Step-by-step instructions for posting to the UC Delivers Blog. When drafting your story, please be sure to follow this NEW template for structuring your blog post, "How do I write a UC Delivers."
Registered contributors
In order to post to the blog, you must be a "registered contributor." All ANR academics are automatically added as contributors. To be added manually, just send an e-mail to blog manager, Jennifer Sedell.
Writing the post
As a registered contributor, a section titled "Blog System" will appear in the center column of your ANR Portal.
Click "UC Delivers"
Click "Add a post" on the very top right-hand side of the page, next to the greeting "Hi, [Your first and last name]."
The system first asks you to write a title for your post. Enter a preliminary title in order to proceed. The title can be edited later, if you wish.
Click "Start post."
The top of the next pane says "Edit a post," but this is where you first write the post as well. If you have already written the post elsewhere, you can copy and paste it into the "post body" pane. Please be sure to follow this NEW template for structuring your blog post, "How do I write a UC Delivers." A post should be approximately 3,000 characters or 400-450 words. Stories that exceed the character or word limit may be returned to authors or significantly edited by the blog manager.
Many of the text formatting tools are the same as you would find in most word processing programs.
Sometimes text will have hidden formatting that disrupts the flow of your copy. You can click the little icon that looks like a capital T with a underline and subscript x to remove formatting.
Add links to your story
Links in your story ensure that it won't be a "dead end" for someone who stumbled upon the information using a search engine. Plus, it tells readers about the source of the information and shows where to go for more details.
To add a link, copy the URL of the page you wish to link to into your clipboard. (Highlight the URL on the browser and click Ctrl-C on your computer keyboard.) Highlight the text you want to link in your post, then click the chain link icon on the far right side of the text box formatting tools in the top row.
Paste the URL in the field titled "Url." In "Text to display," you may edit the text you want to URL to be linked to. In "Title," add any optional help text you want to pop up when you move your cursor over the hyperlink. In "Target," select if you want the URL to open in a new window or not. Click "Ok."
To link an e-mail address, first copy the address in your clipboard, highlight the e-mail address in your copy, click on the chain link, then before pasting the e-mail address type "mailto:" (without the quotes.) Then paste in the address.
Adding photos and video
It's always a good idea to add a photo or video with your post. Use a high quality local and relevant picture to go with the story. If you don't already have a photo, you may be able to find one in the ANR Repository. Other sources of free photos are: USDA Flickr Page and Pixabay.com. (Do not download a photo from the Internet unless you have permission from the photo's owner. When you get permission, keep a record of it.)
To add a photo or video, use the "adding files" pane, just underneath the blog body.
Click "browse" and find the photo or video on your computer. Click "edit" to the right of the file name. Here you can change the file name to an appropriate caption for the photo. Click the small square next to "caption" for the caption to appear on your post. Don't click the square if you don't want the caption to show.
The images will automatically appear at the end of the story. But you also have other options. On the edit pane you can also modify the size of the photo and indicate whether you want it lined up on the left or right side of your text, with the text wrapping. (We suggest that you post your story with pictures 650 px and centered. This makes them mobile friendly.)
After editing the photo, place the cursor in the text where you would like the photo to appear and click "insert image," which is just to the right of the photo thumbnail.
Embed YouTube video: If uploading a video as described above doesn't work, consider embedding a YouTube video instead. On YouTube, click SHARE and copy the "Embed" link. Paste the link where you'd like it to display in the Source Code (click on < > in the formatting tools) of the UC Delivers post.
Tags
Tags are used to organize information on the blog.
- Tag the UC ANR condition changes that the measured outcome/s in your blog post contributes toward. More information on condition changes can be found here.
- Tag your primary Strategic Initiative (SI) - you should only tag ONE SI. More information on SIs can be found here.
- Tag all counties where this work happened.
- If there any other tags you would like to use, you can add more. When typing in your tags, type slowly and the system will autofill. If you select an autofill tag, you know it's a category that already exists. Whenever you can, please use existing categories.
- Don’t use a tag if you think it would very rarely or never again be mentioned in the blog.
- Avoid very generic tags, like “agriculture” or “UC.”
- Tag with the word, not the acronym. “Asian citrus psyllid,” rather than ACP.
- Tag with words that everybody would understand.
- Try to create categories. Instead of “school garden,” “school menu,” “school food,” “school nutrition,” “school project,” tag the post “school.”
- Don't use too many tags. Four seems about right.
Submitting
After finishing your story, click "Save and Review." Reread the post, and click "re-edit this post" if you would like to make changes or corrections. When you are satisfied with the post, click "make this post live." Since this is a moderated blog, it will be reviewed by blog manager, Jennifer Sedell, for content and formatting before it goes live.
Social media
The blog system makes it easy to share your information on social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter. (You will need to first set up accounts on the social media sites you wish to use.) Once the story is live on the blog, you will see a "share" icon on the upper right corner. Click the icon, select the social media site of your choice and follow the simple directions to add your post (or anyone's post that interests you) to your social media site. Use the social media summary at the top of your blog post when sharing.
