Online Journalism Backpack

SWF files in WordPress; SWF-plugin

August 23, 2007 – 9:09 am
For WordPress to play SWF files easily we suggest you download and install the WP-SWFobject plugin in WordPress. Get the plugin from this site. After download, read the read-me file before you install - just to make sure you do everything right. After activating the plugin, type this code in your post or page (visual view!) where you want the SWF file to display: [SWF]movie.swf, width, heigth[/SWF] You can also link to SWF files on other servers like this: [SWF]path/of/file/movie.swf, width, heigth[/SWF] You may leave the width and height parameters out to let your SWF file display as it is.

Posted in Multimedia (Flash), WordPress | No Comments »

Audacity download and set-up

August 22, 2007 – 8:11 pm
Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It is easy to use and fits very well in the online journalism software package. Download from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (link opens in new window) Audacity exports in both AIFF and WAV formats which are recognized by Flash. If you install the Lame mp3 Encoder on your computer, Audacity lets you export mp3 files also which is very usefull if you for instance work with SoundSlides or if you want WordPress to play mp3 files. Lame is also free and can be downloaded from www.free-codecs.com (link opens in new window).

Posted in Audio | No Comments »

Mp3 player plugin for WordPress

August 22, 2007 – 8:03 pm
If you want WP to display a mp3 player and also make embedding or linking to mp3 audio easy, you should install this plugin in WP (FTP onto the plugins folder): Audio Player from http://www.1pixelout.net/code/audio-player-wordpress-plugin/ allows us to integrate mp3 files on the posts and pages. The download page contains a detailed how-to description. There is also a detailed user manual on Mindy McAdams' website http://www.macloo.com/examples/audio_player. But basically, what you do is you upload (ftp) your mp3 file to the audio folder on the website's directory and then add this piece of code to your post or page where you want the player to appear: [audio:name_of_audiofile.mp3]  (NO SPACE between colon and file name!) You can also link to a mp3 file on another server by describing the absolute path to the file: [audio:http://www(and so on)/path to file/name_of_audiofile.mp3] Important note: The mp3 player is a swf-document. This means sample rate in Audacity should be set to 44,100 ...

Posted in WordPress, Audio | No Comments »

Import DVD video into Windows Moviemaker

August 22, 2007 – 7:56 pm
If you use Windows Movie Maker for video editing, you may encounter problems importing video from a DVD. DVD cameras do not plug right into MovieMaker. So you will need a converter that rips the DVD and changes the movie into a format that Movie Maker recognizes. We found that AVS Video Converter from www.avs4you.com works well. It is shareware and works only with Windows.

Posted in Video | No Comments »

Audacity manual; Audacity and Lame mp3 encoder

August 22, 2007 – 7:46 pm
If you are using Audacity for sound editing, this link will take you to the Audacity manual: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorials.html (opens in a new window) Audacity exports in AIFF and WAV formats. If you install the Lame mp3 Encoder on your computer, Audacity lets you export mp3 files too which is very usefull if you for instance work with SoundSlides. Lame is also free and can be downloaded from www.free-codecs.com (link opens in new window). Important note: If you are editing sound to use with Falsh, sample rate should be set to 44,100 (stereo) or even better 22,050 (mono). A 48,000 sample rate will run too slow in Flash and will bring sound out of sync.

Posted in Audio | 1 Comment »

WordPress linking to Youtube videos; EasyTube plugin

August 21, 2007 – 5:13 pm
Codes for embedding Youtube video in WordPress cause quite a few problems. So for Youtube videos to run smoothly, we recommend you install the EasyTube plugin in WordPress. Download the plugin from www.paulbain.co.uk (opens in new window). The EasyTube plugin allows you to easily embed any Youtube or Google video in your webpage using a tag. All you need is the URL for the Youtube or Google video. After having activated the plugin, video linking is as easy as this: Step 1 On Youtube, copy the URL displayed with your video Step 2 Back in WordPress. In the post (or page), where you want the video to appear, switch to code view and paste the URL you just copied into this code: [youtube: URL HERE]

Posted in WordPress, Video | No Comments »

Optimizing Photos (Fireworks)

August 21, 2007 – 4:00 pm
This is all you really need to know about optimizing your photos for the web using Fireworks. This guide will let you take your photo through the following process: Once the photo is in the computer, resize it, optimize it, export it. Steps are basically the same with any other image editor. Note that screenshots here are from a Mac computer so everything may look a little different if you're on a PC. Note! If you are cropping or otherwise editing the photo you should do this before the steps described. Step 1 If you use Fireworks, you will be needing the following panels: Tools, Properties, Optimize. Find them in the menu bar under Window: Step 2 Reduce the image size so it fits onto your website. If the image is too big, the file size will increase and download time will increase. In Fireworks, go Modify > Canvas > Image Size. Step 3 Set your ...

Posted in Photo | 1 Comment »