You will be using WordPress to create and display your Exhibitions and assignments. WordPress is normally a blogging platform but we will be using it slightly differently so that your exhibitions will be created as “Posts” but on the site, they are designed to appear as exhibits.

If you haven’t already, start by signing into the site using your Ryerson ID and password: cla.blog.ryerson.ca/wp-login.php 

Go to the Dashboard by hovering over “Children’s Literature Student Exhibition” in the upper left corner and clicking on “Dashboard.”

1. First – add your images to the Media Library (select from menu on left)

Images should be resized before uploading (keep them close to 50KB)

http://www.wikihow.com/Resize-Pictures-(for-Macs)
http://www.wikihow.com/Resize-Photos-with-Image-Resizer-for-Windows

• • Go to Media > Add New >then upload your image
  • Go to Media > Library, click on your image and fill out metadata:
    • You will add a Caption to the image, in MLA 8^th ed style, that attributes the image to its creator, describes the source, medium, location, and other pertinent information. (Consult the UBC http://copyright.ubc.ca/guidelines-and-resources/support-guides/image-citation-guide for instructions about what information belongs in your caption and the ENG 810 Guide to Creating Credits for Images)
    • In the Caption put the title of the work in quotation marks if it is part of a standalone publication (e.g., a frame, panel, feature, or story in the comic book itself such as “Johnny Canuck”) or put the title in italics [ <em>your title goes here</em> ] if it is a standalone publication (e.g., a comic book issue such as Active Comics)
    • Add Alt Text (used by screen readers for the visually impaired)

     

Special Note about Video

There might be an occasion when you want to include a video in your Exhibit.
Do not upload the video file to the Media Library as you would an image at this stage. Videos are handled differently, by embedding the URL. (Information about how to do this follows).  

• • 2. Second – Building your Exhibition

            From the Dashboard:

• • • Go to Posts > Add New

Fill in the Title you have given your Digital Exhibit, being sure to

• • 1. a) keep it under 70 characters;
    2. b) include the title and number of your comic;
    3. c) indicate your theme or approach in some way

Ex: War Propaganda for Children in Dime Comics No. 35

• • • Make sure you add your byline right at the top, under your title:

Ex: © Copyright 2018 Jane Student, Ryerson University

Note: The special character icon (looks like a horseshoe)  in the WordPress Editor will lead you to the copyright symbol.

On the righthand side of the screen select the following:

• • • Format should be “Standard”
    • Under Categories (near the bottom of the list), select the following:
    • 2018 Canadian Whites
    • Your section (ENG810 Fall2018 Section 011 0r Section 021)
    • Your Comic Title (Triumph Comics or Active Comics or Wow Comics or Commando Comics)
    • Include a Tag that describes the main subject, theme, or approach of your exhibit (ex: children’s literature; women; violence; propaganda; technology; toys; racialized others, etc), and up to four more tags that describe aspects of your work that might help other scholars access it (ex: Johnny Canuck; Nelvana of the North; Adrian Dingle; Leo Bachle; cartoon; environment; airplanes, etc.).

Now add your textual content – your research essay– to the Editor:

You should complete your assignment in a text editor (ie. Microsoft Word) before uploading it to the course blog. Editing content in the site panel is not a good idea as it could result in you losing your work if there are any issues!

• • • Start by pasting in your Unformatted text (there’s a tab to do this in the Editor menu that looks like a small clipboard)
    • At the end of the body of your text, add a horizontal line and then your Works Cited list, formatted in MLA style, 8^th

To add the line:

• • • place your cursor where you want the line
    • in the Editor menu select the line icon on the left hand side under the box with the word Paragraph in it

At the very end of your Exhibit, copy and paste the following disclaimer:

Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.

 NOW YOU ARE READY TO EDIT YOUR EXHIBIT FOR STYLE & FORMAT:

• • • Add formatting (italics, quotation marks, spaces between paragraphs, etc) to your unformatted text.
    • The first mention of your comic book number should be hyperlinked to the LAC item. Do this by highlighting the title in your text, and using the hyperlink symbol in editor (looks a little like a bicycle chain) to add the URL that links directly to your comic book number in Library and Archives Canada.
    • Edit your exhibit with your reader in mind: your style should favour shorter sentences and sections with subheadings; the visual appeal of your exhibit should come from the combination of image and text as well as the variation of type size and font, lines, spacing, etc.

Notes about effect design of contents for online reading:

• • • For your Headings: highlight the text for your heading and go to the box in the upper left corner of the Editor, click the arrow icon and choose “Heading 3.”
    • for longer  Quotations: keep the text in its own paragraph, put quotation marks around it, highlight the whole quote and make it Bold, then choose a text colour in the Editor (the icon has a Capital A with a line under it).
    • To make a part of your text a Link: highlight it, the click on the Insert/Edit link icon (looks a little like a bicycle chain), then add the URL of the link.
    • When adding Works Cited: you can use a bulleted list by clicking on the icon in the upper left of the Editor.

Now add the images you uploaded in the Media Library into the exhibit itself.

• • • Place the cursor where you would like to add an image and click Add Media:

You will be taken to the Media Library where you can choose your image among many. Double check that your image caption is visible and displays.

• • • Once the image is part of your post, you can change the alignment of the image by clicking on it and choosing from the pop up options.
    • The pop up options also allow you to “Wrap” the text around an image either on the left or the right.
    • You can change the size of the image by clicking on it and dragging one of the corner boxes.
    • You can also edit the Caption information by clicking on the image and selecting the pen icon.

If you are adding video as opposed to still images, you must embed the URL rather than upload the video or merely put a link to a URL. The process is explained clearly in this video: http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-easily-embed-videos-in-wordpress-blog-posts/

A Note on Effective Design

• Consider how your reader will see your exhibit. An unrelenting block of text can be hard to read on screen.

For visual relief, you can:

• Divide your text into several short sections by adding Headings
• Wrap text around an image, or anchor the image to the left or right.

Note: Insert images at the beginning, or between sections. Be sure to reference the images in your essay, and to analyze the images you use.

Remember: What you are doing is letting the images and text work together on behalf of your ideas. While in Draft mode try different things out and Preview them. If you don’t like the results then edit something, delete something, change the position of something until you feel it is starting to work for you.

What is displayed in the Visual Editor is not what it will look like on the website. To see how it will actually look like you can:

• • • click Preview
    • or click View Post

     

    3. Third – Saving your Exhibition
    • As you work on the exhibit you can save it by clicking the Draft button (on the righthand side of the screen)
    • Set Visibility to Private
    • When the Exhibition is completed click Publish
    • When you click PUBLISH you have submitted your Exhibit. You should not edit again until (without instructor permission) until your Exhibit has been graded. 

At the end of the class you can change the Visibility of your Exhibit to Public if you are willing display it publicly as part of our collective 2018 exhibition on The Canadian Whites.

Be sure to proof read and check your entire exhibit for formatting and style before publishing it.

NEED HELP?If you’re unsure about how to use the WordPress Editor you can visit:
http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/14-tips-for-mastering-the-wordpress-visual-editor/

*DO not leave the uploading part until minutes before the deadline. Plan your time so you can follow the instructions here.