Posts Tagged ‘blog’

New CMS editor functionality – adding videos, social media and quotations

You can now improve your web pages with some new, easy to use functionality in the CMS editor. To insert these new elements into your webpage edit your page content in the normal way, click on the Inserts button on the toolbar.

Choose the new plugin you require from the list.

Adding a Pullquote

Pull out and display specific quotes on your web page. Just fill in the required fields and click save.

The Pull Quotes appear on the right hand side of the page.

Inserting a video

– Please select the video type from the drop down list you can choose from the College media library or YouTube. In YouTube, click share and then copy and paste the embed URL into the form.

Select the position you wish it to appear on the page, Left, right or centred. Select the size Standard or Widescreen. Click insert video.

Inserting a Storify stream

Storify is a way to tell stories using social media such as Tweets, photos and videos. You can search multiple social networks from one place, and then drag individual elements into your story. The Storify plug-in allows you to pull your Storified elements into your web page.  

To add a Storify feed to your page, simply copy and paste the URL of your Storify page.

And then click Insert Storify

Please note: Do not copy and paste the embed code provided by Storify, just the web address for your Storify post as found in the URL bar.
Example: http://storify.com/imperialcollege/welcome-week-2011

When writing content, it is good practice to assign a blog entry to a category; the default category is “uncategorised”. The categories appear on your blog homepage and are a really good way for readers to navigate your blog and jump to topics of interest. Examples of categories for a student blog could be: study, social life, hall, food tips, budgeting etc.

To create categoreis, see the third box down on the right hand side labelled “Categories”. Click on “+ Add New Category” and enter the name of your new category. You can either have a top level category, or create a category within an existing category.

Bloggers are responsible for accepting or declining comments to their blog entries. You will be notified by email of a new comment, and will be required to accept or decline it. To do this, you will need to login to your blog, read the entry and decide if you are happy to accept it. A declined comment will not appear on your blog.

Bloggers are reminded of the College’s blog terms and conditions, and should not accept any comments which break these. If you require any advice on whether to accept a comment, please contact the Service Desk
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It’s very straightforward to login to your blog and start posting.

• Login to your blog using the link at the bottom right of your blog homepage – use your normal College login
• This should take you to your blog “dashboard”. If you are already logged in, you should click on “Site Admin” from your blog homepage to reach the dashboard
• Click on “Posts” in the left hand navigation. A list of your current posts will appear in the window. You can edit your existing posts from here. To create a new post, click “Add new” from the left hand navigation.
• An editor window will appear and you can start drafting your blog, adding photos and videos where relevant. To add images, use the icon next to “Add media”
• You can use either the Visual or HTML view to compose your posts. Do try not to flick between the two, as this can introduce errors into the code.
• Make sure each blog entry has a different title
• Add a category and keyword tags so users will be able to easily find your posts
• Save a draft of your post
• Preview your post – so you can see what it will look like before you publish it. Please ensure you spell check and proof your blog entry before publishing
• When you are ready, click “Publish”

Our most popular blogs tend to stick to a few simple rules:

• Post regularly to keep your blog looking fresh and interesting: it’s better to publish short posts regularly than upload lengthy essays once a month
• Use photos and videos to make your blog more visual and eye-catching
• Enjoy your blog! Blogging should be fun. Encourage readers to comment on your posts and comments on other people’s blogs – they usually visit back
• Follow Imperial College London’s blog terms and conditions