Description: The blogs tool allows site participants to keep an online site journal where people my post, view, and respond to entries. Blogs are editable by site administrators and may be seen by the whole site or only by site administrators, depending upon the settings chosen when the blog is created

Add Blog Tool:

Step 1: In the menu bar, click [Site Info].

Step 2: Click [Edit Tools].

Step 3: Choose Blogs.

Step 4: Click [Continue] and then click [Finish].

Add a Blog:

Step 1: In the menu bar, click [Blogs].

Step 2: In the new page, click [Add Blog Entry].

Step 3: Give the blog posting a title

Step 4: Type your blog. You may use the built-in WYSIWYG editor to format your text as desired.

Step 5: Choose who can see the blog entry by selecting the available options:

Only site administrators and I can see this entry: Only the author and those people with the appropriate role, such as instructor, maintainer, TA, and site collaborator may view the blog.

All members of this site can see this entry: Every member of the site is able to view the blog posting

This entry is publicly visible: This will allow Blog to be viewed outside of TRACS (Not implemented yet).

Step 6: Click [Publish entry] to save your changes or click [Save Draft] to save your changes but not post the entry, or click [Cancel] to clear all changes made.

Edit a Blog:

Step 1: In the menu bar, click [Blogs].

Step 2: Select the name of the blogger whose blog you want to read.

Step 3: Click [Edit entry] under the blog you wish to edit.

Step 4: Make the necessary edits and click [Publish entry] to save your changes or click [Save Draft] to save your changes but not post the entry, or click [Cancel] to clear all changes made.

Comment on a Blog:

Step 1: In the menu bar, click [Blogs].

Step 2: Select the name of the blogger whose blog you want to read.

Step 3: Click [Leave a comment] under the blog you wish to comment on.

Step 4: Write your comment and click [Publish comment] to save your comment, or click [Cancel] to clear all changes made.

Step 5: Click [All the blogs] to return to the list of bloggers.

Read a Blog Comment:

Step 1: In the menu bar, click [Blogs].

Step 2: Select the name of the blogger whose blog you want to read.

Step 3: Click [# comments] under the blog you wish to read.

Step 4: Click [All the blogs] to return to the list of bloggers.

Delete a Blog Comment:

Step 1: In the menu bar, click [Blogs].

Step 2: Select the name of the blogger whose blog you want to read.

Step 3: Click [# comments] under the blog you wish to remove the comment on.

Step 4: Click [Remove this comment] to the right of the comment you want to delete. Click [OK] to delete the comment or click [Cancel] to cancel the action.

Step 5: Click [All the blogs] to return to the list of bloggers.

Delete a Blog:

Step 1: In the menu bar for the site, click [Blogs].

Step 2: Select the name of the blogger whose blog you will want to delete.

Step 3: Underneath the blog which you wish to remove, click [Remove entry].

Step 4: Click [OK] to remove the blog, or click [Cancel] to cancel the action.

Step 5: Click [All the blogs] to return to the list of bloggers.

Blog Settings and User Profiles:

Step 1: In the menubar, click [Blogs], and then click [My blog settings].

Step 2: In the page that opens, fill out the URL for a user profile picture that will be displayed next to all comments and posts you leave. You may upload an image to your My Workspace resources then use the URL generated for the image URL in blogs. For more information on how to add a file, please see the training documentation for the Resources tool.

Step 3: Add any information you wish to be displayed in your blog profile. Click [Change settings] or click [Cancel].

Blog Permissions:

Step 1: Click [Blogs] in the menubar then click [Permissions].

Step 2: Place a checkmark in the appropriate box for the permission you want to grant a specific role.

Step 3: Click on [Save] to save your permissions or click [Cancel].