It’s the start of a new school year — and that means it’s time to rev up your newsroom. To help you do this, we’ve compiled a huge variety of resources that we hope will make your goals more achievable. You can read the full list on our Info Hub, or catch the highlights every couple of weeks on the blog.
This week, we’re featuring resources that will help you with your website and digital endeavors. Have anything to add? Tweet us or message us on Facebook!
Want to learn to code? Codecademy is probably one of the most popular ways to teach yourself, and for good reason. You can learn the fundamentals of HTML and CSS, JavaScript, Ruby and more, then move up to more complicated courses, like building and deploying your own website, or creating responsive design.
As journalism becomes more and more digital, it’s fair to say everyone should know a bit of code. If you’ve got time to dedicate to learning, this skill can set you apart from the competition (and help you think more creatively for your publication’s website). And Codecademy is free!
If you prefer the old-fashioned way, there’s a great book that can help. HTML & CSS will teach you about how websites function and how to build your own. (Plus, the book is full of design inspiration, with a clean, minimal layout on every page.)
If you want to revamp your digital presence this year, consider looking for a company to hire, rather than going it alone. Businesses like SNOSites and TownNews have experience working with student media and will be able to meet your needs for a website or CMS, offer support when you need it and help you reach the standard of professionalism you’re looking for.
We all know that stories are more likely to grab a reader’s attention when they feature an excellent photo — but, hey, sometimes there just isn’t a compelling image to go with your article about a (super exciting) bill being passed. And since you’re up-to-date on copyright laws, you know you can’t just grab any picture you see online.
That’s where free-to-use photo sites like Creative Commons on Flickr and Wikimedia Commons come in handy. You can search thousands of photos to find one that works; just make sure you’ve filtered results to only find ones that are free to use. Remember to give credit to the photographer and note where you got the image from, and you’re good to go!