Tag Archives: blogging

Blogs/blogging, Glow Help, School websites

School websites with Glow blogs

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Can you build our website for us?

In short, no! But we can help. One of the most common requests we get is that we can help schools build new websites in Glow and it is something that requires a sustainable and online support, rather than schools being reliant on someone from ECS . Here is the sustainable and online support!

Getting started

This site is a good place to start. It provides some rationale about why you want to use Glow blogs for a school website and contains help guides and working examples. It is an old site and hasn’t been updated in a long while, but still relevant as an overview of where to start.

A great guide from City of Edinburgh

Kate Farrell and Marco Capriglione of City of Edinburgh Council have written this superb guide: Glow-Blogs-guide-v1-2 (3) for their authority when using Glow Blogs.  Katie and Marco consented to this document being shared nationally. Our thanks to them for allowing this.

Look at other sites as you go

There are some really great school websites around Scotland, the majority of which have been created by schools themselves using just the online support that is available for Glow blogs and WordPress. There is a lot of that, right enough…

Here are some we recommend looking at:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/harrysmuirps/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/st/FallinPrimary/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/pk/perthcitycampus/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/pk/AbernytePrimarySchool/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/pk/PitcairnWebsite/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/pk/Forgandenny/

Plan your layout and keep it fresh

The most successful school websites are active and updated regularly, thereby conveying something of the life of the school. For this reason, Glow blogs are great because they can be updated at any point, by anyone who is made admin of the Glow group that hosts the blog web part and the update posts automatically filter to the most recent content first. This is called ‘dynamic’ content, rather than ‘static’ because it works from a database filtered into categories that will always display content allocated to that category.

It’s all about posts and categories, NOT pages!

To further explain the point above, each bit of content is called a post and that post needs to be added to a category in order that it will appear on your site under your chosen menu categories. For example, this post here will be added to the categories ‘Glow help’ and ‘school websites’ so you should be able to click on either of those categories on this site’s menus and see this post there. Easy!

Categories are what should be used for web content that will be updated regularly and, remember, it’s good practice to have content like this. Why not have each class in your primary school provide weekly update posts of what they have been doing? Or how about having a category for each department in a secondary school, so that they can add departmental news and updates that will filter to their menu category.

When would you use pages?

Pages do not update like categories of posts do, so they should be used for content that will not need to be changed too often. This might be a school ‘About Us’ page or maybe a ‘Contact Us’ page because you will create those pages once and not need to update them again.

What about tags?

Tags are like labels. Let’s use a supermarket analogy to help you understand all of this better. Tesco has aisles of content with big banner headings above each aisle, explaining what is in that aisle: fruit and veg, for example. Think of those as the categories in your main menu. They are filled with products (posts) and those products (posts) are also given a label to explain, specifically what it is. The labels are your tags and users of your site can use them to click and find all posts labelled in the same way. Tesco might tag its tomatoes with the following labels: ‘tomatoes’, ‘Spain’, and add it to the category Fruit and Vegetables.

All modern websites work like this

In fact, if you look at any website you should be able to see it working exactly like Glow blogs do, with regularly updated content (posts) being added to categories so that the website can display them in the correct place. Try Amazon as another example. It has hundreds of categories with other categories underneath them, almost like generations in a family. This is useful to think of as you can, again, have multiple levels of categories in your blogs. Keeping the family analogy going this time, the main, top-leve categories are called ‘Parent’ categories and any sub-categories underneath that are called ‘child’ categories. Get it?

Video help for this

More help here specific to Glow

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/GlowingHelp/?tag=basic-blogging

Click the icon to download the full guide from City of Edinburgh

Blogs/blogging, School websites

Web header change in Suffusion

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You should probably not be using Suffusion theme unless you are a fairly confident web/Glow user!

There are lots and lots of customisable options within the Suffusion theme and it is one of the most respected WordPress themes out there for that very reason. It would be very confusing for you unless you are comfortable playing around with settings and not afraid to experiment.There is no way we could cover all its settings and provide support for all the options.

In saying that, the following tips are courtesy of the Aquoid themes site, which has lots of Suffusion help. Click the logo above or anywhere in this text to go there.

The Header Customization options can be accessed by clicking on the “Header Customization” tab in the Options page:

suf-tut-header-customization-1

The Header Customization can be split into 3 different parts:

  1. Header Image Setup
  2. Header Text Color
    1. Blog Title
    2. Blog Description
  3. Header Text Layout
    1. Horizontal positioning of Title and Description
    2. Relative vertical positioning of Title and Description

As is the case with a lot of the settings in Suffusion, you have a control setting for this page. You can choose to use the header styles as defined by the theme, or those that you have custom-defined. Unless you select “Custom Styles” the theme’s settings will take precedence

Header Image Setup

Suffusion lets you use your own header images. Not only that, you can also use a custom color gradient, if you don’t want to use a header image, but don’t want a plain header either.

suf-tut-header-customization-2

The default is an image, and the default image is blank! So in effect your default is “No image”. This is one of those mathematician-physicist-engineer examples, where I did not have a “gradient” option initially.

Anyway, if you plan to use a custom image, you can do two things with it:

  1. Tile / Repeat – Repeat the header image either vertically or horizontally or both or not at all.
  2. Position it – top left, top right etc.

suf-tut-header-customization-3

The second option is to use a custom gradient. If you choose this option, you get to pick the starting color and the ending color of the gradient. You can also select the direction of your gradient:

suf-tut-header-customization-4

The gradient will span the entire length and width of the header.

Depending on the colors or the header image you have chosen, you may be required to tweak the colors of the text. This brings us to our next section.

Header Text Color

Before we get started here, what exactly are the Blog Title and the Blog Description. They are whatever you define in the Settings –> General section of the admin page:

suf-tut-header-customization-6 suf-tut-header-customization-7

Text color can be set for the blog title. You can also set the colors for the hyperlink and the effects of hovering over a hyperlink:

suf-tut-header-customization-5

Colors can also be set for the blog description / sub-header:

suf-tut-header-customization-8

Header Text Layout

You can choose to have your title and description appear at the opposite ends on the header, or together, with one just above the other. This may be a general preference, or necessitated by a header image that demands the text to be moved for better readability.

suf-tut-header-customization-9

Blogs/blogging, School websites

Web header change in K2 theme

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Change your banner/header in K2

On some blogs the top image is fixed but in K2 you can set your own image for the header. When you choose the K2 theme from within the web part, the background image is a blue square but in this theme you can change your background to make your blog more personal.

You can also do this in Spectrum and Suffusion but it is more complex

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To change your header you must have the K2 theme selected. Once it is selected:

  1. Go to the Dashboard
  2. Click on the K2 link
  3. Click on the link Configure K2
  4. Scroll down the page that appears until you find the section entitled Header
  5. Click on the Custom Image Header link
  6. From here you can select an image from your desktop (do follow the size guidelines of 780 * 220)
  7. You can also change the text colour by choosing the approx colour from the circle and then the exact colour from the square shown

Your blog will now have changed

Blogs/blogging, School websites

Blogs- resize images at upload plugin

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Using up Blog storage with massive files?

Often, especially when using digital camera images straight from the camera, the file sizes of images are quite simply massive and completely unsuitable for web use. Websites need small images that can load quickly on a page. Ever seen a web page take an age to display? It’s probably because an image has not yet loaded.

There is a blog plug in called “Resize At Upload Plus” available which you can choose to add to your blog.

This plug in will automatically resize all larger images you upload to a predefined size. This means that if you upload a lot of images from a digital camera for example, you can choose to have them all automatically altered to a predefined size such as 600 pixels by 400 pixels.

  1. In the Plug Ins menu in your blog dashboard on the left hand side menu click on Installed
  2. Click on Activate under the “Resize At Upload Plus” entry in the plug in list
  3. Click on the Resize At Upload Plus option in the Settings menu on the left hand side of your dashboard
  4. Enter the maximum width and height of the image, in this blog we have kept it to the default of 600 * 600
  5. Click on Update Options

The image below originally was 2.6MB large and had a size of 4000 * 3000 pixels

On uploading to this blog using the usual method it is automatically set to have a size of 600 * 450 – it takes the maximum height but keeps the image scaled. Instead of being 2.6MB large it is now 76K and therefore a lot easier for your viewers to download and view and leaves you more space in your blog.


NB the above is a thumbnail, to see the full picture that is 600 * 450 you would click on the image above

No copies of images are taken, the original image on your own machine is, of course, unaltered.

NB!

Please be aware that, if you install this plugin, all images you upload from then on will be resized. You may not want this for all images, particularly banner images which need to be a certain size. If you need to upload a specific size and you have already installed this plugin, just deactivate it and then reactivate after you upload the image concerned

Blogs/blogging, E-portfolios/profiles, featured tiles, Glow news, MS office 365, School websites

New Glow

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Glow e-portfolios

Tens of thousands of pupils are currently using Glow Blogs as their e-portfolio solution.
If this is the case for your school, you will be keen to know if pupils and staff will still have access to these once your Local Authority’s Glow content is migrated into Microsoft Office 365 and the current Glow becomes read-only.

The timetable for migration is currently being negotiated with Local Authorities, but it is hoped that the transfer of the Glow content which has been identified as being possible to move, will be migrated over to Microsoft Office 365 between January and August 2013. After migration, the current version of Glow will be read-only, until it is finally switched off in December 2013.

It is worth noting that My Glow content will not be migrated to Office 365 and that content held there can continue to be accessed, used and edited until current Glow ceases. Equally, it should be noted that Glow Blogs will not be migrated at this stage and a decision on the long term future of the blogs is still to be made, as can be seen below in the statement from Craig Munro.

The future for e-portfolios in Glow

Many people have been keen to know whether the WordPress Blogs, which Glow Blogs are built on, will continue to be available within Glow after current Glow ceases.

On 19th December 2012, Craig Munro, Strategic Director for Strategy, Performance and Corporate Resources at Education Scotland, made the following announcement regarding the future of Glow Blogs:

“Stakeholders raised concerns about the plan to migrate away from the current WordPress implementation of Glow Blogs. In response to this, and to increase user choice, we continue to seek clarification on the feasibility of making available a new installation of WordPress that will be available in parallel with SharePoint Online. In the meantime you have my assurance that the data sitting in the current version of WordPress will continue to be available to you while we consider the next steps.
A working group made up of representatives from Local Authorities and SQA continues to develop the user requirements for a new Glow e-portfolio solution. We will continue to keep you updated as we work towards the final solution.”

This should reassure schools that they will continue to have use of the Glow Blogs for at least the duration of current Glow.

However, there are still some limitations of access that are important to be aware of.

Creating and accessing e-portfolios during 2013

As mentioned above, over the coming months each Local Authority will have its migratable Glow content moved over to Microsoft Office 365. This will be done on an Authority by Authority basis, with each Local Authority being given its date for migration well in advance of it happening. Until that point, there will be no change in the functionality of current Glow.

After the content which is possible to migrate from Glow Groups, school and Local Authority sites is moved to O365, these areas of current Glow will become read-only. Again, note that not all content can be migrated. You may wish to read the post Migration of existing Glow content to Microsoft O365 for further information.

So, what will all of this mean for e-portfolios?

Existing e-portfolios

The good news is that Glow blogs will continue to work as they currently do once current Glow becomes read-only.

A pupil’s e-portfolio can still be accessed via any appropriate links, such as the View link in the Glow Blogs web part in their My e-portfolio Glow Group, by a button they created on their Glow Light screen, or, for both staff and pupils, via the links added to a school e-portfolio Glow Group.

Content can be added to e-portfolios as at present, as all Dashboard functionality will remain unchanged. Also, existing content can be edited or deleted. Access to the Dashboard will still be possible from the link in the Glow blogs web part or via the Edit links in the e-portfolio itself. Staff can continue to leave comments and, where appropriate, posts can still be included in the Profile page, for e-portfolio themes which include that.

Pupils will still be able to create a button on their Glow Light screen to take them straight to their e-portfolio.

So, as long as a school Glow Group has already been set up housing the links to the pupils e-portfolios, there will be no change to the access to or use of e-portfolios that have already been created, once current Glow becomes read-only.

New e-portfolio creation

If pupils are following the guidance in the National e-portfolio Glow Group to create their e-portfolio, they will still be able to do this even after current Glow becomes read-only. This is because pupils create their e-portfolio in a Glow Group within their My Glow area, and since My Glows will not be migrated to Microsoft Office 365, they will never become read-only and therefore can continue to be used, edited or added to as at present until current Glow ceases.

There is however a limitation regarding staff access to a pupil’s e-portfolio if it is created during read-only period, or, if a new pupil joins the school with an existing e-portfolio and staff need to gain access to it.

So, what can be done in these situations? Read on to find out!

Staff access

Once current Glow becomes read-only it will not be possible to create any new Glow Groups on the school site, create new web parts, add new web parts to a page, add new items to a web part, edit existing items or customise a web part.

This means that once current Glow becomes read-only it will not be possible to create a school e-portfolio Glow Group to house the links to pupil e-portfolios, as is currently the advised method.  If a school e-portfolio Glow Group does already exist, it will not be possible to add any new content to the web links web parts in it. So, effectively, it will not be possible to house the links to new pupil e-portfolios within current Glow. This would mean that staff would not have any access to the pupil e-portfolios.

So, another method will have to be employed to give staff access to the link to a pupil’s e-portfolio.
It may be that you choose to place the link within the migrated web links web parts within Microsoft Office 365. It will be possible to edit these and add new content, so would be a feasible solution.
Or, the pupil could email the link to their e-portfolio to all staff who could then use the link from their email, or store it in their own My Glow in a web links web part, as My Glow areas will not become read-only. This would mean that each member of staff would have to save each link for themselves, so this option would have to be carefully considered.

Remember, this will only affect e-portfolios created after current Glow becomes read-only.
There will be no impact on existing e-portfolios.

Summary

– Glow Blogs will remain active and usable until at least the end of current Glow, in December 2013.
– Existing e-portfolios can still be used and staff can still access pupil e-portfolios from the existing links in a school Glow Group
– Pupils will continue to be able to create new e-portfolios
– The main limitation once current Glow becomes read only is that new school e-portfolio Glow Groups can’t be created and new links can’t be added to an exising Group (or existing links  edited). Schools will have to use a different way of giving staff access to the pupil e-portfolios, such as using the migrated e-portfolio Glow Group within O365.

Click to Enlarge

Blogs/blogging, E-portfolios/profiles, School websites

Blogs/e-portfolios troubeshooting

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No matter how detailed the notes are for pupils to create their e-portfolio using a Glow Blog, inevitably, some pupils will make mistakes when following them.

The attached helpsheet is designed to help troubleshoot and resolve the key errors that can typically happen when pupils are creating their e-portfolios.

Helpsheet:

Key troubleshooting tips for Glow e-portfolios

Blogs/blogging, E-portfolios/profiles, Glow Help

E-portfolios

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Background

Many schools and LA’s are looking to use learning logs, or e-portfolios, to record pupil assessment and attainment (Visit the e-portfolio Glow group).

This post explains how to set up a simple e-portfolio using a pupil’s My Glow area and the Glow Blogs webpart.  It uses the K2 blog theme (What is a blog theme?) and is considered by us to be an informal e-portfolio.

Other set ups will be available shortly, including a more structured template and one using a different blog theme.

Process

In this post you will be shown how to:

  • Create a new blog
  • Import a template
  • Add widgets to your blog
  • Change the page settings for the blog

To begin, get your pupils to create a new Glow Blog.

Instructions for creating a Glow blog can be found here (8 mins 55 sec)

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We have created a simple template including an ‘about me’ page and categories.  You can view the template here or have a look at how it might progress here.

This template can be imported straight into the newly created blog, or modified and exported again before putting it in a shared folder where pupils can access.

Templates are imported/exported by visiting the dashboard, clicking Tools on the left hand navigation and then either import or export.  The sample exported file can be found here.  Import it onto your blog to see what is available.

Instructions for importing a template can be found here (2 mins 5 sec)

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Widgets do not automatically appear when blogs are imported from a template.  Widgets are additional boxes of information that can be added to a blog to give the reader more information, such as a calendar, a feed from another website or a list of recent posts. Asking a pupil to put a widget on their blog provides a good opportunity  to discuss with pupils what widgets are and how they are used.  If you are using this template you will want to add on the categories widget and the pages widget.

It may also be a good idea to change the front page to a static page, rather than the latest posts, which is the default setting.

Instructions for widgets and static pages can be found here (3 mins 46 sec)

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It is possible to export a Glow blog too.  You may want to use our template to get you started, modify it, and then export it to share with pupils.  If you choose to do this it would be great if you could share your new template with us.