Blog Instructions

Click “Sign Up” at the top of the home page. Please use your CNU email address to register your account and blog. The picture below is an example of the registration page. (Click to enlarge.)

Please register with your Full Name and CNU email address. You can add in your contact email, Twitter and Skype if you prefer. (You can add/change this info later, too.) If you check the box for create a blog, which you should, then you’ll also see this:

Once you’ve confirmed registration, you’re ready to begin blogging. Also, when you sign up you’ll see settings to personalize your profile. It would be nice if everyone used their real names and uploaded a profile picture (much like Facebook) but that’s entirely up to you.

Once you’ve created a Pop Academy account and registered a blog, please click here to see a practice blog and read the instructions on how to set up your blog, create a post, and add media and links (There are two posts to read).

Sometimes you may see an error message when you’ve updated your blog or tried to link to a particular post. This is usually a theme, plug-in or other technical problem. I cant’ fix them unless you let me know you’re having issues. Until I’ve been able to fix the issue (meaning that if your Twitter feed links to an error page instead of a blog post), then I suggest tweeting your main blog URL so we can at least find your blog that way. Also, in the interest of organization and timely updates, I suggest subscribing to the RSS feed of the course blog and your fellow classmates’ blogs. That way, if you use an RSS like Google Reader or something similar, it’s another way to stay current on posts. If you don’t have an RSS reader yet, it will make your life so much easier to do so. I like Google. If you already have a Google/Gmail account, then you already have access to Google Reader and may not have used it. Depending on your browser you may be able to click a widget in the URL bar to subscribe to a blog, or you can click on it within an individual blog.

I realize I’m asking a lot of those of you who aren’t as excited by web technologies as myself. However, the purpose of the course is to interrogate pop culture. The easiest way to do that in 2010 is via the web. Please practice these tools now so that you don’t get behind later. I also suggest asking a tech savvy friend, family member, or co-worker to walk you through some of it if you’re still hesitant or having trouble.