IFAS Blogging Primer (For New Bloggers)

http://ifas.ufl.edu

UF/IFAS Blogging Primer

Are you new to blogs.ifas.ufl.edu? Then, please use the following tips to help you on your blogging journey:

General Blogging Tips

Write in your natural, conversational voice
Be concise
Get to the post’s main idea right away
Organize the post, so it can be easily scanned—headings, bullets, numbered lists, short paragraphs, etc.

Promoting Your Blog

Use the social media icons on individual blogs posts to share the content directly to your Facebook, Twitter, etc.
You may want to share a link to a post in an email inviting people to follow you here: (e.g., http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/blogname/)
Also, when a new reader follows you, invite him/her to subscribe to your RSS feed here: (e.g., http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/blogname/feed/)
To maintain an ongoing and consistent presence, write at least one blog post per month

Blogs.IFAS Features

Feel free to check out this Blogging Overview video on YouTube, which will introduce you to all of the features on blogs.ifas.
Browse through the Web team News for updates, blogging tips and more!
Don’t forget to review the community guidelines and rules.

Primer: Making and Editing Your First Post In 7 Steps

Go to https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/wp-login.php
Note: If you did not receive or do not know your username and password, please contact webteam@ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Go to the “Dashboard,” which is where you can add new posts, edit existing ones, create your user profile and more.

3. Hover over “Posts” on the left sidebar, and click “Add New” to add a new post.

Here, you can add a title, text, and photos and select your categories/tags to your new post.

4. Categories/Tags

After writing your post, choose the category and subcategory (located on the right side) that corresponds to your post.

Be sure to uncheck the “Change Category” option.
When choosing a category, select the main option as well as a subcategory.
Please, do not create your own categories.

Tag your post with descriptive terms.

Be sure to use unique tags.
If you’re talking about the same topic in different posts, stay consistent, and use the same tag. For example, several blog posts about nutrition could have the tag “family nutrition and health”.

5. Adding a New Post: Images

To add an image, select “Set Featured Image” and choose or upload a photo.
All featured images should be 1338 px x 357 px.
Also, change “Background Color” (located under “Slideshow Post Background Settings”) to #fdfafa before you post.
Note: Once you’ve added an image, it will automatically be saved in your blog’s Media Library. This allows you to reuse the image in future posts without uploading it again.

6. Adding a New Post: Publishing

You can click “Preview” to view your post and make sure that it appears as you intended. If it does not, you can edit more.

Remember to double-check for typos and spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.

Click “Publish” to publish your post.
Your posts will appear on:

Your blog’s homepage
The “Most Recent” feature on blogs.ifas/global homepage
The specific category when a reader clicks on that category (It will also be added to the “Categories” page on the blogs.ifas/global homepage)

7. Editing a Previously Published Post

You can edit your previously-published posts to fix typos, correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, add/delete information, or enhance them in any other way.

To edit an existing post:

Hover over “Page” on the left sidebar, and click “All Posts”.

Locate desired post, and click “Edit.”

This will take you to the page similar to the one where you originally created your post.
Here, you can edit the post and click “Update” to publish it.

Additional Tutorials