If you have questions or need help, please visit the Digital Knowledge Center (ITCC 408) and meet with a peer tutor. Drop-in assistance is available, but we highly recommend making an appointment to ensure you’ll get the help you need. Online appointments are also available! Please check the box requesting an online appointment during the signup process.
To get started, you’ll need to log into the course website. To do that, scroll down the course site’s home page to find the “Meta” widget, and click the “Log In” link. You should have received your username and password via email; if you did not, or if you have forgotten it, use the “Lost your password?” link on the log in page. The email on file in your account is your UMW email address.
Creating a Post
For some courses, you will need to create a post on your own personal blog; for others, you will need to create a post directly on the main course blog. Make sure you are on the correct Dashboard by looking in the menu across the top. If you are not in the right Dashboard, use the My Sites drop-down menu to go to the correct Dashboard. When in doubt, consult the syllabus, ask a classmate, or check with the professor.
1) From the left sidebar, go to Posts → Add New.
2) In the Add Post editing area, enter a title for your post. Your post title MUST START WITH YOUR NAME. Next, you must list your section # (if you are registered in IDIS, put that too. This way I give credit where it is due.) Next, give your post an interesting title. Be descriptive, but not boring! Assignment #1, Paper #1, etc are NOT good titles. So, for example, I could write a post with the title: Leslie Martin SOCG 371 Sect 2 Will the Revolution be Televised?
3) Type your post into the larger text box. You can either compose your text directly in the browser window, or paste text from Microsoft Word. If you paste from Word, you may have to spend a little time double-checking the formatting. You can also embed a link to your document, or embed a file, or link to a google doc. Just make sure that what you have done – pasted text, or links, or text directly into the browser – make sure it WORKS. Also proofread.
4) You will need to add certain tags or categories to your post. Scroll down the Add Post page and look for the Categories and Tags widgets on the right side.
For this course, categories are mandatory: they will make sure your post ends up in the right place. Tags are optional, for our enjoyment.
Categories: The categories you need have already been created, you can simply check the box next to the right category. Select the category for the assignment you are submitting. (Otherwise, click the Add New Category link and enter the category name.)
Tags: To see all existing tags on this blog, click the “Choose from the most used tags” link. If a tag that you want to use already exists, click on its name to apply it to your post. Otherwise, you can add tags by typing them into the box either one at a time or as a comma-separated list (e.g. summer, spring, fall) before clicking Add.
When in doubt about what categories or tags to use, consult the syllabus, ask a classmate, or check with the professor.
5) When you are finished, find and click the Publish icon near the top of the right sidebar. Your post will now appear on the site.