Start by clicking  “Add New” under “Posts” or clicking “New Post” on the top bar. You’re now at the place where you can paste in a new article.  Click “Upload/Insert (photo icon)” above the editing box.  Once you’ve browsed for your photo and uploaded it, be sure to click the “edit images” button.

In the “Aspect ratio” boxes, type in “16″ and “9″.  Then put the cursor at thefarthest left or right portion of the photo, either the top or the bottom.  Hold down the “Shift” key as you drag across the photo.   The computer won’t allow the box to get any bigger than 16:9, so you may have to start over again until you get the right part of the photo within the box.

In the example below, I started with the photo you can see above.  As I held down “Shift” and dragged the cursor across, the computer filled in the picture sizes: 297 : 167.

Once that’s done, click “Save all changes” at the bottom of the page.

At the next screen, click “Show” next to your photo, and your opening screen will pop open again.  This time click the size you want it (medium or large is best) and select left, right or center.

Next click “Insert into post” and either continue inserting photos or select the appropriate category and click “Publish.”  (If you forget to select a category, the article and all your hard work won’t show up.  You’ll have to do a “quick edit” or “edit,” depending on which screen you’re on and select the category, before “Updating.”)

Be sure to add a caption.

If you can do it through PhotoShop or another program, go for it.  If you have to do it by hand, use this technique.

Open the photo in Office Picture Manager.  (Right click on the photo, click “Open with” and choose Office Picture Manager.)  Click “Edit Pictures” on the menu bar.  Check the width, copy that number down.

Open the calculator.  Multiply the width by 9.  Divide the resulting number by 16.  You have your new height.

Click on the photo to make it bigger, then click again. I knew I had to make the height 550, so I moved the crop handles until I got it to appear in "Picture Dimensions" "New." (The height will change there as you move the crop marks.)

Click “Crop.”  Raise and/or lower the top and bottom crop marks until you get the new height.  Click “OK.”  Click “Save.”

Now you can upload the photo and insert it.

Google images deserves credit for almost all the photos on this site.

Having to conform to this aspect ratio isn’t the greatest system in the world.  What can you do if you can’t crop any more from the top or bottom?  You have to at least get close – and don’t you dare try to squeeze or stretch.  Your photo will look terrible.

1) Paste in an article.

2) Save draft.

3) Upload/inert (photo icon).

a) Make sure the photo is sized with a 16:9 ratio aspect, like the one below.

The one above could have been done better.  You can see it’s a bit blurry.

b) Upon uploading, you can click the “edit image” button and you’ll be given editing options that won’t show up anywhere else.

c) The editing screen will show what the thumb nail will look like.  Be sure to click next to “Thumbnail.”

4)  You can choose the size you want the photo to run (full size is not a good idea for very large photos): thumbnail up to full size, as long as it has a set of numbers below it (# x #).

5)  Click on the “Insert into Post” button.

6)  Be sure you’ve selected something under “Categories,” which for the Exchange will include all the departments, such as Campus News.

7)  Click “Publish.”

You could also save the photo and then insert it later by going to the Library.

-click Posts — Add New

Paste in the article; make sure your byline is on it (the editor wi

ll add his or her byline below that); paste the blurb into the Excerpt box (below); come up with an appropriate tag (the best one word description for your story); select the appropriate category.  Then click Publish.

If you need to edit, go to Posts, click Edit and find your article.

If you have a photo, look above to Upload/Insert and click the first icon and go from there.

This is a class for someone who is willing to challenge him- or herself – for someone who wants a sense of accomplishment from learning a lot, contributing in a significant way to a team and to a newspaper (something that is read and commented on by a larger audience than classwork usually gets) and meeting high expectations.

This class is demanding, but not overly so.  It requires evening meetings every other week from roughly March on, as well as two weekend shift, among other things.  Any student who can’t meet these requirements shouldn’t take this course.

• Continued attendance in this class is evidence that you’re committing to meeting all the requirements.

This class is structured differently from all your other classes, so you’re expected to:

• keep track of your meetings
• know when your drafts and revisions are due, if you’re a J1 or J2
• have read the syllabus, work calendar and other essential documents

One of the most fundamental expectations of this course is professionalism.  It applies to all aspects of class an team work.  I feel it’s my responsibility to crack down hard on any form of slacking, since anyone who doesn’t learn to avoid it here will suffer terribly in the working world, and I don’t want that to happen.

This class also expects that all students will be effective self-directed learners.  When professor-directed activities are not underway, students will have the opportunity to research topics of interest.  J1s and J2s should keep track of those activities and the learning that results, in accordance with their syllabi.

(More to come.)