NCDA TechLab: Blogging Basics for Career Services Professionals
1. TechLab IV:
Blogging Basics for
Career Services
Professionals
Melissa A. Venable, PhD
Education Writer/Blogger –
OnlineCollege.org@Melissa_Venable
National Career Development Association - 2013
#NCDABoston
2.
3. We’ve got a lot to cover!
Part 1:
Create a live blog site with WordPress.com
Perform basic administrative tasks
Publish a blog post
Part 2:
Determine writing goals
Find your blogging “voice”
Develop content ideas
Align with other career-topic bloggers
4. Part 1: Getting Started
WordPress.com (vs. WordPress.org)
Account Set-up
Dashboard and Main Menu
Publishing a Post
You should have:
• Ideas for a blog title
• Draft document (.doc, .docx, .txt)
• Image file – optional (.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png)
5. Account sign-up
https://en.wordpress.com/signup/
1. Choose a blog address. All accounts will end with ".wordpress.com". Since
there are millions of WordPress blogs, your first, second, and maybe even
third choices may be taken. Keep trying until you find a name that you like,
that is available, and remember you can change it later if you decide to do
so.
2. Choose a Username and Password. These will not appear on your blog
anywhere, but will allow you to access the administrative side of your new
site. You will also need to enter your email address here.
4. Click on "Create Blog" to open your free account. The next screen will
prompt you to check your email to complete the registration process. You
will also be prompted to enter information to create your profile, you can
complete this now, but you'll also have the opportunity to do this later.
5. Activate your blog. You can do this from your email (you will receive an
activation message from WordPress). Once you activate your blog, you will
be taken to the next steps…
10. Main menu to access comment tracking,
statistics, spam, etc.
Add new, categories, tags, view list of all
Add new, view list of all
Themes, widgets, header, background, etc.
General, privacy, social media sharing, etc.
11. Before we go any further … check your new
blog’s privacy settings!
Mark it as “private” so that the site won’t be
“live” while you are working on it.
12. Publishing a New Post
1. Open new post draft
2. Enter title
3. Copy/Paste from existing document
4. Upload image
5. Add a link
6. Save draft
7. Preview
8. Publish!
13. From the Dashboard:
> Posts > Add New
1
2
The “Kitchen Sink” icon opens/hides the full list of editing options.
14. Add media files Edit HTML code
Paste from document
Insert Link
Undo!
20. Part 2: Content Creation
What is “content, exactly?”
• Determine writing goals
• Find your blogging “voice”
• Develop content ideas
• Join the career blogging community
21. Set Your Goals:
Find a creative outlet
Journal your thoughts
Learn something new
Address a burning issue
Share your knowledge
Build authority
Join a community
Start a business
Think about
purpose.
Year / Month /
Week / Day
Put your goals in
writing!
Draft your About
Page
22. Find Your Voice:
Where is your
expertise?
What are you
interested in?
What do you have to
say?
Be authentic.
“Brainstorm 10-20
personality
attributes – narrow
to 3-5.” -Problogger
“Love your reader.”
– Don Miller
24. Content ideas:
What will you write
about?
Topic
Categories
Post ideas
Be realistic.
Use Categories:
Identify 3-5
Try an Editorial
Calendar.
Create idea
“pitches.”
27. Add a Category to your new post!
Dashboard > Posts > All Posts > Edit
28. Join the
community:
New bloggers
Established bloggers
All-star bloggers
Look for similar:
• Topics
• Audiences
Connect via Social
Media
Set up a new
reader (e.g.,
Feedly)
Read as much as
you write.
Leave thoughtful
comments.
I have been working with WordPress since late 2008 when I set up my first blog (Design Doc) as a creative outlet and way to represent myself as an independent professional in the field of instructional design. I have been employed as a full-time Education Writer/Blogger since April 2011, writing the Inside Online Learning blog (a WordPress.org site with around 2000 visitors per month), which draws on my background as an instructional designer and online instructor,
Why WORDPRESS?Free account optionsEasy and intuitive administrative sideFuture options - pro version, self-hosted version, custom optionsBlogging communityKeep in mind that everything we do today can be edited, revised, modified, and fully deleted! As I mentioned in my email to you before the conference, I just want you to get comfortable with the platform and have a few writing ideas when we are done .
If you’ve already set up a Wordpress account, go ahead and sign in! These steps are in your handout also! So, let’s look at the screens …If not, we’ll do that now.
Go to email and click on “activate blog”Then to wordpress to login with your new account info.
Set up Your blogCan change blog title if you like – always an option in your account settingsTagline – default included, but you can edit this later Choose a languageNextChoose a them – we could spend the afternoon browsing – I recommend just selecting one for now, can go back and experiment later on. Some themes have customization options – layout number of columns some color tweaks, font choices, etc…. Let’s keep moving!
Create your first post – choose Finish and we’ll move on to the Dashboard
Different ways to get to the dashboard
Quick tour of some of the Dashboard menus you will likely need to use first, and more frequently moving forward.Go to Privacy – select: I would like my site to be private…. Save changes = if you don’t want the site to be ‘live’ while you are working on it this morning.Settings:General - blog title, email, time zone, …Reading – page display, # of posts, …Appearance:Themes – colors, columns, features, custom options, …Widgets – drag and drop to add to interface (Recent Posts, Search, Twitter, …)
Go to Privacy – select: I would like my site to be private…. Save changes = if you don’t want the site to be ‘live’ while you are working on it.Helpful setting – you can build the blog adding lots of content before you launch it for public view!
- Initiate new post- Type in a draft title – you can change it later! – this will be part of your automated URL
This should look like a familiar set of tools – formatting, etc. Highlighted the ones we are going to use.
Upload/insert – Media – Polls - Forms
Goal Setting Worksheet
Example Categories and Ideas
Example Editorial CalendarWP Editorial Calendar plug-in Templates out there - simple or as complex as you want it to be – use something you are already using – excel, calendar system, planner…Two very important decisions taken care of at the beginning of each month:What?When?Of course changeable, this is your blpg, but gives you a starting point.