after the code to complete the entry.

[inline:newEntryImage.png=Screen capture - blog entry window with HTML code for image]

Show me the HTML (For preexisting entries)

You will see a window with HTML code for embedding or linking the image. Copy and paste the code into your entry and the image will be displayed to the viewer.

[inline:Picture Code.png=Screen capture of image HTML code to be cut and pasted]

Popup Image

Creates link to an image from the entry. Best for large images. Use the Create a thumbnail option to embed a smaller version of the image which links to the larger image.

Embedded Image

Embeds the image directly within an entry. Best for smaller images.

Using the Same Image in Another Entry

You can use the same image in another blog entry by cutting and pasting the image HTML code (or "Embed code") from one entry into another entry.

See the Editing Entries page for details on finding and editing entries.

Using Your Own Flickr Images in a Blog Entry

You can also embed photos from your own Flickr account using the HTML code given in your account. See also the Forum Posting with screencapture.

Basic Mashups (MT 3)

You can embed many media objects within your blog site including YouTube Videos, your personal Flickr Photos and other objects by including the "HTML Embed code" within your blog entry

YouTube Videos

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and create a New Entry.
2. Make sure you are within the default Convert Line Breaks format. If you have set up WYSIWYG editing, you may need to return to the to Convert Lines format.
3. Open a new browser window and search for a video on YouTube.
   Note: Please be sure that the YouTube video is free of copyright issues.
4. Look for the Embed code on the YouTube page and cut and paste it into the text body.
   Note: The embed code begins as "<object width =..."
5. Save and publish the entry. The video stream will be displayed in your blog.
   Note: If the entry shows the code instead of the video, make sure are outside WYSIWYG mode.

Flickr Photos

These instructions only work for your own Flickr photos.

1. Upload any image files you wish to post on to your blog into your Flickr account.
2. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and create a New Entry.
3. Make sure you are within the default Convert Line Breaks format. If you have set up WYSIWYG editing, you may need to return to the to Convert Lines format.
4. Open a new browser window and search for the uploaded Flickr photo.
5. Select the All Sizes button in the Flickr Toolbar and select the appropriate size. See Screen Capture.
6. Save and publish the entry. Your Flickr photo will be displayed in your blog.
   Note: If the entry shows the code instead of the photo, make sure are outside WYSIWYG mode.

Google Maps

These instructions only work for your own Google Maps and Google Maps released to the public.

1. Create a custom Google Map following the Google MyMaps Instructions.
2. Click Link to this Map in the upper right, then click Customize and preview embedded map
3. Set the zoom and location in the preview window to the appropriate settings.
4. Close the window, then cut and post the HTML code into your blog entry. The code looks something like

   <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?MAP DETAILS HERE
   </iframe><br />
   <small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?MAP DETAILS HERE style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

See Google Maps for instructions with screen captures.

Other Content

The capability of embedding content from other sites depends on whether they release an embed code or not. Some sites may only allow you to embed your own items, and others may not offer that option at all.

Create a Podcast Feed (MT 3)

First create an MP3 audio file. Both the Faculty Multimedia Center Tutorials Page and the Digital Commons Tutorials page include tutorials for software such as Garage Band or QuicktimePro.

Upload MP3 File into a Blog

The procedure to uploading an audio file is similar to uploading images.
Note: There is a 50 M size limit for Blog file uploads. For larger files, use the Pass Explorer or SFTP to upload files into your Personal Web Space www directory.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of the blog to enter the blog,
3. Click Upload File button in the left menu.
   
4. In the upload window, click Browse and navigate to your image file on your local drive.
   
5. Click the Upload button to upload the image.
6. In the next window, select Create a new entry using this uploaded file, then click the Link button. A new entry with a link to the uploaded file will be created.
7. Add a title and additional text as needed.
8. Save and Publish the post.

Viewing Podcast in iTunes

To view the podcast in iTunes, do the following.

1. Navigate to your published blog (e.g. http://www.personal.psu.edu/xyz123/blogs/).
2. Find the link for Subscribe to this blog's feed in the sidebar. Right click and select the option for copying the link URL.
3. Open the iTunes application.
4. Go to Advanced menu then Subscribe to Podcasts..., then paste the URL into the pop-up window.
5. You will see a list of available files in that podcast. You will not see any text written in the blog entry.
   Note: The most recent file will be downloaded unless you select click the X cancel icon at top.

Other Podcast Viewing Options

• Users can click on the link within the entry to listen to the file within an MP3 plugin such as Quicktime, Windows Media Player or iTunes.
• Users can subscribe to the feed using a news reader such as Feed Reader (Windows) and NetNewsWire Lite (Mac) and click on links for audio.

Podcast Through iTunes U

If you wish to use the iTunes podcasting service, please review information at http://podcasts.psu.edu/. This service allows you to lock down podcast viewing rights by course or other Penn State unit and to navigate to the podcast directly within iTunes but is acessible only through iTunes.

Enable Outgoing Trackback Pings (MT 3)

A track back is a mechanism which allows a blog to automatically notify another Web site whenever a new entry is added. Although this is a useful notification mechanism, there are also spam trackback servers.

To add an outgoing Trackback for an individual entry, you must configure the entry page to display this option.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the link "Create a new entry on this weblog " to the right of the blog.
   Note: You can also
   click on the name of the blog, then the the New Entry button on the left.
3. On the entry page, click the link for click the link “Customize the display of this page” at the bottom.
   [inline:14CustomizeDisplay.png=Screen Capture New Entry screen]
4. In the Editor Fields options, select Custom.Place a check next to Outgoing TrackBack URL's and any other items you wish to edit for each entry.
   Note: If you cannot place a check, make sure Custom is selected.
   [inline:TrackBackEnable.png=Screen Capture Entry Options]
5. Click Save to close window and change preferences.
6. The entry form will be changed to include a Outbound TrackBack URLs field.
   Note: The Status menu where you set the publish option may be pushed to the bottom.

Incoming Trackbacks Disabled

Note: Because Blogs at Penn State are tied in to Web Access authentication, the security means that the blogs cannot accept incoming trackbacks.

Send E-mail Notifications (MT 3)

The Blogs at Penn State allows you to send an e-mail message to selected users when an entry is published. You can send e-mail to a group within your Notifications list or to a custom set of addresses for each entry. This can be useful within a course blog to notify students or a project blog to notify users of updates.

To Send a Notification

1. Log in to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click New Entries to begin an entry or Entries to enter an old entry, then complete your entry
3. Within the Entry screen, click the Notification tab to the far right above the title. A Send a Notification window will open.
   [inline:Notificationtab.png=Entry screen with Notification tab to far right]
4. Enter e-mail address in the Recipients field. Multiple address should be written with one e-mail address per line or a list separated by commas.      
5. You can enter a message for the recipients in the Message to recipients textbox.
6. Check the option for Entry excerpt if you want a quote to be included in the e-mail message. 7.
7. Check the option for Entry body if you want the entire text of the entry to be included in the e-mail message.
8. Click Send entry notification to send the message.
   [inline:Notifcationwin.png=Send a Notification screen]

Enter Address into Notifications List

1. Login and enter your blog.
2. Click the Notifications button to the left.
3. Click the Create New Notification link; a green entry field will appear at the top of the screen.
4. Enter an Email address, then click the Add Recipient button.
5. Repeat Steps #3-4 for each e-mail address.
6. To delete a contact, check the name of the user, then click the Delete button at the top.

Send Notifications to Contacts in Address Book

1. Write and save an entry as in the “To Send a Notification” section above
2. Click theNotification tab to open the notification window.
3. In the Send a Notification window, make sure the top Recipients option for “Notification list subscribers” is check.
   Note: If you do not see this checkbox, please click the Notifications tab and make sure you have entered at least one e-mail address.

Screencast: Change Your Theme with the Stylecatcher (MT 3)

To give you a visual way to learn how to use the Stylecatcher to change the theme on your blog we've created a screencast. Click the image below or click this link to watch the movie. You can also view the detailed instructions.

Screencast: Upload Image (MT 3)

To give you a visual way to learn how to upload an image to your blog we've created a screencast. Click the image below or click this link to watch the movie. Or you can view the detailed instructions.

Categories and Tags (MT 3)

These instructions allow you to include blog categories and free tags for each entry.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of the blog to enter it.
3. Click Tags in the left menu. You will see a list of tags used on your site.
   The following options are available:
   • To edit the name of a tag, click the name of the tag, change the name in the new field, then click Rename.
   • To delete tags, check all tags to be deleted them click the Delete button at the bottom.
4. Click Rebuild Site in the lower part of the left menu to post the changes.

Edit/Add Categories and Tags in Older Entries (MT 3)

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu.
2. Click the name of the blog to enter it.
3. Click Entries in the left menu. You will see a list of entries to be edited.
4. Click the link for entry to be edited. The Entry page opens.
5. Select an item from Categories menu to change or add categories.
6. Fill in, edit or delete the list of items separated by commas in the Tags menu.
   Note: If you don't see either a Category menu or Tags field, then be sure you have configured your entry page.
7. Click Rebuild Site in the lower part of the left menu to post the changes.

Adding Multiple Categories

Once you have added a variety of categories to your blog, you can click Assign Multiple Categories beneath the Category menu. This brings up a checklist of available categories.