Using Moodle, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11. Blogs

The word “blog” is a contraction of “web log.” Blogs are a form of online journal that millions of people around the world use for self-expression and communicating with family and friends. The author of a blog usually organizes it as a chronological series of postings. Although some groups of people contribute to blogs, there is usually only one central author for each.

Blogs are growing in importance around the world. They are used by everyone from teenagers posting who they like or dislike at school to CEOs communicating directly with their customers to dissidents in oppressed populations expressing their political views.

In version 1.6, Moodle released a blog tool for users. The Moodle blog has some advantages and disadvantages when compared to other blogging platforms.

Using Blogs

This chapter covers the following MTC skills: 3.16 Blogs

Blogs in Moodle are user-based—each user has his own blog, which is non-course-specific. Your profile page contains a Blog tab for accessing your blog page, as shown in Figure 11-1.

Figure 11-1. A blog page

Note

If your profile page doesn’t contain a Blog tab, contact your system administrator and ask if blogs are enabled.

Adding Blog Entries

To add a blog entry:

1. Click on the Blog tab in your profile page.

2. Click on the “Add a new entry” link in the Blog Menu block.

3. In the “Add a new entry” page, as shown in Figure 11-2, write your entry and ...