1st Question: What Does 'Quick and Dirty' Mean?
Answer: Not what you are obviously thinking. Quick and Dirty is a severely shortened version of the longer manuals that explain the wonders of this program (and I do suggest reading, but I'm assuming no one wants to). If you are so inclined, you can view two of the best here: http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/docs/ and http://www.tokyoshoes.com/blogclass/. In addition, the Princeton has a blogging site of its own with updates and tips: http://blogs.princeton.edu/main/.
2nd Question: Do I Really Need to Read All of This? It doesn't seem 'quick'?
Answer: I don't care. Your blog is for you. The more you want to know about it, the better your blogging is probably going to be. The less you know, the more of a life you will have. This is for your reference, for better or for worse. I hope you find it helpful, that's all.
Most Important:
These blogs are being provided for your convenience and pleasure and so
that your friends and family and the PiA community can share in the
amazing experience ahead. Since these blogs are being sponsored by PiA,
please keep content and material tasteful and appropriate and within
PiA's program guidlines. As Vince is fond of saying, don't make him
bring the censors down on you :-)
If you don't know what a blog is, first - you are probably not a dork and that is good. Second, you should be a dork so here's a quick lesson into blogging. Blog is short for weblog, and it was first used for people to pontificate online instead of verbally, and hasn't really changed since. These days blogs cover anything from popular politics, to hip hop. There is a whole terminology associated with blogging -- it has even spawned such funny names as 'photoblogging' [a blog where most posts are just random/not-random photos] and MoBlogging [mobile blogging - where some uber-busy person posts pics and other posts from some mobile device]. There is a massive rating system for all blogs, a whole set of criteria for what makes a good blog, but really - all this stuff you don't need to worry about.
Your blog is what you make it - put stuff that makes you laugh, you think your parents might like to hear about, your ex-boyfriend who told you not to go would hate to hear, and someone who is thinking about traveling to Laos should really know before packing. I wouldn't put stuff that talks trash about anyone you wouldn't talk trash about in a public square with half the nation listening to you - but besides that, have fun with this!
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There are a couple of things you need to do when you first get your blog. First -- to log in go to https://blogs.princeton.edu/mt/mt.cgi, enter your username and password.
Then -- CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!!! Unless you want me placing random posts on how hot I am on your site, do the following.
---> Go to the MAIN MENU, click on either "AUTHORS" in the right-hand column or Your Username in the upper right hand Corner" [Picture], scroll down to CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD, and retype in a password that you can remember. If you forget it, you are silly, but just in case go to the bottom and fill in the information for PASSWORD RECOVERY. Don't lie - if you forget that then you really are done for.
Here, for future reference, you can also change your website address, username, email, and language.
In case you don't like the title I gave you, you can change the title by going to
--> MAIN MENU, click SETTINGS [Picture]. --> You will be at the SETTINGS Page where you can change your Blog Title and DESCRIPTION, which will change your Blog Subtitle.
To see what your site looks like, you can go to http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/USERNAME/. Replace *USERNAME* with your username in the address and this is the address of your blog. Alternately, you can click on the "VIEW SITE" link in the upper right-hand corner of the Movable Type Screen [Picture].
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--> Basic Posts
Posting is simple - go to CREATE ENTRY, type in some text and it gets put on your blog.
Here are the different fields and what they do:
*** [NOTE: If you don't see some of these categories scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Customize the display of this page." You can then choose which field you want to edit during posts***
So that's most of it, experiment if you want or contact me with questions.
--> Uploading Files
Click on UPLOAD FILE on the left-hand navigation bar [Picture], click browse to find the file on your computer. You can file them within 'Choose a Destination' but that is not necessary. Click UPLOAD.
---> On the next screen, select "Create a new entry . . ." will open a new entry with the file. "Show me the HTML" will show you some code that you can copy and paste into your entry screen.
-----> You may also create an IMAGE THUMBNAIL, which is a smaller version of your image. CHECK the box to do this, and then select your size. The option "CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS" will keep your image the same size and not make it look funny.
------> If you click on POPUP IMAGE, your entry or code will create a link that will open the picture in a new window. EMBEDDED IMAGE puts the image or thumbnail directly within your blog entry. One you have clicked on one of the two you have uploaded your picture!!
--> Click on ENTRIES [Picture], and you will see a list of all your entries. Click on the entry you want to edit and then see the instructions above on how to edit it. You can "FILTER" to see the entries you want by CATAGORY, POST STATUS and AUTHOR. Honestly, don't worry about this.
--> In ENTRIES, select the box to the right of the entry you want to delete (marked DELETE), and click on the DELETE button. Simple as that.
--> On the Left Hand NAVBAR, under COMMUNITY click on COMMENTS [Picture]. Here you can remove or edit comments that are rude on inappropriate. You probably don't need it, but just in case.
--> On the Left Hand Navbar, under "Configure" click on CATAGORIES [Picture]. You can create categories and subcategories, but basically you only need categories. To create a new category, click on the link on the right hand side of the page called "Create new top level category". Type in the bar below it the new category name desired and click CREATE. If you then want to delete a category, check the box to the right of the category and click DELETE.
Trackback is a useful addition to bloggers who like to see who is quoting them. Very popular sites often get many, many people who cite their posts. See this About.com article for more background.
To do this you must first set up a FREE account with Typekey (https://www.typekey.com/). Once you have done this, go to your user profile (where you changed your passowrd) and enter your Typekey information. From then on, if you want to cite someone with trackback information, there will be a link (URL) at the bottom of their post. Copy and paste it into the field at the bottom of CREATE ENTRY and it will update their website with your post. Cool, huh?
On the Let Hand Navbar, there is a category called NOTIFICATIONS. This is for people who ask you to email them when your blog gets updated. Maybe your Mom wants to know with every new post. Instead of actually emailing her, the blog will do it for you. Multitasking to a whole new level.
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In the Left Hand Navbar, you can click on TEMPLATES. The "styles-site.css" file is where I modified how your site looks. If you do web design go mess with this please. Unless you know what you are doing, DO NOT touch "index.html". Yeah, if you are reading this you probably don't know web design or html so best just to not touch it.
The so-called "Blogroll" is a list of sites you like and want other people to click on. If you are desperate for one you can contact me and I'll set it up for you, otherwise you should edit the 'index.html' file I was telling you about before and add some links to it. Don't do it if you plan on messing things up.
I think that's about it. Have fun and let me know about problems!!
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