Category: News

Last Friday, Trinidad Gomez and I successfully updated the sites.miis.edu to the most recent version of WordPress. I also gave the blogging community homepage a fresh look, featuring a photo of students from the International Bazaar. I hope we can feature a new photo and color scheme for every season, much like Middlebury does with their stories “equalizer” on middlebury.edu.

New Themes and Plug-ins

Updating our WordPress platforms means that we now have new themes (such as Twenty Eleven and Splendio) and plug-ins (such as Geo-mashup, which allows you to tag posts by geographic location). If  you would like to add additional themes to the blogging community, check out this article by Smashing Magazine about free WordPress themes.

Could the Blogging Community Be More User-Friendly?

Since the update, I’ve also worked on resolving several usability issues with the blogging community. When you log-in, for example, you should now be taken to a page that displays all of your sites and gives you the option to create a new blog. Previously when you logged-out, the page you were taken to didn’t let you log back into the site. This issue should also be resolved.

If you spot any other usability issues with the blogging community, please let me know by emailing rwalters@miis.edu. Thanks!

Dear MIIS bloggers,

We will update the blogging community to the most recent release of WordPress on Friday July 29th. Along with this update, we will delete the less-popular blog themes and plug-ins listed below next Monday July 25th. Additionally, we will delete all blogs that have been inactive since 12/31/2009.

Please keep in mind that updating WordPress means that we will be able to add the newest themes and plug-ins to the blogging community!

If you are currently using one of the plug-ins or themes listed below, please let us know by emailing the Digital Learning Commons at miisDLC@gmail.com.

Happy blogging!

Best,

Rebecca Walters
New Media Development Specialist

Plug-ins

• WordPress Wiki
• Vote it Up
• TODO Mini Forms
• Tungle.me WordPress Plug-in
• Simple Post Thumbnails
• Q&A – WordPress Questions & Answers Plug-in
• Prezi Shortcode
• Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam
• Slideshare
• Mailpress

Themes

• oceanmist
• p2
• chaoticsoul
• mistylook
• seashore
• pressrow
• inove
• colourise
• mandigo
• choice
• benevolence
• tarski
• andreas09
• ambiru
• simpla
• gridfocus
• lightword
• falling_dreams
• flex
• dixiebelle
• cleanr
• blue-zinfandel-enhanced-20
• daydream
• redoable
• radmod
• cropcircles
• satorii
• contempt
• shades-of-blue
• mystique
• atahualpa
• jq
• f8-lite
• fadtasti
• greenery
• regulus
• freshy-10
• k2
• notepad

Web Updates

• New MIIS Spotlight Videos: 3 from the Campus Tour
• Be the Solution: Business
• New Photos of Campus Events on MIIS Flickr Account

YouTube Channel

Featured Content: How often are we updating it?

Playlists for each program, campus tour series, and how to videos

Integrate program playlists on www.miis.edu

Do you have a new video? Add it to the appropriate playlist

Titles, Descriptions, and Tags

New Proposal: Study Abroad page under Academics

Similar to Middlebury’s Study Abroad page

Emphasize that we don’t provide traditional study abroad programs, but immersive professional experiences

Content: Winter Practica, International Professional Service Semester, Development Project Management Institute Plus, Peace Corps Master’s International, Customized Internships, Frontier Scouts Program, Center for Non-proliferation Studies Internships, Strategic Partnerships

MIIS Around the World sidebar

Moodle

• We’re moving to ilearn.miis.edu in January
• Feedback about the Information Architecture: Classifieds are important

Changes to the Homepage

• Apply Button?
• Weekly Slideshow

Monterey Institute Web Updates

• New stories and videos for the homepage – Check back at the end of this week
• Promote Middlab
• Moodle moving to ilearn.miis.edu in January

Lessons from the Webinar

“Communicating through your Traditional Website”

• Don’t Make Them Think: Create content that’s easy to scan.
• Content should fulfill a business goal or user need – Kristina Halvorson of Brain Traffic
• Don’t bury your lead: Put your message front and center.
• Use web analytics to measure the success of your content

What did you learn from the webinar? Would anyone like to attend a workshop about search engine optimization?

Web Updates

• Webform Upgrades
• Maureen’s Virtual Tour Videos
• Editorial Calendar

Video Strategy

Before you begin

• Purpose: Does it satisfy a user need or business goal?
• Commitment, time, effort

Then – the technical stuff

• Sound is very, very important! (make sure audio can stand alone because the audience might be multi-tasking)
• Quality of picture, lighting etc.
• Quality of extra material such as photos or slides
• Graphics – Readability is key
• Planning

Once you have all that down: CONTENT!!!

• Have a strong story to tell
• Jump right in – remember the purpose and the audience and think about your own attention span online
• Keep it short but interesting (Promotional videos from 30 sek to 5 min tops – program videos preferably no longer than 30 min – informational video somewhere in between)
• Think about visuals
• Provide context if necessary but stick to the point

A few odds and ends

• Beginners guide to Search Engine Optimization
• Finally – remember the media release form
• Middlebury has a great example of great storytelling without the use of video – the “How did you get here?” series.