Blogs at Penn State Community

These pages contain common questions about Penn State Blogs with answers. If you a more specific question, please fill in the Blogs Help Form.

Table of Contents

• Common Problems (Bottom of Page)
• About the Project
• Basic Features
• Sharing Blogs
• Change Fonts/Colors
• Categories and Tags
• Newsfeeds and Podcasts
• Sidebar Widgets
• Archives
• Blog Glossary

About the Project

Who can apply for a Penn State blog?

Anyone with a Penn State Access Account can apply for a blog by logging into http://blogs.psu.edu. Users will be asked to activate their Penn State Personal Web Space if they have not already done so.

Which system is Penn State using?

Penn State is currently using Movable Type, also known as Typepad.

Which topics may I blog about?

The Penn State blogs are tied to your personal space, so you can blog on any topic so long as it does not violate policy AD-20. Policy AD-20 prohibits commercial activity, obscene material, harrassing materials, copyright violations, deliberate misrepresentations and other inappropriate material.

How does the TEACH Act (copyright for courses) apply?

Because the blogs are not password protected space, the TEACH Act provisions are generally NOT APPLICABLE. It is recommended that instructors obtain permission for images or text used in a course blog (links are legal). Once password protection for courses is implemented, the blogs will be able to utilize the TEACH Act provisions.

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Basic Features

What are the recommended platforms and browsers?

The Blogs are compatible with Windows or Mac and with Firefox (Win/Mac) or Internet Explorer. Some features may not work on Safari.

How do I log in?

There are two ways to login. You can 1) go to the Blogs at Penn State Home page at http://blogs.psu.edu and click the Log-In Now button to the right or 2) go directly to https://blogs.psu.edu/mt.

How do I add an entry?

Click New Entry on the left menu.

Alternatively, you can log in to Blogs at Penn State then click the New Entry link next to the name of your blog or click the name of the block, then click New Entry in the left menu. See the Writing a Blog Entry documentation for more details.

What does “Rebuild Site” mean?

The Penn State blogs are a publishing system. Items you edit in the blog are not visible to the public until the site is Rebuilt. The advantage of this system is that you can make multiple changes, but not show them to the public until you are ready to do so. See the Rebuild Site documentation for more details.

What Web address to I send to my friends?

Log in to Blogs at Penn State. A list of your blogs with their URL's are displayed.

Alternatively, if you are within your blog, click View Blog in the left menu to open up the public view of the blog. The URL will be displayed in your browser. See the Find Blog URL documentation for more details.

How do I add a link in my blog entry?

When you’re adding a new entry, highlight the text you want to make into a link, then click the chain icon. Enter the URL in the pop-up window. You will see HTML code for the link. See the Writing a Blog Entry documentation for more details.

Can I upload images into the blog?

Yes. See the Uploading Images documentation for more details.

Can I edit previous blog entries?

Yes - Log in to Blogs at Penn State and click the Entries link (or if you are in your blg, click Entries in the left menu). Click the link for the specific entry to edit it. Read more details in the Edit Entries documentation.

Can I delete previous blog entries?

Yes - Enter blog and click the “Entries” link. Check an entry to delete, then Reebuild your Site. Read more details in the Delete Entries documentation.

Can I put other files into the /blogs/ directory?

Yes, but be sure not to remove files posted by Moveable Type!
If you do, you can recover it by rebuilding your blog. You can do it via SFTP or with the Penn State Portal.

Can I import entries from another blog into a Penn State blog?

Direct import is not available at this time. If you need to import a specific blog, please contact blogs@psu.edu for further inquiries.

Can I export my blog?

Penn State blogs allows you to export the text of your entries into a text file. You can also save files in your /blogs/ directory. See the Export Blogs documentation.

What is the function "Activity Log" button?

The Activity Log records the dates and times of when you create or edit blog entries.

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Sharing Blogs

Can I control who submits comments to my blogs?

No, but you can control which comments are published. Set your Settings for comments to approve each comment via e-mail. Read Control Comments Spam for more details

How do authenticated comments work?

Comment authentication is not tied to Penn State Access Account Userids. Instead, you have the option of setting up a Typekey password from Six Apart com.

Can I allow others to post to my blog?

Not at this time. However, users can add comments or send text for you to post.

What about the Edit Permissions link?

This link is non-functional for the early pilot stage. When sharing is added, the link will become functional.

Can we use Trackbacks?

Yes. The Blogs at Penn State server both sends and accepts trackbacks. Read more in the Comments and Trackbacks page.

What is the function of the Notifications button?

This is a list of e-mail addresses of people interested in your blog. You can click on each name to create a blank e-mail message to that person. This does not create automatic notifications or send e-mail to multiple recipients.

Users who want automatic updates on your blog should subscribe to the blog's newsfeed.

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Change Colors/Fonts in Themes

Can I change the colors and fonts on the blog?

Yes. Read the “Stylecacter” documentation for details on changing the blog theme.

Can I manually adjust the CSS of the blog?

Yes, in the Stylesheet template. It is recommended you begin with a Moveable Type theme, then modify the styles as needed.

Read the Advanced Custom Theme documentation for more details.

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Categories and Tags

Can I add categories to the blog?

Yes, but you must configure your entry pages for Tags. Read the Categories and Tags documentation for more details.

Can I add subcategories?

Yes. When you add categories, change the Parent Directory from Top Level to an appropriate main category. See Adding Categories for more details.

Can I free tag blog entries?

Yes, but you must configure your entry pages for Tags. Read the Categories and Tags documentation for more details.

I want to add categories, but I don’t see a category menu in my blog entry screen.

You need to configure your entry screen to display the Category menu. Read the documentation for Configuring Entry Pages for Categories and Tags.

I want to add tags, but I don’t see a category menu in my blog entry screen.

You need to configure your entry screen to display the Tags field. Read the documentation for Configuring Entry Pages for Categories and Tags.

I added new categories, but I don’t see them in the right sidebar on my blog.

Click Rebuild Site in the lower left menu after you create new categories

I added tags to my pages, but I don’t see a Tag Cloud section in the right side of my menu.

You need to enable the Tag Cloud sidebar widget in the Widget Manager.

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Podcasts and Newsfeeds

Can I subscribe to a newsfeed for the blog?

Yes. Look for the Subscribe to this blog's feed link in the sidebar. See Subscribe to Newsfeeds for more information.

Can I create a podcast feed?

Yes. If you include a link to an MP3 file within the Entry Body field of a blog entry, the news feed will include podcast feed information. See Create a Podcast for more information.

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Sidebar Widgets

What are sidebar widgets

Widgets are pieces of code for content which you can display in the sidebar. See the documentation on the Widget Manager for some details.

Can I add external links in the sidebar?

Yes with the Blogroll plugin.

I created a link in Blogroll, but it does not appear in the sidebar

You need to enable Blogroll widget in the Widget Manager. See the Widget Manager documentation for more details.

Can I add headlines from other blogs in the sidebar?

Yes with the Feed Widget plugin.

I added a Feed link in the blog, but it does not appear in the sidebar

You need to enable the Feed widget in the Widget Manager. See the Widget Manager documentation for more details.

Can I create my own widget

Yes. See Create an About Me widget for an example of a widget with static code only. Other widgets are possible, but widgets outside Penn State blogs are not guaranteed to function.

Can I import widgets from other sources?

In some case yes. You would create a new widget and cut and paste widget code. Please follow these recommended guidelines. 1) Make sure your widget is compatible with Movable Type or Typepad. 2) Follow import instructions given on the page. 3) Test widgets…widgets outside Penn State blogs are not guaranteed to function.

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Archives

Are my blogs automatically archived?

Yes. The default setting is archiving by the month and by category.

Can I change the frequency of blog archiving?

Yes. Read the Archive documentation for more detail.

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Blog Glossary

What is a Blogroll?

A blogroll is a set of external links added to the sidebar. You can add these links to your blog with the Blogroll plugin.

What are tags?

Tags are a set of topic words or keywords added to each blog entry. Many users prefer to sort and view blogs by tags. See Categories and Tags for more information.

What is a Tag Cloud?

A tag cloud is a list of all the tags across all entries within a single blog displayed in the sidebar. See Display Tag Clouds in the Sidebar for more information

What's the difference between tags and categories?

Categories are a fixed list of items set within a category menu, while free tags are a set of words manually added to each entry. See Tags vs. Categories for more information.

What is a 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), Thunderbird (Win/Mac), Feed Reader (Win) or NetNewsWire Lite (Mac) allow you to subscribe to favorite feeds and organize them into folders by topic. See Subscribe to the Blog Feed for technical details.

What is a Trackback?

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. See Controlling Spam for Comments and Trackbacks for more information.

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Common Problems

I previewed an entry, then returned to a blank entry form. Can I recover my entry?

Click the Forward button (the opposite of the Back button) on your browser, then Re Edit this entry. The text will be rerestored. See writing a blog entry.

I wrote an entry, but nothing appears when I open View Blog.

First, make sure the entry Status is set to Published and not Unpublished. Change the entry to Published and click Save. See troubleshooting missing entries

I made a change in my blog, but the changes don’t appear when I open View Blog.

First, try rebuilding your blog
1.      Login at http://blogs.psu.edu and click on the name of your blog.
2.      Click Rebuild Site in the lower left menu.
3.      Try reloading your page, especially if you have changed your theme.

See troubleshooting missing entries and rebuilding blogs.

I want to add categories or tags to my entries, but I don’t see a category menu or a Tags fieldin my blog entry screen.

You need to configure your entry screen to display the Category menu or the Tags field. See configuring entry pages for categories and tags.

I added new categories, but I don’t see them in the right sidebar on my blog.

Click Rebuild Site in the lower left menu after you create new categories

I added tags to my pages, but I don’t see a Tag Cloud section in the right side of my menu.

You need to enable the Tag Cloud sidebar widget in the Widget Manager.

I added a sidebar link in the blog, but it does not appear on my blog’s sidebar

You need to enable the Blogroll widget or the feed widget in the Widget Manager. See documentation for detailed instructions.

I deleted my blog, but users can still get to my pages? What do I do?

Delete your files in the /blogs/ directory of your Personal Web space. See discontinuing a blog.

What happens if I accidentally delete the wrong blog files in my personal Web space via SFTP or through the Portal?

If you delete a blog file, you can recover it by rebuilding your blog.
1.            Login at http://blogs.psu.edu and click on the name of your blog.
2.            Click Rebuild Site in the lower left menu.

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