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Source: Online Colleges and Universities
College in America – a collection of data
Blogging the World in 2010
We’re baaaaack!
The pilot project from last spring/summer worked well enough that our little corner of the blogosphere is being set up to once again bring you blogs from around the world as students from Pellissippi head out to experience cultures, foods, sights, sounds and smells from all over the world.
We will have blogs for all of the Global Ambassadors again this year (list coming later) and we will also pull in samples of their posts to the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies (TnCIS) global blog for 2010.
Stay tuned!
P.S. If you want to check out what they did last year, here’s the TnCIS 09 blog!
Now that you’re blogging, you will want to back it up
Any computer person knows that backups are essential. It is not a matter of “IF”something will happen (hard drive failure, disk errors, etc) but a more of a matter of “WHEN”. Pellissippi State Blogs runs on a shared blogging platform called Wordpress Multi-User (or WPMU). While we take care of upgrading the core files that run the blogging software, it is up to each individual blogger to export his/her own blog entries for safekeeping.
Unfortunately, the export is not a full backup in the strict sense of the word. It is an export XML file that will contain:
- posts
- pages
- comments
- custom fields
- categories
- tags
It will NOT include:
- your links
- uploaded media (photos, etc)
- plugin settings (like for Twitter, Kaltura, etc)
However, if you want to take your writing with you and upload it into your own Wordpress installation (or at wordpress.com), then this is the best path for you. To get to the Export tool, log into your blog and go to Tools –> Export. Click the image below for more details.
Because of this limitation, we recommend you host your images, videos and other media on services like Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Vimeo and Dropbox. We provide plugins to make it easier to tie into that media on your blog as well.
This keeps your media with YOU and makes it easier to keep your blog portable for the future!
Get your Gravatar and get seen!
After you get your blog started and folks start commenting, you will see small “icons” next to each comment. These are avatars that can represent you or any other person who writes or comments on your blog.
Wordpress supports the Globally Recognized Avatar or gravatar service. Basically, it is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog.
Gravatars are based on images you upload and are associated with an email address. So, you could have one gravatar associated with a professional email address for work or school and a different one associated with your personal email address (or more).
It is fast and easy. Step one: Go to the Gravatar site and get yourself set up!
Need more explanation, check this out:
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Join the Conversation with Phi Theta Kappa
“Breast Cancer” – the very words elicit emotion !
Medical research and the bonding of groups of people have made those emotions less terrifying in some ways, but the battles with this disease continue. Phi Theta Kappa joined the fight in the October 09 Race for the Cure
Make plans now to join the Phi Theta Kappa team October 2010 !
Go to http://blogs.pstcc.edu/ptk/ to weigh in on a Phi Theta Kappa discussion about recent mammogram recommendations.
Voice Out – add your voice to their blog
“Voice Out” is a way for students to share their comments, concerns and compliments (C.C.C.’s) regarding Pellissippi State.
You can always join in the regularly scheduled Voice out sessions on campus but now, at Pellissipi State Blogs, you have a 24/7 option for sharing your opinions at the Voice Out blog
Major College Electrical Work – Oct 17-19, 2009. This server will be offline
During Fall Break (starting at 5 pm on Saturday, October 17 and running through midnight on October 19), the college is having a major upgrade to its electrical system. This will impact our college server room and thusly, this blog site.
For more information about the other computer and phone systems that will be impacted, visit the Tech Update blog.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by Jake Mates
Student Clubs
Another exciting use for our little blogging platform has emerged: Student Clubs!!
Using the web to communicate and share information about your club is great but using a blog is even better because it makes publishing so much easier and faster. Plus, you can mix in media like photos from Flickr, videos from YouTube of your club activities and more. Check out the Clubs page to see the listing of the blogs and watch them as they get started!
Image: ‘Clubhouse in Yard 1975 AC1‘
Some photos from our Pellissippi State Flickr Group
If you have photos from campus that you want to share and you are using Flickr, please join our group!
Pellissippi State Blogs has been upgraded!
We now have been upgraded to the latest and greatest version of Wordpress Multiuser (also called Wordpress Mu or Wordpress µ). We have also upgraded various plugins (bits of code that can extend your browser’s functions) to be as “state of the art” as we can.
The dashboard and editing interface has changed slightly. You will see the most change in the Widget area under the Appearance menu. If you have problems, just let someone at ETS know!!
