Submitted by Brian St. Denis on Thursday, May 7, 2009 - 21:33

E-Journalism

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This morning we had a short discussion about the definition of the word 'practice,' and by the afternoon it was clear why. We practiced a lot today. If our class can't upload content by now, they never will.

As we kicked off publication project, our class learned about CMS (content management systems), such as this fine website we've all been diligently posting to these past six weeks. The framework is already in place, and all we need to do is type in our content to the correct fields, and voila. It's efficient, it's consistent and it's simple.

Looking at this website, the section you're reading right now is called the core. To your right is the menu, 'who's online', and 'who's new' modules, or widgets. At the very top is the header, and at the bottom is the footer. There are other modules off to the left, such as the most recent blog posts. These are all sectioned off into blocks. What you see is the front end of the site - conversely, the administration side that you don't see is the back end.

Modules and widgets are everywhere, albeit by different names depending on what site is being used. Facebook has a plethora of (often inane) applications. Blogger calls theirs gadgets. They all serve the same purpose, though - to automate some greater function of the website. They're the little gears that make the watch hands turn, so to speak.

Tomorrow we'll be starting up our own blogs and adding our own widgets, specifically tailored to our fields of interest. Almost home.

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