Blogging Help

This page has information to answer a number of questions you may have when you are working on your blog.

As a student in my language arts class, you are about to embark on an exciting project being a blogger on your class period blog and your own personal blog. I know that you will have a lot of fun and learn a lot. Here is a review of some blogging procedures we have covered in class:

Getting Signed Up

  1. First submit your information to the class blog information survey.
  2. After you do that, I will have the site send you an email invitation to join edublogs.org and a second one to join the class period blog. You need to respond to both emails by clicking the activation link. (It’s the second link in the email, not the first.) One of the emails will also have your username and a temporary password. Highlight and copy the password into your clipboard, then click the “login” link.
  3. On the login screen, enter your username and paste in the password. On a school computer, be sure to uncheck Remember Me. Then, click Login.
  4. This will log you in and send you to the dashboard for first blog you are a member of (either your own blog or the class period blog), where you do the “behind the scenes” work on a blog.
  5. I will also set up a personal blog for you. Be sure to respond to that activation email also.

Changing Your Password

To change your password to something easier to type and remember:

  1. Click on Profile -> Your Profile in the left menu bar.
  2. Scroll down and enter a new password. Make sure to choose a password you can remember easily. You have to enter it twice, then be sure to click Update Profile at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
  3. Scroll back up to the top and check whether there is a “Profile Updated” message. If not, you probably failed to enter the same password twice. Repeat step 2 to try again.
  4. To confirm that your password is changed and you can log in with the new one, log out and log back in again. If you have problems with the browser retaining your old password, clear the “cookies” from your computer’s memory. The method for doing that varies from browser to browser.
  5. Be sure to remember your password!

Forgot Your Password?

If you cannot remember your password and have tried everything you can think of, it’s time to reset it. Here’s how:

  1. On the login screen, click Lost Your Password?
  2. Enter your username or email address and click Get New Password.
  3. Check your email for a confirmation email. If it doesn’t arrive within 30 minutes, check your spam folder just in case it is marked as spam.
  4. Click on the link in the confirmation email to reset your password.
  5. Check your email for a second message with a new password. If it doesn’t arrive within 30 minutes, check your spam folder just in case it is marked as spam.

If you are unable to reset your own password, ask Mrs. Lofton for help, or send an email to support@edublogs.org so it can be manually reset for you.  Include the following details in the email: your username, your email address, your blog URL (address), and an alternative email (in case your filter blocks the email response from Edublogs.

Upload Your Avatar

Edublogs has two types of avatars, a “blog avatar” that you can display in your sidebar, and a “user avatar” that appears when you comment on another student’s blog. You will want to upload your avatar both places.

  1. To upload your blog avatar click Settings -> Blog Avatar from the left sidebar menu in your dashboard.
  2. Click Browse and find your avatar image file on your computer or flash drive.
  3. Click on the avatar image file, then click Open.
  4. Click Upload or Alternate Upload.
  5. In a few moments, the avatar image should display. If it doesn’t, try clearing your cache by pressing Ctrl + F5.
  6. If your avatar is too large, you may have to crop it. Most graphics programs allow you to crop.  You will get best results if you crop to about 97 pixels wide by 97 pixels high. One online site that allows you to crop images is resizr.com.
  7. To display your avatar on your blog, select Appearance –> Widgets, and drag the Blog Avatar widget into your sidebar.
  8. To upload your user avatar, click Users -> Your Avatar, then browse for and upload your avatar the same way you did for the blog avatar. Your avatar will automatically appear in any comments you add to Edublogs blogs. It doesn’t automatically appear in posts, so you will also want to insert it in each of your posts for the class period blogs to let your classmates see your image.
  9. For more information about how to create and upload an avatar, check this site: http://theedublogger.com/2009/11/29/creating-and-uploading-your-comment-avatar/

Changing between Your Personal Blog and the Class Period Blog Dashboard

Remember that you create postings for all class assignments in your personal blog. When it is your turn to be “guest blogger of the day” for your class and report on our class activities,  you post in the class period blog.

To switch to a different blog:

  1. Login to edublogs and go to your dashboard. Since you have two blogs, you need to check which dashboard you are in. You can tell by checking the title in the gray banner at the top.
  2. To change to  a different dashboard, click  Dashboard -> My Blogs in the left sidebar menu.
  3. The screen will display both your personal blog and Mrs. Lofton’s Period x Blog. Both of them will have two options underneath — Visit and Dashboard.
  4. To change to a different dashboard, click Dashboard under the name of the blog you want

Creating a Posting for the Class Period Blog

To create a post:

  1. Make sure you are in the dashboard for the class period blog. (See above for help switching blogs.)
  2. Click Posts – > Add New.
  3. Type a title. Try to think of something specific to describe the day.
  4. Type the posting. Include a summary of:
    1. What we did in class.
    2. What you learned.
    3. Something interesting, funny, or unusual that happened.
    4. Be sure to NOT include any personal names of classmates. You can refer to Mrs. Lofton by name.
    5. Check your posting carefully for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. You want to do your best work!
    6. Please, be positive in everything you say.
  5. Add your avatar to your post and tell us your screen name so we know who is posting. To add your avatar, click the graphics icon above the editing area and upload and insert your avatar. If you have already inserted your avatar in a posting on this blog, you can find your image in the blog library.
  6. Click Publish.
  7. Click Visit Site at the top of the screen to visit the site and see your posting in published form.
  8. If you want to make any changes to your posting, return to the dashboard, edit the posting, then click Update Posting.

Creating a Login Link

You will find editing your blog much easier if you have a link in your sidebar to login into your blog. If you are worried that a visitor might log in, remember that no one can access your blog without your username and password. To create a login link:

  1. First, make sure that the Links widget is visible on your sidebar. If not, go to the dashboard, select Appearance –> Widgets, and drag the Blog Avatar widget into your sidebar.
  2. Select Links –> Add New.
  3. In the Name field enter a name such as “Login” or “Blog Login”.
  4. In the Web Address field, enter http://blogname.edublogs.org/wp-admin substituting your blog name for blogname.
  5. To have the dashboard open in a new tab, scroll down and and check
    _blank – new window     or tab box.
  6. Scroll back up and click Add Link.
  7. Now, click Visit Site at the top of the screen, and test the link.

The Login link will take you to the login screen when you are not logged in, and to your dashboard when you are logged in. Now that you know how to create sidebar links, consider removing the unneeded links that came default with your blog and adding useful links of your own.

Creating Hyperlinks or Hotlinks in a Posting

See this help text from Edublogs.

Finding Creative Commons-Licensed Images and Including Them in Your Blog

Capture your screen in seconds

For more help with blogging not covered here, visit the Edublogs Getting Started help page.



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