#Also I edited the first pic. It originally had a large text bubble so I coloured over it using the background colour | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dtkrippene · 5 years

Text

Managing a blog page for a group or organization can be fun and rewarding – a phrase that should immediately toggle the cautionary button.

It’s that time of year for our annual writer’s group conference in mid-March. Since I blog somewhat regularly on WordPress, I was asked to revamp an outdated WordPress page to post presenter profiles, interviews, and conference news. Essentially, I’d be the ‘ghost in the shell’ to solicit, edit, format, and post articles by other group members.

Hey, I use WordPress all the time. How much trouble could it be?

Looking back, I ignored the ‘check details before proceeding’ indicator, and thought I’d share a few things I learned.

Get a Clear Mission Statement Before Proceeding

Valentina Conde – Unsplash

The group gave me carte blanc to redesign the page, which included an upgrade to a premium page for a small annual fee with access to better template options, widget buttons, and customary links. Nobody had to learn HTML tech-speak or pay a monthly “mortgage fee” to fancy-pants web designers.

That part was the easy.

Once the docket was approved, we created a process for members to sign up for one or more of the over twenty articles slated to print over a time frame of four – five months. First solicitation was met with a silence akin to a high school gymnasium at 2:00 AM. It took a bit of prodding by group officers to get things rolling, but eventually folks stepped up.

Create a New User Account for the Blog

Ludovic Toinel – Unsplash

I blew this one big time. As a WordPress Premium Plan user myself, I hoped to minimize the setup time by creating a new page while logged in with my own account, then adding others for administrators. Updating a page whose original owner hadn’t participated with the group for isn’t the best way to go. Page could be accessed by anyone.

I didn’t have problems with approved members accessing the blog and creating a post, but like Facebook, the WordPress folks like having an “owner” available for everything. Since I revamped the page while signed in on my personal account, only way I can unlock myself is if I delete the account. The annual bill hits my account every year like the return of robins in spring. Every year I have to rebill the group. I’m still working on a third-party Paypal invoice option.

Twenty-twenty hindsight; start fresh.

First, sign out first from any personal WordPress and Email accounts that are open.

Create a new group email and sign-in credentials if one is not available. I found Gmail to be work best. May sound like a Homer Simpson “duh”, but make sure officers know how to access it.

Then go to WordPress and create new account, using group email.

Have fun building the chosen template to fit your needs.

Be sure to include group’s mission statement in the blog page “About” profile.

Have more than one administrator assist with the management of it. I suggest offering a cocktail or two before making your pitch.

Select Template to Suit the Group’s Brand

From: blogaholicdesigns

I love WordPress because they take the pain out of designing a page. They have lots of them for writers and authors, and the web is chock full of outside designers who create WordPress compatible temples. You want it to be easy to read, not splattered with visual frilly things that distract from the text. Save that for a personal blog that celebrates all things unicorn.

I stuck with the same template I use for my personal page because I’m lazy, and the Chateau Theme has a good balance of widget placement, logos and link options.

I’ll not go into details of initial page set up. WordPress is fairly easy to navigate, and numerous Youtube videos exist from people who don’t get out much. Best advice I have in how to organize the page:

I’ve always believed a picture tells a story, even if it’s a simple message. Not everyone agrees, but to me, a blog page becomes it’s just another bunch of words in an overcrowded blogosphere universe. And since the graphic is the first visual a reader sees, make it a good one.

I went all out on my personal page on dtkrippene.com. Took me weeks to find that perfect graphic to represent my brand, “Searching For Light in the Darkness.” For a writer’s group, we agreed something less snazzy to be appropriate.

Ready, Set, Blog – Wait …

To fill in that vast empty draft space, articles authored by other group members should be submitted with the following criteria.

Micah Boswell – Unsplash

Article typed in Times-New-Roman, 12 Font, preferably on Word for Window’s, or compatible program like Open Docs. The days of handing a secretary handwritten notes for letter dictation ended decades ago, and I don’t have time to retype an entire draft. Cutting and pasting on that blank template above saves a pile of time. Avoid fancy fonts; work this on the WordPress draft if you want them.

To this day, I still get articles inside the body of an email or formatted in a weird font that I must reformat. As a result, I transfer all summitted articles to a separate Word document by copying text, using “Paste Special – Unformatted Text” to remove hidden formatting problems that don’t translate well on WordPress, followed by changing the pasted text to NTR 12. Even then, I frequently have to use WordPress’ “Clear Formatting” Button (little eraser symbol) on pasted text.

Patrick Goth – Unsplash

A useable headshot for profile or interview, not a thumbprint taken from google images, or blurry selfie shot. There won’t be enough pixels. Do not include the photo inside the Word document; which requires screen-printing to clipboard, then opening a photo program to access pic for saving as a jpeg, only to get a photo the size of a postage stamp. Most professional agents and authors will provide a media kit upon request. The upside with WordPress, if the photo is too large, it’s easily reduced in the body of the draft.

Marco Djallo – Unsplash

Editing isn’t supposed to be in the job description, but it ends up as one. Minor faux pas for punctuation and a missing word happens to everyone, but I’ve had to practically retype some submissions. There’s a lot more to it than typesetting. When I write an article for someone else, I treat it as if I’m submitting to an agent. I mean – we’re supposed to be writers.

Include social media and website links if doing a presenter profile or interview. The most time-consuming chore with posting someone else’s work (aside from chasing down useable photos), is searching the net for said links. Why is this important? It’s a common courtesy in a profile piece, and the more links we have inside the article, the greater the SEO search linkages the article will have, which leads to greater exposure. The pros know this.

Get article author’s bio and headshot. The point of volunteering to submit an article is exposure for the author. “Written by Such-n-such” is about as invisible as the dialogue tag – “said”. If article author hasn’t created a bio, this is the time to draft one. Call me old-fashioned for thinking readers want to see a human face, I tend to reject avatars. It might be acceptable with Twitter and Instagram, but if an article author wishes to remain anonymous, so be it. Unicorns and cute pugs are not writers.

Leio Mclaren – Unsplash

Article should include author’s social media links as well. I remember asking one article author if they had any social media links included in their bio, who answered with “I don’t use social media.” I almost followed up with “how does anyone know you exist as an author”, but sighed – que sera sera, and quit asking.

Pay attention to tags and keywords. For the conference, every article should be tagged with: Writing, Writing Conferences, Writing Craft. If the article is a profile or interview, add tags to identify the skill set, like ‘Author Voice’, Query Letters’, or ‘Staging Fight Scenes’. If an author of YA fantasy, tags should include YA and Fantasy. If the profile is about a publisher or book coach, include the publisher’s agency name, ‘Marketing’, ‘Self-Publishing’, ‘Indie-Publishing’, etc. It helps fine tune SEO search engines, so browsers looking for book writing tips don’t end up with suggestions on how much to tip.

Share the article on other Social Media accounts. If the group doesn’t have a Facebook Page, get one (sorry, didn’t mean to shout). To paraphrase the words of a NYT bestselling author who spoke at a past conference, blogs exist in a ‘tsunami of content’. To break out of the isolated bubble of a few group members and family friends who might read it, group postings need a social media sprinkler to let others aware the group exists. We’ve found contacting and liking other writer groups and interested parties pays big dividends. Fellow group members who participate in social media should also help broadcast the news. Ask any RWA Chapter Group; many of them have the best communicative share net on the planet.

From: imfunny.net

When posting the article link, Facebook automatically pops the first paragraph and the picture embedded in the article. It may appear to save time, but what often happens is the photograph displayed may not be the article header pic (if article contains more than one photo). Even if it is, the photograph won’t paste to Facebook Photobook. Took me a few iterations to discover the best course of action is to type in the article title, followed by pasting the article link, then physically attaching the article picture from file. Sounds convoluted, but the article graphic becomes a permanent record on the Facebook page, and it won’t be a cat selfie.

And if You’re Still a Gluten for Punishment …

Vance Osterhout – Unsplash

Our group page goes into hibernation after conference activity ends, until the next cycle begins six months later. I’ve been taught that leaving an active website unattended for long periods of time, can undo all the connections gathered. Personally, I don’t blog often, but I try to be regular. As if I wasn’t having enough fun with the group site, I suggested the platform was available to membership during the off months to:

Announce a new book, short story, or article that appeared in a magazine

Offer a poem, or short story for others to read.

Allow other writerly folk who have something to share with the group

Invite blog sharing from other sites. We’ll post your article, you post ours.

Share your writer’s journey.

Share a valuable lesson learned that may help others

Share successes. Share disappointments. We’re all in this together.

The list is endless.

The submissions for off-season, unfortunately – haven’t been.

A Side Note on Other Blogging Platforms

Markus Spiske – Unsplash

I’m a diehard WordPress user, because I’m too lazy to relearn another platform. But if you’re interested in what’s available, check out The 10 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2018! (Pros & Cons). What you’ll find is – free gets you in the game, but it’s going to cost a bit more for any kind of customization.

I still run across writers and authors who feel the need to have someone design a custom blog website to be unique. If you want a primer for how much this stuff costs, read How Much Does a Website Design or Redesign Cost? [2019 Guide] for a hefty dose of sticker shock.

From: digitalsynopsis.com

I’ve lost count of those who claim to have a brother, cousin, uncle-of-a-neighbor who has some chops in programing. I’m all for unique, but if it’s a group site, the major issue is what happens if the programmer/administrator gets hit by the proverbial bus? Time and time again I’ve seen website “owners” disappear, leaving the hapless writer stuck with an HTML intensive site without an instruction manual.

I’m sure I missed a few things, but I think I’ve confused you enough. If you remember anything, stick with simple. You’ll be glad you did.

This ghost-in-the-shell thing is hard enough as it is.

May You Blog Well and Prosper

**********

By the way, we still have openings for the GLVWG Write Stuff Conference™, March 21 – 23, 2019. Check out the amazing line up of speakers and get an opportunity to pitch your book to agents and editors.

You can learn all about the presenters on the GLVWG WordPress Blog.

A lot of work went into those articles. Throw us bone will ya, and give us a like.

Ghost in the Shell – Group Blogging for Fun and High Blood Pressure Managing a blog page for a group or organization can be fun and rewarding – a phrase that should immediately toggle the cautionary button.

#Blogging for Groups #WordPress #Writers Groups #Writing Conferences

1 note · View note

kjg222453kjg222454 · 6 years

Text

Week 11 - independent study

Writing up parent handbook

I had a framework for how the parent handbook might flow like and was only planning to do a spread and the cover, ended up doing the whole thing as I wanted to get it printed properly.

Working through the framework I had already planned out > started writing up the content for it, this will probably be helpful for my design report which I need to start writing soon!

Cover and Purpose planning

What to expect from Kea Kit Part 1

What to expect from Kea Kit part 2

What to expect when you first visit prison

What to do in between times and direction to more info.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advent calendar

I had all the narrative and window text written up for this so decided to start with a basic layout of how this might come to look and flow through. I’m going to design two a3s a top sheet and a bottom sheet and stick them together – would be nice to have some thicker stock for this but going to go with the same feathered stock i’ve been using for the letters as it needs to either fold or roll nicely to sit in the box for storage.

I wanted this to feel like a treasure map so it made the kid’s curiosity and anticipation for their ‘adventure’ more exciting. It was quite a challenge to lay this out due to the varying lengths of text underneath. This definitely needs some more refinement. Currently feels very all over the show and the bottom is quite crowded.

The white background felt very bright and stark. All my other collateral has a solid background colour. Having a test of a low opacity background to see if this will help break up the elements a bit more, give some contrast to things etc. Still not feeling right about this. I think I’m gonna need to move somethings around.

Shifting some things up the top down to add in a title and also make the squishy-ness/busyness feel purposeful. Also tried adding in some of my other little illustrations which go along with the narratives of some of the text – this looks way too overstimulating and I don’t really know where to look first. Still unsure about the background colour. I do like the addition of the grass bits though.

I felt like the opaque background didn’t quite fit in with the rest of my collateral so changed it to a solid bold colour and swapped the tracks from yellow to white so they don’t blend in. I took the little extra creatures out and have hidden them under the numbers/flaps that they are relevant to.

Was thinking about having this folded in half to fit in the box and wanted to have an outside cover. Nothing was really working for me though and I tried to roll it instead of fold it which actually looked a lot better in my opinion, so blank back side of this calendar it is!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spatial Planning

I went to check out the block 10 dungeon to see if it was ideal or not for my spatial mock ups. There was a bit too much shit lying around and had the idea of checking out blocks 5 & 6 as i know that those hallways are a bit more hospital like which is very similar to inside a prison according to conversations and research.

I took my camera around with me and got some snaps + videos or the space and what it’s like to walk through it with nothing implemented in there.

photos from blocks 5 & 6. Very stark and boring, the doors look heavy as if to keep you in or out.

vimeo

Video walking through the space. Pausing at where things might be on walls.

Notes from spatial planning, measurements etc. I want to get some large formats and stick them up in the space then film again walking through. Also going to do a photo mock up of what you might see at a first glimpse of this hallway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Large format print chat with Luiz > decisions on what to do

I had a big chat with Luiz about the filming I wanted to do to show how my spatial was implemented and he said that photo mock ups should be fine + more professional and that I was rushing to get large format and filming done that day - there were too many variables to consider so I decided just to get some large formats done to install in my preso room instead.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full spatial mock up

I started off with an overview of what you’d first see when you arrived in the hallway space I was focusing on. this took quite some time to get all the perspectives and angles right but I’m pretty happy with how this looks. It gives a real feeling of an adventure up ahead, a lot of my friends said it looked like fun and they were curious to see what each speech bubble said. It’s also nice to note how much this looks like a hospital space too so this project definitely has the potential to work across similar environments.

This is a before image, I hadn’t quite got the lighting right on my post processing – i wanted it to feel cold and threatening but i think that i really just needed the space to look bland and nothing. Showing how there is nothing to distract the children from their thoughts and emotions.

before pic - bland and sterile space.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Narrative mock ups

beginning with the outside of the prison – using the photos I took up at Mt Crawford Prison. It’s quite rundown due to abandonment but the Kea start to build curiosity and take away some of that anxiety around these buildings.

The first part of the Journey starts with the notion of tāwharau (protection)

The narratives that follow (in order) to lead to the visit hall. I envision that this could be adapted every 9-12months so that each visit could be different and exciting each time. This could be co-designed with the prisoners as to what their children like or what stories they’d like to tell/teach.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Large formats

Luiz had my large formats done so fast! literally by 8am the next morning. They’re HUGE this big kea is about 1m long! Super happy with how these look.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parent handbook

I don’t have all the image content for this book yet (planning to have a full bleed image on the left side). So started off by figuring out my type systems. Definitely prefer the two column system to the top version!

What a spread might look like with a full bleed image. I’ve also colour coded each of the sections/phases of the project.

Cover – simple and more formal for parents/adults.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos

turned my desk space into a photo studio for the afternoon:

some pics that came out of this session:

took quite a few, detailing all the little bits and pieces but haven’t had a chance to go through these yet as this was all i needed for the parent hand book.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Printing from Wakefields

I got my storybook cover and parent hand book printed professionally at Wakefield’s Digital. The Cover is a PLC gloss hard cover and the booklet is just a 2up saddle stitch 12pp booklet on gloss 120gsm stock – feels a lot more formal for the adults.

The cover is a little bigger than expected and doesn’t quite fit as well in the box as well as I want it to. As you can see it all over flows just a little too but remembering that not all of the kit comes in the box at once so there is definitely room for the first kit to be sent in this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writing preso - first draft

first script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R7DT8JvgjCrCrKfFzALbS2_3qABJSykBVI5P3jWTB1s/edit?usp=sharing

This originally started off quite formal, as if i was pitching to government. It didnt really sound like me and felt a bit dislocated from the project so i re-wrote it a bit more emotively. It’s very heavily centred on developing empathy for the user journey, I’m a bit worried that I have got enough about my process and solutions in it. Will read it out to Jason in class tomorrow and see what he has to say.

#s2w11

0 notes