Picture a Favorite Place: Images in Posts
Returning students: Please read these notes about what to do for this assignment.
One of the things I like best about blogging is how easy it is to include images in posts. So, for this assignment you will learn how to include images in your blog posts, and you will also learn about how to find images that are free to use without any copyright restrictions. I hope the instructions below will answer any questions you have, but don't hesitate to contact me if you get stuck and can't figure something out. The Orientation Week is all about learning to do new things, and I hope you enjoy this first blog posting assignment! You can see other students' posts so far here: Favorite Places of Spring 2021.
So, for this assignment, you will create a new post at your blog with links(s) and image(s) about your Favorite Place (or Places). This will probably take around 30-45 minutes, depending on how much time you spend looking for nice image(s) to use.
STEP 1: Choose a place. So, first of all, start thinking about what favorite place (or places) you might want to put in a blog post. As you can see, I couldn't limit myself to just one, so I picked three. :-)
STEP 2: Learn about image search. Next, read through these guidelines and tips for finding images you can re-use online: FINDING AND USING IMAGES ONLINE. You should also bookmark that page so you can access it again later; you will be using images in pretty much every blog post you write for this class.
STEP 3: Learn about image citations. You should provide a caption for any image you use in a class assignment, along with information about the image source. If you find the image online, you can link to the source (i.e. link to the webpage where the image appears). If the image is one you uploaded, you can explain that it is a personal image. Take a few minutes to read more about that here: IMAGE INFORMATION. Because you will be using images in most of your blogs posts, you should also bookmark that page for future reference.
STEP 4: Find your image(s). So, with those thoughts in mind, you are ready to find the image(s) you want to use and then create your blog post. Please use at least one image that you find online. You can include personal images uploaded from your computer too! Keep the webpage(s) with the image(s) you want to use open in your browser, and then create a new blog post in a separate tab.
STEP 5: Create a new blog post. Go to Blogger.com and click the orange button in the upper left-hand corner:
IMPORTANT: You need to create a new blog post... do not create a whole new blog! You have just ONE BLOG (you sent me the address of that blog in the previous assignment), and you will be publishing new posts in that blog all semester.
STEP 6: Title and label your post. Before you start typing the actual post, you need to give you post a TITLE. Type the title in the title line at the top of the post form. Make sure you the phrase "Favorite Place" (or "Favorite Places") in the title, plus whatever else you want to say. For example, here is my title: Tucson, Cracow, Berkeley... My Favorite Places.
IMPORTANT: You also need to LABEL the post. Using the Labels option in the right-hand sidebar, add the label "Week 1" for this post. Every post you do for this class will have a Week label like that, and some posts will have additional labels. When you use a label for the first time, Blogger will prompt you to create that new label:
As you will see later, labels are one of the most powerful features of blog software, instantly creating navigation links that will help visitors to your blog find the posts they are looking for.
STEP 7: Write your post and UPLOAD your image. Type whatever text you want to use and then position the cursor where you want to place the image; it's usually a good idea to center images in a post. The alignment options are part of the extended editing bar that you access with the three dots:
Then, when you have the cursor in the position where you want to insert the image, click on the image icon.
By default, the "UPLOAD" option is selected on the left, and that is definitely option you want to use. Do not just copy-and-paste images; you need to upload them. Here is how that works:
1. Save the image on your computer. Go to the tab with the webpage that has the image you want to use. Right-mouse click on the image to save the image to your desktop.
2. Upload the image to your blog. Go to the tab with your blog post and click on the Upload: Choose files option. Choose the file you saved to your computer.
3. Choose and select. Blogger will prompt you to choose the file and then select the uploaded image.
You should see the image displayed in your post now, and if you click on the image, you will see there are various editing options available.
STEP 8: Add Image Information. Now that you have added the image, you need to type the image information to identity the picture and also to link to your source. You can do that next to the image, or you can do that down at the bottom of the post (like bibliography in a paper). Either way is fine!
HOW TO CREATE A LINK. Like with uploading images, you need to actually create a link; you cannot just copy-and-paste. Here's how to create a link:
1. Type the text that people will see to click on.
2. Highlight that chunk of text.
3. Click on the Link option in the editing bar (or use the shortcut Control-K).
4. Paste in the URL in the space provided.
5. Click OK at the bottom of the dialog box. You should see our link text underlined, indicating that there is an active link.
STEP 9: Check your work. You are almost ready to publish (yay!), but first you need to take a couple of minutes to proofread your post by reading it out loud.
STEP 10: Now you are ready to publish. Just click on the PUBLISH button on the upper right. Then click "view" (eye icon) to see the post you created. If you want to edit or change something, no problem — you can edit a blog post until you get it just right, and you can also come back to a post later and edit it some more. That's what makes a blog great for writing: it's a natural space in which to write AND to revise.
When you are finished editing, you can do the Declaration for the assignment. You are really blogging now!
You don't need to send me an email this time. I already have your blog address from the email you sent me when you set up your blog. That means I can see all your new posts automatically, without you sending me an email. That's another cool thing about blogs!
Complete the Declaration in Canvas (see below), and then you can move on to the next assignment: browsing student projects from this class in the past. I hope that seeing other students' projects will start giving you some ideas about the project you want to do.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
I have published a blog post about one or more of my favorite places.
TITLE: The words "Favorite Place" or "Favorite Places" appear in the title.
LABEL: I have used "Week 1" to label the post.
IMAGE: The post contains at least one image that I found online with a descriptive CAPTION, plus a LINK to the online source.
PROOFREADING. I have proofread my post by reading it out loud.
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