Exploring the New WordPress Media Manager

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Posted on December 2, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

WordPress 3.5 is due December 5, 2012, and brings with it the new Media Manager, a much anticipated improvement to the Media Uploader and Media Library in WordPress.

Check Out the New Media Manager in WordPress is an extensive article and review I’ve published on Lorelle on WordPress. It features a step-by-step tutorial on using the new Media Manager for uploading and managing your images, video, and audio on WordPress, as well as a few of the unusual quirks in the new feature.

If you have a WordPress.com site, you will be able to test drive the new WordPress Media Manager. Those with the self-hosted version of WordPress will need to wait until December 5 when WordPress 3.5 is released or become a beta tester.

Hot Podcasts You Need to Put In Your Ear

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

Many of my workshops and classes specialize in podcasting or include podcasting tips and techniques.

The following is a list of recommended podcasts to give you a taste of what is out there, the styles and techniques that have proved successful, and those you should add to your listening habit. Continue reading →

HTML and CSS Basics Tutorial [Video]

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

The following video is for Clark College’s HTML Fundamentals Class and covers the basics of HTML and CSS you need to know for building and fixing web pages. It also applies to understanding the underlying architecture for WordPress Themes.

CTEC 122 HTML and CSS Basics You Need to Know from Lorelle VanFossen on Vimeo. Continue reading →

Web Browser Tips for WordPress, HTML, and Web Design

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

The following video contains useful web browser tips to help you speed you your browsing, WordPress, and web design work.

Basic Web Browser Tips by Lorelle VanFossen for Clark College from Lorelle VanFossen

Please note that the video refers to the Windows keyboard shortcuts using the CTRL key. This is the equivalent to the CMD key on Mac.

For mobile devices, long presses usually activate the equivalent of keyboard shortcuts and right clicks, though not all of them may be available in the apps you are using.

Here are some of the specific tips covered in the video.

Editing (just like in a word processor)
- CTRL+C = Copy
- CTRL+X = Cut
- CTRL+V = Paste
- CTRL+Z = Undo
CTRL+T = Open New Tab
F5 = Reload/Refresh Page
Zoom in and out of a web page (magnify): CTRL+Plus and CTRL+Minus
Right click on links on the page brings up the right click menu to access link specific options and features.
Right click on blank or empty spaces on a web page brings up the right click menu for page specific options and features.
Learn to open web pages in tabs not windows. This saves on computer memory issues and speeds up your browser process.
- Use Mouse and Keyboard shortcuts: CTRL + Left Click on Link = Opens Linked Page in New Tab
Fast Navigation through Browser Tabs
- CTRL+T = Opens New Tab
- CTRL+1 = Goes to Tab #1
- CTRL+ 2, 3, 4, etc. goes to that tab number
- CTRL+Arrow = moves focus to next and previous tab
Working on web page design or WordPress? Refresh and you don’t see changes? You need to clear the cache and do a "hard" clearing page reload. F5 or SHIFT+F5 OR do a Cache Refresh
- CTRL+F5 (Firefox and Chrome)
- CTRL+Shift+R (Firefox)
- CTRL + R (Chrome)
- (You may have to repeat a couple times)
To view the source code of a web page: Right Click > View Page Source
Web Developer Tools
- Use Built-in Web Developer Tools plus Firebug:
- Measure It: Measure It for Firefox or Measure It for Chrome
- Color Pickers: Colorzilla for Firefox and Chrome
- Copy Link as Proper HTML Link: CoLT for Firefox or Chrome Create Link or Chrome Copy Link Text
- For preserving and sharing code snippets on your site, in comments, forums, and social media use PasteBin: Pastebin for Firefox and Chrome

Summer WordPress Intro Homework: Podcasts

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

Outcomes

Complete audio and video "podcast" within the class and publish one each on your blog.
Analyze the different presentation styles of design and show notes related to a podcast.
Explore syndication options through feeds.
Introduction to Statement of Work and Final Project

Homework Assignments

Complete the audio and video posts with "show notes."
Read articles on Statement of Work, Interviewing Clients, WordPress Theme checklists, and Web Practitioner.
Complete all tasks on Your Blog So Far.
Contact the members of your team for the Final Project
Start planning and strategizing your Final Project.

Continue reading →

How to Sign Up for WordPress.com Blog

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

CTEC 280 How to start a WordPress.com site from Lorelle VanFossen on Vimeo.

This video contains instructions and screencasts for registering for a WordPress.com blog. It includes tips for new users and already registered users.

We will be starting with a WordPress.com blog whether or not you have another WordPress site.

Trust me. You will be making mistakes, experimenting, messing things up. The class also needs to be all working on the same thing for the first few weeks of the class – no arguments. Once you learn how this all works, you can go mess up your own site at will.

Here is what you need to know about creating your WordPress.com site:

Create a temporary blog domain name such as myclassblog1234.wordpress.com or myname987.wordpress.com. You will NOT change this. Pick right the first time.
Even if you have a WordPress site, you will only use the above WordPress.com site for homework and class assignments. You may transfer content over to your site later.
You will choose the Twenty-eleven WordPress Theme. Everyone will be using it for the first few weeks of the class.
Homework assignments are to be stored in the “Class Assignments” parent category.
While you can publish whatever you want on your blog, it is recommended you publish your homework and work with content related to the site’s intent.
The Privacy Settings for the site must be set to visible and “Ask search engines NOT to index this site.”
During the class, Clark College teachers and the students in this class will be reading the blog, therefore your content must be work/family appropriate during the course.
Homework assignments may be copied and used for future classes by the teacher and college.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Homework assignments are not to be copied and published publicly on your blog.
It is your responsibility to keep the blog maintained or delete it no sooner than 6 weeks after the class grades are posted.

For information on installing the self-hosted version of WordPress, see Installing WordPress on the WordPress Codex.

For more information on using WordPress, check out:

Lorelle Teaches
WordPress Resources – Lorelle Teaches
WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users
WordPress Cheat Sheets, Checklists, and Infographics
WordPress News (official)
WordPress.com News (official)
Lorelle on WordPress
Blog Your Passion

Introduction to WordPress Homework – Class 12 – Video, Audio, and Podcasts

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

In Class 12 of Introduction to WordPress, we covered:

Embedding audio and video into a WordPress post.
Introduction to Podcasting with WordPress.
Web Accessibility guidelines associated with audio and video.

Homework

Create a audio or video of yourself talking about anything you want and publish it on your site.
Install WordPress on a stick (USB). Thumbdrive (USB drive) required.
Familiarize yourself with the 2011 WordPress Theme template and style files
- Go to Appearance > Theme Editor or view with Text Editor.
- Follow the WordPress Loop path (The WordPress Loop in Action).
Check “Your Blog So Far” list and check EVERYTHING off the list.

Continue reading →

Testing Video Floats and Alignments

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Lorelle VanFossen

Alex Ferguson came up with a way to help us align videos with the text, floating them to the left or right of the post content area so the text will wrap around the video.

NOTE: This is not for the timid nor typical usage. This was an experiment and it works. To embed a YouTube (and most popular video services) video into your blog post, simply paste the URL into the post on its own line with a space above and below.

Let’s see if this works.

It does, but the technique is a little trickier than you might thing. Remember, this is for within a WordPress.com blog, thus we have to work around some of their limitations.

The code involves creating a DIV with the alignment class for left, right, or center, plus the WordPress.com Youtube shortcode with the width and possibly height set.

<div class="alignright">

</div>

In the link to the Youtube video you should see &w=400&h=450. This sets the width of the video to 400 pixels, narrower than the typical 500 or so, and the height to 350 pixels. Every Theme has a different column width so you will need to play around with these to get them the right size for your WordPress.com site.

This is what we call a “hack,” a way around the typical way of doing things. I recommend you save this in a reference text file so you can copy and paste in the video link next time you try this in a post.

Thanks, Alex, for experimenting with this!

Learning from Lorelle

Learning WordPress, blogging, social media, and web publishing

Tag Archives: video