Using OpenSource Blogs and other LowCost Tools to

Using Open-Source Blogs (and other Low-Cost Tools) to Create Video-Based e. Learning Modules. Stephen Mau Website & e. Newsletter Communications The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Download this presentation at: http: //devcon. etfo. net

Workshop Description Have you got some video from a conference or workshop that you'd like to turn into online learning modules? Have you got little or no budget to accomplish this? In this workshop you will see how easy it is to install Wordpress and/or Simple PHP Blog with a low-cost hosting provider, and then use these to create interactive online learning modules. This session also demonstrates the use of low-cost tools for creating and displaying web-standard FLV videos on your blog site.

Workshop Agenda 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. About ETFO & Me ETFO Microsites – examples Tools Used Installing Wordpress Favourite WP plug -ins & software 6. 7. 8. Simple PHP Blog Converting & posting FLV videos Questions

About ETFO o o The professional and protective organization representing 73, 000 public elementary teachers and education workers (K -8) in the province of Ontario Provides the following services: n n Collective Bargaining Professional Counselling Equity & Women’s Services Professional Development

About Me o o Professional teacher Began teaching online 10 years ago Learned some web design Love wizards & WYSIWYG interfaces n o o o Why code if you don’t have to? Eclectic use of simple tools to create nice products Became an e-Learning consultant, then web content person Not a developer, a content person with power-user skills.

Past Limiters o Moving beyond HTML-based sites n n o Wordpress n n o Complicated install process for CMS No knowledge of setting up a My. SQL database with tables, etc. Limited knowledge of CSS and PHP Made it difficult to find the right theme for a site. The planets have aligned!

ETFO Microsites o o Main website: www. etfo. ca Have begun releasing microsites on Wordpress platform: n n n o http: //workingconditions. net http: //1000 moments. net http: //innoteach. net Plan to release more.

CMS Tools o Wordpress: n n o http: //wordpress. org Highly extensible blog and publishing platform Many plugins Requires My. SQL database Artisteer for Wordpress n n n http: //www. artisteer. com Approx. $150 Create custom themes without knowing PHP or CSS!!!

CMS Tools (2) o Simple PHP Blog n n n o http: //www. simplephpblog. com Fewer plugins My. SQL not required – flat file database WS-FTP LE download n n FTP software to move files to server http: //freeware. intrastar. net/ftp. htm

Inexpensive Hosting o o http: //1 and 1. com 1&1 Business Package n n n o $9. 99 per month 250 GB space Monthly transfer volume: 2500 GB Unlimited domains (3 included) 50 My. SQL databases with admin panel Deploy multiple sites with unique domain names on 1 hosting package!

Video Applications o Adobe Premiere Elements n o About $100 JW Player n n http: //www. longtailvideo. com Free for non-profits Includes a setup wizard for flashvars – outputs to swfobject 1. 5 or embed code Need to use another app to create FLVs

Video Applications (2) o Coffee. Cup Web Video Player n n n o http: //coffeecup. com $39, updates for life Converts videos to FLVs Player displays directory of different FLVs Different skins included Easy FFmpeg: n n http: //ffmpeg. org ‘Swiss army knife of video converters’ Open-source Not GUI-based

Wordpress Install o Steps: n n n Create My. SQL database in 1&1 admin panel Purchase domain name, attach to folder on site, or create sub-domain Download WP, modify one file with db info FTP WP files to website folder Configure admin settings Add plug-ins, create custom template Slide 23

Word. Press Famous 5 Minute Install 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Unzip the package in an empty directory. Open up wp-config-sample. php with a text editor like Word. Pad or similar and fill in your database connection details. Save the file as wp-config. php Upload everything. Open /wp-admin/install. php in your browser. This should setup the tables needed for your blog. If there is an error, double check your wp-config. php file, and try again. If it fails again, please go to the support forums with as much data as you can gather. Note the password given to you. The install script should then send you to the login page. Sign in with the username admin and the password generated during the installation. You can then click on 'Profile' to change the password.

1&1 My. SQL Set Up Information o o o o Database name: db 288604240 Hostname: db 1907. perfora. net Port: 3306 Username: dbo 288604240 Password: ******* Description: Devcon Version: My. SQL 5. 0 Status: setup started

wp-config-sample. php File // ** My. SQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** // /** The name of the database for Word. Press */ define('DB_NAME', 'putyourdbnamehere'); /** My. SQL database username */ define('DB_USER', 'usernamehere'); /** My. SQL database password */ define('DB_PASSWORD', 'yourpasswordhere'); /** My. SQL hostname */ define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); /** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */ define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf 8'); /** The Database Collate type. Don't change this if in doubt. */ define('DB_COLLATE', ''); SAVE AS: wp-config. php

Favourite Plug-ins Plug-in Description Events Calendar Dynamic calendar Cforms II Form to mail builder Next. Gen Gallery Flash photo albums Si Captcha codes to avoid spam Multi-level collapsible menuing Website statistics WP-d. Tree Stat. Press

Plug-in Installation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Download plug-in from WP site Unzip file to create plug-in folder Upload folder to /wp-content/plugins/ Login to admin panel, turn on under Plugins Configure Slide 28

Changing Themes o o o Download themes, modify Contract out Artisteer software ***

Artisteer Themes - Steps 1. 2. 3. 4. Generate theme in Artisteer Export theme in Word. Press format Upload to /wp-content/themes/ Select theme in admin panel Slide 33

Simple PHP Blog - Install 1. 2. 3. 4. Download and unzip the. zip file FTP files to your web server Visit the index. php page Follow on screen instructions Example: http: //leadershipdevelopment. ca Slide 37

FLV Video - Method 1 o Export MPEG, AVI, WMV, MOV to FLV using: n n n o Adobe Premiere Elements (if editing required) Easy FFmpeg Coffee. Cup Web Video Player Use JW Player to display FLV in page or blog post n n Uses a SWF file to displayer for FLV file Online wizard to generate flashvars & embed HTML code

FLV Video - Demo o o Convert an AVI using Coffee. Cup Upload FLV to http: //etfo. net/devconmovie/ JW Player Wizard: http: //www. longtailvideo. com/suppor t/jw-player-setup-wizard Embed code in blog page/post

FLV Video – Method 2 o Use Coffee. Cup Web Video Player n n Converts video formats to FLV Creates a SWF package to display in page o o o n Includes SWF, FLV, images, HTML file in output Use inline tag to display html file in a blog page or post Or use FLV file with JW Player to display Can create an index with many videos

Questions/Comments? o o Thanks for attending! Contact me if you have questions: n http: //devcon. etfo. net > Contact