Tooltime: Blogging with WordPress

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Tooltime Blogging with WordPress

• TBTE 415
• Tom Hammond, Fall 2007
• Demo tool presentation

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A blog is

• Obligatory wikipedia entry on blogs
• My summary
• A website
• That serves only one purpose
• Accept posts, text entries (but may include
  media)
• Organized chronologically (i.e., if the newest
  posts go on top, new posts push old ones down)
• And which may or may not
• Accept comments on posts
• Have secondary navigation to posts, archives,
  other sites, users, etc.
• Have tags on posts

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And a blog looks like

• Our class blog (WordPress) (A)
• My blog (blogspot) (B)
• A teachers blog (C)
• A school districts blogs (D)

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What might a blog be good for?

• (Personal stuff)
• Professional
• Providing a chronicle of classroom activities,
  audience parents or community (think
  daily/weekly newsletter)
• Supporting a conversation in a community of
  practice (teachers, students, or just interested
  parties)
• Note-taking (E)

5
Not all blogs are created equal

• Some have bad design (F)
• Some have questionable content (G)
• Some have ads that may include questionable
  content (H)
• Some have inescapable features that link you to
  questionable content (i.e., other people) (I)

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I recommend WordPress because

• Its open source (and all that goes with it)
• Two great options Use their host or install your
  own
• Using the free host
• Install your own WordPress blog
• Single or multi-user
• Requires
• webserver running PHP
• SQL database

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Using the free host

• http//wordpress.com/
• No ads
• No links to other blogs (except when logged in)
• Nice supporting features (such as spam filtering)
• Can be entirely private log-in required even to
  read
• Front end, back end

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Installing your own engine

• Get it from http//wordpress.org/
• Can be single-user or multi-user
• Requires
• webserver running PHP
• SQL database
• (they have recommendations if you want to rent
  space http//wordpress.org/hosting/)
• Some technical skills (e.g., inputting database
  connect info, managing back end)

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More resources

• WordPress
• WordPress for Beginners
• The Famous Five-Minute Install
• Alternatives to WordPress
• http//www.21classes.com/
• Education blogs in action
• http//teacherlingo.com/blogs/default.aspx