MS2 - how to set up your research blog
1. Go to http://wordpress.com/ and click on the ‘create your wordpress.com blog now!’ button (hint: it’s bright orange)
2. Fill out the information required for sign up – your email address (remember, your school email is [your login]@keswick.cumbria.sch.uk ... don’t get it wrong!); a username (pick something you’ll remember!); a password and the blog address you’d like to use. Your initials and then ‘keswick’ is a good idea, e.g. vakeswick – which is my blog!
Then click ‘sign up’ for the basic, free, version.
3. You will get an email sent to your email address. Click on the ‘activate blog’ button in that email. This will take you to your welcome page where you can set up your blog preferences. Choose a tagline and a theme, and customise it to suit your preferences.
4. Create your first post.
For your first post, write up your brief. Guidance below.
Your brief is a brief (!) outline of what you have chosen to do. Use the following questions to help you include all the information needed:
Your brief just needs to be an outline of your ideas. You can change this later if necessary.
5. You’ll now be taken to your dashboard. The first thing to do is click on the ‘edit’ button next to ‘blogs I follow’ and add my blog: http://vakeswick.wordpress.com You can add your classmates’ blogs in the same way.
Whenever you log in to your blog you’ll be taken to your dashboard – from here you can make your posts, store your links and videos, and collect your research. For how to do this, see 'How to research effectively'.
Now what?
First things first, make sure you've given me your blog address so I can add it to the list.
1. Use your blog to track your ideas. Write your initial ideas up into a blog entry. What do you want to look into for MS2? Which genre have you chosen? Will you storyboard an opening, ending or a trailer? Film or TV?
2. Use your blog to keep a track of all your research. Create a post to act as a list of all the websites, articles and online information you find. This means you can save a site for later and not have to worry about remembering the address or search term you used!
3. Use your blog to store images and media files in a safe place. Go to your dashboard, click on the ‘media’ tab and upload anything that might be important for your research. Write down your initial ideas or a short analysis of each file: why did you upload it? Why could you use it?
4. Use everyone else’s research to help your own. It’s not cheating! Get into the habit of checking each other’s blogs and picking up on anything that might be useful for your own work. Leave a comment to let someone know they’ve helped you, to ask them a question about what they found out, or to let them know there’s something on your own blog that might be useful for them to see.
2. Fill out the information required for sign up – your email address (remember, your school email is [your login]@keswick.cumbria.sch.uk ... don’t get it wrong!); a username (pick something you’ll remember!); a password and the blog address you’d like to use. Your initials and then ‘keswick’ is a good idea, e.g. vakeswick – which is my blog!
Then click ‘sign up’ for the basic, free, version.
3. You will get an email sent to your email address. Click on the ‘activate blog’ button in that email. This will take you to your welcome page where you can set up your blog preferences. Choose a tagline and a theme, and customise it to suit your preferences.
4. Create your first post.
For your first post, write up your brief. Guidance below.
Your brief is a brief (!) outline of what you have chosen to do. Use the following questions to help you include all the information needed:
- are you creating a storyboard for TV show or a film?
- which genre?
- an opening scene, a trailer or something else?
Your brief just needs to be an outline of your ideas. You can change this later if necessary.
5. You’ll now be taken to your dashboard. The first thing to do is click on the ‘edit’ button next to ‘blogs I follow’ and add my blog: http://vakeswick.wordpress.com You can add your classmates’ blogs in the same way.
Whenever you log in to your blog you’ll be taken to your dashboard – from here you can make your posts, store your links and videos, and collect your research. For how to do this, see 'How to research effectively'.
Now what?
First things first, make sure you've given me your blog address so I can add it to the list.
1. Use your blog to track your ideas. Write your initial ideas up into a blog entry. What do you want to look into for MS2? Which genre have you chosen? Will you storyboard an opening, ending or a trailer? Film or TV?
2. Use your blog to keep a track of all your research. Create a post to act as a list of all the websites, articles and online information you find. This means you can save a site for later and not have to worry about remembering the address or search term you used!
3. Use your blog to store images and media files in a safe place. Go to your dashboard, click on the ‘media’ tab and upload anything that might be important for your research. Write down your initial ideas or a short analysis of each file: why did you upload it? Why could you use it?
4. Use everyone else’s research to help your own. It’s not cheating! Get into the habit of checking each other’s blogs and picking up on anything that might be useful for your own work. Leave a comment to let someone know they’ve helped you, to ask them a question about what they found out, or to let them know there’s something on your own blog that might be useful for them to see.
Links and resources