Course Guide

This course guide contains all of the materials for this class. To see all of the contents of this guide on one page, click on the "printer-friendly version" link below.

Welcome: read entire post by clicking on the "read more" link below!

If you're enrolled in ENGL 421Y, Section 01-01 or 02-01, with Tracy Clark, you've come to the right place. This website will be our meeting place for the Spring 2008 semester. The site is designed to make your learning experience a valuable one. Students enrolled in this course will meet in this common space to share feedback on their writing, discuss course content, and collaborate on writing projects. As we gear up for the start of the semester, please note the following so that you're prepared and that your experience in the class is a positive one. Read more >>

  1. The class starts on Monday, January 7.
  2. English 421Y will never meet face-to-face. You must be comfortable working online because all communication for this class will occur electronically.
  3. It will be your responsibility to check your email and the course home page three to four times per week (or more). During group projects, you will likely need to check email more than once a day.
  4. You will not be taught to use the technology in the class, but you will receive some guidance as you learn to use the course website.
  5. Online writing classes typically require more individual work than face-to-face classes. This class will make up for the absent face-to-face time with reading and responding on the course website. Expect to read and write at least a couple of hours a week more than you would in the equivalent face-to-face version of this class. Since we're not meeting in person, this writing time is essentially "class discussion" for us.
  6. Successful students in online classes are typically self-motivated and eager to ask questions as they come up. They are good at working and accomplishing tasks on their own. They are comfortable reading and digesting textual information without the auditory feedback that regular classes provide. If you need one-on-one, face-to-face contact with an instructor, English 421Y may not be the class for you.
  7. You are responsible for access to a computer and the Internet. You should also make sure that your Web browser (for example, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, or Netscape) is up-to-date and functions properly. You will also need to have access to your email, through Purdue's system or another that allows you to send and receive attachments reliably and conveys a professional ethos.
  8. You must have a functioning email address at the start of class.
  9. By midnight EDT on Monday, January 7, you should sign up for a new account and complete registration on the site. Follow the three "Getting Started" links below this message to complete these tasks. There are specific instructions available on these pages.
  10. By Wednesday, January 9, purchase the required textbook for this class, Technical Communication Today (2nd edition), by Richard Johnson-Sheehan. This book is available at local bookstores and may also be purchased online (e.g., through Amazon).
  11. All other readings for this class are either available on the course website or freely available elsewhere on the Internet. The course calendar will point you in the right direction.
  12. Once you have registered on the site, please continue work on this week's assignments and readings. Begin by visiting the main Calendar page and reading the instructions there. Then follow the Week 1 link. Give yourself a few hours to complete Monday's assignment. It may take you a while to get comfortable with the course site layout and the interactive software.

If at any time you have questions about the course, please let me know, via the contact form on the course site or by email.

Getting Started 1: Registering on the Site

To get started with ENGL 421Y, you'll need to complete a few steps, which include

  • Registering for the course website (here).
  • Logging in for the first time.
  • Editing your account for the first time.

Registering for the course website

  1. Go to the course website.
  2. Click on "create new account" under "User Login" in the navigation menu on the left.

  3. Create a username that will identify you in the system and that you will use for logging in. Because this site is public on the Internet, your username should not include your last name. You are welcome to use any username (e.g., your IM screenname) that would not be offensive to others or otherwise inappropriate for a course website. Capitalize your username as you intend to use it; usernames are case sensitive.

  4. Enter your email address. You may use your Purdue email address. If you have an alternate one, use the one that you check most regularly.
  5. Provide your real name and home page URL (web address, if you have one). Note that your real name will not be visible publicly but only to students registered at the site.
  6. Click on "Create new account." Registration information will be sent to the email address you listed, so check your email soon after you register. You will need the password that it sends you.

Getting Started 2: Logging in for the First Time

To get started with ENGL 421Y, you'll also need to complete this second step:

Logging in for the first time

  1. You should have received an email from the system that includes your new password. With that email handy, return to the course website.
  2. Enter your username and password in the "User login" box. Your initial password can be retyped or cut-and-pasted into the password box. If you cut-and-paste it, make sure you don't include any extra spaces before or after the password characters. The password and user name are case sensitive.

  3. Click on Log in. When you've successfully logged in, you will see a block of links in the left sidebar with your username above it as a title. This is a navigation menu that provides you with links to many services and content on the site. If you are unable to log in successfully, try re-entering your password. Remember that usernames and passwords are case-sensitve, so make sure you don't have Caps Lock turned on by accident and that (if pasting in your password) that you don't include extra spaces. You may also request a new password if you ever forget yours.

Getting Started 3: Editing Your Account for the First Time

To get started with ENGL 421Y, you'll also need to complete this third step, which will take a bit more time than the previous two.

Editing your account for the first time

Once you've logged in successfully, you need to edit your account and provide some additional information about yourself.

  1. Click on my account link in the navigation menu on the left.

     

  2. On the next screen, click on the edit tab.

  3. On the account settings screen, scroll to the Account information area.
  4. Change your password by entering a new one into the password boxes. Choose a password that you can remember but that is secure. Remember that passwords are case sensitive.
  5. Scroll to the Picture area.
  6. Upload a picture of yourself or avatar (an image that represents you well) that you would use in a public context. You may have to find one and edit in an image editor, so you just try to have this step completed by the end of Week 2. If you need help editing an image, send a copy to your instructor for help. See Creating Avatars and Images for Your Profile for more information.
  7. Next, scroll to the Theme configuration.


  8. The default selection is will be checked. You can select any theme you like and all pages will show up with that theme. The default theme has been specially designed and will probably offer the most consistent display of all site content. The instructor uses that theme as the default and so designs pages with it in mind.
  9. Scroll to Contact settings.
  10. Check the Personal contact form box.
  11. When you have made your changes, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

The following steps ask you to complete information for your profile. This will enable the instructor and fellow students to learn a little more about you and help the instructor tailor this class to your background and goals, as well as arrange collaborative projects.

  1. Click on the edit tab again, then on the Personal Information link at the top of the next page.
  2. Enter the required information in the boxes. If you don't have a home page, leave that box blank.
  3. Click on Submit to save.

That's it! You have completed all the steps of the Getting Started process. If you ever need to change any of the information, you can always edit these pages again.

If you have any trouble along the way, please be sure to let your instructor know.

Course Description

Instructor and Course Information

English 421Y, "Technical Writing Online"
Instructor Name: Tracy Clark

Sections: 01-01 and 02-01
(Online) Office Hrs: I check e-mail several times a day.
Office: Heavilon 404
Ph: 765.496.1650
Fax: 765.494.3780
E-Mail: clark9@purdue.edu

Overview

English 421 helps students become better technical communicators, whose work is characterized by the presentation of technical material in written and visual formats that are user centered and aware of audience and context. The course and its principles are grounded in rhetorical theory and informed by current research in technical communication.

Communication across multiple audiences and for multiple purposes continues to be a desired skill set in technical and professional fields. Beyond field-specific knowledge and experience, successful and ethical communication drives the professional world. This class, in content and form, models these successful communication practices. Working individually and in groups, students learn effective strategies for communicating about and with technology, particularly in networked workplaces and through usability testing. To achieve success in this course, students must display the ability to succeed in their future workplaces by developing a variety of informative and visually effective print and electronic documents.

This course attempts to find a middle space between the daily assignments, F2F discussion, and interaction of an onsite course and the self-pacing student may expect of distance education courses. This course uses three modules to work through each project. Keep in mind that this course is not completely self-paced, but students can work ahead on a several assignments and, ultimately, can have more flexibility and responsibility within the course structure. See below for a more detailed description of the project modules and self-pacing.

Required Texts

Course Goals

These are general course goals outlined by the Professional Writing Program. Instructors will articulate how each specific project incorporates the course goals.

Writing in Context

Project Management

Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about technical documents including

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork, such as

Research
Understand and use the research methods and strategies necessary to the production of professional documents, including

Technology
Use and evaluate the writing technologies frequently used in the workplace, such as emailing, instant messaging, image editing, video editing, presentation design and delivery, HTML editing, Web browsing, content management, and desktop publishing technologies.

Project Modules and Self-Pacing

This section of 421Y finds the half-way point between the course goals of improving your writing process and collaboration skills while also meeting your expectations as a distance education student. After the first week, our only due dates will be Wednesdays and Fridays for most assignments, and on other days you will be reading, conducting peer review, and working on your projects. Each student should be responsible and flexible in completing each week's work since you have some, but not complete, freedom to pace yourself.

The course is broken down into three modules centered around the course's three major projects. Here are some guidelines to help you understand how self-pacing, peer review, and collaboration will work:

Course Projects and Activities

1. Quick Guide Project

For this first major project, you will produce a document containing written and visual instructions for completing a specific task, using a specific software program -- otherwise known as software documentation. Software programs to be covered will be selected through a random drawing; each program assigned is included in the ITaP suite, so you'll have an opportunity to work with the program outside of class time. Besides the actual documentation, you will also produce document specifications; these will describe in detail your proposed documentation and its representative characteristics: target audience, user level, steps and visuals, and the type of document used to convey this information (flyer, brochure, booklet, website, etc.). Another important component of the Quick Guide Project is usability testing, during which at least one classmate will read through your documentation and then actually complete the process under conditions similar to those that your target audience will encounter. Before the usability testing session, you'll need to interview your tester(s) to determine their familiarity with the process you've documented, and then produce a testing "script," in order to facilitate the testing process and anticipate possible "issues" or "irregularities" that testers might encounter). Following the usability testing session, you'll need to produce a brief report in which you discuss observations you've made during testing, as well as discuss testing results. (Individual; 25% of course grade.)

2. White Paper Project

The focus of Project 2 is the white paper, a common report genre in the professional world. White papers are used in business, industrial, and governmental contexts to sum up the gist of what’s known about a subject. During this project you will learn about

All group members will keep a project log and submit Collaborative Project Evaluation forms.

(Collaborative: 25% of course grade.)

3. Technical Marketing Materials Project

For Project 3, you will work in groups of 3 or 4 to produce a technical marketing document for technology-based products. This project consists of two stages: planning and production. As was the case for the White Paper Project, credibility is essential. This project will feature the added dimension of creativity, or techne, in presentation of technically-oriented information. We'll work with document templates within either Adobe InDesign CS2 or Microsoft Publisher -- that way, you'll gain experience with professional-looking documents without spending a lot of time and energy learning an entire program!

Each student will keep a weekly project log in his or her individual blog. You will be asked to email the instructor a collaborative evaluation form after you've submitted the final version of Project 3.

(Collaborative; 25% of course grade.)

Weblogs/Reading Reponses

Much of your writing for this class will be posted publicly on the Internet to your individual weblog or our community weblog home page. Weblog posting assignments will include drafts, project logs, and research notes, among others. See posting to your weblog for more information. The calendar specifies what you should post to your weblog and by when, so let that be your guide.

We will have many readings each week, and you are responsible for writing one, 250-word blog post. The reading responses will function to synthesize the readings and your reactions to them, much like class discussion. Please refer to guidelines on how to post a reading response. NOTE: Generally, you won't have to cover all assigned readings within one blog post; more likely, your posts will focus on specific issues from specific readings.

Comments and Replies

In addition to posting an individual blog once a week, you are required to post five (5) comments and replies (e.g., follow-up responses) each week to the blog posts (reading and other responses posted by others) appearing on our course's front page. Keep in mind that individual blog posts, and the comments and replies that ensue, will replace the sort of class discussion you would see in an on-site setting. Your comments and replies should be spaced out over at least three days -- again, to replicate class discussion as much as possible. Each should be, at minimum, 100 words each.

All comments on classmates' blog posts, as well as replies to classmates' comments on your blog posts, should follow effective rhetorical strategies for networking with others on the Web. (Readings from the course text provide guidelines to follow.)

Our activity online substitutes for in-person discussion in interesting (and sometimes deeper) ways. Of course, you are always welcome, and encouraged, to post beyond thsese minimum requirements. The course calendar includes reminders about meeting this ongoing obligation for participating in class discussion.

The format and focus of your weblog comments and replies is described fully in these Guidelines for Posting Comments and Replies. Please bear in mind that your online interaction is the glue that holds the course together, makes collobaration possible, and helps you achieve the course goals. For these reasons--and because we are not meeting F2F--your engagement in these online discussions will require serious and consistent attention throughout the course. It won't be possible to make up missed postings later since the discussion will have already moved on.

(Individual, 25% of course grade)

Grading

Quick Guide Project

25

White Paper Project (collaborative)

25

Technical Marketing Materials Project (collaborative)

25

Weblogs, Reading Responses, Project Logs, etc.

25

Total

100%

The three major projects in the course will be comprised of several components, each of which will be worth a percentage of your final grade. For the two collaborative projects, students will complete the required Collaborative Evaluation Form.

All major assignments will be graded on the standard letter-grade scale: A=100-90 B=89-80 C=79-70 D=69-60 F=59 or below.

Students must participate in all of the three major projects and complete a majority of the required weblog posting assignments in order to pass this class.

Class Participation, Reading Responses, Peer Reviews

This portion of your grade will be based on

Revisions

You will have an opportunity to revise the first two major projects twice, and the final project once, subject to the following guidelines:

Technology Requirements

In order to participate fully in the course, you should already be able to use the technology platform and applications listed below.

Technology Responsibilities

Because the exchange of information and documents in this class will be entirely electronic, familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success in the course. If you need any assistance now or at any point during the semester, please do not hesitate to ask.

During the semester, you'll need daily access to the Internet and email. Because the course home page is the main locus of the class community, you are responsible for reading and keeping current with all weblog postings on the home page, including those submitted by both the instructor and your fellow students. You'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials, to read course email and participate in online discussions, and to submit your work. Very early in the semester, you will be asked to demonstrate that you can meet these responsibilities:

If at any time you have problems accessing the Internet from home, you'll need to find a public lab or connection point. Problems with computers will not be an excuse for falling behind or failing to complete required assignments. If your Internet goes down, use another computer. If your computer breaks, use another computer. In other words, find a way to complete the assignments on time. Because computer problems are a fact of life, always work to complete your assignments early and make frequent backups to multiple media.

Course Technologies

Collaborative Work

Collaborative work is a required component of the course. You and your project team members are responsible for updating one another and me about assignment development and progress. In addition, you also are responsible for negotiating together all aspects of your work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of assignments. When a collaborative project is assigned, you will receive explicit guidelines for successful collaboration. Individual group members will complete collaborative evaluation forms. For more information about good principles of collaboration, see the brochure, Group Work and Collaborative Writing <http://dhc.ucdavis.edu/vohs/>.

Attendance

Since this is an online course, your attendance at a physical location is not required. However, you will need to demonstrate active involvement in the course activities by keeping up with reading responses, project logs, and other coursework. You will also need to respond to course email promptly to ensure that good communication flows in all directions. More than one continuous week of absence from course activities is grounds for failure of the class. If you disappear for a few days here, another few days there, and some more later, then your final grade may be lowered, and you will likely see your class participation suffer and your collaboration fail. In addition, if you are frequently "absent" from the online discussions (i.e., you fail to post for several days at a time), your final grade may be lowered.

Academic Integrity

Purdue students and their instructors are expected to adhere to guidelines set forth by the Dean of Students in "Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students," which students are encouraged to read here:

http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/services/gradeappeals.htm

The preamble of this guide states the following: "Purdue University values intellectual integrity and the highest standards of academic conduct. To be prepared to meet societal needs as leaders and role models, students must be educated in an ethical learning environment that promotes a high standard of honor in scholastic work. Academic dishonesty undermines institutional integrity and threatens the academic fabric of Purdue University. Dishonesty is not an acceptable avenue to success. It diminishes the quality of a Purdue education, which is valued because of Purdue's high academic standards."

Academic dishonesty is defined as follows: "Purdue prohibits "dishonesty in connection with any University activity. Cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty." [University Regulations, Part V, Section III, B, 2, a] Furthermore, the University Senate has stipulated that "the commitment of acts of cheating, lying, and deceit in any of their diverse forms (such as the use of substitutes for taking examinations, the use of illegal cribs, plagiarism, and copying during examinations) is dishonest and must not be tolerated. Moreover, knowingly to aid and abet, directly or indirectly, other parties in committing dishonest acts is in itself dishonest." [University Senate Document 72-18, December 15, 1972]"

IMPORTANT: I will assign a grade of F (zero) to written work that violates this policy, and reserve the right to fail policy violators for the course. I also reserve the right to initiate proceedings with the Dean of Students, for particularly egregious cases of academic dishonesty. If you have any questions about this policy, please ask.

In Case of a Campus Emergency

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances. You can acquire updated information from the course website, by emailing me, or by contacting me through the English Department at 765-494-3740.

Late Work

The instructor will stick closely to the course calendar -- it is important that you keep up. When possible, you may certainly complete assignments early, but you must complete them on time. Much of what you do for this class quickly leads to another assignment. And often, your postings and comments are part of a larger discussion that will not wait for you. It will also be difficult for you to do your part in group projects if you miss assigned deadlines. Thus, the majority of missed class assignments cannot be made up. If a serious and unavoidable problem arises, however, you should contact your instructor by email prior to the deadline to determine whether or not an extension for the work will or will not be granted. Late work will rarely, if ever, be accepted without prior approval.

Calendar

Follow the links at the bottom of this page for a schedule of assignments for each week this semester. Within each week, you will find daily listings of assignments. Each bullet point for the day is a different task for you to complete. Unless specifically noted otherwise, all assignments are to be completed by midnight on the day listed.

This course calendar may be updated throughout the semester. I'll notify you about any major changes, but you are still responsible for keeping up with the current schedule.

IMPORTANT: You must visit all of the links provided within the course calendar. There are many links to follow and read. Make sure you visit all of them. Some links provide easy access to other parts of the class site which will help you in your assignments. Some links are to required readings. Others provide you with detailed instructions on completing the assignments. Eventually, you may come to know the instructions which supplement assignments that are repeated throughout the course, but it's still a good idea to continue to revisit the instructions to make sure that you are satisfying all of the requirements.

Week 1

By Monday, January 7, at midnight

  • If you have not done so already, read Welcome to English 421Y, Technical Writing (Distance Learning).
  • Complete Getting Started 1: Registering on the Site
  • Review carefully the Course Description, paying particular attention to all requirements. It is important that you become very familiar with the course policies so you can understand what is expected of you in this class. It might be best if you read through the course description twice; ignorance of the course policies will not be an excuse for failure to properly complete an assignment. Please do not fall behind on the first day. This course will proceed at a quick pace, so don't wait a few days to get going!
  • Read Learning to Navigate the Site. Then explore the class website. Make sure that you login; some class website features are not available to guests. It'll be easier as we move forward if you take the time now to explore. Get familiar with where things are located, which links take you further into the class website and which take you outside to other resources.
  • Read through the rest of this page so that you know when assignments are due the rest of the week.

By Wednesday, January 9, at midnight

  • Now that you have had a chance to read the course description and explore the class website, email me with a note to let me know that you have finished registering for the course. Your email should include a subject line, a greeting, a short message, and your real (full) name. It is important that you complete this task so that you know how to get in touch with me.
  • Complete Getting Started 2: Logging in for the First Time and Getting Started 3: Editing Your Account for the First Time
  • Review How to Post to Your Individual Weblog and then "How to Post Comments and Replies"
  • The instructor will create a post on the course home page inviting everyone to introduce themselves. Post a comment to that post in which you

    describe where you are from
    give your course of study and year
    talk about your career goals
    tell what you would like to get out of this course
    share at least one thing personal about yourself (a hobby, your favorite sport, a favorite activity, etc.

  • Reminder: As you work on assignments for this course, always read ahead a few days to give yourself time to ask questions about future assignments.

By Friday, January 11 at midnight

  • You should have purchased the course textbook by today: Technical Communication Today, 2/e, by Richard Johnson-Sheehan. This book is available at local bookstores and may also be purchased online (e.g., through Amazon).
  • Familiarize yourself with the content and structure of Technical Communication Today. Scan the frontmatter (including the the table of contents) and the backmatter  so that you know what the book contains.

Check out Week 2. No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, contact the instructor.

Week 2

Week 2

By Monday, January 14 at midnight


Topic:
  • Introduction: Quick Guide Project
  • NOTE: Software program assignments have been posted on the index page of the course website -- click on English 421Y -- Technical Writing Online to access that page.
Reading:

By Wednesday, January 16 at midnight.


Topic: Product research and software documentation
Reading:
  • Web-based information about your assigned software program -- website addresses will be given to you when you receive information about your assigned program.

Reading Response, AKA Blogging Assignment

  • Post a reading response to your individual blog. Suggested Prompts -- choose one: 1) How might writing for the workplace differ from writing in college? Describe some of the important ways that writing functions in the workplace or other professional contexts. How do Gareth's tips help you understand these differences? Why do you think writing is such an important component of effective business practice? 2) In light of our work for the past two class sessions on the Quick Guide Project, discuss your observations regarding at least two potential benefits of creating software documentation, as well as two possible challenges that you'll face in completing this project. Be sure to frame your responses in relation to the importance of reader-centered communication within technical writing as a whole, and task-centered communication within software documentation in particular. 3) Discuss your choice of two reasons (excuses?) mentioned within "Not Doing It By the Book" (reading for Friday) that we neglect to read -- or downright ignore -- manuals, instructions, quick guides, etc. that are packaged with the products with which we're supposed to use these items. What makes these two reasons compelling, or at least worthy of further reflection? To what degree do these reasons apply to you, and/or people you know (if applicable)? How do you plan to incorporate the insights presented within the article -- as well as your personal experiences -- within the documentation you'll create for the Quick Guide Project? Post your response to one of these prompts to your individual blog by Friday night at midnight.
  • Since this is your first time completing a blogging assignment, you'll want to follow the tutorial for using the class site software, How to Post to Your Individual Weblog. Use the tag "Reading Response 1" in the category field.

By Friday, January 18 at midnight


Topic: Audience analysis and software documentation
Reading:
Student responsibilities:

  • Sometime before Monday at midnight, read some of your classmates' blog posts on Gareth's Tips for Sucks-Less Writing. Post comments to at least two classmates' blog posts in which you respond to their observations. Remember, click on each post's title so that the entire post and the "add new comment" link appear. Be sure to post your comments onto each classmate's post -- not as a separate post appearing on your blog! Comments should be posted to each classmate's blog by Monday at midnight. NOTE: Subsequent comments will be spread out over a period of a few days. For a refresher on how commenting on classmates' blog posts enhances everyone's engagement with course-related concepts, visit the Posting Initial Comments page. For a refresher on how to post your comments, so that they go to the right place, visit the How to Post Comments page.

Check out Week 3 . No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, contact the instructor.

Week 3

Monday, January 21 is MLK Jr. Day

No activities scheduled

By Wednesday, January 23 at midnight


Topic: Writing and designing software documentation

Reading:
Student responsibilities:
  • Post completed doc specs as a PDF attachment to your "deliverables" blog entry by midnight tonight. Remember, you should title this blog post "Quick Guide Project deliverables," or something similar, since you will attach all project deliverables to this post.

By Friday, January 25 at midnight

Topic: Introduction to usability testing

Reading:

Student responsibilities:

  • Post a draft of your documentation to your deliverables blog -- the same post onto which you attached your document specifications -- by Sunday at midnight. That way, your draft will be available for Monday's scheduled documentation review session.
  • Using the sample usability questionnaire as a guide, design a questionnaire for your documentation that your assigned tester will complete before doing documentation review for your quick guide. Post your questionnaire to your deliverables blog by Sunday at midnight.

Check out Week 4 . No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, contact the instructor.

Week 4

Week 4

By Monday, January 28 at midnight

Today's topic: Documentation review (activity)


Student responsibilities:

  • Writers: Administer usability questionnaires to assigned testers before testers begin documentation review.
  • Testers: E-mail completed usability questionnaires to assigned writers before beginning documentation review.
  • Testers: Post your documentation review feedback as a comment on your assigned writer's deliverables blog by midnight tonight. For details regarding what to look for within quick guide drafts, consult the documentation review guide.
  • Writers: Use your assigned tester's feedback to revise your quick guide, and post your revised quick guide to your deliverables blog by Tuesday at midnight (so that your assigned tester can access this revised documentation in time for Wednesday's scheduled usability testing activity)

Reading response/activity blogging assignment:
Now that you've been working on your quick guide drafts for several days, I would like you to assess your progress with this project, as well as your participation in project-related activities. Choose ONE of the following prompts to respond to:
  • How has this project's need for clear, concise writing helped you learn more about writing for an audience consisting of many and varied users? What has been the most challenging aspect of writing and designing your document to meet minimum usability standards?
  • How has documentation review and usability testing helped you learn more about writing and designing software documentation? How has it helped you learn more about your perspective on, and use of, technology?
  • How has completing documentation review and usability testing for someone else's quick guide influenced revisions you plan to make to your own quick guide? If applicable, to what degree has your testing partner's documentation motivated you to learn more about that program and/or apply that program to documents/projects you will complete for academic courses and/or in the workplace?
Post your response to your individual blog by Friday at midnight.

 

By Wednesday, January 30 at midnight

Today's topic: Usability testing (activity)

Reading:

Student responsibilities:

  • Testers: Complete usability testing on your assigned writer's documentation, and post your feedback as a comment on the writer's deliverables blog by midnight tonight.
  • Writers: Read your assigned tester's feedback from usability testing, and use this information to compile a usability testing report. Complete your usability testing report by Friday at midnight.

 

By Friday, February 1 at midnight

Today's topic: Completion/revision of Quick Guide Project deliverables (activity)

  • Post your response to your choice of this week's blogging prompts to your individual blog by midnight tonight.

Check out Week 5 . No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, email the instructor.

Week 5

By Monday, February 4 at midnight

Today's topic: Introduction to the White Paper Project

Reading

White paper resources

Open source resources
Then:
Complete a short questionnaire regarding your familarity with open source technologies and project topic interests. First, describe your knowledge of open source technologies. Then rate yourself on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) on each of the following:
  • Writing
  • Document design
  • Product research
  • Audience analysis
  • Project management

Finally, rate your interests in the following project categories (5=most interested, 1=least interested)

  • Technology
  • Industry
  • Business
  • Government
  • Science
  • Education
  • Nonprofit organizations

Based on your responses, I will place each of you into a 3-4 member team for Project 2. Post your responses to an individual blog post by midnight tonight. You will be placed into groups by noon Wednesday.

Reading Response

Post a reading response by Friday at midnight. Suggested Prompts: 1) Discuss your initial thoughts regarding white papers and/or open source technologies. What do you hope to learn from this project? At this point, what do you see as this project's most challenging aspect? How do you plan to approach this aspect -- for the project's sake and for the sake of your own learning/discovery? 2) Discuss within a blog post your reactions to each of the three sample white papers (see Thursday's reading). Which one seems the most "professional"? Which one seems the most "knowledgeable"? Which one seems the most "credible"? Which one seems the most "accessible"? 3) How does the concept of open source challenge or support traditional ideals of progress, democracy, capitalism, copyright, or intellectual property?

DUE: Quick Guide Project (attach all project deliverables to the same blog post!)

 

By Wednesday, February 6 at midnight

 

Project Groups. I will have placed each of you into a group for Project 2 by noon today. Look for group placements to be posted to the course website by that time; then, by clicking on the members link, locate the e-mail addresses for each group member and send a brief introduction of yourself. You should consider sharing alternate email, IM, phone number, and any other contact information you feel is relevant for collaborating and communicating in Project 2. From this point on, the group is responsible for keeping in contact with each other and communicating as necessary to complete the project.

Begin working in your white paper groups -- and develop a project topic/focus by this Friday. Here's what you'll need to do by then:

  • Develop an original white paper topic on electronic communication in the workplace -- or at least narrow down your choices to no more than three possible topics.
  • Research some on the topic(s) and prepare a 250-300 word description of the topic(s) as a team story post.
  • Post your topic discussion as a story to the class website home page. Include with the topic discussion the usernames of all group members -- and, if you have one, a working title for your project.

Reading

Here are some additional open-source-related readings:

Scan each of the following sources of information regarding open source (hereafter referred to as OS) and open source software (OSS):

Here are a few links to some high-profile "collaborations" between open-source projects and manufacturers of proprietary programs/technologies:

 

By Friday, February 8 at midnight

Read the following:

  • Lecture notes regarding the white paper genre, and related concepts

After reading my "lecture notes," look at these sample white papers:

 

 

Week 6

REMINDER: You will need to post 5 comments/replies to last week's blog posts sometime this week (preferably before Friday). Please post your comments/replies as Comments to your classmates' blog posts, or as Comments to your classmates' comments on your blog post.

 

Monday, February 11

Topic: White papers, as a genre

  • history
  • applications
  • research/argument base
  • target audiences

Reading:

Wednesday, February 13

Topic: White paper genre, cont.
Reading: lecture notes on the following white paper concepts
  • Organization
  • Document design
  • Use of visuals
  • Publication
  • Usability issues
  • Authorship issues
Blogging assignments:
After reading my lecture notes, please browse the following sample white papers and consider how effectively -- or ineffectively -- they incorporate each of the white paper concepts listed above:
Post your response to your individual blog by Friday at midnight.
In addition, each group will create a detailed group blog post about the white paper category/topic you have chosen. Discuss the following, as best as you are able:
  • Why you have chosen this category/topic of white paper?
  • What would you guess these kinds of white papers tend to discuss?
  • Who is your intended target audience?
  • What are this audience's "characteristics"? What kinds of reasons might this target audience have for accessing your white paper?
  • What do you anticipate your target audience doing with the information you provide within your white paper?
  • What is the specific position/argument that you plan to present within your white paper?
  • How do you plan to advance this position, given the characterstics of your identified target audience?
Post your group's response as a story (click on the Create Content link, and then click on Story) by Friday at midnight.
Friday, February 15
Research and the White Paper, part 1: Identifying and articulating an argument/position (with emphasis on information and target audience characteristics)
Reading

 

Week 7

REMINDER: You will need to post 5 comments/replies to last week's blog posts sometime this week (preferably before Friday). Please post your comments/replies as Comments to your classmates' blog posts, or as Comments to your classmates' comments on your blog post.

 

Monday, February 18

Research and the White Paper, part 2: identification/selection/analysis of sources, research methodologies, audiences, and points of access

 

Reading

  • Review Chapter 7, Technical Communication Today

Browse the following examples:

Current events
Source types

 

Blogging assignment:
  • Post to your blog at least three (3) sources useful for your group's white paper. Be sure to use sources not yet reported by your group members. You must include all citation information in MLA or APA format; double-check URLs to make sure they work. Include an annotation for each of no less than 150 words in which you note the key concepts from the source. You might also address the credibility of the source and rank (and justify) its overall usefulness for the paper. While the minimum word count is 150 words, you could certainly write much more and take effective notes to share with your group members.
  • Include within your response a discussion of the writing situation and the target audience for your group's white paper.
  • Post this response to your individual blog by Wednesday at midnight.
Proposals are due tonight by midnight. Post your proposal as a story to the course website.

 

Wednesday, February 20

Research and the white paper, part 3: MLA, APA, and CGOS (online) styles

Reading:

Friday, February 22

Crafting engaging prose, while making your point

Reading:

  • Lecture notes on the following sample white papers:

Annotated bibliographies are due tonight by midnight. Post your annotated bibliography to the story post containing your proposal.

Week 8

REMINDER: You will need to post 5 comments/replies to last week's blog posts sometime this week (preferably before Friday). Please post your comments/replies as Comments to your classmates' blog posts, or as Comments to your classmates' comments on your blog post.

 

Monday, February 25: 

 

"In-class" work:  White Paper Project, draft 1 

 

By Wednesday, February 27, at midnight

 

"In-class" work: White Paper Project, draft 1

  • Please post a complete draft of your white paper to the same story post containing your other deliverables by Thursday at midnight, so that your assigned peer-review team can access your draft during this Friday's peer review session.

 

By Friday, February 29, at midnight

 

Peer review: White Paper Project

  • Each individual group member will post feedback as a comment on the blog post carrying your assigned group's White Paper Project deliverables by midnight tonight.

Week 9

 

REMINDER: You will need to post 5 comments/replies to last week's blog posts sometime this week (preferably before Friday). Please post your comments/replies as Comments to your classmates' blog posts, or as Comments to your classmates' comments on your blog post.

Monday, March 3

Topic: Implementing visuals into the white paper

Reading

  • Chapter 11, Technical Communication Today

 

Blogging assignment

  • Discuss at least two kinds of visuals that you plan to incorporate into Draft 2 of your white paper. What kinds of information will be presented? How will these visuals communicate information in ways that text might not be able to handle as effectively? How will these visuals enhance your target audience's understanding of the issues you address within your white paper? Post your response to your individual blog by midnight Friday.

 

Wednesday, March 5

Document design and the white paper

Reading

 

Friday, March 7

Review of writing styles for white papers

DUE: Draft 1, white paper

Week 10

March 10-12-14
No class: spring break
Monday, March 17
In-class topic: Introduction to the Technical Marketing Project
Scan the following items:

Blogging assignment:

In an individual blog post, discuss your initial reactions regarding the Technical Marketing Project. Post your response to your blog by midnight Friday.

Wednesday, March 19
"In-class" activity: contact members of Technical Marketing Project group (same people as the White Paper Project), to discuss project topic interests/preferences
Reading:
  • Review Chapter 9, Technical Communication Today (read each section with the Technical Marketing Project in mind)
  • Activity description posted to the front page of the course website
Remember to complete an individual project log for the Technical Marketing Project this week in your blog. Also, continue to keep weekly project logs for the White Paper Project. These are each due every Friday at midnight.

Friday, March 21
Research and technical marketing documents -- products/manufacturers
Reading:
  • Review Chapters 5-7, Technical Communication Today

Scan the following online documents

Each individual group member will:
  • Find some additional resources on your topic. Consider some of the following
    • Visting the main site for the product you are writing about to see if there are additional resources that will assist your group with the project.
    • Use Google and search for reviews about the product (try including reviews as a keyword in your search).
    • Use Google to find some criticism of the product (try using "criticism" as a keyword in your search). See if you can address this criticism.
  • Take notes from your research.
  • Post these notes to your blog by midnight Monday. Share the URL for your post with your group members by email.

Week 11

Monday, March 24
Research and technical marketing documents: target audiences
Reading:
Scan the following items:
Marketing websites
Demographics research articles, blogs, etc.
From Bose

Other products

Each student will:
Respond to the following prompt: Now that we've looked at emphases on products, manufacturers, and target audiences, consider the following scenario: You are developing technical marketing communication for a large RV that gets 8-10 miles per gallon on the highway -- and gas prices have increased, again. They're now at $2.88 a gallon. With news reports and studies showing that consumers are ditching large SUVs for smaller, more fuel-efficient cross-over vehicles, what kind of emphasis will you use to market this RV? Post your response to your blog by midnight Friday.
 
DUE:  Draft 2, White Paper Project 
 
Wednesday, March 26
Rhetoric of technical marketing documents: prose styles
Read:
  • Review Chapter 9, Technical Communication Today
  • Lecture notes (referenced in this week's Instructor's blog)
Remember to complete an individual project log this week in your blog. These are due every Friday at midnight.
Each student will:
  • Respond to the following prompt: Below is a list of 10 words. Use one word to describe the most immediate association that you make with each listed word; then list one product or product manufacturer that comes to mind with each associated word. After completing that part of the exercise, discuss in 50 words or so how your responses reflect the goals of technical marketing communication that we've discussed so far.
    • Innovative
    • Stylish
    • Unique
    • Traditional
    • Durable
    • Effective
    • Enduring
    • Advanced
    • Endorsed
    • Convenient
    • Standard
    • Re-designed
    • Elegant
    • Simple
    • Intricate
    • Clever
    • Intelligent
    • Revolutionary
Friday, March 28
Rhetoric of technical marketing documents: images
Read:
  • Review Chapter 11, Technical Communication Today
DUE: Draft 2, White Paper Project

Week 12

Monday, March 31
Topic: demographics and marketing

Scan:
From ABCNews.com
Other resources
Blogging assignment:
Respond to the following prompt and post to your blog by midnight Friday: Take a look at any of the sample technical marketing documents posted to the course calendar for the previous couple of weeks. To what degree, if any, does this "additional" information change any of the perspectives you'd had regarding the document? To what degree, if any, does this "additional" information reinforce any of the perspectives you'd had regarding the document? To what degree, if any, does this "additional" information have you questioning, or re-examining, the writers'/designers' apparent reasons for presenting the document in the way that they did? If applicable to the document you've examined, to what degree does this "additional" information clarify -- or obscure -- the document's presentation?
Wednesday, April 2
Topic: Document design and technical marketing documents
Read:
  • Chapter 10, Technical Communication Today
Remember to complete an individual project log this week in your blog. These are due every Friday at 11 pm.
Friday, April 4
Topic: Document design and technical marketing documents, cont.

Scan:

Each individual will:

  • Consider your choice of one of the sample documents from this week's class sessions, and respond to the following prompt within a blog post: Now that you've had some time to consider both rhetorical and document design issues, what are your overall perceptions regarding selection and presentation of information within the document you've chosen? Are there specific attributes -- rhetorical or design-based -- that strike you as being particularly positive or negative? How has attention paid to rhetorical/design-oriented details enhanced the document -- or how has the lack of such attention detracted from the document? Be sure to mention specific examples from your chosen document! Post your response to your individual blog by 11 pm tonight.

Each group will:

  • Complete a group-authored story post, in which you discuss your plans regarding document design for your technical marketing document. In doing so, address the kinds of specific tasks, involving specific software programs, that you plan to complete when creating your technical marketing document. Post your response as a story to the course website by midnight Monday.

Week 13

Monday, April 7
Topic: using desktop publishing software
Activity: Browse through templates in Microsoft Publisher and/or Adobe InDesign
Wednesday, April 9
Activity: practice with desktop publishing templates
Read/use the following InDesign tutorials, as applicable to your group's technical marketing document:
Blogging assignment
  • Discuss a situation involving work with a document template -- either during today's class, or on a different occasion -- during which you encountered a task, a toolbar, a menu item, a palette, etc. that was not intuitive in its completion method and/or its location/presentation on screen or within the program.
    • First, how did this "problem" present itself ?
    • Second, how did you react to the situation? Did you use the trial and error method to "fix" it and/or actually go into the program to learn how to work with that particular item? Did you try to work around the problem, perhaps by incorporating it into your work or deleting/moving the item in question? Did you choose a different template? Did you "abandon" the program altogether, in favor of programs with which you're more familiar?
    • Third, what factors led to your decision -- and how would you assess the consequences/outcome in regard to this particular document/project, as well as your approach to templates, in general?
    • Finally, to what extent would you agree or disagree that such difficulties constitute a misrepresentation of the advertised benefits of document templates? Again, these often-cited benefits include allowing novice users and those with limited time and resources to benefit from a program's specialized capabilities through the use of prefabricated document structure/design elements -- while still being able to customize these documents with "standard," "intuitively-located" text, color, and image-editing options.
Post your response to your individual blog by Friday at midnight.
Remember to complete an individual project log this week in your blog. These will be due every Friday at midnight.
Friday, April 11
Production issues: technical marketing documents
Read my "lecture notes" on production and the technical marketing document
Also, read/use the following tutorials, as applicable to your group's technical marketing document

Week 14

Monday, April 14

Activity: Work on Draft 3 of your white papers -- which will be due by midnight on Tuesday, April 15 for peer review on Wednesday, April 16

Wednesday, April 16

Peer review: technical marketing documents

Friday, April 18

"In-class" work: technical marketing documents

DUE: technical marketing documents (by midnight)

Week 15

Monday, April 21

 

In-class work: white paper groups (revisions)

Wednesday, April 23

In-class work: technical marketing groups (revisions)

Friday, April 25
Course wrap-up
NOTE: Final revisions of the white paper and technical marketing document are due on the date specified within e-mail feedback
Each individual White Paper Project group member will:
  • Complete a peer collaboration evaluation for the White Paper Project (attached to the bottom of this page). Send your completed evaluation form to clark9@purdue.edu no sooner than 24 hours before your group e-mails its final revision of the white paper.
Each individual Technical Marketing Project group member will:
  • Complete a peer collaboration evaluation for the Technical Marketing Project (attached to the bottom of this page). Send your completed form to clark9@purdue.edu no sooner than 24 hours before your group e-mails its final revision of the technical marketing document.

Week 16

Monday, April 28

Remember to complete an individual project log this week in your blog! Please do separate project logs for White Paper Project revisions and for the Marketing Materials Project.

Each White Paper Project group will:

  • Work on final revisions of the white paper during class time today
Each Technical Marketing Project group will:
  • Submit a hard copy of its technical marketing document
  • Post an electronic copy of its technical marketing document as a story to the course website, if you haven't done so already

Wednesday, April 30

Each Technical Marketing Project group will:

  • Work on revisions of the technical marketing document during class time today

Friday, May 2

Course wrap-up
Each individual White Paper Project group member will:
  • Complete a peer collaboration evaluation for the White Paper Project (attached to the bottom of this page). Send your completed evaluation form to clark9@purdue.edu no sooner than 24 hours before your group e-mails its final revision of the white paper.
Each individual Technical Marketing Project group member will:
  • Complete a peer collaboration evaluation for the Technical Marketing Project (attached to the bottom of this page). Send your completed form to clark9@purdue.edu no sooner than 24 hours before your group e-mails its final revision of the technical marketing document.

Each individual will

  • Complete the end of the semester technology survey (attached to the bottom of this document)

Finally: Congratulations -- you're done! Have a good break and/or graduation -- and enjoy the holidays!

Guidelines, Handouts, and Support

This section of the course syllabus contains additional guidelines for completing assignments and support materials for using this site.

Creating Avatars and Images for Your Profile

Some of you may be in search of an avatar or image to use in the profile that you created for yourself when you registered. If so, here are some suggestions:

An avatar is just an image that "stands-in" for your picture and can be an object, artwork, a photo, or something else that might convey some aspect of your identity, personality, or interests. So, for example, someone interested in biking might use an image of a bike as an avatar rather than a personal picture. The image works best if it's in jpg, gif, or png format, and the dimensions should be (about) 85x85 so that it displays correctly (and doesn't get squished when displayed, for example).

To find an existing avatar to use for free, you could look at a site like these. If you have a Yahoo! ID (free to get, if not), you can get some nice ones:

http://avatars.yahoo.com/

or try

http://www.avatarity.com/

You could also take an existing image of yourself and then create a picture by cropping out the part you don't want. If you haven't used an image editing program before, that can be a bit tricky. But if you have, just use the crop tool to draw a box around the part of the image you want to use, crop it, and then resize it so that it's about 85x85 pixels.

If you have a larger photo and would like help to make it into an avatar, send it to your instructor as an email attachment. Your instructor can help you from there.

Creating Hyperlinks

For this class, you'll have to learn at least one HTML tag, the one for making hyperlinks.

It's easy to learn. Check it out:

  1. Make sure that your rich-text editor is enabled. Click on enable rich-text below the Body box.
  2. Highlight the text you want to turn into a link.
  3. In the buttons below the Body box, click on the chain link button.
  4. This box should appear.
  5. In the Link URL box, cut and paste your full URL there. Then click on insert.

Your link will now show up in your test.

Here is how you make links in traditional HTML coding. Still easy, but it doesn't show up with our rich-text settings and input format.

<a href=""></a>

is the tag itself without any information in it. Within the quotes, you'll put the url, or web address, for the site which you want to link to. In between the ><, you'll put the text you want displayed on the screen.

For example, the url for slashdot is http://slashdot.org/. And if you want to make the word Slashdot a link in a sentence to the website in a blog post, type in,

<a href="http://slashdot.org/">Slashdot</a> is a well known community blog site.

To get

Slashdot is a well known community blog site.

HTML is picky and it's easy to make a careless mistake. Don't include any extra spaces in the HTML tag. Make sure that you include "http://" as a part of your web address. In fact, one of the easiest ways to make sure that you get the URL correct is to copy and paste it from the address bar of a browser window currently displaying the page.

See? Not too difficult. But there's one more thing . . . .

Avoid merely posting the URL as a link:

http://slashdot.org

Notice how this doesn't convey much information. Better to have put the page title (often found either on the page or in the window bar at the top) or link to part of your text (think of the examples in this site). At the same time, really long URL's won't word wrap at the end of a line. They may cause problems with the way that text is displayed on web pages.

For review, check out Chapter 30 in The Thomson Handbook, "The Basics of HTML Coding" (p. 664).

Creating PDF Files

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format created by Adobe Acrobat and useful for sharing printer ready versions of documents. Unlike when files are shared between different productivity applications (i.e., word processing, spreadsheet) or different versions of the same productivity software, the same layout and typographic styles are maintained regardless of the computer environment. What the author sees when creating a PDF is exactly what the receiver of the file sees and can print out on their computer. Consequently, PDFs are particularly useful for sending resumes, cover letters, and other business documents where layout and presentation is critica. Writers want all of the effort they put into formatting professional-looking documents to be maintained.

PDFs are typically viewed using Adobe Reader (which is free to download). However, Adobe Reader will not produce PDFs. As you will soon be submitting drafts of cover letters, resumes, and other documents in PDF format, make sure that you can successfully generate a PDF using one of the following means:

  • Adobe Acrobat Professional, Standard, or Elements are three versions of Adobe's productivity program for producing PDF files. These programs are not free and do not generally come installed when purchasing a computer. However, some public computer labs (i.e., most of Purdue University's main campus labs) may have Acrobat Professional installed. When Acrobat Professional is available, from your word processor or browser (or any screen that can be printed), select File -> Print. On a PC, you will be able to select, under Printer Name, "Adobe PDF" instead of sending your file to a printer. (See the figure below.) On a Mac, you will see a button "Save as PDF" on the print dialog box. In both cases, you will be asked where you want the created PDF to be stored.

  • Adobe offers a free PDF trial service online. However, you may need to produce PDF's more than allowed by the free trial.
  • CutePDF is a free application which you can download and install on your home computer.
  • Google Docs: You can use these free applications (word processor, spreadsheet, and more) for collaboration and, conveniently, to export a document file to PDF format. (Upload your Word document, for example, then export it as PDF later.)
  • OpenOffice is a free, full-featured, open source office productivity suite comparable to Microsoft Office that has PDF generation built in. From within OpenOffice, choose File->Export as pdf

Eliciting Good Response

Imagine the following scenario:

You have a great idea for a project for your department at work. Because it will require significant resources and funding, the senior manager in your department has asked you to prepare a ten-page proposal.

After working on the proposal for a while, the senior manager sends you an email requesting to see your draft in progress. The proposal is far from complete, but you fire off a reply saying "Here is my working draft," and attach it. The next day, you receive another email from the senior manager full of feedback which you are obligated to take. However, the feedback asks you to revise your proposal in new directions, quite contrary to what you had planned, effectively taking over the direction of the proposal. You now have to discard many good ideas you had for development. Those sections where you knew you needed the most help--they were not addressed at all.

This happens all the time in getting response to our writing. We get proofreading corrections when we need ideas; we get heavy revision suggestions when the draft needs to be proofread to meet a deadline.

To elicit useful and focused responses from readers (during peer review, for example), we must solicit good response. In the above scenario, if the writer had explained to the senior manager where she needed help in the draft and what her plans were for further development, it's quite possible that the feedback would have been more focused and helpful. So when asking for feedback on a document, explain to the responder

  • your concerns about the current state of the draft (i.e., where, specifically, you need help)
  • where you are in the process of drafting (i.e., ready to polish to meet a deadline, planning to do more revision)
  • your target audience
  • any plans you might have for further development of the text

Once you've defined your needs, your reviewer is more likely to shape their feedback effectively for you. As a reviewer, it's much easier to address the writer's concerns than to try to guess what might or might not be useful to the writer.

Five Steps of Storyboarding

  1. Find or create a storyboard template that you can use to draft your outline, like the one attached to this post..
  2. Each frame of your storyboard should represent a unique page, a step in a sequence, or some other individual component of your work (such as a PowerPoint or Keynote slide, a keyframe in Flash, or a Web page).
  3. In each frame, identify your content. Use shorthand to describe the content (including images and audio) that you want to include and approximately where it should be placed, as in the example below.
  4. Add notes to each frame in your storyboard on design, source files, material, and anything else that will help you remember what each frame should contain and how it should be presented.
  5. When you have completed a rough draft of your storyboard, read back through it to see whether it has an order that makes sense and includes the multimedia you want to use. Move frames around as necessary.

How to Post Comments and Replies

Posting comments, as you will soon see, is easier than creating and sending an email.

  1. You must be logged in to the site in order to post comments.
  2. While you can click on the add new comment link on any post from the course home page, instead, first click on the title to access the full post and all comments. Always make sure you view the full post first. There may already be a comment conversation thread begun about what you are interested in discussing. Rather than starting a new thread, join in the existing one.
  3. Choose add new comment to reply directly to the main blog post and start a new thread or reply to respond to an individual comment.

    If you don't see an add new comment link, you are most likely not logged in.

  4. Enter a title for your post in the Subject field. Your title should describe the content of your post. If you do not enter a title, the system will automatically use the first few words of your comment post.
  5. Enter the text of your comment in the Comment field. You may use plain text or some HTML. Some people may have the "enable rich text" link visible. If you use that feature, Drupal will give you a set of buttons much like a word processor's to help you input your message. Be careful to review your input, however, since this feature will do some strange things with your text on occasion.
  6. Click on "input format" to learn about your formatting options. Drupal will use a filter to convert line breaks and URLs when you select "Filtered HTML." If you want to format your posts nicely, include images, or insert more sophisticated HTML, then choose "Full HTML." Generally speaking, leave the Input format on Filtered HTML unless you have used HTML tags other than those allowed.
  7. Select Preview comment at the bottom of the page.
  8. Always review what you have written in preview mode. You will not be able to edit your comment once you have posted it.
  9. If you are ready to submit your comment, select Post comment at the bottom of the page. Don't forget this step! The most common way people lose posts is by forgetting to submit after previewing their comments or blog entries. If you have made changes to a post, preview it again.
  10. Verify that your comment has been posted. It should be visible on the page. If something went wrong, try using your back button to get to the input screen. Review and resubmit if it's still there.

Note: You can use the Comment viewing options to change the way that comments are displayed on the page. Experiment with this feature and see which configuration works best for you.

How to Post to Your Individual Weblog

Posting to your individual weblog is a little more complex than posting a comment, but after a couple of times, you'll find it as easy as email.

  1. You must be logged in to post to your weblog.
  2. From any page on the site, choose the create content link in the main navigation block on the left hand side. That will bring you to the create content page. [You can also click on the blogs link and then the "my blog" sublink.

  3. The first time you visit the create content page, read the descriptions under personal blog entry and story.
  4. To post to your individual weblog, choose blog entry. This will bring you to the Submit blog entry page.

  5. Review the Project Checklist in The Thomson Handbook on "Networking in Online Forums" (p. 627) to refresh your memory on posting successful weblog messages. (All of Chapter 28 would be a good review at this stage.)
  6. Enter a good Title for your post.
  7. Choose a Category tag for your post. You can use a standard one (like "Reading Response" or create one suggested in the prompt or that suits your content. You may use multiple tags.
  8. Enter the text of your post in the Body field. You may use plain text or some combination of HTML in creating this post.
  9. Leave the Input format on Filtered HTML unless you have used HTML tags other than those allowed.
  10. Under URL path settings, you can give your post a short and unique URL alias. For example, you might want to use "team3projectlog" to identify your team's project log. If you use that URL, the full path would be something like http://digitalparlor.org/up07/420Y/team3projectlog.
  11. Optional: If you need to attach a file,
    • Click on the File attachments link.
    • Use the Browse button to locate the file on your hard drive.
    • One you have located the file, click the Attach button.
    • A bar will show the progress of the upload . You should then see your attachment listed.
    12. <