Welcome to ENGL 8120! Glad you’re here.

Here’s how to set up an account on this site:

  1. Our course site is based on WordPress. I will create an account for you. You will receive an email once I’ve done this. This email will include a link, which you will need to click in order to activate your account.
  2. Once you’ve done that, you will receive another email that confirms it with your username and automatically generated password. You can then log into the site using the link provided in that email (http://lindsaythomas.net/engl8120/wp-login.php) and using your username and password.
  3. Once you’ve logged into the site dashboard, you can change your password to whatever you want by clicking on “Profile” in the left menu. You can’t change the username I’ve assigned you, but you can change your “nickname,” or the name that everyone sees when you post something. You should feel free to change this name to whatever (appropriate name) you want.
  4. Make sure to click “Update Profile” at the bottom of that page to save the changes you’ve made.

Here’s how to post to the site:

  1. To submit a post, you first need to be logged into the site. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can type this link into your browser and log in using your username and password: http://lindsaythomas.net/engl8120/wp-login.php. You can also navigate to the site’s Home or Posts page, click on  “Site Admin” under the “Meta” menu in the right sidebar, and then log in using your username and password. Logging in will take you to your Dashboard.
  2. Click on the “Posts” tab in the left menu, and click on the “Add New” submenu.
  3. Start filling in the blanks. Make sure to give your post a title. Enter your post content in the main post editing box below the title. Make sure to give your post a category using the “Categories” menu on the right. Categorize your post according to what kind of post it is. If you are completing Lab 1, then click the “Lab 1” category; if you’re writing a methodological analysis, then choose “Methodological Analysis;” and so on.
  4. You can find more information on posting in the WordPress Codex. You can also find articles in the Codex on incorporating media into your posts.
  5. When you’ve finished your post, click “Publish” under the “Publish” menu on the top right. You should then see your post appear in the site’s Posts page.
  6. Note: I HIGHLY recommend that you write your posts offline using a word processor (like you would any paper), and then paste them into the WordPress interface only after they are done AND YOU HAVE SAVED THEM. This is because if your browser crashes or your computer shuts down while you are writing a post and before you click “Publish,” it’s likely that you will lose your work and have to start over. Do yourself a favor and write and save your posts offline first to avoid this kind of frustration and wasted time.