Centre for Medieval Studies Blog

CENTRE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES BLOG

AUTHORS

All permanent members of staff have been given the role of ‘author’ on the blog. Authors are able to create, draft and publish posts – they do not need administrator approval.

Authors: How to Blog

NB. If you are working on the blog remotely, you should use the Pulse Secure Exeter VPN connection (see here for details).

1. Scheduling a Post

Log in to the blog using your university username and password
Go to the sidebar, hover over ‘Dashboard’ and select ‘Calendar’
Choose the date on which you want to publish your post (try to choose a week without any other scheduled posts)
Click on the desired date and then click on the small ‘+’ button that appears in the top left-hand corner
Enter the working title of your post (this can be changed later)
You may then either:
Click ‘edit post’ and start to write it
The post status will be displayed as ‘Draft’
Or click ‘Create post’ to simply schedule your post on that date, with the intention of writing it at another point
The post status will be displayed as ‘Pitch’ (i.e. you have put forward an idea for a post)

2. Writing a Post

Log in to the blog
Go to the sidebar, hover over ‘Posts’ and select ‘All posts’
Find and select your post
Write your text in the text box
If you’ve drafted the post on a Word document and want to paste it into the box, you may want to copy the text on to a ‘Notepad’ first to remove any formatting
Add web links using the ‘Insert/edit link’ button (the symbol that looks like an interlocking chain)
Add images using the ‘Add media’ button
Click on the ‘Upload Files’ tab
Upload an image from your files
Click on the ‘Media Library’ tab, select your image and click ‘Insert into post’
The image should now be in your post: click on the image and use the buttons that appear to align it with your text
You can also use the ‘edit’ button (the pencil) to add a caption
Write the caption in the box
You should also include your name and an indication of your academic status and interests at the bottom of the post, then align this to the right
Select the appropriate category or categories for your post using the ‘Categories’ box on the right-hand side
This identifies what type of post it is
Select or add the appropriate tags for your post using the ‘Tags’ box on the right-hand side
This identifies the specific content of your post
To preview your post, click on the ‘Preview’ button in the ‘Publish’ box on the right-hand side
When you’ve made a change, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save’ button in the ‘Publish’ box on the right-hand side

3. Publishing a Post

When the post is ready to go, you can either:
Publish it immediately
Check that the calendar icon in the ‘Publish’ box has ‘Publish immediately’ next to it
Click the blue ‘Publish’ button
Or schedule it to be published at a later date
Check that the calendar icon in the ‘Publish’ box has ‘Schedule for’ and a date next to it
If it says ‘Publish immediately’ or you would like to change the date, click on the ‘Edit’ button, select the preferred date and time, then click ‘OK’
Sometimes you need to adjust the hour and minutes for it to register a change…
The blue button should now say ‘Schedule’: click on it – the post should now be published on the stated date and time

4. Commenting on Posts

Click on ‘Leave a comment’ at the top of the post
Write your comment, bearing in mind that:
This is a public forum
You are commenting on the work of your students, colleagues and friends: be respectful!

ADMINISTRATORS

In addition to having all the functions assigned to the ‘Author’ role, ‘Administrator’ are also able to edit and publish contributor posts. The current administrators of the blog are: Helen Birkett, Levi Roach, Catherine Rider and James Clark.

Administrators: How to Publish Contributor Posts

1. Reviewing a post

Log in to the blog
Go to the sidebar, hover on ‘Posts’ and select ‘All posts’
Find and select the relevant post
Read through the post and add any images
To preview the post click on the ‘Preview’ button in the ‘Publish’ box on the right-hand side
If the post requires some revision:
Go to the ‘Notifications’ box at the bottom of the post and make sure that the author is selected in the ‘Users’ section
This should send an automatic alert to them once you have added your comments
Go back up to the ‘Editorial Comments’ box and click on ‘Respond to this post’
Enter your comments in the box
Finally, go to the ‘Publish’ box on the right-hand side and change the status back to ‘Draft’, then save these changes

2. Publishing a Post

When the post is ready to go, you can either:
Publish it immediately
Check that the calendar icon in the ‘Publish’ box has ‘Publish immediately’ next to it
Click the blue ‘Publish’ button
Or schedule it to be published at a later date
Check that the calendar icon in the ‘Publish’ box has ‘Schedule for’ and a date next to it
If it says ‘Publish immediately’ or you would like to change the date, click on the ‘Edit’ button, select the preferred date and time, then click ‘OK’
Sometimes you need to adjust the hour and minutes for it to register a change…
The blue button should now say ‘Schedule’: click on it – the post should be published on the stated date and time