Tools Training for Journalists

The Internet can help you manage information overload, organize your sources, stay on top of your beat, get great tips ahead of everyone else, and promote yourself and your work. You can do all of this with free tools, without learning any programming or code.

Social Bookmarks, News Feeds, and Microblogging

Shared bookmarks: Delicious (examples: see my bookmarks tagged with both "travel" and "international"; see everyone's bookmarks tagged "scuba" AND "Florida") More tips: Have you tried Delicious? and How shared bookmarks can make you smarter
RSS feeds: Google Reader | Tutorial: What is RSS? | Starters: The 20 Essential RSS Feeds for Multimedia Journalists
Microblogging: Twitter | FriendFeed | Some tips: How We Use Twitter for Journalism; All the News That's Fit to Tweet (AJR, 2008); FriendFeed will Change Journalism, PR and Marketing

Start a Blog at WordPress.com

Get started with blogging, stress-free: This provides the basic steps for setting up a brand-new blog at WordPress.com (totally free).

Tip: Delete the "Hello, world!" post that WordPress included automatically for you. If you don't delete it, the order of your blog posts will be messed up.

Learn about tags and categories:

Make a good blogroll. If there is no blogroll heading in the sidebar of your WordPress.com blog, you need to add the Links widget. Here's how:

On your blog's Dashboard, click Design > Widgets. Links is in the list on the left side. Click Add; this puts it in the list on the right side. Drag to position it where you want it. Make sure you Save Changes at the bottom of the right side list.
Adding and changing links is NOT done in the Widgets list.
How to add links to your blogroll: On your blog's Dashboard, click Manage > Links. There's a text link that says add new.
When you're writing a new link for your blogroll, always open a new tab or window in your Web browser and go to the home page of the site you want to link. Copy the complete URL in the browser's address bar. Then paste that into WordPress, where it says Web Address on the Add Link page. The Name should be the name of the site you are linking to. The Description will appear in a small box when someone rolls over your link, so write something helpful there!
How to delete links from your blogroll: On your blog's Dashboard, click Manage > Links. Each link has a check box to the left of the name. Check and then click the Delete button, at the top of the list.
How to get rid of the stupid Snap Shots pop-up box: On your blog's Dashboard, click Design > Extras. Click the check mark beside "Enable Snap Shots on this blog." Click the button Update Extras.
How to create lists of links with different headings: read this, under the subheading "Categorizing your blogroll."

The WordPress.com FAQ has answers to almost any question you can ask about managing your blog.

More Blogging Tips and Tricks

Blogs have changed how I do my job, for the better: A column by an Albuquerque Tribune reporter
How to be an Authority Maven: 21 Tips for Keeping Up to Date in Your Niche
Copyblogger offers lots of tips for how to be a better blogger (see the SEO tips)
10 tips for integrating your del.icio.us links into your blog
How to video blog (a 3-min. 40 sec. video by Al Tompkins of Poynter)
What Is Vlogging (and How to Get Started)

Web Space

You already have FREE Web space here at UF (only 20 MB): plaza.ufl.edu
If you don't know how to FTP, here is a brief tutorial.
WebNG provides free Web space, and lots of it.

Online Journalism Courses at UF

MMC 3260 (Carlson) Pre-req: None
JOU 4341 (McAdams) Pre-req: JOU 3101 Reporting
MMC 4341 (McAdams) Pre-req: MMC 3260
MMC 4946 (Carlson, Stanton) Capstone: Pre-reqs: MMC 3260, JOU 4201 Editing

Resources

Teaching Online Journalism
My blog about digital storytelling and how newsrooms are changing.

ReadWriteWeb
A blog where you'll learn about the latest Web technologies and trends.

Mashable
A blog focused exclusively on social networks and news about them.

Lifehacker
A blog offering "tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done smarter and more efficiently."