Transcript Open Source Blogs

Using Open-Source Blogs (and
other Low-Cost Tools) to Create
Video-Based eLearning Modules.
Stephen Mau
Website & eNewsletter 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. About ETFO & Me
2. ETFO Microsites –
examples
3. Tools Used
4. Installing
Wordpress
5. Favourite WP plugins & software
6. Simple PHP Blog
7. Converting &
posting FLV videos
8. Questions
About ETFO
 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:
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Collective Bargaining
Professional Counselling
Equity & Women’s Services
Professional Development
About Me
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Professional teacher
Began teaching online 10 years ago
Learned some web design
Love wizards & WYSIWYG interfaces
 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
 Moving beyond HTML-based sites
 Complicated install process for CMS
 No knowledge of setting up a MySQL
database with tables, etc.
 Wordpress
 Limited knowledge of CSS and PHP
 Made it difficult to find the right theme
for a site.
 The planets have aligned!
ETFO Microsites
 Main website: www.etfo.ca
 Have begun releasing microsites on
Wordpress platform:
 http://workingconditions.net
 http://1000moments.net
 http://innoteach.net
 Plan to release more.
CMS Tools
 Wordpress:
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http://wordpress.org
Highly extensible blog and publishing platform
Many plugins
Requires MySQL database
 Artisteer for Wordpress
 http://www.artisteer.com
 Approx. $150
 Create custom themes without knowing PHP or
CSS!!!
CMS Tools (2)
 Simple PHP Blog
 http://www.simplephpblog.com
 Fewer plugins
 MySQL not required – flat file database
 WS-FTP LE download
 FTP software to move files to server
 http://freeware.intrastar.net/ftp.htm
Inexpensive Hosting
 http://1and1.com
 1&1 Business Package
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$9.99 per month
250 GB space
Monthly transfer volume: 2500 GB
Unlimited domains (3 included)
50 MySQL databases with admin panel
 Deploy multiple sites with unique
domain names on 1 hosting package!
Video Applications
 Adobe Premiere Elements
 About $100
 JW Player
 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)
 CoffeeCup Web Video Player
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http://coffeecup.com
$39, updates for life
Converts videos to FLVs
Player displays directory of different FLVs
Different skins included
 Easy FFmpeg:
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http://ffmpeg.org
‘Swiss army knife of video converters’
Open-source
Not GUI-based
Wordpress Install
 Steps:
 Create MySQL 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
WordPress Famous 5
Minute Install
1. Unzip the package in an empty directory.
2. Open up wp-config-sample.php with a text editor like
WordPad or similar and fill in your database connection
details.
3. Save the file as wp-config.php
4. Upload everything.
5. 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.
6. Note the password given to you.
7. 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 MySQL Set Up
Information
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Database name: db288604240
Hostname: db1907.perfora.net
Port: 3306
Username: dbo288604240
Password: *******
Description: Devcon
Version: MySQL 5.0
Status: setup started
wp-config-sample.php
File
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define('DB_NAME', 'putyourdbnamehere');
/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'usernamehere');
/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'yourpasswordhere');
/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
/** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
/** 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
NextGen Gallery
Flash photo albums
Si Captcha
Captcha codes to
avoid spam
Multi-level collapsible
menuing
Website statistics
WP-dTree
StatPress
Plug-in Installation
1. Download plug-in from WP site
2. Unzip file to create plug-in folder
3. Upload folder to
/wp-content/plugins/
4. Login to admin panel, turn on under
Plugins
5. Configure
Slide 28
Changing Themes
 Download themes, modify
 Contract out
 Artisteer software ***
Artisteer Themes - Steps
1.
2.
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Generate theme in Artisteer
Export theme in WordPress format
Upload to /wp-content/themes/
Select theme in admin panel
Slide 33
Simple PHP Blog - Install
1.
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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
 Export MPEG, AVI, WMV, MOV to FLV using:
 Adobe Premiere Elements (if editing required)
 Easy FFmpeg
 CoffeeCup Web Video Player
 Use JW Player to display FLV in page or
blog post
 Uses a SWF file to display player for FLV file
 Online wizard to generate flashvars & embed
HTML code
FLV Video - Demo
 Convert an AVI using CoffeeCup
 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
 Use CoffeeCup Web Video Player
 Converts video formats to FLV
 Creates a SWF package to display in
page
 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?
 Thanks for attending!
 Contact me if you have questions:
 http://devcon.etfo.net > Contact