WELSTech Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

WELS RSS Feeds

welstechtrainer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:22:22 CST

RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a great way to push and pull information from a web site. Find out how and what WELS.net RSS feeds are availble for you to subscribe or publish on your web site. It's all free, and its simple.

Learn more about RSS

RSS Definition - from wikipedia.org
RSS in Plain English from CommonCraft

How do I add RSS to my web site?

Try Feed Wind - generate embed code of any RSS feed to place on your site
Visit church Web sites that are incorporating WELS.net RSS feeds into their sites.
Place a news blurb explaining RSS in your church newsletter or bulletin (Word document)

How do I set up an RSS reader on my computer?
Here are some popular free RSS news readers:

Blog Lines
Pluck
NewsGator Online - NewsGator also offers a popular Microsoft Outlook plug-in news reader for a small fee
RSS Reader
Thunderbird
Links to more RSS readers

To view one of the WELS feeds in your RSS Reader:

Copy the URL/shortcut that corresponds to the topic that interests you.
Paste the URL into your reader.

What else can you tell me about RSS?

WELS RSS Terms of Use

What RSS feeds are available from WELS?

WELS RSS Feeds

NOTES:

Once you've downloaded and installed an RSS reader on your computer (or if your browser has that built in feature), you may subscribe to any of the RSS news feeds currently offered on WELS.net. Right-click the orange RSS icon to copy the feed URL.
Visitors trying to access RSS from inside a firewall may experience errors beyond our control. Please contact your in-house tech support for permission to add RSS feeds.

Congregations Posting Sermons in iTunes

mediamom — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:13:09 CDT

Churches with their own channel listings in iTunes have this icon: .
Clicking on these to will take you directly to the appropriate channel listing if you have iTunes software installed.
Feel free to add your own links and edit where needed.

California
St. Paul's First, North Hollywood, CA
Pastor Weidmann
Pastor Pufahl
http://www.stpaulsfirst.org/
(itunes link?)

St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, Modesto, CA
Pastor Paul Janke
Pastor Johann Caauwe
http://www.stpetermodesto.org/

Colorado
Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Boulder, CO
Pastor James Tauscher
http://www.peacelutheranboulder.org/

Illinois
Abiding Peace Lutheran Church, Elgin, IL
Pastor Tim Wagner
http://www.abidingpeace.org/site/default.asp?sec_id=140000215

Faith Evangelical Lutheran, Antioch, IL
Pastor Greg Hermanson
Pastor Aaron Christie
http://faithantioch.org

Maryland
Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church,Columbia,MD
Pastor Jeff Samelson
http://www.christlutheran.net/index-1.php

Minnesota
Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, North St. Paul and Hugo, MN
http://christlutheran-wels.org/clcs/
*playback problems April 2009

St. John, Sleepy Eye, MN.
Pastor Kevin Draper
http://www.stjohnsse.com/

Pennsylvania
Faith Lutheran Church, West Newton, PA
Pastor Steve Bauer
http://faithwestnewton.net/wordpress/

Texas
Abiding Savior, Weslaco, TX.
Pastor Joel T. Sauer
http://abswels.net/index.html

Washington
Holy Trinity Church and School, Des Moines, WA
Pastor Mark Shewe
http://www.htlc-wa.org/

Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, Yakima, WA
Pastor Timothy Schwartz
http://www.redeemeryakima.org

Wisconsin

Christus Evangelical Lutheran Church, Delavan, WI
Pastor Christopher Koschnitzke
http://www.christuswels.org/

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
http://www.wls.wels.net
Daily Chapel
Festivals of the Church Year
Dr. Siegbert Becker, Lectures on Revelation
Dr. Siegbert Becker, Lectures on Justification

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Pastor Paul Tullberg
http://1goodshepherd.org/

St. Andrew, Middleton, WI
Pastor Randy Hunter
http://www.st-andrew-online.org/site/default.asp?sec_id=2361

St. Paul, Green Bay, WI
Pastor Roy Rose
Pastor Jon Zabell
http://www.stpaulgreenbay.com

St. Peter, Fond du Lac, WI
Pastor Jon N. Cox
http://www.stpetersfdl.net/site/default.asp?sec_id=140002311

Time of Grace, Milwaukee, WI
Pastor Mark Jeske
http://www.timeofgrace.org/index.php

Victory of the Lamb, Franklin, WI

Pastor Ben Kuerth

Video Cameras

martyns — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:24:22 CDT

A solid camera that the synod uses for streaming and recording events is the Sony EVI-D70. We have three of them linked together using VISCA cables to control each one remotely. They are PTZ cameras (pan, tilt, zoom) that offer great video quality and can be mounted on a tripod or any other fashion (even upside down). They do not have any recording mechanism, so they are only a video source that can feed your computer, or other recording device via S-Video or standard component cables. Very small and could be fairly easily hidden in most church settings. They currently run about $950.

An excellent prosumer level camera is the Canon GL2. It has three-CCD to give an incredibly sharp image. Multiple outputs allow the camera to feed recording devices (DVR) as well as a computer for live web-streaming. Expect to spend $2,000-$2,200 for this camera.

2/23/09 - From Pastor Chris Koschnitzke, Christus, Delavan, WI -

On the video side, we had a Sony BRC300 Hi-Resolution Camera installed. It does a nearly 360 degree turn and turns out a really good quality of video. To control it, a Telemetrics joystick camera controller was installed. On this piece of equipment you can preset up to 6 camera shots, and also adjust focus and brightness. We had a 15" Planar LCD Monitor installed to view what is on camera, and a Toshiba DVD recorder, which records the service right to the DVD. Then, to make copies of the DVD, we got a Microboards 1x3 DVD Duplicator, and it duplicates the DVD in less than 10 minutes.

Here is a decent review of cameras that could be used for Video Podcasts like Bible Study, etc. Perhaps not as useful for worship as they can't be remotely controlled.http://www.collidemagazine.com/article/266/tools-of-the-trade-cameras

Lectionary on Google Calendar

welstechtrainer — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:51:22 CDT

In WELSTech Episode 101 we announced a new public Google calendar which has the current Year B and upcoming Year C lectionary notes for Christian Worship as well as the recently released Christian Worship Supplement. For each Sunday and Major Festival of the church year the calendar entry includes

Lessons and Psalm, including the newly published Supplemental Readings
Prayer of the Day
Verse of the Day
Hymn of the Day
Church year color

How to use this Google calendar:

View and link to the calendar
Add the calendar to your Google calendar by copying and pasting this link - 6ce0g3p8472ot0i5l4kmlt2ct4@group.calendar.google.com - into the "Add a friend's calendar" field on your Google calendar (video demo)
Once you add the calendar to your own Google calendar, go to Calendar Settings to embed the calendar in your web site (video demo | sample site)

Copyright Guidelines for the NIV Bible

welstechtrainer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:55:35 CDT

Guidelines related to displaying portions of the New International Version (NIV) Bible on your web site are governed by the copyright holder, Biblica. Learn more about the NIV Bible on their web site. Information about the copyright is posted on their Terms of Use page.

Quoting from their Terms of Use page ...

The NIV®, TNIV®, NIrV® may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for more than 25 percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. For additional rights and permission usage on the NIV®, NIrV® and the TNIV® Bible please contact Biblica.

Additional permissions were sought and granted for usage of the text on the WELS.net web site.

LINK TO TEXT AS AN ALTERNATIVE

One alternative to posting NIV Bible text on your web site is to link to the text on the www.BibleGateway.com site. There are several ways you could do this:

Go to the www.BibleGateway.com site and search for your passage. Copy the resulting URL and paste it into your site in the appropriate place.
If you are using a WordPress blog on your site, install the Scripturizer "plug-in" which recognizes Bible references in any text you add to the blog and automatically links the reference to www.BibleGateway.com.
Embed a www.BibleGateway.com lookup box or the Verse of the Day RSS feed on your web site. Instructions can be found on Bible Gateway's Use on Your Website page.

Learn more about Copyright Issues

Intranets

welstechtrainer — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:56:57 CDT

The discussion topic for WELSTech Episode 098 - Intranets and Internal Communication was member focused web sites.

Sample WELSTech Intranets

Ning - welstech.ning.com - Guest login:
- Email address: welstechtrainer+guest@gmail.com
- Password: guest
FinalWeb - Training Lutheran Church Member Area - Guest login:

Username: guest
Password: guest

Potential Intranet platforms

Ning.com lets you create your own social network
Google Apps for education and non-profits

Read about Joshua Schoeneck’s experience implementing Google Apps at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School

WikiSpaces.com
Box.net
ChurchCommunityBuilder.com
Unifyer.com
Member Connect from Concordia Technology Solutions
FinalWeb secure resources - Sample site

Share your experience, including platform, content, adoption success within your congregation and working committees.

Church/School Web Sites

welstechtrainer — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:22:01 CDT

Creating and maintaining your church or school web site is an important part of your ministry. Use the links provided for help

Getting Started
Exploring different Content Management System options
Create a private, member-focused Intranet site for communication and collaboration

Create an account and share your experience so that others can learn!

Audio Recording

welstechtrainer — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:07:42 CDT

Recording Audio

The methods for capturng the actual recording vary greatly. Are you recording an event, in-person or long-distance conversation, or a single speaker? Is the speaker using a sound system to project his message? Are recordings already being made, and if so, in what format? Here are some common recording secnarios you may encounter:

Sermons, in person conversations, etc. - Use
- a digital recorder with a microphone or
- a microphone(s) connected to a computer (possibly run through a mixer board) to capture the audio.
Sermon being carried over church sound system - If a mixer board is in use with the sound system it is quite possible that you can utilize a line out feed from the mixer board to capture the audio on some sort of digital recorder such as your computer, a recording capable MP3 player with a line in port, or the higher end Marantz digital recorder listed below.

Sermon video being recorded - Perhaps you record your service to DVD or VHS for shut ins or television broadcast. Alternatively if you are steaming a live feed of your service over the Internet, many streaming providers allow recording and archiving of live events. Record the sermon video, and later, play the video and record the audio on your computer or a digital recording device.

Recording Devices

A nice high end solid state audio recording device is the Marantz PMD570. Current price is around $900. This unit has the following features:

Record Directly to Compact Flash Cards.
RS-232c Control of Functions.
Easy One Touch Record.
No Moving Parts.
MP3, MP2, WAV, and BWF Format Compatible.
Over 40 Assignable Quality Settings.
Security for Media (Door).
16-48 kHz Sample Rate Selections.
32-384 Bit Rate Selectable.
Menu Driven Contact Closure for Remote Operation: Start-Pause, Mark EDL/Create New File/Start-Pause with New File/ Mark EDL.
Digital Input and Output.
Balanced XLR Line inputs with Trim.
Unbalanced Line In and Out.

On the low end, you can use a digital recorder like the iRiver IFP-895 and get input from a church sound board to record weekly sermons. This version of the iRiver is no longer available, but newer versions are and comparable products are available as well. Many MP3 players come with digital recording capabilities as well. For best quality you will need a "Line In" port to capture the audio. Relying on an internal microphone in these devices will typically not result in high quality recordings.

Software for Recording and Editing Audio

If you are podcasting or want to record worship audio directly to your computer, there are a number of software options that do a nice job. The most popular free resource for Mac or PC is Audacity. It has basic editing features and is very easy to use. Many of those who record podcasts in the synod use this. If you are a Mac user, you of course have the built in Garageband application that works nicely for all kinds of recording. Even if you use something like the Marantz listed above, you still may need some kind of audio editing software like Audacity or Garageband. If you want to go a bit higher end, products like Adobe's Audition or Digidesigns ProTools.

[Note: Perry Lund, Grace Lutheran, Oskaloosa, IA.] - I use the EdirolUA-1EXUSB Audio Interface to take mixer sound directly into a MacBook running Audacity setup next to the sound equipment area (the coat racks at the main entrance). After the service I save the Audacity file. When I get home, I edit and post the podcast.

On September 16, 2009, Aviary.com announced a full-featured, free, web-based audio editor, Myna.

After capturing a digital recording on a redording device, follow these steps to prepare it for sharing:

Copy it to your computer from the recording device
Crop the file down to get just the sermon or other desired audio
Add ID3 tags (title, artist) so that that info shows up when played in various MP3 software
Save/Export in MP3 format (which requires the LAME plug-in in Audactity)
Upload to your church web site or other web server

Computer Maintenance

Wabbits — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:54:16 CDT

This page is a starting point for people looking for resources for computer maintenance for their personal, church and school computers. Place your recommendations into the appropriate category (or add a category if one doesn't exist) and also mention which processes and programs run on various platforms - Linux, Mac and PC.

Comments and recommendations from Jeremy Johnson (jertech.blogspot.com) - posted on the WELSTech show notes site

Defragmentation: (Best Disk Defragmenter from Lifehacker)

Smart Defrag (free)helps defragment your hard drives more efficiently. This product works on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. [http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html]
JKDefrag (free) is one of the fastest tools available and has both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and runs in the command line or with a GUI interface. [http://www.kessels.biz/JkDefrag/]
Mac OS X has some built-in adaptability to avoid fragmentation. [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1375] However, there are a couple defrag programs for Mac OS X. Check out iDefrag: (paid) [http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php] ProSoft Engineering also has a multi-function tool called Drive Genius: (paid) [http://www.prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php].

Magnetic Storage Data Recovery, Repair and Maintenance Utility:

SpinRite (paid) has been a one-of-a-kind tool for over a decade.SpinRite v6.0 achieves complete operating system independence by incorporating the FreeDOS operating system. This means you can scan any hard drive regardless of operating system installed on it.SpinRite 6.0 can create a bootable diskette or generate a standard, CD-R burnable ISO file to create a "SpinRite boot CD". A bootable SpinRite can also be "installed" into any other motherboard bootable devices, such as USB flashdrives for portable booting and use. [http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm]

Imaging & Cloning:

GParted (free) is a Linux bootable CD that can partition, re-partition, erase, format and convert from one format to another. There is a LiveCD and also the ability to make a bootable USB key. [http://gparted.sourceforge.net/]
Disk Utility (free) is a Mac OS X utility that partitions, erases, fixes file permissions and repairs hard drive directory problems on Macintoshes. In addition is clones hard drives that can be used for imaging a lab full of Macs.
Carbon Copy Cloner (free) is another wonderful imaging and cloning tool that now includes the ability to make bootable backs [http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html]
SuperDuper ($27) SuperDuper can be found here: [http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html]

Registry Cleaners:

Registry Mechanic ($29.95 for 3 PCs) has proven to be a very good registry tool which can also defrag and compress your registry. [http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/]

Maintenance Scripts:

Mac OS X, being a UNIX type operating system, contains a series of maintenance scripts that run daily, weekly and monthly. If you let your Mac run 24 hours a day, these scripts will run overnight. However, you can use free software tools to run the scripts manually too. Try Cocktail: ($14.95) from Sweden [http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php] or Jim Mitchell's YASU: (free) [http://jimmitchelldesign.com/projects/yasu/] or Titanium Software's OnyX: (free) that contains many tools [http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/onyx_leopard.html].

Sandbox

welstechtrainer — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:33:41 CDT

This "sandbox" is a place to practice Wiki editing.

Courier is for some people, Arial is for others.

Who uses Impact font?

Thanks for letting me practice. This Wiki could provide some great information. I've already read up on the video equipment that we want to get set up in our church (Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Des Moines, WA). Anyway I like Arial for now.

Facebook Pages

GSwebmaster — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:04:31 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 081

Create a Facebook Page for your organization which looks and behaves like a normal user profile and allows you to connect with members and friends who are "fans".

	Set up in private - Set up your page for the first time, add administrators and an image Video Tutorial Before starting, decide on your desired Page name and prepare an image for the page. (Facebook Page information and Public profile tips for non-profits (PDF)) Click the Ads and Pages icon in the lower left - . Select the Pages link near the top and click the +Create Page button. You'll have the option to create the Page in private and publish it when you are ready. Add additional Page Administrators if desired by clicking the Add Admins link in the left sidebar. Upload an image for your page by hoovering over the default image and clicking Change Picture.
	Seed some content and publish - Jump start your page by adding info about your organization Video Tutorial Edit the About sidebar box and the Info page. Add Events or remove the Event box in the sidebar. Add Links to additional web pages. A Links box compiles the additions in the sidebar. Tweak Settings to display fan comments on the page. Click Publish to make your page live!
	Invite and update - Get the word out and provide great content Video Tutorial Become a Fan. Suggest the Page to friends. Send Updates to fans. Share the page. Link to the public page from your web site. As page traffic increases, view Insights for statistics.

Additional Resources ...

Facebook Help on Pages
Secure a vanity URL for your Page (FAQ - note Pages must have at least 100 fans to qualify for a vanity URL)
Embed a Fan Box - New feature 07/08/09

WELS Facebook Pages (add yours!) ...

Getting Started

welstechtrainer — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:04:40 CDT

Here are a few tips and helpful links to jump start (or revitalize) your church or school web site design efforts:

Form a Web Communications Committee - This type of committee can supply fresh ideas for your web site that you wouldn't necessarily think of on your own. Challenge the committee to review your site for friendliness and usefulness to both visitors and members of your organization.
Know your audience - Who are you trying to reach and what message do you want them to receive from your site? Make sure your site design makes it easy for that desired communication to happen.
Look at other sites for ideas - Why reinvent the wheel? Find a few sites that you like and model your site after their design. A good place to start is our list of featured FinalWeb sites.
Develop goals for your web site and discuss how best to meet those goals - Here are a few sample goals to get you started:
1. Use the web site to welcome visitors and make it extremely easy for them to find basic information about our church and school (summary of beliefs, location, service times, contact information, etc.).
2. Post all calendar events online and regularly remind members via bulletin and newsletter announcements to check the web site for the most up-to-date calendar of events.
3. Provide live streaming of church services on the web site on a weekly basis.
Adopt a menu structure and template, then use it consistently - Once you've decided on a menu structure and template for your site, use it across your entire site and all sub-sites. This makes site navigation easy for your visitors and adds to the professionalism of your design.
Start with the basics and grow - Determine your priorities for the site and do them well! If you plan to post your bulletin and newsletter online and regularly update your online calendar, then make the commitment to always do these things on time and in a consistent format. Don't try to do too much at first - you can always add more over time once you are comfortable with the basics.
Use WELS.net RSS feeds to keep your site fresh - One of the easiest things to add to any dynamic page on your web site is RSS feeds of devotions, prayers, Q&A, and Bible readings from WELS.net. Much of the content is updated on a daily basis and will automatically be displayed on your site with zero effort on your part, once the feed is added.
Enlist help - Depending on your web site platform, office personnel, teachers, pastors, staff ministers, and volunteers may be able to have login privileges and maintain specific portions of the site.
Tell 'em about it - Devise a communication plan to regularly promote your web site to congregation members and school families via your bulletin and newsletter. "Train" them to look online for the most up-to-date information.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

WELSTech Podcast Episode 016 - http://welstech.wels.net/wpmu/2008/04/23/episode-016-apr-23-2008/ - Focused on Internet Evangelism Day and includes links to lots of great online resources related to effective church web sites.

The Five W's of Church and School Web Sites - Presentation resources from the 2009 Minnesota District Church Ministry Workshop

The Web Book - How to create Web sites and applications with HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP and MySQL.

Online Forms

welstechtrainer — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:48:22 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 091

Gather information from church and school site visitors for registration, sign-ups, surveys, and feedback.

	Pick a Tool - Evaluate the options and decide which form tool meets your needs Google Docs Forms (Video Overview \| Help \| Templates) FinalWeb Form Tool (Help - Site Manager > Form & Questionnaire Builder \| Video Tutorial) SurveyMonkey.com (Features \| Video Tutorials \| Help) Wufoo.com (Tour \| Help)
	Design your form and share it Decide on the data do you want to collect and the best question types to use for each (Types of Form Fields) Create your form - Video tutorials for Google Docs Forms (Part 1 \| Part 2) Share it via e-mail, links and embedding in your site
	Gather and analyze data - Video Tutorial Receive e-mail or iGoogle notification of form submissions Review data in a spreadsheet - sort, analyze and report

Sample forms ...

BWTG

welstechtrainer — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:01:52 CDT

BWTG = Bonus WELSTech Goodness

BWTG = Mid-week, mini podcast "how-to" episodes where Martin and Sallie share practical steps for working with the latest technology in a ministry setting

e-News with MailChimp

welstechtrainer — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:16:52 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 089

Enhance congregation and school communications with timely, affordable e-News powered by MailChimp.com.

	Create an Account and Mailing List - Start by setting up a list of contacts to receive your e-News Learn more about MailChimp (video tutorial) and create an account. Check out their pricing and note that non-profits may request a 15% discount. Create a mailting list (video tutorials part 1 \| part 2). You may also want to create a subscription form to display on your web site (video tutorial). Segment your list (video tutorial - starting at 2:00). This gives you the flexibility of sending to the entire list or just a subset.
	Create an e-News Campaign - Use MailChimp's professional templates to create a message for your subscribers (video tutorial)
	Monitor Your Results - View graphs and tables to analyze the effectiveness of your e-News (video tutorial)

Additional resources ...

MailChimp Academy - A huge collection of video tutorials
MailChimp Support
Sample e-News from St. John's in Sleepy Eye, MN

Emptying Your Inbox

welstechtrainer — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:39:49 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 087

If you struggle with managing your Inbox, this BWTG is for you. Believe it or not it is possible to end each day with ZERO messages in your inbox.

	Pick the right email system - It's important to pick the right email management system that will work for you ... long term. Determine which email client you are going to live with. You only want to pick this once as moving all those emails is almost impossible without a huge loss in productivity. Make sure you select an email solution that will let you backup your emails and associated data. Consider if you want to use a system that will be available "in the cloud". This will allow access to your important emails wherever you are. Live Mail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail all allow cloud access as well as connecting to a local client application like Outlook or Thunderbird.
	Pick the right email productivity system - Once you have the right email tool, you need to overlay it with the correct productivity process or methodology that will help you weed through all your emails with ease. Pick a productivity system that works for you. Getting Things Done, Zero Email Bounce, Inbox 0.5, or DIT. Follow every step to the letter (at least at first) for 2 months. This will allow you to determine if it's right for you and why the systems have worked for others. Customize the system to fit your needs and the way you want to work most efficiently. No system is perfect right out of the box. Don't weigh yourself done with unnecessary steps if they don't make you more efficient.
	Remember the basic steps of getting your inbox to zero - There are some very basic steps everyone needs to be rigorous about to keep the inbox at zero messages. Check email no more than four times a day and make sure that at the end of each "session" the inbox is empty. This requires that you determine a course of action for each email (i.e. file it for reference, delete it, respond to it, delegate it, assign it an action item for later, assign it a time to deal with it on your calendar) Set aside dedicated time each week to review all emails, tasks and calendar items and determine if you need to address any of them by adding an action item, calendar item or removal. Don't let managing the system take more time than doing the work!

Additional resources ...

Custom RSS Feeds

welstechtrainer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:57:50 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 085

Use the social bookmarking site Delicious.com to easily save links to items of interest for your congregation or school and immediately display the links on your web site, keeping your site fresh and timely.

	Create a Delicious account - Sign up and install browser plugins Video Tutorial Go to Delicious.com and sign up for a free account. If you have an existing account, you may choose to intermix the bookmarks there or create a separte account dedicated to this task. Install shortcut buttons in your browser for easy bookmarking (Delicious browser plugin help).
	Tag items of interest consistently - Save desired links with the same tag Video Tutorial Decide on a tag and use it consistently as you add bookmarks for items you want displayed on your web site. Use an alternate tag(s) to generate feeds for different areas of your web site.
	Add the RSS feed to your site - Grab the feed URL and embed it on your site Video Tutorial Visit the tag page and find/copy the feed. The tag URL is typically www.delicious.com/YourUserName/YourTag and the feed URL is typically feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/YourUserName/YourTag. Add the feed to your web site.

Additional resources ...

Social Bookmarking in Plain English from Common Craft
View our sample (Delicious tags for Training Lutheran Church | Embedded RSS feed on Training Lutheran Church site)
WELS RSS how-to and feeds

Google Reader

welstechtrainer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:57:01 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 079

Google Reader is an RSS feed aggregation tool that allows you to read all the web content that interests you in one place. All the content needs to provide is an RSS feed.

	Setup - Create your account and subscribe to feeds Video Tutorial Go to reader.google.com and sign up for a Google account or sign in to your existing account. After entering the Reader application, review the default feed items there that offer excellent tutorials on using the Reader. Click the Add a Subscription button at the top left and either search for feeds of interest or topics you'd like to include in your feeds area.
	Organize - Create groups to organize your feeds. Video Tutorial Click Manage Subscriptions at the bottom of the left hand column. Click on the Subscriptions tab at the top. Click on the Add to a Folder button and select New Folder. Type the name of the folder you would like to create and click OK. Continue to create new folders as desired, or select an existing folder for other feeds.
	Star or Tag - Identify articles you'd like to save or refer to later Video tutorial With an article open, click on the Star icon at the bottom. This allows you to easily filter all starred items (read and unread) for later reference. For more granular filtering and sorting use the Tag feature by clicking on Add Tag at the bottom. You may create and use as many tags as you like. To view your collection of starred or tagged items click on the appropriate link in the left hand column. You can manage your tags the same way you did for Folders in the step above.

Additional resources ...

Google Calendar

welstechtrainer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:56:30 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 077

Organize your church or school events and collaborate on editing among your staff

	Create - Set up your account for the first time, add calendar events and additional calendars Video Tutorial Go to calendar.google.com and sign up for a Google account or sign in to your existing account. Navigate to specific dates using the small monthly calendar in the upper left. Use the tabs in the upper right area to select different views. Add items to your calendar by clicking on the date and time of the event and filling in the details. Use the edit event details link to add recurring events, reminders and event invitations. In the My calendars area on the left, click Create to add a new calendar. You may want separate calendars for church, school, sports, etc.
	Share - Allow others on your church or school staff to update the calendar Video Tutorial In the My calendars area on the left, click on the down arrow to the right of the calendar name you wish to share. In the pop up menu which is displayed, select the Share this calendar option. If you want the calendar to be viewable by others who browse the web and/or viewable on your own web site, check the first box beside the Make this calendar public option. If you want to allow other people to add and edit events on the calendar, type their e-mail address in the Share with specific people area. Select the desired editing permissions you want to grant for the particular person. Repeat the process to continue adding people for sharing, as needed. For a church or school setting it may be appropriate for all staff members to share the calendar. If the person added does not have an existing Google account they will be e-mailed an invitation to join.
	Embed - Display your church or school calendar on your own web site Video Tutorial In the My calendars area on the left, click on the down arrow to the right of the calendar name you wish to share. In the pop up menu which is displayed, select the Calendar Settings option. In the Embed this calendar area, copy (Control/Command+A to select & Control/Command+C to copy) the HTML coding that is displayed. Alternatively, click the Customize the color, size, and other options link to modify the calendar display to fit your web site needs. When you have completed your customizations of the display, copy the HTML coding. On your own web site, paste (Control/Command+V) the HTML coding in the desired location. If you use a WYSIWYG online text editor, be sure to paste the HTML coding in the Source code view.

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Web Image Editing

welstechtrainer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:55:56 CDT

Bonus WELSTech Goodness Podcast: Episode 083

Editing web images using online editors like Picnik.

	Pick an Editor- The first step in using an online graphics editor is to select the one that's right for you. Video Tutorial Go to the online editors that interest you. They all have basic features useful for any webmaster. Pick a couple that might meet your needs and run a few images through them. Determine whether a premium account is right for you, if available.
	Uploading/Downloading Your Image - These editors make it very easy to upload and download the image you want to work with. We'll use www.picnik.com as our image editor for this tutorial. Video Tutorial Go to www.picnik.com. Click on Get Started Now and then Upload a Photo. You will be asked to select the photo you'd like to upload either from your hard drive or the web. The image gets uploaded into the edit tab, to save the image after your edits, click on the Share & Save tab, modify the available settings as desired, and click Save Photo. If the image does not download, click on the Basic Downloader link under the Save Photo button.
	Editing Your Image - All online editors allow simple crop and resize functions. This is how you do it at www.picnik.com. Video tutorial Once your image has been uploaded, go to the Edit tab to see your image. To crop your image and capture the exact area you'd like to keep, click the Crop button and then drag the circular handles to the correct size. If you hover over the crop grid, you may also click and drag the crop area around the photo. To resize your image, click the Resize button and enter the dimension in pixels you'd like the photo to be.

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