Blog Layout

Blog layout design to support Learn-Create-Share

Blog Layout File

The layout design of the blogs for this cluster is designed to support Learn-Create-Share. This is to maximise the ability of the student blog to:

  • support and develop an audience
  • introduce the personal voice of the child

Using the blog layout file and uploading it to each new blog that you have registered means that you can work very quickly to build new blogs.

Open then download the following two templates to the downloads folder or desktop of your computer:

This is the Toki Pounamu Blog Layout Template (for 2019) - click to open / save to your downloads folder.

This is the Toki Pounamu Welcome Post Template (for 2019) - click to open / save to your downloads folder.

You may also need the 'Welcome Post' image (for 2019) - click here to open / save to your downloads folder.

You might like a doc with the 'Steps to Register and Build a Blog - Layout and Settings' - click here to open and download.

Once you've uploaded both files to the blog, the 'World Map' gadget will need updated with it's own unique code from the Revolver Maps website. Note that the 'welcome' post has been populated with some useful subject labels that will appear as prompts when students create posts, and that a link to the Cybersmart Curriculum, and a 'digital badges' page has been added.

Steps to Register and Build a Blog - Layout and Settings

Download ‘Toki Blog Template’ and ‘Welcome’ xml files to your downloads folder on your computer. Also download the welcome post image.


Register blog

Copy ‘blog title’ on spreadsheet

Open ‘url link’ from spreadsheet

Blog not found - click register

Paste blog title into space

Click orange ‘simple’ theme

Save.


Templates for theme and welcome post

Left menu - theme - click backup/restore (top right)

Choose file - Toki Blog Template (in downloads) - upload.

Left menu - Settings - Other - Import content - I’m not a robot - verify - import from computer - welcome post. NOTE: sometimes this doesn’t work, you’ll need to do it manually, see instructions below:


Manually add welcome post and first comment (if importing the file doesn't work):

Click ‘New post’

Post title: Welcome

Post labels - Paste in: Art, Cybersmart, English, Health, Literacy, Maths, Numeracy, PE, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Technology, Topic, Writing (then click done).

Welcome picture: it’s faster to drag and drop the picture onto the post content area than upload - download the welcome post image onto your desktop - drag and drop - size large - centre

Click - Publish

On the blog home page under the welcome posts, click ‘no comments’

Paste in comment: Welcome to your blog - enjoy sharing your learning with your family and friends.

Click - Publish


In settings:

Settings - Basic - description - edit - paste ‘Welcome to my blog, I’m a student at [name of school], Greymouth [or Hokitika], New Zealand. - save changes.

Settings - Posts, comments and sharing - anyone - never - no - paste ‘Thank-you for your positive, thoughtful, helpful comments’. - save settings.

Settings - Email - comment notification email - blog admin, student email [on spreadsheet], teacher email; post notification email - blog admin, teacher email - save settings.

Settings - Language and formatting - time zone - Auckland (scroll to bottom, then scroll back up a little, it’s near the bottom of the list) - save settings.

Settings - Basic - permissions - add author - add student email and teacher email - invite authors (separate with a comma).

Left menu - Layout - Edit ‘Follow by Email’ - save (all you need to do is open the gadget and hit save, it doesn’t show up on the blog till you’ve done this).


View blog


Open ‘revolver map’ web link https://www.revolvermaps.com/?target=setupmini - in a new tab, scroll to bottom, copy and paste code from step 5

On the blog home page, click the tools bottom right on the ‘World Map’, and paste in the new code - save.

On the Pages bar - click the tools at the right end of the pages bar, tick ‘Digital Badges’ - save.

View blog generally and check that everything is there / showing up, and spelled correctly.

Finish.

How to upload the 'blog layout' file, the 'welcome post' file, and the 'World Map' code to a blog:

Upload Templates.webm