Questions and Answers

Some may have a lot of information you would want to put on your blog for folks to read, but it may take up a lot of room.   You can convert your document into a “PDF” format which anyone with “Adobe Acrobat Reader” can read.  By using a simple, free program, “PrimoPDF”, you can convert any document, text, graphic, or a powerpoint type, to a PDF document.  Click on the link to go to the site and download “PrimoPDF“  for free.  After you have installed the program, you will notice a new printer, PrimoPDF, has been added to your listing of printers.  Follow this link to view a document to help you create a PDF document.  The same process will work for any type of document.

Once you have the PDF created, click on this link to take you through the process to upload the file.

If you would like more help with “PrimoPDF”  you can view the manual here.

Often times during a community’s event, there are quite a number of pictures taken that you would like displayed on your blog reporting the event.  I have been working with a program called “Picasa” that will allow you to do just that.  The nice thing about it is, you do not have to put all of the pictures on your blog.  Click on the little picture here to view the document that will take you on a step-by-step procedure to create and embed a slideshow into your blog.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document. 

Here is a sample of a slideshow that you can create. 

You will need to have an account created on Google.com in order to work with “Picasa”.  If you created an account when you were working with your videos, you can use the same account for “Picasa”.

Some of you have been contacting me with difficulties making changes to your blog entries and the text.  Or maybe you have been trying to put a photo on your blog, but all you have been seeing is HTML code.  Don’t get discouraged!!!  There is a setting that has been set when you created your profile.  It does not happen to everyone, but those it does happen to, have been very frustrated, maybe discouraged because they have not been able to accomplish the tasks I have been teaching them.  I have included a document that will take you through the process to make the needed change and very shortly you can be blogging with the best of them.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document.

One item on a blog that really helps to bring out a story or really get the feel of what is happening is to use a video in your presentation.  With the digital camera each community was given, you can easily take a video and upload it to the Internet.  To take a video, see the instructions at the link. 

Then you can view the document to see how to incorporate a video in your presentation.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document.

Remember, keep your videos to 1 to 2 minutes maximum.  This way the viewers are more likely to see the entire presentation.  As another guide, you can  also take a look at the screen cast entitled “How to Embed a Video” created by the one and only Griff Wigley:

I’m sure you will have lots of fun with videos.  They really get the story across!! 

One thing to keep in mind, do not upload videos to this blog site.  Create an account on Google Video, for example, upload the video there, and then create a link from your blog to the video.  The instructions to create a Google Video account are in the back of your instructional materials.  You can use any video site to upload videos, but I have found Google to be very easy to work with and you have the option not to have your videos found by search engines.

In the past few weeks many of you have noticed a peculiar problem when you tried to embed a photo to your blog.  You will have noticed that once you try to align the photo to go to the Left or the Right, or any position, the picture disappears.  First of all, you are aligning the photo to have the text “Wrap” around the photo.  If you do not want the text to wrap around the photo, do not align it.  We are not sure why it is happening, but there is a work-a-round we have discovered.  Click on the photo to see the document that will take you through the process step by step.                                                                           You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document.

Some have been having small difficulties getting the pictures from the digital cameras to the hard drive on their computer.  This document will take you through the process in a simple easy to understand method.  If you have Windows XP as your operating system, you can just plug the USB cable into the computer and the screen will come up automatically.  If you have an earlier version of Windows, you will need to install the drivers.  They are on the CD that came with your camera at:  “USB Driver” folder and double click on “Setup.exe”  Use the presentation as a guide and you should have no problems.  If you do encounter something unexpected, send me an e-mail, Mike.Miller@ndsu.edu .  Click on the picture of the camera and sit back and enjoy the 7 step process.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer.

With any activity we are involved in, often times our success can depend on the completion of the necessary steps no matter how small or large.  With all the work so many of you folks are doing with the Blogging for your towns, and I must say there are a lot of interesting, valuable stories being told, I would like to remind you to make sure you Publish your Blogs.  I realize it is such a small step, but it does make the all the difference between your story getting out to the world, or not.  If you are holding back to revisit the article, that is understandable, but remember you have put a lot of thought and effort in the blog.  Make sure you Publish!

This Blog is to help ones having problems inserting a picture into their Blog.  I am using the picture editor, Irfanview, to make the picture smaller in pixels.  Go ahead and down load the free version if you like.  This way it will not take up so much space on the server, but will still be good quality to be viewed over the internet.  Click on the Happy Face to view the document.  You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  You can also view the screencast entitled “ How to Embed Photos and Images” created by the one and only Griff Wigley.
 

I hope this helps those having difficulties!!!

Do not fret, it is not the end of the world!  With all of the needed security to prevent folks from getting where they souldn’t be prying, we all need to have a wide variety of passwords, and it is very common that people forget it once in awhile, or something happens where it doesn’t allow them access.  Here is a direct link to a Blog page that explains how to have your password reset.

For most of us, this Blogging adventure is something completely new and it is proving to be really quite exciting.  As we look further and see so many things happening in the various communities, we would like to be able to enhance the look of our Blogsites.  The folks from South Dakota have provided several nice things to help us with some problems with the Blog site.  There are some very interesting things to try and if they work, maybe share your experience with the rest of the communities here.  Go ahead and click on the South Dakota link and you will be able to look over some of there examples.                  

They include:                                                                                                                            Adding color  –  Assigning Roles  —   Adding community RSS Feeds — Adding Opinion Polls  — Off line photo editor  —   Moderating comments — Visit Counters  and MORE. 

Thanks to our friends in South Dakota!!!