MagMaking 101: How to Make a Magazine for your Class

Jenn de la Vega / March 31, 2015

150325-How To Make A Magazine for Your Class-11

The biggest tool Flipboard can offer educators is the ability to make magazines. Not only is it easy, but once you get the hang of it, magazines are flexible and customizable. Best of all, joining Flipboard is free and you can make as many magazines as you need them. Here’s how to get started:

Register for Flipboard

Head to Flipboard.com. You will need a valid email address to confirm registration.

On the Web, you will be asked to pick 7 topics to personalize your Flipboard account. As you choose, a gallery of related topics will appear below it.

Web_TopicPicker

On mobile, you will be asked to pick 5 topics. Picking topics is an important step that will help you populate your magazines later. You can search for education related topics by typing in the “What interests you?” bar.

TopicPicker

Once you’ve registered, you will be taken to your Cover Stories or as we also sometimes call it, “Your Flipboard”. Visit your profile to add a photo and description. Your profile serves as an introduction to you and a hub for others to browse your magazines.

Create Your First Magazine

On the web, click on your profile icon and then the “New Magazine” button.

PrivateMag_Web

On mobile, tap on your profile and then on the grey “New” button. You will be prompted to type in a title, description and whether you want to make the magazine private or public.

PrivateMag_Creation

A concise title and a thorough magazine description will help others find your magazine.

Types of Magazines

Think about how you will be organizing information and with whom you will be sharing your magazines.

Here are some ideas:

  • Current events to discuss in class
  • Inspiration for group projects or planning an event
  • Articles to supplement a teaching unit
  • School news
  • Information about a field trip
  • Your own digital yearbook or school paper
  • An alumni news bulletin
  • Extra credit reading

Fill It Up (Chrome extension, Bookmarklet)

Here’s the fun part! Flipping articles into your magazine is easy.

From your Cover Stories on the web, simply scroll down until you see something you want to put into your magazine. Click on the + sign in the bottom right corner of any article.

Web_FlipArticle

If you aren’t seeing enough material in your Cover Stories, you can find and follow more topics, publishers and people with a search. Click on the magnifying glass icon on the top right of the screen to begin.

searchkittens

You can also follow your social media networks by connecting them to your Flipboard account. On mobile, select the Following tab (the four square icon) and tap on accounts. You will be able to choose specific feeds to follow in Flipboard.

connect social accts

To bring in content as you browse the Web, you can install the Flipboard Chrome Extension or bookmarklet.

On mobile, tap on the Home icon to see your Cover Stories and flip away! The + sign will be on the bottom right of your screen.

Mobile_Flip

With iOS 8, you also have the added advantage of flipping photos from your Photos app. Visit any picture you want to flip into a magazine, select the share icon and choose Flipboard. If Flipboard does not appear, tap on “More” to enable it.

iOS_FlipPhoto

Editing Your Magazine

While you’re logged in to Flipboard.com, you can re-arrange the items in your magazine, promote something to the cover, delete articles and edit your magazine’s settings, like title, description, contributors and privacy toggle. You’ll see a new “edit” button under the cover of each of your Flipboard magazines.

Web_EditButton

Alternatively, you can hover your mouse over the magazine covers on your profile to reveal another “edit” button.

Web_Hover

To move magazines, click and drag them. Set the covers by clicking on a magazine to select it and show the articles within. Choose the image by clicking on the cover icon below it.

Web_EditorLaunch

 

Once you’ve got enough pages to flip like a digital magazine, it’s time for show and tell! Tweet the link to @FlipboardMag with the #FlipEDU hashtag.

~jdlv is reading “Fiat Lux