BLOGGING 101: How To Create A Blog (Beginners)

[Jessica]

BLOGGING 101 Follow these steps to create a blog and you'll be blogging within minutes - For Free!

What is a BLOG

So what is a Blog anyway? As per Wikipedia a blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

"Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

To me, a blog is a on-line journal and merely a tool that lets me share whatever I choose.


How to Create a Blog

To create a blog is easy!


Follow these steps to create a blog and you'll be blogging within minutes - for free!

WordPress and Blogger are the two most popular blogging platforms.

I have not explored any other platforms as I do not see the need to. (I will give the directions to create your blog in these two platforms at the end…READ ON!)


Blogger is great because it's super easy to use. However, WordPress has a lot more features and plug-ins that will allow you to enhance your blog.

Setting up a WordPress blog is slightly more involved, but it’s well worth it in the long run.

There are two ways to Host Your Blog

1. Remotely Host It
Hosting it remotely means your content/files literally sit on the server of the blogging platform (WordPress.com, Blogger.com, etc.)

There's always a risk involved with doing it this way because if Blogger or WordPress decide to shut your blog down (for whatever reason), you would lose all your content.

It also doesn't look as professional to have a blog address like http://ABC.blogspot.com or http://ABC.wordpress.com Also if you want to make money with your blogs (We will cover that later), first impressions mean a lot.


2. Self Host It
Self Hosting it means all your content sits on the hosting account that you own.

Your blog address is more professional and easy to remember because you can have a true domain like http://yourblog.com

TO CREATE A BLOG USING BLOGGER

1. Link to the https://blogger.com website
2. Click on the orange arrow that says "create your blog now."
3. On the "Create a Google Account" screen enter in the information required, namely:
• Your email address
• Enter password (it's a good idea to write this down somewhere safe -- or email it to yourself and then save the email so you can refer to it later if you forget it). You have to retype the password in the second box.
• Enter a display name
• Choose a user name. If you prefer people not to know who you actually are, then choose a fictitious name.
• Accept the terms (it is safe to do).
• Word verification: type the letters that appear as a graphic above the verification box. This is there to ensure that the blog is being created by a person and not automatically being generated by a computer.
• Click on the "Continue" arrow
4. On the "Name your blog" screen:
• Enter title: This is the title that will appear at the top of your blog page and will also be the default name that will appear in users' browsers when they bookmark/add to favorites you blog, so choose something that will give readers a clear idea of what your blog is about
• Blog address: pick something that you'll remember easily and that is easy to type.
• Click on the "Continue" arrow
5. On the "Choose a template" screen:
• Scroll through the selections and click on the little radio button next to the name of the template that you choose. e.g. I chose the snapshot template. Note: you can change the template later if you decide you don't like the one you have selected, so don't spend too much time at this point worrying what will look best! • Click on the "Continue" arrow

6. On the "Your blog has just been created!" screen:
• Click on the "Start Blogging" arrow
7. A window will appear that looks much like a word processing window. Start typing, and use the formatting bar at the top to help you format your entry. e.g. You can change font size, type of font, color, justification, create links and so on. Experiment with these to see what they do.
• When finished, click on "Publish Post"
8. Once you have posted an entry, a screen will appear telling you "Your blog post published successfully!"
• To see the results, click on the link to "View Blog."
9. To get back to your blog so that you can add a new entry or edit the existing blog, click on the little orange "B" next to the search field at the top left of your browser window. If you are already logged in, this will take you to your blog Dashboard. If you aren't logged in, then you will first need to log in (using the user name and password that you set up when you created your blog -- that's why it's important to write down what these are when you first create your blog).
10. From the dashboard you can:
• create a new post (a new blog entry): click on the "NEW POST" button • change your blog settings (don't worry about this now, but do explore later)

• edit your existing posts: to do this, click on "Edit Posts" --> this takes you to a screen that gives you the option of creating a new post or editing your entries. To edit entry, click on the "Edit" link next to the entry. This opens the blog in editing mode, and you can go ahead and edit
• to post blog once you are done editing, click on the orange "Publish Post" button (which takes you to "Your blog post published successfully!" window, and from there, click to "View Blog"). Posting a photo or other image on your blog

1. When you are in the compose window to create a blog, you will see a little picture/icon that looks like a mountain on the tool bar (right next to the spell check icon). Click on that
2. This opens a box that gives you a choice to add an image from your computer or an image from the web. The easiest is from your computer. So click on the button that says "browse." 3. Navigate to where you have a picture saved on your computer and select it.

4. Back in the upload image window, select the layout (if you want the picture to be left, center, or right, or none). I like the option of having the text wrap around the picture as it reduces scrolling -- but this is a personal choice -- no "right" way!. Also select if you want the image to be small, medium or large. My advice: go small or medium, but avoid large as it makes the blog take too long to load.
5. Click the "Upload Image" button. It will take a little while for it to load, but that should do it! (you may need to refresh the page for you to see that the image has been uploaded).

Signing in once you have your blog set up
When you want to blog again on another day, just go to blogger.com --> at the top of the page that opens, you will see "Sign in to use Blogger with your Google Account."
• Fill in your username and password (that you created in step 3 above).
• Click "Sign In"


TO CREATE A BLOG USING WORDPRESS

1. Link to the http://wordpress.com/ website
2. Click on the orange link that says "Sign Up Now."
3. On the "Get Your Own Wordpress.com" screen enter in the information required, namely:
• Username
• Enter password (You have to retype the password in the second box.)
• Enter a display name • Choose a user name. If you prefer people not to know who you actually are, then choose a fictitious name.
• Accept the terms (it is safe to do).
• Pick a choice of just a Blog or Username. ( in this case we will pick Gimme a Blog)
• Click on the "Next" arrow
4. On this screen:
• Enter Blog Domain: This will be your link to your blog and so if you picked ABC Your address will be abc.wordpress.com. It must be at least 4 characters, letters and numbers only. It cannot be changed so choose carefully!)
• Enter Blog Title: This is the title that will appear at the top of your blog page and will also be the default name that will appear in users' browsers when they bookmark/add to favorites you blog, so choose something that will give readers a clear idea of what your blog is about( It can be changed at any time)
• Blog Language: Pick the language you will be blogging in. • Privacy: Checking this allows your blog to appear in search engines like Google and Technorati, and in public listings around WordPress.com.

• Click on the "Sign Up" arrow

You will get this message Check Your Email to Complete Registration An email has been sent to (whatever email you gave) to activate your account. Check your inbox and click the link in the message. It should arrive within 30 minutes. If you do not activate your account within two days, you will have to sign up again.


Continue on….and make sure to activate later!

5. On this screen:
• Enter Your First and Last Name
• Enter a little bit About Yourself: This is the title that will appear at the top of your blog page and will also be the default name that will appear in users' browsers when they bookmark/add to favorites you blog, so choose something that will give readers a clear idea of what your blog is about( It can be changed at any time)
• Click on the "Save Profile" arrow

CONGRATULATIONS !!! You have created your Wordpress.com account. Please remember to activate your account.

6. To Log in:
• Type your Username and password that you used to create account ( Top Left)
7. A window will appear that says “By filling out the form below, you can add another blog to your account. You can choose to do so now or later.
You will also see My Account, My Dashboard, New Post and Blog Info at the top of the page.

FOR NOW lets create a blog!....

8. To Create a Blog simply use the TABS on that page that says NEW POST
• Add your title
• Add the body of your blog • Use the Publish button to save, preview or publish
9. Use Dashboard :

• To change your theme, for tool and settings and many more. Wordpress is a little more sophisticated so please feel free to explore and learn a few things.


Till next time when we will cover....

Blogging 101: YOU CREATED A BLOG, WHAT'S NEXT?

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Jessica
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