Building a Post
Hi,
It's interesting... Probably the most common question I get from friends and relatives concerning this blog has nothing to do with birds whatsoever. Instead, people want to know how we put these posts together... What are the mechanics of writing a post for a blog? Ok... Fair enough... You asked, I'll answer... Here's how it works...
And how long does this process take? Anywhere from 90 minutes to 10 hours, though the typical time frame is four hours.
And that's the way it is... See you by the feeders...
CapeCodAlan
It's interesting... Probably the most common question I get from friends and relatives concerning this blog has nothing to do with birds whatsoever. Instead, people want to know how we put these posts together... What are the mechanics of writing a post for a blog? Ok... Fair enough... You asked, I'll answer... Here's how it works...
- Typically, we first choose subject matter... We might take some pictures, or there might be a news item, or maybe another blog will raise an issue... Whatever...
- When pictures are used (and they almost always are), they have to be downloaded from one of the cameras (or both) to the computer via a USB cable. Today, we
downloaded almost 400 pictures. Of those, roughly 100 were "keepers", and of those 100, probably 5 were stunning... (including the crow shot below).
- All quality pics have to be loaded up into our New England Bird Picture Library site.
- After that, I write the basic article (in Microsoft Notepad of all things)... Using Notepad, we can be assured of entering only stripped-down ANSI characters that will seamlessly translate into HTML.
- Next, the HTML code itself is entered into the document where appropriate. (A superb HTML tutorial may be found at http://www.jmarshall.com/easy/html/.)
- Following the "happy, happy, joy, joy" of entering HTML tags comes the issue of picture quality... The photos usually have to be enhanced (for color brightness, balance, tone, etc., etc., etc.) Programs like Adobe's Photoshop and ArcSoft's PhotoStudio fill the bill nicely.
- Picture size typically needs to be adjusted. We try to shoot for a max dimension of 300 pixels on a side, though sometimes the subject matter demands as much as 400. The programs mentioned above work quite well for this task too, but even Microsoft Paint will do in a pinch.
- Next, the pictures are uploaded onto the eBirdseed server, and their Internet addresses are noted within the "post to be" in Notepad.
So that's the basic process for creating the post. But that's when the fun starts.
- The Notepad piece is saved as a ".txt" file, and then copied into the Movable Type publishing platform for the eBirdseed blog. However, it is entered in an "unpublished" state rendering it invisible to you, the reader.
- Using a "preview" mode, I can look at the entire entry as it will appear to the viewership. That preview is then copied into Microsoft Word.
- The post is then spell checked from stem to stern. Whenever a mistake is uncovered, it is fixed both in Notepad and in Word, and the corrected Notepad article is saved immediately.
- Once the spelling and grammatical issues have been quelled, the matter of "readability" is tackled. (With luck, "reads" and "rereads" uncover redundancy, abruptness, transition, etc., etc., etc.)
- Almost finally, the work is fed into a text-to-speech synthesizer (I use NaturalReader) in Word. That way I get to listen to the whole enchilada in another "person's" voice.
- Almost, almost finally, the wife looks over the article, and sees if she can find a dent.
- With all systems "Go!", I wipe out what's in the Movable Type program, replace it with the latest version of the post in Notepad, save it, and change its status to "published".
- After that, still more rereads continue. It's not unusual for the wife and I to read the same article 10 or 20 times or more.
And how long does this process take? Anywhere from 90 minutes to 10 hours, though the typical time frame is four hours.
And that's the way it is... See you by the feeders...
CapeCodAlan
Comments
Thanks for the great explanation! Speaking for myself, it gives me a whole new perspective (and respect) about the process and those who go through it daily for our benefit.
Now that we understand THAT aspect of "How We Do This," I'd be interested to know more about the photo process. Specifically: When photographing people (children in particular), I normally try to get them to look at the camera by saying something like, "Look at the BIRDIE..." So what do you say to the birdies when you take THEIR picture... "Look at the HUMANS?"
OK, now that my tongue is out of my cheek (and that old joke has been used, hopefully for the last time), I would like to know what setting do you take the photos at? Specifically, now that Digital Cameras can record at 10 megapixels and up, it makes for better photos... but not for the web since the web has an issue with the larger file sizes that result from higher megapixel settings. I read a lot about "Optimizing" photos for web use. How does that work for this blog and the stunning shots you manage to come up with? The photos you use are simply great by the way!
Thanks.
Posted by: Gerry Ashley | June 6, 2007 1:56 PM
FWIW, "optimizing" photos for web use can be done through Photoshop. Images do look better on screen after being enhanced this way.
Posted by: kathryn | June 8, 2007 12:18 AM