Author Archives: Jonah Sheridan Fenn

Google Analytics Settings

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Before you can use Google Analytics for your blogsite, you must have (or be a part of) a Google Analytics account.  There are a couple of different ways that you can do this – either through the primary OSU profile or through your own profile.

By default, all blogs are added to the primary OSU profile.  If you would like access to this profile, you can contact Web Communications and they will be happy to help you get the ball rolling.

If you would like to start up your own profile, just do the following:

  1. Go to: http://www.google.com/analytics/sign_up.html
  2. If you do not yet have a Google account, you must sign up for one to use Google Analytics.  Create an account, if necessary, and then log in to the account.
  3. You will be redirected to the Google Analytics starting page – click Sign Up.
  4. You will be redirected to the Analytics: New Account Signup page, enter the following information:
    1. Website’s URL field
    2. Account Name field
    3. Time Zone Country or Territory field
    4. Time Zone field
  5. Click Continue
  6. You will then be redirected to a page where you will have to fill out the following information:
    1. Last Name field
    2. First Name field
    3. Country or Territory field
  7. Click Continue
  8. You will be redirected to the User Agreement page – read the terms and click the Yes check box to continue
  9. Click Create New Account
  10. Your Google Analytics code will be presented to you.  Look for the UA-xxxxxx-x number within the code – this is what you’ll need for the Google Analytics setting on your blog

Configuring your blogsite for Google Analytics

Once you have your Google Analytics tracking code, login to your blogsite and do the following:

  1. Go to Dashboard > Settings > Google Analytics
  2. Paste your Google tracking number into the Tracking Code field on the page
  3. Click Save Changes

To check your stats, just log in to Google Analytics and your report will immediately show.  Google Analytics operates on a 24 hour delay, so you must wait at least one day after configuring your settings to start tracking results.

Global Site Tags Widget

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The Global Site Tags widget is available as soon as a blogsite is created.  This widget will display more popular global blogsite tags with a larger font and less popular tags with a smaller font.  Tags that are between the the two sizes will be appropriately sized within the sizing range that you determine for the largest and smallest tags.

To Use the Global Site Tags Widget

  1. From within your Dashboard, go to Appearance > Widgets
  2. Locate the Global Site Tags widget in the Available Widgets group at the top of the page. Click on the widget and drag it into an available region such as Sidebar 1, Sidebar 2, etc.
  3. Once the widget has been positioned, click on its arrow to open up the widget control panel
    1. Title: this is optional. If you don’t enter a title it will show the default widget title.
    2. Tag Cloud Order: This will determine what order your tags show, choose either Tag Count or Most Recent
    3. Number of Tags: Select a value here.  Numbers are available in one digit increments from 1 to 100.
    4. Largest Font Size: This will show the most popular tags as the largest font in the cloud. Sizes, in pixels, are available in one digit increments from 1 to 100.  It’s recommended that this font be larger than the Smallest Font Size you select (see next step).
    5. Smallest Font Size: This will show the newer or least popular tags as the smallest font in the cloud. Sizes, in pixels, are available in one digit increments from 1 to 100.  It’s recommended that this font be smaller than the Largest Font Size you select.
    6. Click the Save button when completed
  4. Click on the Visit Site link to see your new widget in action.

Dixi Theme

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The Dixi theme sports an optional, customizable “home page” that can be set up to display up to four different, tabbed feed displays on the front page.  Additionally, Dixi has a special video embed feature that allows you to embed your favorite video and display it in a preset block on your custom home page.

Here’s a list of some of the other really interesting things you can do with Dixi:

  • Body Features
    • Change background colors
    • Change content background color
    • Change body line color (such as for grids)
    • Add background images
  • Text Features
    • Change body font globally
    • Change headline font globally
    • Change font size
    • Change all text based colors (body text, links, etc)
  • Custom Image Header Features
    • Upload custom image header – to your own height requirements

To explore all of the different features available with the Dixi theme, first you’ll have to activate it by going to Dashboard > Appearance > Themes.

After the theme is activated, just go to Dashboard > Appearance > Theme Options to change your theme’s settings.

Nelo Theme

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The Nelo theme includes  an optional, customizable “home page” front which focuses on images.  Nelo’s home page allows for up to five different, well-sized images to be uploaded and displayed.  The Custom Homepage control panel also allows you to enter URLs for each block section of content.

But this isn’t all Nelo does…here’s how Nelo stacks up, in terms of other features:

  • Body Features
    • Change background colors
    • Change content background color
    • Change body line color (such as for grids)
    • Add background images
  • Text Features
    • Change body font globally
    • Change headline font globally
    • Change font size
    • Change all text based colors (body text, links, etc)
  • Custom Image Header Feature
    • Upload custom image header – to your own height requirements

To explore all of the different features available with the Nelo theme, first you’ll have to activate it by going to Dashboard > Appearance > Themes.

After the theme is activated, just go to Dashboard > Appearance > Theme Options to change your theme’s settings.