How to Post

Here’s an example of a blog entry. Notice the title above. Make sure to always include a short title!
When you want to write an entry, click on the upper-right Write button. You have to be logged-in to see it, or else you will just see the site as a visitor (with no option to post). A textbox will open up with top and left menus in editing mode.
When you are in writing/editing mode, you’ll notice that the interface and options at the top of the textbox are similar to the Canvas discussion forums. You can format and change your text, you can add hyperlinks, and you can embed videos or images (with captions).
Make sure to add your name in your post if it’s not in your username! This is very important.
When you are in writing/editing mode, on the left side of your screen, you’ll see a few more options–the only ones you need to worry about are Categories & Tags and Featured Image.
This is not required but it’s encouraged. If you want to choose the image that will appear with your post on the front page, you can do so with Featured Image. If you want to choose one image and save it to your account, then you can use the same image for all of your posts–it’ll be part of your blogging persona, and classmates can easily identify “Oh, that’s a post by Oz!”

You can preview what your post would look like on the blog. And when you’re ready to publish, click Publish. You can even set your post to publish at a later time.
You can easily click on your post and press Edit to make any changes, then click Update to publish the changes.

Replying to classmates’ posts are very easy, as well. Once you’ve read their post, if you want to reply, you simply click Reply under their post.
On our blog, you can see everyone’s posts although you can’t edit or delete theirs. If you want to see only posts from classmates in your section, then click on the section category that is linked on the blog’s static menu and also above a post’s title. If you want to see all posts by a particular classmate, click on their username (author of one of their posts), or scroll to the bottom of their post and click See All Posts By This Author.
Anytime you want to come back to our blog or send someone else to check it out, use this address: animal1020.home.blog
You also have social media sharing options for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Finally, like Canvas, WordPress will default to sending you many notifications regarding new posts, replies, etc. You can customize this by clicking on your profile icon in the upper-right corner, and then clicking Notifications in the left-hand profile settings menu.

** Make sure to download the WordPress app on your phone! **

When writing for the web, remember a few key principles to help you make the most out of this rhetorical situation:

Keep clarity and readability a top priority. Can your reader easy follow your words and ideas on the screen? Is navigating your post easy? Don’t make your reader struggle because of difficult fonts, bad color combinations, or huge blocks of text.
Grab and keep your readers’ attention. This is even more important with web writing. Make the title and beginning work for you, get to your point, and don’t be repetitive. Make the post worth people’s time. Blogs are a great exercise in concision and precision!
Use hyperlinks and multimedia capabilities to your advantage (traditional citing doesn’t apply) to show your personality and to guide your reader. Do you mention an article, a news story, a video? Hyperlink to it so that your reader can explore further if desired or so that they can know what you’re responding to. Do you mention something that may not be common knowledge for your audience? If so, in this environment, it’s okay to hyperlink a sentence or phrase to a pertinent wikipedia entry, for example.

Happy blogging!