Due date: Sunday March 14 @ 11:59PM 

Part 1:

Discuss ANY OR ALL (YOU DECIDE) of the following:

LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning-login/share?forceAccount=false&redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Flearning%2Fwordpress-5-essential-training%3Ftrk%3Dshare_ent_url%26shareId%3DLinP92S%252FROqt%252BzGLyK%252BlWQ%253D%253D&account=42567804

and/or

lecture notes, “Blogging.” – Attached (Mod07LectNotes) 

You must post one original thread in order to enter the forum. Write: 

(1) what you already knew, which was reinforced in this module’s presentations, 

(2) what you learned for the first time during this module’s presentations, and 

(3) what parts of this module are you most unclear about. Minimum word length for initial posts: 300 words. 

Afterward, read at least three classmates’ postings and reply to at least two of them, trying to answer your classmates’ questions about what was unclear to them. Minimum word length for replies: 100 words.

No partial credit—all or nothing points.

PART 2:  

Post a first-draft of Assignment 4 – Visual Blog Journal in a separate thread.

Rubric attached – (Screen Shot) 

Instructions:

Purpose: To create a visual blog journal for communicating a special interest or hobby of yours to an audience at-large. The following skills and knowledge are essential to success in your professional life beyond this course:

Skills:

• Using a content management system (CMS), like WordPress, Tumblr, or Wix to establish a blog journal, including title, theme and URL.
• Adding posts to the blog.
• Incorporating images, embedded YouTube videos, slideshows, radio stations, and other multimedia content.

Knowledge:

• Writing five posts for one specific thematic topic.
• Selecting and arranging images that are relevant to each blog post.
• Respecting copyrights and avoiding plagiarism.

Task: Create a blog journal using a CMS, including theme, title and URL. Adding blog posts incorporating text, images and multimedia. All steps are highly unique to your specific project, therefore problem-solving and critical thinking skills are necessary.

1. Please read the lecture notes, “Blogging,” and view LinkedIn Learning: “WordPress Essential Training” with Morten Rand-Hendriksen (Links to an external site.); before starting this project.
2. Decide on a title and thematic topic for your blog. It could be on anything! Possible blog topics include (but are not limited to): travel journal, international recipe collection, sports news, clubbing photo-journal, original poetry collection, original photography or art gallery, political commentary journal, movie review journal, celebrity gossip journal, or many, many other possibilities.
3. Aim your blog at a mass audience. This will be a great project for all the journalism and PR majors in this class. And if you’re not in journalism or PR, this project will enable you to get an idea of what those majors entail.
4. Visit WordPress.com and open a free account. Don’t like WordPress? No problem. Your blog can be created in any blog-hosting site.
5. Create the following:

   A blog title.
   One consistent thematic topic for your blog.
   Select a WordPress theme, including writing the About or Bio content.
   Select a URL (web address).

6. Create your first post:

   Must consist of 100 words (minimum) to 200 words (maximum) for each post.
   Incorporate relevant images. Select photographic images from Unsplash.com (Links to an external site.) or Pexels.com, (Links to an external site.) or from any other site, but be sure to properly credit the source (not Google, but rather Google’s link to the image’s original source website).
   Embed YouTube videos and/or other multimedia.
   Save and publish. VERY IMPORTANT: Be sure to make your blog public (or at least change privacy settings to allow the class and instructor to view your blog). Be sure to write down the blog’s PUBLIC URL, not the URL you as an admin use to log in.

7. Add at least four other postings that follow the same thematic topic before the due date.
8. Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation must be observed.
9. Cite referenced text by using hyperlinks to the original online articles. Long, complex URLs are not meant for us humans, but rather for computers, so don’t make them visible. Instead, link a section of visible text to your referenced URL, like this (Links to an external site.).
10. Quoted material must appear visually different from your original writing. Change font, size, color, indents, etc.
11. Online poetry, art or photography blogs, as well as recipe blogs, must include a 100 – 200 word commentary on the works or recipes presented.

Respecting Copyrights

You must not infringe upon someone else’s copyright. Anything you post must either be original, or it must fall under Fair Use guidelines:

• use of a short quote or paraphrase for review purposes,
• must be for journalistic, historical or academic purposes,
• must not impinge upon the profit-making potential of the copyright owner—that is, you must not give away free what is normally bought and paid for. 

Avoiding Plagiarism:

As far as academic rules are concerned, you must not, intentionally or UNINTENTIONALLY, represent the work of others as your own. To avoid plagiarism:

• All images must either be the student’s original photos (cited as “© <>, <>”), or properly cited as, “image from <>”.
• Stories, such as news reports, accounts of sporting events, etc. are cited by hyperlinking to the original web source, such as, “According to ABC News, (Links to an external site.) …”
• Paraphrase in your own words a summary of the material,
• Inject your own opinion,
• If you quote a short passage, make it VISUALLY DIFFERENT (different fonts, sizes, colors or indents) from your original material, so the reader understands that it’s a quote.

1. Post your blog URL in the Module 7 Discussion Forum for reciprocal, constructive feedback from classmates and instructor. Be sure to post the blog’s PUBLIC URL, not the URL you as an admin use to log in.
2. Incorporate any changes suggested by your classmates if you feel it will improve your work, and post link to your updated blog in the Module 8 Discussion Forum, for more reciprocal, constructive feedback.
3. Incorporate any last-minute changes before posting a link to your final blog solution to the Assignment 4 submission button (click “Submit Assignment” above).

Criteria:

• Solution is a blog journal containing a specific topic or theme, including an About page. All blog posts follow a consistent thematic topic.
• Blog contains five (5) required posts (separate from the About page).
• Each blog post contains the student’s original written content, between 100 words (minimum) and 200 words (maximum) length—my rules for this assignment; not a web standard.
• Each blog post contains one or more images, embedded YouTube videos, and/or other multimedia content.
• All images are either the student’s original photos (cited as “© <>, <>”), or properly cited (“image from <>”).
• Stories, such as news reports, accounts of sporting events, etc. are cited by hyperlinking to the original web source, such as, “According to ABC News, (Links to an external site.) …” Bury—don’t show—long, complex URLs in hyperlinks.
• Each blog post avoids plagiarism by paraphrasing and summarizing original content, making quotes visually different, and crediting sources.
• Student posts first- and revised-drafts in the Module 7 and 8 Discussions, respectively, and participates in a critique.

Prof. Elio L. Arteaga

VIC3002—Visual Design for Media
Module 7 Lecture Notes

Blogging
Web logs, or more commonly “blogs,” have gained much media attention lately due to their
increasing popularity. A few years ago, if someone had mentioned the word “blog” to you, you
probably might have said, “not on the rug—I just had it cleaned.” Today, over 63.2 million blogs
populate the Internet, and about 175,000 new blogs are created daily. Bloggers post 1.6 million
new entries to those blogs each and every day.

What is this new technology? A blog is a type of Web site, originally intended to be an online
journal. Automation controls enable people with average (not super-geek) computer literacy skills
to easily post new entries, reference sources, incorporate visuals, reply to postings made by
others, and moderate discussions. Blogs enable users to post text, images, audio, video and
interactivity and share them with people all over the world.1

It’s not surprising to understand that blogs and the Internet are the next natural extension of
people’s need to communicate, beginning many thousands of years ago with cave paintings and
maturing after Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press and handset movable type.

What makes blogs so special? Blogs represent the democratization of knowledge and
information. When the Internet was born, anyone with a computer, network connection and some
very geeky skills could post information on Web pages. The Internet required its Webmasters to
learn complex HTML coding or be able to use a Web page creation program, such as
Dreamweaver.

But blog technology changes all that. Once a template is quickly set up, blog team members can
easily post stories. New stories “push down” earlier postings, so blogs display entries in reverse
chronological order. Visitors read the postings and can leave comments, which other visitors can
read and comment on as well. Blogs can be about anything—news, politics, fashions—and each
blog usually follows a specific theme. A blog’s strength lies in the community of readers that
forms around it. This cohesive community of diverse people with varying computer literacy skills
can only be possible with a technology that makes such communication transparent and
seamless—the blog.

Blogs vs. Plain Old Web Pages
HowStuffWorks.com does a great job of explaining the differences between regular Web pages
and blogs. Visit http://computer.howstuffworks.com/blog.htm for more information. A typical
Web site consists of a home page with several, sometimes thousands, of subordinate pages linked
to it. A blog is different: a blog is often a single page, with several entries arranged from newest
to oldest. Frequent visitors to a blog will see the most recent posting at the top of the page. Once
they begin scrolling down, they may see earlier postings that they’ve already read and stop at that
point, since they may only be interested in new information. Older information is still available in
the archives, but most people will mainly be interested in what’s new.


























































1
Gordon, Derek. (2007). About Technorati. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from
technorati.com. Web site: http://technorati.com/about/



Take a look at my own blog, eDesign, dedicated to presenting graphic design news of interest to
students and professionals in the South Florida area (http://eliodesign.blogspot.com/). I’ve
selected a Blogger template that sets up all the formatting attributes for me: the headlines appear
large and bold. The body text appears a comfortable reading size. Links are in orange. Images
wrap around text. Quoted material appears inside a yellow rectangle. I’ve used graphic design
techniques applied to formatting attributes to structure complex and varied information in order to
present it to readers as a unified whole.

Following are descriptions of the recent importance blogs have had in sharing relevant,
newsworthy information with the public. In most cases, blogs report on significant stories ignored
or minimized by national mainstream media.

Political Blogs
You might never have heard of the Downing Street Memo had it not been for blogs. The memo
was first published in the British newspaper, The Sunday Times on May 1, 2005, alleging
manipulation of the UN inspection of Iraq for weapons of mass destruction as a pretext to remove
Saddam Hussein from power by force. But the Memo went largely unnoticed by US newspapers.
Liberal-minded blogs such as BradBlog.com and DailyKos.com helped bring this controversial
news story to Americans’ awareness.

Two months before the 2004 Presidential Election, Dan Rather of 60 Minutes presented a series
of documents negatively criticizing George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard during the
Vietnam War Era. Almost immediately, conservative blogs such as LittleGreenFootballs.com
challenged the authenticity of the documents, citing that the document’s typography pointed to
the make and model of typewriter used, which hadn’t yet been invented when the report was
allegedly written. As a result of further investigation, CBS issued a retraction, and blogs began to
be accepted as a new legitimate form of mass media.

Citizen Journalism
While the mainstream media directs Americans’ short attention spans to stories such as Janet
Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, Britney Spears’ breakup with K-Fed (now Fedex), and Tom
Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch, bloggers participated in creating a firestorm over the 2006
Dubai Ports World controversy. In February 2006, Middle Eastern-based DPW purchased several
ports in U.S. cities, raising concerns over security and terrorism. Public outcry forced DPW to
offer to sell its ports back to American entities. Once again, mainstream media turned attention
back to celebrity gossip, but persistent bloggers noted that as of June 2006, DPW still quietly
owned ports in 22 U.S. cities. Today, many Americans get their news from blogs, in addition to
the regular mainstream news sources.

Helen Berggren is a writer for the Miami Herald. She was my student in Spring 2006 when she
produced http://itsyourthoughts.blogspot.com/, posting her own stories and images. Her first
entry is a touching story on rescuing animals from cruelty.

Corporate Blogs
Corporations use blogs as public relations tools for communicating directly to their target
consumers. Blogs such as Dell’s Direct2Dell.com promote the company, but also provide a forum
for consumers to relate their experiences, positive or negative, to the company and each other.
The blog then facilitates a way for the business to fulfill its promises to the consumers.

Science Blogs
The Huygens probe landed on Saturn’s moon Titan in January of 2005 and detected the presence
of hydrocarbons. Most scientists today believe hydrocarbons—refined to produce petroleum—are
of biological origin. But there is no biology on Titan. Or is there? Even if there isn’t, and you
believe our supply of oil might run out in the future, the Huygens probe findings seem to suggest
that an almost endless new supply exists elsewhere in our own solar system. Science blogs such
as PhysOrg.com reported on the Huygens probe findings almost as soon as they were available.
Science-related blogs are often criticized for their zeal in presenting amazing new findings to the
public, sometimes skipping the peer-review process, potentially resulting in inaccurate
information posted.

Poetry Blogs
Many use blogs to showcase their poetry, artwork and photos. Arlena Amaro, my student in Fall
2006, created Snapshots of My Soul (http://arlenaamaro.blogspot.com/), which she actively
maintains, as a vehicle for her creative expressions. Visitors leave many positive comments.

Artist Blogs
Blogs are an excellent outlet for spotlighting your art, photography, sculpture, or craft. Mark
Murphy’s blog (http://murphydesign1.blogspot.com/) promotes artists selling their works. Notice
how he incorporates a short description of the artists and works spotlighted, which adds extra
dimension to the visitors’ understanding of the artwork. Your blog project must incorporate
similar descriptions of any artwork, photography, graffiti, etc. that you display.

Personal Blogs
Online journals are the original impetus behind blog technology. Many report day-to-day
activities and thoughts that no one other than their closest friends would be interested in (“I woke
up, felt bored, went to class, went home, and went back to sleep”). Amazingly, the Internet has
become a vehicle for communicating intimate, personal messages with the largest audience
known to any medium—the entire world. These social networking sites include MySpace and
Facebook. Because we are practicing for writing in a professional environment, this type of
personal journal is not permitted for this project.

Incorporating Technology
My summer 2008 student, Camila, created http://www.littleramonas.com/, a blog incorporating
photos, video, slideshows, and even an online radio station. She incorporated this technology in a
thoughtful way, enhancing—not detracting from—the blog’s design aesthetic. I encourage you to
incorporate technology into your blog to enhance its interactivity. But beware! Many MySpace
and Facebook pages are rife with gaudy design, blinking elements, and simultaneously-playing
music and sound files that chase away visitors, rather than welcome and invite them.

Video blogs are called vlogs. Examples include YouTube and Google Videos. Blogs showcasing
photos are called photoblogs, for example, Flickr. Audio files can sometimes substitute for textual
information in blogs. Audio files that are played after downloading to your computer or MP3
player are called podcasts. Apple’s iTunes Music Store offers over 65,000 free podcasts.2


























































2
Apple, Inc. (2007). Apple iTunes – iTunes – Store. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from
Apple.com. Web site: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/



Blogging Sites
The most popular blog hosting sites include Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), Xanga
(http://www.xanga.com), TypePad (http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/) and LiveJournal
(http://www.livejournal.com).

To Create a Blog:
Using Blogger as an example, creating a blog is a simple three-step process:

Fig. 1—Screenshot of Blogger’s three steps to create a blog.

(1) Create an account. This is as easy as creating a Yahoo ID and password.

Fig. 2—Step 1: Enter your Gmail address and password.

(2) Name your blog. Establish a blog title and URL (the Web address).

Fig. 3—Name your blog and look for an available URL.

(3) Choose a template. A template establishes a custom look for your blog including
backgrounds, headers, typefaces, and layouts. Blogger provides several pre-made templates
ranging in design from formal and traditional to dynamic and funky.

Fig. 4—One of the many available templates in Blogger.

Anyone with average computer literacy skills can create a blog following this process fairly
quickly. The controls are intuitive—just experiment with the interface.

Posting New Entries
Once your blog is established, you can begin posting to your blog. From the Blogger Dashboard,
click the green plus sign under “New Post.” Type a title for your posting. This is analogous to
naming an article within a magazine, rather than the magazine itself, which is what you did by
naming your blog. The large rectangle is where you write the main body of your posting. Just
above are icons for formatting text bold and/or italic. You can also add external links, add quoted
material, check spelling, insert images, change text color, change alignments, change typefaces
and sizes, and format text for bullets and numbering. In Compose Mode, the interface is very
similar to that of Microsoft Word. By turning on Preview, you can get an idea of how your post
will look when you publish it.

Fig. 5—Blogger’s controls for formatting text.

Finally, click “Publish” and your blog is ready for the world.

Project #2—The Visual Blog (worth 10 points)
*Create a visual blog for communicating information to a real-world public at large.

*Decide on a title and thematic topic for your blog. It could be on (almost) anything! Possible
blog topics include (but are not limited to): travel journal, international recipe collection, sports
news, clubbing photo-journal, original poetry collection, original photography or art gallery,
political commentary journal, movie review journal, celebrity gossip journal, or many, many
other possibilities. Your only limitation in this regard is that you can’t submit a personal journal
for your project–even though this kind of communication is prevalent on the Internet, this
project’s goal is for you to practice for a professional environment.

*Make your blog scholarly and/or journalistic. This will be a great project for all the journalism
and PR majors in this class. And if you’re not in journalism or PR, this project will enable you to
get an idea of what those majors entail.

*Create a Blogger blog by going to http://www.blogger.com/ and following the three-step process
listed on the homepage. Don’t like Blogger? No problem. Your blog can be created in any blog-
hosting site. Just keep in mind that your professor doesn’t have—and never will have—a
MySpace account (it upsets my graphic design sensibilities). So if you create your blog using
MySpace, make sure that it is unlocked and viewable by non-account holders.

*Create the following:
*A thematic topic for your blog.
*Five postings of 100 words (minimum) to 200 words (maximum) each. Blog postings should be
short and readable in one sitting.
*Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation must be observed.
*Describe your opinion of the stories you reference or report on. Make clear what part of the
story is your original writing and what part is referenced.
*Cite referenced text by using hyperlinks to the original online articles.
*Quoted material must appear visually different from your original writing. Change font, size,
color, indents, etc.

*Online art or photography blogs, or recipe blogs, must include a 100 – 200 word opinion of the
artwork or recipes presented.
*Must not be a personal journal, as the goal of this course is to prepare students for writing in a
professional environment.
*Technology–photos, artwork, embedded YouTube videos, slideshows, radio stations, etc.–must
be incorporated into each of the five post entries where appropriate. It’s supposed to be a
VISUAL blog for a visual communications class, remember? Incorporate multiple images per
posting for full credit.
*Nurture your blog community by encouraging participation from visitors. Respond to posted
comments, and reciprocate on their blogs. Post your blog address in Module 7 Discussions so that
your classmates can participate.

Respecting Copyrights
You must not infringe upon someone else’s copyright. Anything you post must either be original,
or it must fall under Fair Use guidelines:
(1) use of a short quote or paraphrase for review purposes,
(2) must be for a scholarly or academic purpose,
(3) must not impinge upon the profit-making potential of the copyright owner–that is, you must
not give away for free what is normally bought and paid for.

Avoiding Plagiarism
As far as academic rules are concerned, you must not, intentionally or UNINTENTIONALLY,
represent the work of others as your own. To avoid plagiarism:
(1) Paraphrase in your own words a short summary of the material,
(2) Inject your own opinion,
(3) Provide a hyperlink to the original referenced online material,
(4) If you quote a short passage, make it VISUALLY DIFFERENT (different fonts, sizes, colors
or indents) from your original material, so the reader understands that it’s a quote,
(5) Credit the source, including authors, photographers, videographers and artists.

Review the Following:
Remember also the lessons from Module 1 and the Aristotle discussion–we are moving from
being a verbally-literate society into being a visually-literate one. That’s not to say that people
will stop curling up with a good book, or that scholarly or academic treatises that people need for
work or study will go away. However, in most day-to-day communications, people prefer to read
short messages, and be entertained, enlightened and emotionally-engaged by images. Once again,
make your postings short–about 100 to 200 words each, and be sure to use images that support
the text.

Student’s Name
VIC3002–Visual Design for Media
Project 2—Visual Blog
Module 7, Week of _____________
URL: http://________________________________
Please post questions to the Module 7 Discussion Forum. Good Night and Good Luck!