Quickstart - Activating Blog Account and Writing Entry

Activate Blog

Blog Activation is a two step process.

1. Apply for Personal Web Space (https://www.work.psu.edu/webspace)

If you do not currently have Personal Web space, fill out the form at https://www.work.psu.edu/webspace.
Note: Please allow three business days for your Web space to become active.

2. Activate Blogs Account

Once you have activated your Personal Web Space, go to https://blogs.psu.edu and use the Login to New Blog System log-in link. You will be taken to a Dashboard screen.

Create Blog and write entry.

1. Once you have successfully activated your account, go to the Create menu and select Blogs. Complete the forms to create your blog. Click the Publish link in the green box when prompted. See Create a Blog for more details.
2. Configure your Comment Settings so users can easily post comments.
3. You should now see a Write Entry tab. Click this tab and complete the form to write your first entry.

Current Blog Features

The Blogs at Penn State include the following functionality:

BASIC FEATURES

• Multiple blogs per user
• Published in your personal web space (you can blog about whatever topic you want)
• Customize fonts and colors with the Styles selector
• Supports tags, categories and monthly archives
• Upload image files and podcast files as well as other media files.
• Comments and Trackbacks from anyone.
• Filter comments and trackbacks for spam.
• Generates (RSS) news feeds and podcast feeds
• Customize Sidebar
• Import text from other blogs

* Ideal for announcements, journaling, portfolios, note taking, and discussion.

NOT ENABLED YET

• Private blogs - all blogs are visible to the public. The Blogs at Penn State team is working on a solution to tie Blogs to Protected Web Space
• Departmental blogs - The Blogs at Penn State team is researching solutions.

Blog Pilot Documentation and Support

• Help documentation is available at http://blogger.psu.edu/gethelp/.
• Use the Blogger Forum or contact blogs@psu.edu for additional assistance.

This is a Pilot

This is a reminder that we are still in pilot status for Spring 2008 for this system. Although we will work to ensure full service, there may be glitches in the system and support feedback may not be as rapid as with other production services such as Webmail or ANGEL.

Activate Your Personal Home Space

You must activate your Penn State Personal Web space in order to use the Penn State blog service.

To activate your personal Web space, go to http://www.personal.psu.edu, then click the "Apply for Web space on www.personal.psu.edu” link.

Note: You must allow three business days for the space to be activated.

Continue to Create Blogs.

Blog Writing Tips

Once you have activated your Blogs at Penn State Account, you may be wondering what to write. Below are some tips to get you started. After you have decided what to write, you can see how to Create a Blog and Write an Entry for full how-tos.

Decide Your Theme

There are lots of good blogging models out there including personal diaries, social commentaries, news updates, research notes, notes on different hobbies, project announcements and corporate update blogs. However, it's generally recommended that you pick a theme and stick with it. Below are some samples of typical blogs.

Course Examples

• Sociology of Race/Class/Gender (U of Minn) - course announcements, news and student tips
• Student Blog for ENG 1012 (U of Minn) - A student reflects on various topics from the course
• University of Minnesota Blogs - an eclectic collection of blogs from the University of Minnesota

Other Examples

• Kevin Morooney Liberty Road - Comments on information technology at Penn State
• Cole Camplese - Comments on instructional technology
• Russian Chronicles 2005 - Travel log of a trip across Russia.
• Jeff Siarto's Trip to Japan - Another travel blog which includes Flickr photos.
• Language Log - Linguists comment on languge usage and linguistic issues in modern life
• Science Blogs - Multiple blogs covering different topics in science
• Your Daily Art - Commentary on a single artwork each day
• Botony Photo of the Day - A botanical museum shows and describes a new plant everyday.
• Peter Murphy's Panoramic VR Weblog - List of Quicktime VR's made by the author
• Dave Barry's Blog - A "typical" personal blog with links to amusing stories

Once you pick a theme for your blog, you may find it is easier to start writing. One of the nice features of the Blogs at Penn State is that you can begin more than one blog, so you can decide if you want to separate different aspects of your life or keep them together.

One Blog or More?

The Movable Type system at Penn State allows you to create multiple blogs for multiple topics. Which is best?

If you want your blog to be a journal or diary, maybe one blog is best. Some of the "hottest" blogs are based on people writing about their lives in interesting ways. But there may be times when you may want more targeted blogs. For example:

• You may want one blog to discuss your research, course work or work projects, but another for your friends and family talking about your basketball team, wedding day or knitting projects.
• If you're interested in hits, then a specific topic blog may also be a good idea. Some research suggests that many users like to follow blogs on specific topics and want to find other "experts" or "enthusiasts" in their interests.

Fortunately, the Blogs at Penn State gives the option for either.

General Writing Tips

1. Use standard English spelling or punctuation. These conventions make text easier to read and scan.
2. On the of the other hand, you want may your blog style to be a little "looser" than a formal academic or work writing genre...even if your blog is course or work-related. People are hopefully reading your blog to see what YOU think.
3. Include links to other sites to verify facts or back up your opinion. If you believe Joe Paterno is the greatest football coach ever...link to some sports articles to back you up.
4. Length is tricky. Short entries are good, especially for quick news items or links, but many successful bloggers write entries about the size of a front-page Daily Collegian article. If you writing as an "expert", you do want to provide enough detail to show your knowledge.
5. Use subsections for longer entries.
6. Remember that blogs are public. You are free to write whatever you want, but remember that a future employer (or a parent) could be reading your entries.
7. Now go ahead and write. It may take you a while to find your "voice," but it will usually come in time. If it's a personal blog, you may find yourself deleting entries, but that is part of the learning process.
8. The Unpublished Status setting is a great tool for drafts. Some blog entries may take a bit of time to compose, but if your entry's Status is set to Unpublished, you can saveyour text often without posting it to the public.

Tips for Course-Related or Work-Related Blogs

You may choose (or be asked to) write a blog for a course or some aspect of your work at Penn State. Here are some tips that may help you get started.

1. If you are asked to do a blog, ask what kinds of information the person is looking for. An instructor may even provide style guidelines.
2. Maintain a professional tone. It's OK to express an opinion, but you may wish to be careful of how you frame negative comments. These are public blogs, so you never know who may be reading...
3. Longer posts may be OK. In many blogs about research, course work, or work-related issues, the reader may be looking for a more detailed analysis than if he or she were reading a personal blog.
4. Use tags or categories. This will help readers find previous articles in the topics they are interested in. The more professional a blog's theme is, the more important it is to archive content by topics.

Links

• Top 7 Tips for an Effective Business Blog
• Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
• Blogging Tips Condensed
• Angela Booth's Tips to Help You Write More

Create A New Blog

You must have activated your Penn State Personal Web space in order to use the Penn State blog service. To activate your personal Web space, go to http://www.personal.psu.edu/, then click the Apply for Web space on www.personal.psu.edu link. Note that there is a three-business day turnaround for this process.

This page describes how to create a blog. Once that is done, you can write and publish your first post.

To create a new blog

You can view the video or read the how-to text:

1. Go to to http://blogs.psu.edu and click Login to New Blog System. The first time you log in, you will see the System Overview page.
2. In the Create menu on the top, select Blog.
   Note: If you do not see the Blogs option in the Create menu, go to the top white location tab and select System Overview.
   

3. Enter a Blog Name in the Settings window (e.g. “A Test Blog”). This will be name on the top of the blog page.
4. Select a Template Set such as a Classic Blog or a Professional Website depending on how you want to use your space.
5. You can change the directory name in the Site URL as needed.
   Note: You can only change the portion of the name after “…blogs/” and you can only use letters, numbers, dashes and underscores.
6. Click Create Blog at the bottom to finalize the process.
   
7. Click the Write Entry button to write and publish your first post.

Comments Settings and Moderating Comments

By default, new blogs are set to allow comments, but only from Penn State users who have already created a blog.

If this is not desirable, you may prefer to activate Anonymous Comments. See instructions below. Go to the Comments Options table to compare WebAccess vs. Anonymous comments.

You can read the instructions below or watch the video screencast (Flash)

Republish Blog

If your blog was created before January 29, 2008 – you will have to perform the following procecure to reset your blog settings.

1. Log in and enter your blog.
2. Click the Design menu on the top and select Templates.
   
3. In the Templates window, check the option for JavaScript.
   
4. In the More actions menu at the top, select Refresh Template(s) then click the Go button. You will receive a confirmation message.
5. To change from WebAccess to Anonymous,
   1. Click Preferences in top toolbar, then select Registration.
   2. Check Anonymous then Require E-mail.
   3. Uncheck options for WebAccess, Vox, LiveJournal.
      Note: Leave Accept Registration checked.
   4. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
6. Click the Publish (circle arrow at top) button to post the changes.
7. Click View Site (page button at top) to confirm that Comments are active. You should see a Comments (0) link below the entry title after the author name and entry name.

Changing Settings

Allow Non-Penn State Comments

These settings will allow anyone to comment, but will require the author to approve each comment before it is posted. See the Approve or Delete Comments section for information on approving comments.

1. Log in and enter your blog, click Preferences in top toolbar, then select General.
   
2. A set of blog settings will be opened. Click the Registration link in the left hand menu to access the settings for enabling and disabling Web Access.
3. If you want to allow non-Penn State comments, check the option for Anonymous Comments, then Require E-mail Address for Anonymous Comments uncheck the options for WebAccess, LiveJournal and Vox.
   Note: Leave the option for Allow Registration checked.
   
4. Click Save Changes before exiting the page.
5. Click the Publish link to post the changes.
6. See the Approve or Delete Comments section for information on approving comments.

Note: The options for OpenID, Live Journal and Vox comments are non functional in the Penn State Movable Type environment.

Disable Comments

If you want to completely disable comments:

1. Click Preferences in top toolbar, then select Blog Settings.
2. Click the Comment link in the left hand settings menu to open those settings
3. Uncheck Accept Comments. Click Save Changes before exiting the page.
   
4. To have moderated comments (comments are not published until approved by you), check the following settings. With these settings, you will receive an e-mail for all comments posted to the Web for you to approve.
   • Make sure Accent Comments is checked.
   • Set the option for “Immediately approve comments” from to Trusted Commenters Only or No One.
   • Set E-mail Notification to On.
     
5. To disable comments completely, turn Accept Comments off.
6. Click Save Changes before exiting the page.
7. Click the Publish link to post the changes

Change Back to Penn State Authenticated Comments

Note: This option requires Penn State users to create a blog before they can post a comment.

1. Log in and enter your blog, click Preferences in top toolbar, then select Blog Settings.
2. Click the Registration link in the left hand menu.
3. Check the options for Allow Registration and WebAccess. Other options may be disabled.
4. Click Save Changes before exiting the page.
5. Click the Publish link to post the changes

Approve or Delete Anonymous Comments

If the approve options are set to No One or Trusted commenters, then you must approve comment submissions before they are posted.

1. For each new comment, you will receive an e-mail message including the username and the content of the comment along with three links.
2. Click on second “Edit link” to go to that comment.
   Note: If the link does not work, log in and enter your blog then click the Manage in the upper tool bar and select Comments. Then you can choose from the list given.
   
   Comment Status window. The blog eiditor is changing the status from Unapproved (yellow) to Approved.
3. You have the following options available in the Comments window:
• To publish a comment change the Status to Approved then click Save Changes at the bottom.
• To unpublish comment change the Status to Unapproved then click Save Changes at the bottom.
• To delete a comment, clixk the Delete button at the bottom of the page.
• To set a comment as junk, change the Status to Reported as Spam.
• To ban a commenter, go to the More Actions menu at the lower right and select Ban commenter

Reply to a Comment

1. Click the Manage in the upper tool bar and select Comments. You will see a list of submitted comments.
2. Click the Reply link beneath the appropriate comment.
   Note: You can reply to a comment in your published blog by clicking the Comments link beneath an entry.
3. Enter your text in the Your reply field, then click the Submit button. The reply will be published as another comment.

WebAccess vs. Anonynmous Comments

By default, new blogs are set to allow comments only from Penn State users (users need to login with their Access Account). You will also receive an e-mail message for each comment submitted which you must approve (see instructions in the Approve or Delete comments section below.

Two other options – Anonymous comments and Disabled Comments – are available. Here is a chart comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each. Note that in many cases, Anonymous Comments or may a better option.

Subscribe to the Blog Newsfeed

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 subscription 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.

Write and Publish Blog Entries

First, make sure you have

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

To create an entry

1. Log in to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click the Write Entry tab at the top. You should see an entry for the blog you just created.
   
3. Fill in a title for your entry and enter text in the textbox below. You can use the formatting buttons as needed. See the Entry Formatting Appendix for details.
4. Add Tags (a list of terms separated by commas) or Categories as needed.
5. Click Save to complete your entry.
6. To view the entry as your public will see it, click the View Site button in the top links. Your blog will open in a new tab or window.
7. To send an e-mail notification, click Share on right of Entry screen
   Note: If this option is not visible, click the Save button.

Key to Formatting Tools

See the Entry Formatting Tools table for an explanation of the different WYSIWYG formatting tools.

Edit and Delete Older Blog Entries

To edit and delete older entries, click the top Manage menu and select Entries. See the Edit and Delete Entries documentation for more details.

Notes on Additional Options

1. Extended tab - Allows you to split a long entry into two sections. Put the second part of a long entry in the Extended screen. Blog viewers will see the first part of an entry in the blog home page followed by a "Continue Reading" link.
2. Format Menu - Allows you to switch between Rich Text (WYSIWYG) and None (HTML Tag) view. Other options refer to alternate markup schemes.
3. Status Menu - Controls whether the public sees your entry
   1. Published (Default) - the public can see your entry
   2. Unpublished - the entry is hidden from the public. Use this to write and save drafts of longer entries.
   3. Scheduled option lets you post entries at specific times in the future.
4. Feedback
   1. Unchecking Accept Comments will disable comments for that entry.
   2. Unchecking Accept TrackBacks will disable trackbacks for that entry.
5. The Publish Date options allow to adjust the publication date of your entry.
6. The Basename field allows you to adjust the URL of your blog entry
   Note: It is NOT recommended that you change your Basename unless you have a specific reason to do so.
7. Display Options - allows you to customize the entry form of your blog.

Entry Formatting Tools

The following is a chart of the available WYSWYG formatting tools. To access these tools, log in to http://blogs.psu.edu, enter your blog and click the Write Entry tab.

Note: If you do not see a Write Entry tab, click the white location tab (the "Blog Dashboard" tab) in the upper left and select the name of your blog.

Tool or Setting	Icon	Description
Descrease Font Size Increase Font Size		Click Decrease Text Size to make text smaller. Click Increase Text Size to make text larger.
Bold Italics Underline Strikethrough		Use the font formatting tools to add bold, italic, underline or strikethrough formatting respectively to selected text
Link		The Link tool allows you to create hyperlinks within your document. Highlight text which will become a link, click the Link tool, then enter the URL in the pop-up window.
Email Link		Use this tool to create links to e-mail addresses. Highlight text which will become a link, click the Email Link tool, then enter the e-mail address in the pop-up window.
Begin Blockquote End Blockquote		Use Begin Blockquote to indent a paragraph Use the End Blockquote to remove an indent.
Bulletd List		Click the Bulleted List option to create a bulleted list. Click the button again to stop the list. Click Tab to indent a list item in one level Click Shift-Tab outdent a list item
Numbered List		Click the Numbered List option to create a bulleted list. Click the button again to stop the list. Click Tab to indent a list item in one level Click Shift-Tab outdent a list item
Left Align Center Align Right Align		Use the Paragraph Alignment tools to select left aligned, center or right aligned text respectively
Insert Image		The Insert Image tool allows you to insert images into your document.
Insert File		The Insert File tool allows you to upload files (in, including audio and video files into your blog.
WYSIWYG Mode HTML Mode		To view the HTML code, click the <A> HTML mode button. To return to formatted text, click the blue underlined A WYSIWYG Mode button.

Find Blog URL and View Blog Posts

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.

To find your blog URL

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click the View Site (circle arrow) button in the top links.
   
3. The public view of your site will open in a new tab or window.

If you have just written an entry

After you have written and saved an entry you will see a link for View Published Entry above the entry title towards the right.

Note: If you do not see this link, make sure you have clicked the Save button and that the Status menu is set to Published.

Create Static Web Pages with Movable Type

This version of Movable Type has added tools which allow you to create static Web pages which are connected to your blog.

Create a Page

1. Login to the Blogs system and enter a blog
2. Click Create in the top links then select Page. A form similar to that for a blog entry will appear.
   
3. Fill in a title for your entry and enter text in the textbox below. You can use the formatting buttons as needed. See the “HTML Toobar Appendix” for details.
4. In the “Metadata” section, add Tags (a list of terms separated by commas) as needed.
5. Click the Save button at the bottom to save a draft. A filename will be given based on the title of your page,
   Note: You can change the name of the page in the Filename field at the bottom. All filenames should end with .html or .htm and should avoid all punctuation except for _ (underscore) or –(dash).
6. If you are ready for the page to be viewable by the public, then in the “Publishing” section, set Status to Published then click Save at the bottom.
   Note: Pages which are set to Unpublished are not viewable to the public.
7. To create a directory folder, click the Change folder link then the plus sign to create a directory (the process is similar to that for creating new Categories).
8. If you want viewers to be able to add comments or TrackBacks, check the options to Accept comments and to accept TrackBacks.
9. To view a published entry, click View Published Page link in the upper right to see how your entry has been published. You will see the contents of your page plus the blog header and some parts of the sidebar.
   Note: If you do not see this link, make sure the Status is set to Published.

Hide Pages from Pages Menu

To hide a page from the Pages menu, enter the page for editing, and set the Status to Unpublished.

You will be able to edit and preview pages, but no one will be able to view them. Change the status to Published when you are ready for the public to view the pages.

Edit and Delete Pages

1. Login and enter your blog.
2. Click the Manage in the upper set of links, then click Pages.
3. Click the link for the page you wish to edit.
4. Edit as needed then click Save.
5. To delete an page, place a check next to the entry and click the Delete button.

Controlling Sequence for a Group of Pages

Pages (or pages in the same folder) are ordered alphabetically by the title first given. That is, even if you change the title later, the page order does not reshuffle.

To get the correct order in the first place, you may want to try adding a number before each page title or being creative with titles.

If you need to reshuffle the order, you will need to recreate a second version with an appropriate alphabetized title. You can:

• Set the status of the 1st page to Unpublished - this hides the page, but does not delete it.
• Create new page with sequence-friendly title.
• Copy and paste content from old page.

Using RSS Newsfeeds to Get the Latest Headlines

Upload an Image into a Blog Entry

Note: The blog supports GIF, JPEG and PNG formats.

You can view the video or read the text how-to below:

1. Log in to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click the Write Entry tab to begin writing an entry, then click the Insert Image button in the formatting toolbar.
   
3. In the Insert Image window, click the Upload New Image link in the top.
   
4. In the upload window, click Browse and navigate to your image file on your local drive.
   
5. For Upload Desitnation, you can select the option for the current date in the 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.
6. Click the Upload button to upload the image. A new window will open with additional options.
   
7. Fill in a descriptive title in the Name field. This will help you search for images more quickly
   Note:The Name field will become the ALT tag used by screen readers and the text that is seen when an image fails to load
8. Add a description and appropriate tags separated by commas.
9. Select an alignment option (left, center or right) for you want your image to be placed in reference to your text.
10. Check Display image in entry if you want to see the image within a blog entry.
11. Check Use thumbnail if you want to reduce the width of an image
    Note: The recommended maximum width is width is 500 pixels.
12. Check Link image to full-size version if you want users to be able to click on a image and see the original size.
13. Click Finish to complete the image insertion process.

Using the Same Image in Another Entry

1. Click the Insert Image button following steps #1-2 above.
2. The Insert Image window will show a list of previously used images (called Assets). Select the button next to the appropriate image, then click the Next button.
3. Complete the File Options process as listed in Steps #6-12 above.

Create a Podcast Feed

You can use the Penn State blogs to quickly create a podcast feed. The feed will be accessible via iTunes or through a Web browser or news reader. To create the feed.

Create an MP3 File

First create an MP3 audio file. Both the Faculty Multimedia Center Tutorials Page and the Digital Commons Web Site (Click Podcasting under Platform) includes tutorials for software such as Garage Band or QuicktimePro.

Upload MP3 File into Blog

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 and enter your blog,
2. Click the Write Entry tab to begin writing an entry, then click the Insert File button in the formatting toolbar.
   
3. In the Insert Asset window, click the Upload New File link in the top.
   
4. In the upload window, click Browse and navigate to your image file on your local drive.
   
5. For Upload Destination, you can select the option for the current date in the 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.
6. Click the Upload button to upload the file. A new window will open with additional options.
7. Add a description and appropriate tags separated by commas. Click Finish to complete the image insertion process.
8. A link to the file will be included in the blog entry. The text can be added as needed.

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.

Basic Mashups: Incorporating YouTube Videos, Flickr Photos and other Content

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

Note: In order for the embed codes to work, you must switch your entry format from Rich Text to one showing HTML tags such as None.

YouTube

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and create a New Entry.
2. Write and format the text for the body of your entry.
   Note: The easiest approach is the describe the video first, then insert it.
3. Click the <A> HTML Mode button. You will see the HTML tags for your entry.
4. Open a new browser window and search for a video on YouTube.
   Note: Please be sure that the YouTube is free of copyright issues.
5. 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 =..."
6. 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 your Format is NOT Rich Text.

FlickrPhotos

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. Write and format the text for the body of your entry.
   Note: The easiest approach is the describe the photos first, then insert them.
4. Click the <A> HTML Mode button. You will see the HTML tags for your entry.
5. Open a new browser window and search for the uploaded Flickr photo.
6. Select the All Sizes button in the Flickr Toolbar and selct the appropriate size.
7. 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. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and create a New Entry.
5. Write and format the text for the body of your entry.
   Note: The easiest approach is the describe the map first, then insert it.
6. Click the <A> HTML Mode button. You will see the HTML tags for your entry.
7. 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?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=16805&ie=UTF8&om=1&s=AARTsJpP8HuZttzsTmaO5qSXfC_JN95p2w&ll=40.822643,-77.844315&spn=0.181863,0.291824&z=11&iwloc=addr&output=embed">
   </iframe><br />
   <small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=16805&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=40.822643,-77.844315&spn=0.181863,0.291824&z=11&iwloc=addr&source=embed" 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.

Create and Manage Tags

What's a Tag?

Free tags are a set of topic words specified for each entry. The blogs system creates a Tag Cloud: section in the sidebar listing all tags used. The larger the tag text; the more frequently it is used. In addition, pages for individual tags include an RSS feed by default.

To add Tags to Entries

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog
2. Enter your blog and click Write Entry to create a new entry.
3. In the Tags field, add a series of words separated by commas (e.g. “blogs, social computing, Web 2.0”).
   Note: For best sorting, use the same version of a word (e.g. “blogs”, but not “blog”) across entries.
4. Repeated tags will appear at the bottom of the page as you type. Click on a tag to insert it.
5. To add or change tags of older entries, go to the Manage menu in the top links then select Entries. Click the link for the entry to enter it, then modify the Tags field.

Manage Tags

You can use this page to edit typos in tags or remove unused tags.

1. Login and enter your blog.
2. Click Manage in the top links then select Tags. You will see a list of tags used in your blog.
3. To edit a tag, click the name of the tag to open a textbox. Edit the textbox, then click Rename.
   
4. To delete a tag, place a check by the appropriate tag, then click the Delete button at the top.

Create and Manage Blog Categories

To add a Category to an Entry

1. Log in to your blog and click the Write Entry tab.
2. Scroll to the Category field at the right of the page.
   
3. To add a new category, click Add New.
   
4. Fill in the name of the new category, then click the green plus sign to the right. The new category will appear as a checkbox option.
5. To add the same category to a new entry, scroll to the Category field and click Add Category. A check box will open listing all current categories.
6. Check all appropriate categories and click OK. The Category field will list selected categories.
7. To add new category repeat steps #1-4 above.
   Hint: Create categories in blog entries as topics arise so that your blog avoids listing “empty” categories.
8. To add or change categories of older entries, go to the Manage menu in the top links then select Entries. Click the link for the entry to enter it, then modify the Category field.

Edit Categories and Create Subcategories

The blogs platform allows you to create subcategories. In the archives, subcategories are listed in the sidebar as indented items under a main category.

1. Log in and enter your blog.
2. Click Manage in the top links then select Categories. You will see the “Manage Categories” window listing current categories in the blog.
   
3. Click the name of a category to make edits to the name. Click Save Changes to exit then click the Publish link given.
   
4. To create a new top level category, click the Create top level category link at the top of categories list.. Enter the name of the new category in the text box, then click the Save button. Click Save Changes to exit then click the Publish link given.
   
5. To change a top level category to a subcategory, click the Move link by the name of the category within the categoy list.
6. In the move window, select the name of the top level category. Click the Publish link given to finalize changes.
   
   Check the option dogs to make the category “corgi” a subcategory under “dogs.”
7. To make a subcategory a top-level category, click the Move link then click the Top Level option. Click the Publish link given to finalize changes.
8. Click the Publish link or the Publish (circle arrow) button before leaving this page to make sure all changes take effect.

Publish A Blog Site

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

To republish a site

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click Publish (the circle arrow button) in the top links (located after the Preferences menu.
   Note: If you do not see this option, go to the top white location tab and select the name of your blog.
3. A pop-window will open. Click the Publish button in this window. You will see messages indicating how many pages are being rebuilt.
   

4. Click the View Site page icon bitton in the top links to view your published site.
5. If you have changed the Theme, click Control+R (Windows) or Command+R (Mac) to refresh all the pages in your browser.

Manage Multiple Blogs

The Blogs system allows you create multiple blogs for multiple topics. For instance, you can create one blog for a course, another as a portfolio and a third for a hobby or personal news.

Create Another Blog

1. Click on the white system overview tab to see a list of your current blogs. Depending on your location. The tab may list the name of your first blog or say “System Overview.”
   
2. Click the Create a new blog option to start a new blog. You will see the form to enter your blog title.

Switch Between Blogs

Once you have created an additional blog, you can switch between blogs by clicking the white system overview tab.

Select Styles (Colors/Fonts)

You can use the Styles options to make basic changes in overall appearance of your blog. You can view the video or read the text how-to:

Select the Theme

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog
2. Once you enter the blog click Design link then Styles
   Note: if the Design link is not visible, then click the white System Overview tab, then the name of your blog
   
3. You should see a list of available preformatted styles.
   

4. Select from the Professional Website styles if you have chosen that template.
5. For a Classic Blog template, if you want a non Penn State style, click the option for MT 4 Style Library in the left to see all available styles. Click PSU Styles if you specifically want a Penn State style.
   Note: There may be a delay before all styles are displayed
6. Highlight a style image to select it (it should be in the right Selected Design column.)
   
7. The Layout menu above the Apply Design button allows you to change the position of sidebar "Thin" column with respect to the content "Thick" column. You can choose between three-column and two-column layouts.
8. Cick the Apply Design button at the bottom of the second column to select the design.
9. To view the public version of the blog, click the View button (page icon) in the top set of tool links.
10. Press Shift+Control+R (Windows) or Command+Shift+R (Mac) to load the new style into your browser.

Custom Themes

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

E-Mail Notifications with Address Book

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 of Contacts within your Address Book 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 create a Notification List

This tool is useful for small lists. For larger lists, such as a class roster, see Using the eLion List.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click the Manage link in the top then select Address Book.
3. Click the Create Contact link at the top.
   
4. Enter an Email Address and Website URL (if available).
   Note: Each blog you create has its own address book.
   
5. Click the Add Contact button at the end of the row. The address will be added to a new list of contacts
6. To delete a contact, click the Delete button at the top of the list.

Using an eLion List

For large class rosters, you can modify an eLion class list so that e-mail addresses can be copied into a Notification.

1. Retrieve the E-mail format class list from eLion
1. Open a web browser and go to: http://elion.psu.edu.
2. Click on the Faculty link in the left menu. The Penn State User Authentication screen appears.
3. Enter your Penn State Access Account userid (e.g., xyz123) and Password (i.e., the same password you use when accessing your email); click OK
4. After you log in, click the Class Lists link in the left menu.
5. From the main window on the right, highlight the semester for which you would like a class list and click Continue.
6. Click Get Courses, then check the button for the appropriate course.
   Note: If you see an error message, then check to be sure that you have selected the correct semester and that your department has listed you as an instructor of record in ISIS.
7. Click E-mail class list (e-mail distribution format. A text file of the class list will be mailed to you from registrar@psu.edu.
2. Copy and paste the list into Microsoft Word. The format is as follows.
   

             jtk000@psu.edu		(Kirk James T)
             wtr00000@psu.edu		(Riker William T)
                 

3. User vertical select to highlight and remove the names column. Highlight the area near the beginning of the first name and then hold down the Alt key (Win) or Option key (Mac) while using the mouse to highlight the colulmn.
4. Use the Find and Replace function (under the Edit menu) to find and delete all spaces. You should be left with this format of e-mail address names only.
   Note: Extra spaces after address could cause a future notification to fail later.

             jtk000@psu.edu
             wtr00000@psu.edu
                 

5. Save this file in location where you can find it easily in the future.

Send Out E-Mail for a Single Entry

1. Write and publish an entry in a blog.
2. Click the Share link in the upper right of the "Published" box.
   Note: If you do not see this option, make sure you have Saved your entry and set the Status to Published.
3. You will see a Send a Notification e-mail message window. If you want to e-mail your Address Book Contacts, leave the option for All addresses from Address Book checked.
4. You can enter additional e-mail addresses in the Recipients field. Addresses can either be separated by commas or listed with one address per line.
5. Enter text into Optional Message if you want to add explanatory text to your message.
   Note: If no message is written, the e-mail will just include the entry title, date and a link to the blog entry.
6. Click the Entry Excerpt option to include part of your blog entry text in the message.
7. Click Entry Body if you want to forward your entire blog entry.
8. Click Send at the bottom to send the e-mail.

Edit and Delete Older Entries

To edit an older entry.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click the Manage link in the upper set of links, then click Entries.
   Note: if the Entries link is not active, then click the white System Overview tab, then the name of your blog
   
3. You should see a list of entries in your blog starting with the most recent ones on top. Click the link for the entry you wish to edit. You should see the entry form.
   
4. Make changes as needed and click Save. See the Writing Entries documentaiton for more details.
5. Set the Status menu to Publish if you wish the entry to be visible to the public.
6. Click Save to change the setting.
7. Click the View Site (page) button in the top links to be sure the entry is visible to the public.

Hide an Entry

If you want to hide an entry, but not delete it, follow steps #1-4 above, but set the Status menu to Unpublished.
Note: The Unpublished option is a good way to write a draft for a long blog entry without the public seeing it until it is ready.

Delete an Entry

1. Click the Manage link in the upper set of links, then click Entries. You will see a list of your entries.
2. To delete an entry, place a check next to the entry and click the Delete button at the top.
   
3. Click the Publish link given or the circle arrow in the top links. This will remove the entry from the public blog site.

TrackBack Settings and Moderating TrackBacks

What's a TrackBack?

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.

Check TrackBack Settings

By default, new blogs are set to moderated TrackBacks (anyone can submit comments or TrackBacks, but they are not published until the editor decides to do so). If you wish to change your settings, then do the following.

1. Log in and enter your blog, click Preferences in top toolbar, then select TrackBack.
   
2. To have moderated TrackBacks (they are not published until approved by you), check the following settings. With these settings, you will receive an e-mail for all comments posted to the Web for you to approve.
   • Make sure Accept TrackBacks is checked.
   • Make sure the Moderation option is checked.
   • Set E-mail Notification to On.
     


TrackBack Settings window set for moderated trackbacks.

3. To disable comments completely, turn Accept TrackBacks off.
4. Click Save Changes before exiting the page.

Approve or Delete Comments

If the approve options are set to No One or Trusted commenters, then you must approve comment submissions

1. For each new TrackBack, you will receive an e-mail message including the username and the content of the TrackBack.
2. Click the edit to go to that TrackBack.
   Note: If the link does not work, log in and enter your blog then click the Manage in the upper tool bar and select TrackBacks. Then you can choose from the list given.
3. Change its status as needed.

Disable TrackBacks

Disabling TrackBacks will block all spam, but will also make it impossible for anyone to send you a TrackBack. To disable TrackBacks:

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu. and enter your blog.
2. Click Preference in top toolbar, then select TrackBack.
3. Turn the checkbox for "Accept TrackBacks" off then click Save Changes tht the bottom

Import Text from Another Blog

You may be able to import content from another blog depending on the platform of the original blog.

1. First make sure you have exported content from your original blog. See the export instructions of your blogging system for details. The file will likely be either a .txt text file or an RSS file.
   Note: Users within the older Penn State blogs (Movable Type 3.3) can refer to the Export from Movable Type 3 documentation
2. Log in to http://blogs.psu.edu.
3. If necessary, create a new blog.
4. Click the Blog Dashboard (home) button. You should see a “dashboard” for your blog listing Blog Stats.
   Note: You can also click the Dashboard link at the bottom of the page.
5. In the Handy Shortcuts section to the right, click the link for Import Content.
   
6. Select a platform in the Importing from menu. Your options are:
• Movable Type – the option for importing content from other Penn State blogs
• Word Press extended RSS (WXR)
• Another System – Use this option if your system is not Movable Type but has created a Movable Type File.
7. Use the Browse button to select the external file to import on your local system. It will likely be either a .txt text file or an RSS file.
8. Click More options if you need to select options for text breaks, encoding or default categories.
9. Click the Import Entries button at the bottom to begin the import. You will see a new window listing imported entries.
   
10. Click the Publish Site button in the top bar to post the entries to your blog Web site.
11. Click the View Site button in the top bar to see if the entries have been imported correctly.
    Note: If you do not see the entries, make sure you have clicked the Publish Site button. If problems persist, contact blogs@psu.edu.

Notes on Import Options

• The Text Formatting option refers to the line-break options of your import file. Refer to your blog system instructions if the initial import does not work.
• The Import File Encoding option refers to Unicode options. Leave it set to Auto-Detect unless you encounter difficulties.
• The Default Category menu lets you select default categories you have already created. If you need a Default Category, you must create one before you import a file.

Export Blog Text

This operation preserves the text of each entry, but images and links will be lost.  To export text:

The recommended browser for export is Firefox. Blog files may not correctly export from Internet Explorer 7.

1. Log in and enter your blog.
2. Click the Blog Dashboard (home) button. You should see a “dashboard” for your blog listing Blog Stats.
   Note: You can also click the Dashboard link at the bottom of the page.
3. In the Handy Shortcuts section to the right, click the link for Import Content. This takes you to both import and export.
   
4. Click Export in the left Activity Log menu of import window.
   
5. Click the Export Blog button in the next window. A .txt file will be downloaded onto your computer.
6. If you wish to import these entries into another blog, consult the new blog service for information on importing new text entries from a file.

Other Files

This operation allows you to save other files including images, raw HTML code and custom stylesheets.

1. Use SFTP or the Penn State Portal Pass Explorer (http://www.psu.edu/portalproject/passexplorer/) to navigate to the /blogs folder in your Personal Web space www/ folder.
2. These files can be downloaded and saved.

Discontinue an Entire Blog

If you wish to discontinue a blog and take it offline.

Export Blog Entries

Use the export tool to download blog entries including dates, categories, tags and comments. It is possible that they may be uploaded into another blog.

Delete Future Entries

Note: The ability to delete blogs is currently unavailable. If you wish to remove a blog from your site, please read the following instructions below.

Remove Past Entries

These options allow you to remove your past entries from public view.

Option 1 - Unpublish Entries

1. You can either delete each entry or set the Status of each entry to Unplublished (see editing past entries). This will remove the entries from public view.
2. It is recommended that you write a final entry explaining that the blog has been discontinued and pointing them to the new blog if available.

Option 2 - Delete Files in PASS Space

Past entries are also stored as static pages in your Penn State Personal Web space. To remove these pages:

1. Use SFTP or the Penn State Portal Pass Explorer (http://www.psu.edu/portalproject/passexplorer/) to navigate to the /blogs folder in your Personal Web space www/ folder.
2. Download any files you wish to archive then delete all folders files in the blogs directory.
   Note: If you have multiple blogs, delete the folder for the corresponding blog.

Sidebar Widget Manager

Widgets are snippets of code which allow you to add different types of content to the sidebar of your blog. Additional built-in widgets available in the Penn State blogs include Technorati Search, the Tag Cloud, Calendars and the Creative Commons license statement.

If your layout has two sidebars, you need to create and edit a second widget manager for the extra sidebar column. Otherwise, only a few basics sidebar items will be shown in the second column. To remove a second column, go to the Styles page

You can watch the video or read the text how-to below:

Add and Remove Sidebar Widgets

To make these active (or to remove sidebar elements), complete these steps.

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click the Design link on top then select Widget Sets.
   
3. Click the link for First Widget Manager.
   

4. All available able widgets will be displayed.
   1. Drag widgets you do not need to the right hand Available Widget column.
   2. Leave widgets you want to be displayed in the to the left Installed Widgets column. You can drag the order of the items to change the display order.
   3. Click Save Changes to exit the Widget Manager.

      

5. Click the Publish link given.
6. Click the View Site button in the top links to see the changes in the sidebar.

Managing Widgets in Second Sidebar

If your layout has two sidebars, you need to create a second widget manager for the extra sidebar column.

1. Login into http://blogs.psu.edu and enter a blog by clicking the name.
2. Click the Design link on top then select Widget Sets.
3. Click the Create Widget Set link above the “First Widget Manager.” You will the the Widget Manager with a blank “Installed Widget” column to the left.
4. Enter “Second Widget Manager” into the Set Name field.
   Note: If you mistype or enter another name in that field, the blog template will not be able to recognize it.
5. Drag widgets you want to be displayed in the to the left Installed Widgets column (see Widget Manager for details). You can drag the order of the items to change the display order.
6. Click Save Changes to exit the Widget Manager.
7. Click the Publish link given. Click the View Site button check your blog sidebar.

Add a Headline Feed In the Sidebar

This widget tool allows you to add headlines from another blog or news service to your sidebar.

Find the Feed Link

The Feed link tool only adds headlines from Web sites which generate an RSS or ATOM news feed. News feeds may be marked with a variety of methods including

• In Firefox or Internet Explorer 7, an orange feed icon may be seen to the right of the URL.
  
• In Safari, a blue RSS icon may be may be seen to the right of the URL.
  

Add the Feed Link

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click Design in the top menu then select Widget Sets.
3. Click Edit Widget Templates in the lower right. A list of available sidebar widgets are displayed.
4. Click Create a Feed Widget in the Actions menu in the lower right.
   Note: If you do not see this option, click Main Menu at the top and re-enter your blog.
5. Copy and paste the site URL (e.g. http://www.cnn.com) into the Feed or Site URL textbox then click Continue. The name of the newsfeed will be displayed.
   Note: If the site does not include a news feed or you enter a Safari feed:// URL, you will see an error message "No feeds discovered."
6. Click Continue at the bottom of the screen to confirm the link and enter the next screen.
7. On the next screen, edit the Title of the feed as needed.
8. Select the number of Entries (headlines) then click Save.
9. To add another feed, click Create Another; otherwise click the Finish link to exit the feed widget creator.

Display the Feed

You must enter the Widget Manager to move the feeds to the sidebar. To do that:

1. If you are not within the, click Design in the top menu then select Widget Sets.
2. In the next screen, click the link for First Widget Manager.
3. Click Manage My Widgets in the bottom Plugin Actions section. A list of available sidebar widgets are displayed.
4. Drag the feed widget (named after the feed) from the right hand Available Widget column to the left Installed Widgets column. Click Save Changes to exit.

   

5. Click the Publish link, then click View Site to check your blog sidebar.

Edit Typos in Feed Title

If your Feed title is too long or has typos, do the following.

1. Log in an enter your blog.
2. Click Design in the top menu then select Widget Sets.
3. Click Edit Widget Templates in the lower right. A list of available sidebar widgets are displayed.
4. Click the name of the widget to view HTML tags.
5. Change text inside the <h3>....</h3>tags to change the displayed headline.
6. Click the Publish Site (circle arrow) button in the top links to implement the widget, then View Site to view changes.

Adding Additional Editors

Add Editors and Commentors [BETA]

This version of the blogging tool allows you to add users with Penn State Access Account userids as editors or commenters to your blog.
Note: This tool is still in beta mode and has not been tied in to any Penn State directory or blog-internal searches.

Potential Editors Must Login

In order for you to add a Penn State person as an editor to your blog, you must ask that person to log in to http://blogs.psu.edu and create a blog.

Add an Editor

1. Login and enter your blog.
2. Click Manage in the top links then select Users.
3. Click the link Add a user to this blog.
4. Navigate through the list to add a user (the list may be ordered by when a person created a blog). You will have to click through each page in the list to find the appropriate user. If you do not see the appropriate user, contact that person and ask him or her to log in to http://blogs.psu.edu.
   Note: The search option is not functional at this time.
5. Check the entry for the appropriate user then click Continue.
6. Check the appropriate role name then click Confirm. Names and descriptions of selected roles are given below:
   • Blog Administrator – full rights to edit the blog
   • Editor – Can write and edit entries, change categories and upload files.
   • Author – can write an edit entries and upload files, but change categories
   • Contributor – can write and edit entries, but not upload files
   • Moderator – can approve and edit comments from others
   • Commenter – approved commenter
   • Design – Can edit templates only
   • Webmaster – Can only publish pages and edit templates

Delete an Editor

1. Login and enter your blog.
2. Click Manage in the top links then select Users. You will see a list of users with different access permissions.
3. Place a check for any user you wish to remove, then click the Remove button above the list.

Change Permissions for an Editor

At this time you must delete a user, then add the individual again with the updated permissions.

Reset ACLs (Blogs Directory Permissions)

For a small percentage of users, the ACLs (permissions) for the /blogs/ directory must be reset in order for the Blogs at Penn State to post entries properly. You will only need to do this if you have activated your Penn State Personal Web space, but receive a directory permissions error.

To Reset ACLs

1. Login to https://www.work.psu.edu
2. Click the Reset PASS Permissions to default (ACL Reset) link in the left menu. You will be asked to log in again.
3. Click the Proceed button in the next window.

This will change all settings for all directories back to the default settings. Please allow 15-30 minutes for processing.

If you need to to set custom ACLs, please post a message to blogs@psu.edu

Linking to Blog Headlines in ANGEL

The following options are available to instructors using both the ANGEL Course Mangement System and the Blogs at Penn State who wish to create links between the two tools.

Option 1 - Link to Blog in ANGEL

The easiest option is to create a Link in ANGEL to your blog in either the Lessons Tab or the Communicate Tab to your Blog. See the ANGEL Help & Information Page for more detailed instructions.
Note: Cookies are required to view dymanic ANGEL Help Documents.

Option 2 - Create Headline Feed in ANGEL

You can use the Feed2JS utility hosted at Penn State Education Technology Services to create JavaScript Code which will display the contents of your blog news feed within ANGEL

Find Subscription Feed

1. Open the public version of your blog.
2. Look for the Subscribe to this blog's feed link in one your sidebars.
3. Right click on the link and copy the link location or URL.
   Note: Make sure the link ends with a .xml extension.

Create JavaScript Code

1. In a new browser window, open http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/feeds/build.php
2. Paste the feed link in the URL field.
3. Select appropriate display options for the Show Channel field.
4. To display all entries, leave Number of Items to Display set to "0". Change the number only if you want only the first few entries.
5. Select appropriate options for Show/Hide Item descriptions.
6. Select Yes for Use HTML in item display. This will preserve the formatting of your blog entry.
7. Select appropriate option for Show Item posting date?
8. Leave Time Zone Offset set to "feed" or some other appropriate value.
   Note: For Pennsylvania, the value is -5 for Daylight Standard and -4 for Daylight Savings.
9. Select appropriate setting for Target links in the new window.
10. Check the option for use UTF-8 Character encoding. This will ensure that "exotic characters" are correctly displayed.
11. Check Yes for Podcast Enclosures.
12. Scroll to the top of the page and click the Generate JavaScript button. This will open a new window.
13. Copy the JavaScript code into a Word or text document. It begins with a <script> tag and ends with a </noscript> tag. See example code below.
    

    <script language="JavaScript" src="http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/feeds/feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.personal.psu.edu%2Fxyz123%2Fblogs%2Fmyblog%2Findex.xml&amp;chan=y&amp;date=y&amp;utf=y&amp;html=a" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <noscript>
    
      <a href="http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/feeds/feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.personal.psu.edu%2Fxyz123%2Fblogs%2Fmyblog%2Findex.xml&amp;chan=y&amp;date=y&amp;utf=y&amp;html=y">View RSS feed</a>
    </noscript>
    
    

Feeding Headlines into ANGEL

Headlines can be posted in any tool which allows you to switch between Smart Text and HTML formats including Announcements, the Syllabus Editor and pages in the Lessons Tab. This demo will use the ANGEL Page tool.

1. Create an Announcement in ANGEL under the Communicate Tab. See the ANGEL Help & Information Guide for full documentation.
2. Paste the JavaScript code generated in the step above into the Announcement field.
3. Change the Format menu from Smart Text to HTML Text.
4. Set the End Date for some date after the semester ends or else the announcement will disappear.
5. Save the announcement. When the students view the announcement, the headlines will be displayed. The headlines will update themselves as you add entries to your blog.

Headlines will be displayed in the Announcements area for the course and in the My Announcements nugget in each students personal profile.

Create Custom Sidebar Widgets (About Me & External Links)

Widgets are snippets of code which allow you to add different types of content to the sidebar of your blog. Movable Type allows you to create custom widgets of your own.
Note: The following documentation assumes familiarity with HTML. Information about HTML can be found at

• ITS Training XHTML Resources
• Penn State Web Developer Guide

Create A Custom "About Me" Widget

1. Log on to http://blogs.psu.edu and enter your blog.
2. Click Design in the top menu then select Widget Sets.
3. Click Edit Widget Templates in the lower right. A list of available sidebar widgets are displayed.
   
4. Click the link for Create Widget Set in the upper left.
   
5. Name the item About Me.
6. Place the following code in the Module Body field.

   <div class="widget-archives widget">
<h3 class=