Uploading Image and Other Files and Inserting them into Your Post

WordPress allows user to easily upload and insert media files into Posts and Pages through the Write interface.

Currently, users may only upload the following file types to their blogs: image files ending jpg jpeg png gif, audio files ending mp3 avi wmv midi mid doc, movie files ending mov, and document files ending pdf.

To access the "Add Media" window, click on the Add Media button in the Write Post/Page interface. A window will pop up that offers you the options to upload a file from your computer, to create and insert an image gallery into your Post or Page, or to browse your media gallery.

To upload a file, follow onscreen instructions. If you are uploading an image, after your upload is complete, you will get the following window:

Here, you can add a caption or a description to your image (this is recommended for accessibility purposes, but will only display if you have a caption-enabled theme-- see Advanced Wordpress for more). You can select how you want the image aligned, what size you want it for display (WordPress will automatically create a "thumbnail" and a "medium" sized version of your image for you), and then click "Insert into Post" to drop the image into your editor.

If you are uploading a different file type, you will get a window that allows you to add detail to your file. You can then easily insert a link to the file into your Post or Page.

If you would like to insert an image into your post that is already on a file server, you can click the image icon in the Write Post/Page editor to enter the URL of the image and locate it within your post.

You also have the ability to embed other kinds of media files in to your post.

• To embed a MP3 file using a nifty audio player, follow these instructions.
• To embed a video file from YouTube, you can either copy the "Embed" code included on the YouTube page of the selected video, or use the Viper Video Quicktags.

Customizing the Look of Your Blog

WordPress allows you manipulate the look and functionality of your blog through the Design tab in your administrative area.

Themes

Clicking on Themes will allow you to choose from dozens of design templates for your site. Themes vary in functionality-- some, for instance, prominently display the name of a Post's author, while others do not display this information at all. Transitioning between themes is as simple as selecting a new one from this list; the content of your blog will automatically be plugged into the new design.

Many Themes allow users to customize particular elements of their display, such as uploading a custom header, or changing the overall color scheme of the theme. If a theme has customizable options, it will be accessible as a Subpanel underneath "Display" when that theme has been made active.

Advanced users -- users, for instance, who know CSS -- can be granted the ability to further customize the design of their blog. Contact the Blogs@Baruch administrator if you are interested in this.

Widgets

Clicking on Widgets will give you access to the WordPress Widgets Manager, which allows you to control what functionality appears in the sidebar(s) of your weblog. WordPress blog "Themes" display either 0, 1, or 2 sidebars. You can view the active Widgets on your blog by selecting "Sidebar 1" or "Sidebar 2" from the drop down menu on the right, and then clicking the "Show" button.

To add a Widget to your sidebar, drag it from the list of available Widgets on the left side of the screen, place your Widgets in the order you wish them to display, and click "Save Changes."

Important: Most WordPress themes come with a default sidebar; if you add a Widget using these instructions, the items that were originally on the sidebar will no long be visible. You will have to re-add them using the Widgets Manager.

Several Widgets are included in a default installation of WordPress; others can be added via activated Plugins:

• Authors: displays a list of Authors who've contributed to the blog
• Pages: provides a list of the pages on the blog
• Calendar: shows a calendar of your blog's posts
• Archives: displays a monthly archive of your blog's posts
• Links: displays your blogroll
• Meta: shows links to Log in/out, Admin Area, RSS feed, and for information on WordPress
• Search: adds a search field
• Recent Posts: shows a list of recent posts to your blog
• Tag Cloud: shows your most used tags in a cloud format
• Categories: displays categories used on your site in list or drop down format
• Text: allows you to enter text or HTML directly into a Widget
• RSS: allows you to display an RSS feed in your sidebar
• Recent Comments: shows the most recent comments on your blog
• Add Users: Enables users from the Blogs@Baruch community to self-register on your blog. Click for configuration instructions.

Adding Functionality to Your Site Using Plugins

Audio Player: Enable users to play audio files on your site

Category Cloud Widget: Adds a sidebar widget to display categories as a tag cloud

Comment Quicktags: Inserts a quicktag toolbar on the blog comment form that allows users to more easily use HTML in their comments

Photo Dropper: Allows users to easily insert Creative Commons licensed images from Flickr into blog Posts

Share This: Let's blog visitors share a post or page with others through email and social bookmarking

Subscribe2: Allows users to receive email notifications when new a new post is made to your blog.

(more plugins to come...)