HOW TO SET
UP A BLOG
ON BLOGGER
Go to the
Blogger website
at
www.blogger.com.
Click on
the button
shaped like
an arrow
that says:
CREATE YOUR BLOG NOW
Choose a user name.?
This is a
name that
no one but you will
know.? Choose something easy to
type
when you log in.
Enter a password that you
won?t
forget.
Choose a display name that
everyone else will see when
you
post entries to your blog and
when you post comments on
other sites.
Put in your e-mail
address.? This
is for comment notifications
and
other administrative
purposes.
Choose an e-mail address
that
you check often.
Read
and accept the terms of service.
Choose a title for your blog.? It will
display.? Remember that titles
have added importance to
search
engines.? Try to use words that
people might search for in
the title.
Choose your blog
address.? This
address will already be long
because of the part that is
required when Blogger is
your
host (.blogspot.com), so try
to
keep it short.? This is the address
you will give people.
Type in the characters you
see.
This is also how comment
verification works if you
choose to
use it to prevent automated
spam
comments.
OR
you can host your blog on your own website.
You
must have a login and password to your web
server
to use this option.
Choose a template.??
There are
currently almost 20
choices.??
If you choose a black
background,
screen prints will use a lot
of ink
because the background
prints also.
If you will put ads on your
blog,
Adsense recommends that your
sidebar (where the ads wll
run) be
on the left.? They say the top and
the left are the ?hottest?
spots.
You can change your template
later, but you will lose any
customizations you have
made,
which includes ads and links
to
other websites.
You have a blog!
When
you click on START
POSTING, Blogger will take
you
to the your first post
screen.
Be sure to make a first
entry now,
even if it is very simple,
to ?hold
your place? at your web
address.
It can be modified later.
Type
in a title for your first blog
entry, like Welcome!
Type a few words into the
post
box.?? Your post can easily be
modified later.?
Most of the icons are for
standard
word processing tools such
as you
would find in Word.
The picture icon allows you
to
embed an image.? Large images
take a long time to load so
stick to
smaller size formats like
.jpg
Click
on Post and Comment Options to open up the bottom set of options.?
You
can use this to change the date of your post and allow or disallow comments
on
this particular post.
Do
not type very much before saving your entry, either as a draft or by publishing
it.
When
you click on Publish Post, Blogger saves your post to their server (or yours)
and
it shows up on the Web.
This
is the screen that lets you
know that your blog is
available
for viewing on the web.? The two
boxes should be blue.
If
you make a change and it
doesn?t
show up, it is probably
because
your web browser is still
displaying
the old page.? Click on
the
refresh button on your web
browser
or wait and it will be
updated
eventually.
Be
sure to check out how your
blog looks after you make
any
change by clicking on the
View
Blog tab or by opening up
another window in your web
browser and going to your
web
address.?
That?s it!?
You?ve blogged your first
blog!
Close
the View Blog window
and log out and we?ll get
back
in the same way from now on.
To get back into Blogger
again,
go back to
www.blogger.com.?
This time, use the boxes at
the
top of the page to type in
your
Username and Password.
When
you log into Blogger from
now on, you will go to the
Dashboard.?
This is your gateway to your
blog
or blogs.? You can have more
than one.? And it is where Blogger
posts information and tools
for
you to use.
To create or edit posts to
your
blog, just click on your
blog title.?
But first, let?s update your
profile.?
On your blog, there is a section
called About Me.? It contains a
link to your complete profile
on
Blogger (or not, if you
prefer).
Required fields have been
prefilled with the entries
you
made when you created your
blog.
The first option is whether
to
share your profile.?
Do share your profile.? Entries in
your profile can be used by
other
bloggers with similar
interests to
find you and increases
traffic to
your blog.
You can still choose whether
to
show your real name and
whether
to show your e-mail address.
You can also select which of
your
blogs are shown on your
profile.
If you want your picture in your
profile and on your blog,
you can
enter the link if you have a
picture
on a web server somewhere or
follow the instructions for
letting
Blogger host your picture.
You can find out how to do
audio
blogging as well.
You
can choose whether to display
your
birthday, gender, Homepage
URL, Wishlist
(it?s a Froogle thing),
IM
Username, City/Town, Region/State,
Country,
Industry, Occupation.
What you share depends on
what
you want to do with your
blog.?
You should share your
Homepage
URL if you want visitors
there (and
it?s another link to
you).? Your city
will bring visitors from the
same city.
You might share your
industry and
occupation if they are
related to your
blog or website.
The extended information has
4 fields
(Interests, Favorite Movies,
Favorite
Music, Favorite Books) that
create
hyperlinks to other bloggers
with the
same interests and from them
back
to you.? If your blog is on a specific
topic, be sure to list your
favorites
in that area.
There
is also room for some free-form text about you and your answer to a random
nonsense
question.
Don?t
forget to save!
This is the end of Blogging
101 but it?s just the beginning of what Blogger and other blog services
can do!? Besides Creating and Editing Posts, the
Posting tab allows you to moderate comments
(view them before allowing
them on your site).? The Settings tab
allows you to choose Basic
options as well as
Publishing, Formatting, Comments, Archiving, Site Feed (so that people can
subscribe to your blog),
Email, and Members (who can post to your blog).? The Template tab lets
you choose another template,
view and edit the actual HTML code (for adding links, for example),
and put AdSense ads on your
blog that earn you money.
Congratulations
on being published worldwide!