Part 1: Logging in to the course blog and updating your profile

1. Visit the course blog: http://courseblog.cs.princeton.edu/fall07/frs117/
2.  Find the Student Login headline in the right column and click Student Login. Use your University username and password.
3. You should see a page with a blue bar at the top. It says the name “WordPress,” our blogging software   Follow the Profile link near the top of the screen to access you user profile.
4. Update your profile:

• Check that your name and email address are correct.

• Update your Nickname if you want to change the way your name appears on your posts.

Your nickname identifies your blog entries to other students and members of the public who read the blog. If you’d prefer not to write under your real name, enter a pen name instead.

• Click Update Profile to save your changes.

Part 2: Reading the course blog and commenting

1. Click View Site at the top of the WordPress page to return to the course blog page.
   
2. Blog entries appear on this main page, with the most recent entries at the top.  Once there are many posts, you will need to scroll down to reach earlier posts.
3. To leave a comment on an entry, click the post’s title and scroll down until you see the Leave a Reply form. Remember to click submit comment to have your comment appear.
   
4. Links to the course Web pages and to other course Web blogs are listed to the right of the posting area.

Part 3: Posting a blog entry

1. Click login from the blog page.  If you are already logged in, you will go directly to the WordPress page.  (Notice that your name will appear by login and logout will be an option.)
   
2. Click Write at the top of the screen.
3. The “Write Post” page is where you compose a new blog entry. It is a simple text editor, similar to MS Word.  If you prefer, you can compose your entry in another program, like Microsoft Word, and paste it into the blog editor when you are finished. To paste into the editor, click on it then press Ctrl-V on the keyboard.
4. Enter a title for your post. The title should be meaningful to readers.
5. To save your work on the course blog server, click Save and Continue Editing button just under the post field.  It’s a good idea to save periodically as you’re composing your post. After you save you can scroll down to see a preview of how your post will look after it’s published on the blog. Note that it hasn’t been published yet—for now only you can see it.
6. You can also save a draft to return to later by clicking the Save button.  The titles of drafts you’ve saved will appear near the top of the "Write Post" screen. Your drafts are still unpublished and only visible to you.  Click on a draft title to resume editing a saved draft.
7. Click Publish to make your post visible to the world.
8. Just leave the"Write Post" page to discard writing you have not saved.
   

Part 4: Editing your blog post

1. Log in to WordPress again and click Manage at the top of the screen.  The Manage page allows you to View, Edit, and Delete posts you have already published on the blog.
2. Click View next to the title of a post you have written to see the post as other readers see it, complete with any comments.
   
3. Click Edit next to the title of a post you have written to change your post after you publish it.  When making substantial changes, blogging etiquette requires that you point out the changes so that readers who’ve already seen the page don’t get confused. For example, you might add text like this at the bottom of the post: “Update 5pm on 2/10/06: I mistakenly wrote that … but I changed the post to correct it.”  You’re allowed to edit your posts at any time as long as you indicate what you changed as described above. However,  instructors can see the old versions you published, so this feature can’t be used to skirt the post deadlines.  Don’t forget to save your changes.

Part 5:  Logout

• Remember to logout of the Wordpress page!

Endnote: Receiving inappropriate comments

• If you receive an inappropriate comment, alert Professor LaPaugh right away so that it can be removed.  Comments by individuals using a University account are added without being moderated;  comments attempted by individuals from outside are sent directly to Professor LaPaugh as moderator.