WordPress Blog

WordPress is the industry standard and accounts for 30% of online content. Employers commonly ask for WordPress experience during the hiring process and expect you to have experience. By using a free WordPress blog, you can easily import your posts to a self-hosted WordPress website later. Self-hosted WordPress websites require you to pay for hosting, but will allow you more SEO (Search Engine Optimization) options and success.

Comm 300 students, you may use their existing free WordPress blog from Comm 100 / 130 or create a new WordPress photo blog to display weekly photography and editing assignments.  You should enhance images as needed before posting to showcase good exposure levels, colors and sharp focus points.

Images taken prior to this course may not be used for credit on assignments.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORDPRESS.COM AND WORDPRESS.ORG:
Using www.wordpress.com is for setting up free blogs when you want to have WordPress host the blog. Hence, “wordpress” will be part of the web address (URL). When you are ready to setup your own self-hosted full WordPress website, you go to www.wordpress.org. For a self-hosted site, you will need to pay for hosting, through a company such as BlueHost. You get one free domain name (URL) with hosting. This name will not have “wordpress” in the URL.

IMPORTANT – USE DASHBOARD TO SET UP BLOG:  To open your REAL Dashboard for proper customization, add “/wp-admin” to the end of your blog URL. Example: https://comm300sample.wordpress.com/wp-admin

 

BLOG SETUP

  1. OPEN A FREE WORDPRESS BLOG or USE BLOG FROM COMM 100/130:
    1. DEFAULT THEME: For now, just use the Default theme, where you can customize the fonts, colors and backgrounds. Later you can change the theme if you choose one that accommodates “large size images 625 px in width.”
    2. BLOG NAME: Your name does not have to appear in the URL web address, but it may, if you choose to. You DO need to include your first and last name in the blog title that appears at the top of all pages. You can change this later.
  2. ORGANIZE WITH CATEGORIES AND MENU: Set up a navigation menu that appears at the top of your blog pages to organize your content.  You can separate and sort your posts by assigning a category so they will show up in a different tab. Notice the menu tabs across the top of this SAMPLE blog:  http://commbyui.wordpress.com/  
    1. DASHBOARD:  To open your REAL Dashboard for proper customization, add “/wp-admin” to the end of your blog URL. Example: https://comm300sample.wordpress.com/wp-admin
    2. SET UP CATEGORIES FIRST: Go to Posts > Categories then add the categories you want. Be sure to SAVE before exiting this page! This sample site has a HOME page which is the default automatic blog post page that shows all your posts in order with most recent first. The next four tabs are categories that will display only the posts you designate with that category: Design – Photography – Writing – Video: https://comm300sample.wordpress.com/
    3. TIP: Do not List your COURSES as categories in your Menu. Use PHOTOS or PHOTOGRAPHY instead of Comm 300. It has more credibility with potential employers.
    4. SET UP MENU: Go to Appearance > Menus. Click on Categories > Show All. Select your categories and add them to the menu. Hit SAVE! View your blog to see if the categories show up in the top menu.
    5. ADD A NEW POST AND ASSIGN A CATEGORY! Go to Posts and add a new blog post but be sure you SELECT A CATEGORY such as PHOTOGRAPHY so it will show up in that tab!
  3. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!  —  CUSTOMIZE LARGE IMAGE SIZE! —
    Before adding any blog posts, you need to customize your Media Settings so you can insert Large images into your blog post. It is important to keep your image sizes consistent. Once in the dashboard go to… Settings > Media to set the Large display image size: (625 x 625 is required for the max height and width.) Your Landscape (horizontal) images should fill the width of your blog post. The Portrait (vertical) images should be the same size, but will not fill up the whole blog width, since they are turned the other direction. This ensures your horizontal and vertical images are both given the same amount of space or “real estate” and attention. Then when you are creating a blog post, choose “Large” image size just before you insert your images into your blog post. You will see the size options in the right-side panel.

Image Prep, Sizing, and Labeling

All images must be prepped, sized and labeled according to instructions. Images for the Photography posts each week should be edited for optimal exposure, sharp focal point, colors and visual appeal. Acceptable edits include levels, saturation, slight cropping, minimal burned borders, blurring and sharpening effects. More extreme edits such as digital composites, image blending, artistic filters, distortions, grunge, text, and borders should be reserved for the Editing posts. With extreme edits you are showcasing your editing and creative skills, so you should also display the original image to show your skill in changing the image.

IMPORTANT:  Save three versions of all images:
1. Original jpeg or raw image.
2. Full size, edited PSD (edited in Photoshop with all the layers and flexible editing features to be used for the final photobook… OR…images saved with edits in the Lightroom catalog, that have been edited in Lightroom.
3. Blog-sized jpegs sized with the SHORT SIDE AT 1080 pixels… named with your name first, then key words.

SIZING & NAMING

  1. SIZING: Once the psd has been saved in its original size, then a smaller jpeg should be prepared for blog display. Points will be deducted for images posted in the blog that are not sized to 1080 px on the SHORT SIDE. Larger images are slow to upload, and you don’t want to give away your high res images. When clicked, images should expand to their full 1080 pixel size, and be visible in their entirety without scrolling. Follow these steps to optimize images for a blog: In Photoshop, go to Image > Image size and check the Resample box. Then change the pixels (at the top) so the SHORT SIDE IS 1080 pixels. Let the other side adjust automatically. This size will load quickly, but look great on any screen.
  2. NAMING: Save the image so the first part of the jpeg filename is your name. Example: JakeSpencer-Tetons.jpg. This is important to SEO and protecting your copyright.

INSERTING IMAGES in Blog Post

Once in your DASHBOARD (See Blog Post SETUP above) go to Post > New Post, Insert your sized and named images. Click LARGE size image and change LINK TO — MEDIA FILE so your images are clickable! 
IF YOU FAILED TO SET UP YOUR LARGE MEDIA SETTINGS to 625 pixels… do so now BEFORE INSERTING IMAGES (See above section “Customize Large Image Size”)

Clickable Photos — LINK TO MEDIA FILE:

All images posted to your blog should be clickable, meaning we can click on it to see the full image size of 1080 on the short side. When you are inserting the image into your post, change “Link to” and set it to Media File. Once your post is up, test it and make sure that your photo can be clicked on and goes large when you do click on it. If it is not clickable… click on an image in your post… Choose the PENCIL icon – EDIT — then look for “LINK TO” and choose MEDIA FILE instead of NONE. When done, hit save and Update for that post. Once you change this LINK TO MEDIA FILE setting, it should stay as the default option.

LABELS: For DEPTH & MOTION POSTS & Best Pics in Facebook Group

Label each photo with following METADATA information as a list under each photo or as a caption for each photo:
1. Title of photo – 2. Date, Time, Place – 3. Focal Length – 4. F/stop (aperture) – 5. Shutter Speed – 6. Camera – Other: Fill flash, external flash, tripod, auxiliary lights, reflector screen, self-timer, remote, etc.

LABEL EXAMPLE: (Labels only takes a small amount of space. They must be complete and added in this order)
Eiffel Night: 02-14-08; 10pm; Las Vegas-Paris Casino; f 2.8; 1/15; Canon 710IS – Tripod

TIP: How to find photo METADATA information for your LABELS:

  1. Open the original jpeg image in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Bridge. 2. Go to File > File Info > Camera Data. Note: The aperture is the same as the f stop. It looks like this: f/11. The shutter speed is a fraction and looks something like this: 1/125. You can also find your exact date and time here and any flash information.

PROCESS Paragraph:

Your posts should include a substantial paragraph (3-6 sentences) to explain the process and skills. This serves two purposes:
1. To communicate that you know the skills;
2. To communicate you completed all the steps of the assignment.

Complete Weekly Blog Posts BEFORE Submitting Link

Weekly blog posts are due each Tuesday (and one Friday) night. Students must submit a working hyperlink to their blog post in I-learn Canvas before the deadline or else it will not be complete. In accordance with Comm Department policy, no late will be accepted. This is to simulate a real-world experience. Adding content to your blog is not enough. It is common that you will need to deliver a link to a client and if that submission is late, you may lose the client. It does not matter if the work is done on your blog if you forget to deliver it.  

Please be honest and do not post a link to your blog until your work is COMPLETE will all the images, written content and labels. You will be allowed one mulligan to allow for personal emergencies and technical problems. Please read about the mulligan in the syllabus.

Weekly Peer Review – starts with Week 2 blog post

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BLOG COMMENTS:  Each week you will view the blogs of six classmates, and comment on three of them with three or more sentences of positive feedback, along with a link to your blog or a classmate’s blog. Then you will report on this “peer review” by completing a quiz where you will add the student names whose blog you viewed in I-learn Canvas. Use the Blog Roll to easily navigate to classmates’ blogs. Be sure to view and comment on different classmates’ posts each week.