Guidance about posts

Please avoid possible disturbance during the breeding season by refraining from posting sightings revealing the location of rare or scarce breeding birds in our area, or anywhere for that matter. We reserve the right to remove posts which reveal such information, and also any posts which are offensive in any way.

The list of scarce breeders is longer than you think, but example species include Red Kite, Peregrine, Little Ringed Plover, Bearded Tit and Dartford Warbler.

When creating a post the default ‘Category’ on the site is ‘Sightings’ so there’s no need to do anything once you are ready, other than clicking ‘Publish’ twice.

Getting started

First and foremost, if you wish to post sightings on Glamorgan Birds, you will need a WordPress account.

Once you’ve set that up, please complete this form. Make sure the email address you use is the one you create your WordPress account with.

When we have received your request you will receive an invitation from our WordPress admin, and once you have accepted it, you should have access. You accept the invitation by clicking an ‘Accept’ link in the message. This will take you to your ‘dashboard’ which looks rather daunting. You can close that window and go back to the web site where you should be logged in [there should be a “Write+” logo at the top right of the screen]. To post a sighting you simply click this “Write” button.

If at any time you don’t see the “Write” button you are logged out, and you can login via the WordPress login link in the RH sidebar – there should be a ‘stay logged in’ tick box which will obviate having to login every time [unless you prefer not to do that]. Then click “Write” at the top right which should be next to your logo, and a post composing screen will appear. Depending on your setup this screen has 2 possible versions – WordPress has a so-called ‘block’ editor, or a ‘classic’ editor. If you see a screen with your WordPress logo at the top in the middle and a large toolbar with ‘Add’, ‘Paragraph’, B, I, and many other items then you are in the classic editor.  If you just see a screen with a large ‘Add title’ box at the top, and “Start writing or type / to choose a block” then you are in the block editing version. Either is OK.

Classic editor – type a title in the title box then under the toolbar start typing your message. To add an image, click the add media button which is the one that looks like a camera. This takes you to the media library where you can choose an image that’s already there or upload one or two from your computer. Once there make sure it/they are selected and click bottom right blue button ‘Insert into page’. Once there you can size the image by pulling the side[s] or bottom [don’t make it/them too big].

Blocks editor – put a title for the post in the ‘Add Title’ box [e.g. the location of your sightings], then click the ‘Start writing’ words and type in your message. In this case to add an image or images, once you have typed the message, hover over the plus sign top left and it will show ‘Add block’. Click and you get a box of options with ‘Most used’ listed. For images such select Image [for a single] or Gallery [for more than one, but not too many please!]. You then get a box where you can upload an image from your computer. When you choose your image it will appear straight away in the post – you can size it by dragging the bottom or RH side.

In both cases when ready you click the blue ‘Publish’ button – it requires one click then another click on a further ‘are you ready’ option.

Names

We would like users to use their own name, so at the ‘dashboard’ screen you get when you log on, click on your short name top right (or your full name in grey in the drop-down menu that appears). On the blue/white screen that appears, click on Public Profile. On the next screen fill in your proper name in the Public Display Name field and then at the bottom click Save Changes, and you’re done. Also to prevent you getting e-mails every time someone posts, click on your name again top right and go to Subscriptions Delivery. Click that and on the next screen tick the ‘Block emails’ box bottom left, then click ‘Save Changes’.

To get back to the blog click My Blog in the top menu, then click Glamorgan Birds on the next screen.

Images

Some notes on inserting photographs in a post.

It should be noted that we are limited to 13GB of uploaded images and other media whether in posts or elsewhere. If you are posting an image from a digital SLR then it is likely to be a very large file. It would be good if posters could re-size their images before uploading, by reducing the pixel dimensions which on a digital SLR are huge. An ideal size is 640×480 or thereabouts as it’s not practical to display anything much larger than that. If you do upload a typical full DSLR image of say around 3000 pixels longest dimension the system will default the size to fit the post if you do nothing else, but the file size will still be as it was originally and will take a while to upload to your post.
Once you have inserted an image you can click on it and you then get an icon which if you click the ‘pencil’, allows you to edit it, including a re-size option, and also how the text you want to type wraps. When you click the image a ‘cross’ icon allows you to remove the image.

Copyright

All photos that are posted remain copyright of the photographer.