Category Archives: ITF Help

Creating Custom Menus (and/or reordering pages) on your own ePortfolios

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I was just explaining to someone how to (re-)order pages on your own ePorfolio site, and I wanted to share this info. with everyone.
If the theme you are using supports a “custom menu,” you can create a custom menu through the dashboard (go to “Menus” under “Appearance” in the lefthand column).  To do this, you will need to:

1.  Input the “menu name” and then click “Create Menu.”
2.  Then you can add any pages or categories you want to the menu through that interface.  You can then drag and reorder the pages/categories within the menu (even creating subpages, by indenting them).
3.  Make sure to click “save” at the bottom of the menu after any changes.
4.  Make sure that you have the site set to display the menu you created (under the “Primary Site Menu”).

Custom menus are great!  But if you don’t want to use them (or if you theme doesn’t support them), you can go back and edit each page and order them under “Page Attributes” (the box under the “Publish” box – you will likely have to click that section to get the full box to expand/show you the options).  You can also designate “Parent” pages and create subpages that way.

Publishing Videos on the Course Site

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A few quick notes about posting your videos to the course site:

1.  It is preferable for you to embed your videos (rather than providing a link stating something like, “click here” for my video) so that they can be played directly in the post itself.  Linking to YouTube just adds an extra step for your viewers.  Remember that you can go back and edit your older post (in case you have linked there) and embed the vido just by copying/pasting the URL into the post.

2.  If for some reason after you copy/paste the URL into the post you have having trouble getting your embedded video to display (ex: if you provided the link from YouTube but for some reason the video doesn’t appear within the post), try editing the post, switching to the HTML view (the tab on the top right of the post box) and then update the post.  This should fix the problem.

 

And … I’m holding office hours today until 5:15pm, so if you need help with anything (specific technical questions, discussing your Scrapbooks, etc.), please do come stop by the 9th floor lounge and visit 🙂

Jill’s Office Hours: Tuesday, 11/22 from 12:15-2:45pm

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Nice to see everyone today at the string quartet performance!

Since you are not having class next Wednesday, I’m switching my office hours from that day to Tuesday (11/22).   Again, I’ll be in the usual place (the Weinstein Honors Lounge, Room 903 in the 17 Lexington Avenue building) from 12:15-2:45pm.  I know you’re all working on your Scrapbooks, and I’d be happy to help out or just check out what you’re doing.  So please do come visit me then (some of the other lovely Baruch ITFs who will also be there)!

Picking up Your Loaner Video Camera from MHC

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As we discussed in class last week, each of you is responsible for going up to MHC over the next few weeks to pick up your loaner video camera.  You will need this equipment to complete your projects this semester.

In order to get your video camera, each student will need to schedule an appointment with Mary Carney, MHC’s Laptoop Coordinator and A/V Custodian, in advance.  Students can come in groups, but you should not just drop by unannounced.

Mary will be available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 11am until 6:30pm, and on Sundays from 3 to 7:30pm.  Make sure to contact her ahead of time to set up an appointment to get your camera.

It is MHC policy that if you do not return your camera before the end of the semester, you will not pass your Seminar 1 course (you will sign paperwork and get all the necessary information when you meet with Mary to check out your camera).  These cameras are on loan from MHC, so you should make sure to take care of them and then return them in a timely fashion.

Upload your Podcast to our Course Site & Embed it on a Post/Page

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I hope that you’re all enjoying creating podcasts.  In order to post your podcast on our course site, you will need to do the following:

  1. Go to your dashboard/backend
  2. From the lefthand menu choose “Media: Add New”
  3. Upload your Podcast to the Media Library (name it something descriptive/appropriate)
  4. Copy the file’s URL (that is generated)
  5. Select your file and choose “Save all changes” (NOT “insert into post”)
  6. Close out media box
  7. “Add New” post (or page, if in the future you want to embed a podcast on a separate page)
  8. Title & “categorize” post appropriately
  9. I encourage you to add some text to your post as well instead of simply posting the podcast and letting it stand for itself.  It would be helpful for you to contextualize it: what is your audience viewing?  What is its purpose?  Why is it important?  (etc.)
  10. Scroll down to the very bottom of the screen and click “Add Media” button (under the “Podcasting” section)
  11. Paste your file’s URL in the Location box
  12. Assign Type to M4V (if you choose M4A, the images will not show up)
  13. Auto-detect the size and duration of the file
  14. Preview and publish!!
  15. If you don’t want the default “MHC” preview image, you can select your own preview image that will appear (to do this, just upload a still image to the site’s Media Library and then paste that URL into the “preview image URL” box)
*As always, please feel free to schedule an appointment to come see me during my office hours (or to e-mail me) with any questions/concerns 🙂

How to Upload Video Content

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First you need to upload video file to YouTube.
In order to upload video content to YouTube, you will have to sign in with either a YouTube or Google account. There is an “upload” button at the top right of the YouTube homepage (you can sign in from there too, or create an account). If you sign in with a Google account, you will then be instructed to created a YouTube account (or link your existing YouTube account – if you already have one – to your Google account). Once signed in, you can upload video by clicking “upload” and searching for files on you computer.
[Getting the YouTube Video onto the Blog]
Once your video is uploaded to YouTube, you can simply copy the content listed in the “embed” tab (not the “URL” tab) that is listed to the right of the screen (when you have the video open in YouTube). Paste the “embed” content into the post just like any other “Link.” When writing a post on the blog, switch to “HTML view” (the default is “visual”) and paste the embed content there. The “HTML” button is to the right of the editing buttons. As soon as the content is pasted, switch back to “visual” mode and continue the post (nothing else should be done in HTML mode unless you are comfortable with editing HTML). The video will then play directly in the post and will hardly take up any server space on the blog.

Jill’s Office Hours & New Baruch ITFs ePortfolio

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The lovely Baruch ITFs (there are five of us this year!) have started a Macaulay ITFs at Baruch ePortfolio.  On this site, you can learn a bit about each of us, view all of our office hours, check out some cool “tips and tricks” for using ePortfolios, and even ask a question in our Discussion Forum.

Here’s a direct link to my Office Hours schedule and sign-up.  I’ll be adding slots a few weeks at a time, so check back for my availability later in the semester.  I do hope you all will stop by soon to discuss your work or just chat for a bit 🙂

As you’ll see from the above site, I’ll be holding office hours tomorrow (Monday, 9/19) from 2-5pm in the Weinstein Honors Lounge, 17 Lexington Avenue, Room 903.  Feel free to sign up for an slot to come see me (though you can always drop by as well!).  If I don’t see you there, I’ll see you during our class visit to the 9/11 Memorial later in the evening.