beginner

Everybody’s doing it. Blogging’s the thing these days, and you don’t need to be a computer geek to make it happen. In this article I explain about the toolbars that might appear when you edit a post in WordPress. [First published October 2006. Some details may be a bit dated.]

This post continues from Newbies guide to blogging (Part Three).

Editing options

The one thing that might confuse you a bit is how different web browsers offer different toolbars when you write a post. There’s also a setting in the Users > Your profile section of the Dashboard that affects whether or not you see an editing toolbar.

There are three ‘formats’ for the blog post entry box:

1. visual rich editor (gives you buttons such as ‘bold’, ‘list’ and so on).
2. quicktags (gives you buttons for HTML codes).
3. plain (you can enter HTML, if you like).

The visual rich editor

If you don’t know anything about HTML, your best choice is probably the visual rich editor. To make sure this is turned on go to the Users > Your profile section of the Dashboard, scroll down to the Personal Options section and ensure the box to Use the visual rich editor when writing is checked, as shown in Screenshot 11.

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Screenshot 11: Ensure the Visual rich editor is enabled.
Screenshot 12: Use the toolbar buttons in the Visual rich editor.

Now, if you’re using the right web browser, you can easily select a word or phrase and click on a button on the toolbar to format it. Screenshot 12 shows that I’ve selected the word ‘favourite’ and am about to click the ‘b’ button to make it bold.

Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer

Screenshots 13, 14 and 15 show how three different web browsers handle the Visual rich editor. Safari just doesn’t show it, Firefox (and Flock, a Firefox derivative) and Internet Explorer for Windows do.

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Screenshot 13: Safari doesn’t show the Visual rich editor.
Screenshot 14: Firefox for Windows and Mac does show the Visual rich editor.
Screenshot 15: Internet Explorer for Windows does show the Visual rich editor.

Whether you’re a computer geek or not, you will also find the recently published book, WordPress 2 Visual Quickstart Guide (affiliate link), extremely useful. In 304 pages it provides simple step by step instructions, with plenty of screenshots, for both the free WordPress.com blogging service and for anyone who wants to set up a WordPress blog on their own web server. The book was written by Maria Langer, author of more than 60 books for Mac users, and Miraz Jordan, writer. ISBN: 0-321-45019-1.

This article includes Windows screenshots (made on a Mac running Parallels software). This article was first published in Macguide magazine Issue #29 September / October 2006 and may have been modified from the original.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Everybody’s doing it. Blogging’s the thing these days, and you don’t need to be a computer geek to make it happen. In this article I show you how to password protect a post, and I suggest practising blogging before you leave home. [First published October 2006. Some details may be a bit dated.]

This post continues from Newbies guide to blogging (Part Two).

Keep posts private

Before you leave on your trip decide on a password you can use to keep posts private. Anyone in the world can view your blog, but you may wish to write some posts with personal information intended only for family. It’s easy to password protect a post, but your family will need the password to read it.

Tip: think about passwords before you go: you may find it useful to have one password for friends, another one for immediate family members, and perhaps a third for wider family.

To password protect a post

To add privacy to a post look at the options on the right hand side of the window when you’re writing the post. Click on the plus sign beside the words “Post Password” to reveal the password field. Enter a password in that field, and visitors will have to enter the same password to be able to read the post.

Practise at home

Let’s face it, while you’re out there in the world using Internet cafes the chances are high you’ll have to use either Windows Internet Explorer or Firefox to connect to web pages, including your blog. Download Firefox or Flock onto your Mac and use them to practise writing blog posts before you leave home. Then when you’re away you’ll be able to make the most of your limited access to the web to keep in touch with the folks back home.

Tip: Family members and friends can leave comments on your posts. Add them as Users before you leave and they can write private posts only you can read. It’s an easy way to stay in touch.

Take it further

This information will get you started on the wonderful world of blogging, but there are plenty of other features it could be useful to learn about. Make sure you spend some time before travelling looking round the Dashboard and exploring the settings.

Part Four tells you about some choices for editing posts.

Whether you’re a computer geek or not, you will also find the recently published book, WordPress 2 Visual Quickstart Guide (affiliate link), extremely useful. In 304 pages it provides simple step by step instructions, with plenty of screenshots, for both the free WordPress.com blogging service and for anyone who wants to set up a WordPress blog on their own web server. The book was written by Maria Langer, author of more than 60 books for Mac users, and Miraz Jordan, writer. ISBN: 0-321-45019-1.

This article includes Windows screenshots (made on a Mac running Parallels software). This article was first published in Macguide magazine Issue #29 September / October 2006 and may have been modified from the original.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Everybody’s doing it. Blogging’s the thing these days, and you don’t need to be a computer geek to make it happen. In this article I show you how to add photos to a blog post. [First published October 2006. Some details may be a bit dated.]

This post continues from Newbies guide to blogging (Part One).

Add a photo

Now you have the basics down, it’s time to add some sophistication. One thing people often want to do is to add photos. There are two main ways to do this:

1. Add one or more photos directly into a post. Mac users see: Newbies Guide to iPhoto for some help on preparing photos.
2. Upload photos to a Flickr account and post to your blog from Flickr. That may be the best option, but details will have to wait for another article.

Tip: Photos you upload to WordPress.com must be less than 1500Kb in size. If you have a high resolution camera you need to find a way to reduce the file size before you can upload a photo. You can avoid this problem by using the Photo sharing service, Flickr.

To add photos directly to a post

To add photos directly to a post, write a post as usual and then scroll down the page to the Upload form. Click the Browse… button to choose a photo from the computer you’re using to write the post.

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Screenshot 6: Browse on your computer for a photo.
Screenshot 7: Add a Title and description and click the Upload button.

Once the photo has been uploaded click on it once to reveal a list of options. Click on an option to change it. Choices should include:

• Using Thumbnail or Using Original
• Not Linked or Linked to Image or Linked to Page

I suggest you choose Using Thumbnail and Linked to Image, but you should experiment with the other options too. After making a selection click on the Send to editor option. The picture is added in to the post. If it goes into the wrong place just drag it into the place where you want it to appear. Now click the Save button (if you’ve already published your post) or the Publish button to make the post live.

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Screenshot 8: Click on a photo in the Browse area to choose options for how to use it in the post.
Screenshot 9: Clicking on the photo in the live post may either bring up a larger version or lead to a page with a full size version, depending on what options you chose.

View your blog

At the top of any Dashboard page is a link called View Site. Click that link to view your blog. After you’ve added posts always view your blog to check that everything is going along as you expect.

Part Three tells you how to make posts private and suggests practising before you leave home.

Whether you’re a computer geek or not, you will also find the recently published book, WordPress 2 Visual Quickstart Guide (affiliate link), extremely useful. In 304 pages it provides simple step by step instructions, with plenty of screenshots, for both the free WordPress.com blogging service and for anyone who wants to set up a WordPress blog on their own web server. The book was written by Maria Langer, author of more than 60 books for Mac users, and Miraz Jordan, writer. ISBN: 0-321-45019-1.

This article includes Windows screenshots (made on a Mac running Parallels software). This article was first published in Macguide magazine Issue #29 September / October 2006 and may have been modified from the original.

Popularity: 18% [?]