Entering the Blogosphere

I've had several requests lately for blog starting instructions. For lots of people, starting anything on the computer, particularly the Internet, can be a daunting task riddled with the fear of breaking something, opening yourself up to scams, and signing up for something you never intended to.

So for our Wheatmark authors who are just getting started, here is a step-by-step blog about, well, blogging.

I'm going to go through the steps screen-by-screen on Blogger, a free blog hosting site through Google, that will allow you to get started!

Remember, this is just to get started. There are so many ways to customize your blog to work for you. There are other services out there like that have fee sites that have even more options. But when you are just getting started, this is an easy and pain-free way to go.

1. Go to https://www.blogger.com/start
   
2. On the opening page, (called a landing page is web-ese) is a giant orange arrow that says “create your blog now”
   
3. Click it.
   
4. It will ask you to create a Google account. Do this. It isn’t a scam. In fact, it will be helpful in the future to have one.
   
5. Now you name your blog: I recommend calling it something easy to remember. The title of your blog does not need to be the same as the URL. I think this is kind of confusing. (For example, my personal blog where I post picture of my dogs and things when I remember is entitled I Like Carrots. But my actual URL is http://katgautreaux.blogspot.com/ because I Like Carrots was apparently taken.) So you may want to call your blog something entirely different from your address that is typed into the search line on your web browser’s window. This is up to you and the availability.
   
6. The next prompt is choosing a template. I like the minima template to begin with because it is nice and clear to see.
   
7. The next prompt will say "Start blogging!" And you click on the arrow.
   
8. Click it!
9. Before you write anything, let’s spice up the blog just a wee bit.
   
10. Go to the Setting tab.
    

SETTINGS TAB

1. Write a description that includes some keywords you might use to search for you or your book; put them in sentence form if you like.
   
2. All those options! Everything should be a yes except for the adult content. I'll let you decide that one. But unless you've written about a very, very adult topic, you should make that a no.
   
3. Save
   
4. See Formatting? Go there. Make sure the time stamps and such are correct for your time zone. Also, “turn on” Show Link Fields
   
5. See Commenting? Go there. I like blogs to be as open as possible for books. So answer the questions to make that happen. Allow anonymous commenters. I’d select the pop-up option in how the comments are viewable. Everything else should be OK the way that it is.
6. See email? Go there. Here is where you can selectively e-mail people when you’ve posted.
   
7. Permissions --If you have more than one person who is going to author posts on your blog--Go there. Then add authors. If it is just you, leave it.
8. OK! One more tab! Click on the Layout tab.

LAYOUT TAB

1. Here is where you can add things to help readers navigate your blog, link to other blogs, change colors, etc. This is the fun part of decorating your blog.
   
2. Add a Gadget: Under Add a Gadget, you can create a list of blogs and websites that you enjoy and would like to tell others about. (be sure to add Wheatmark!)
   
3. Subscription Links, add this so readers can subscribe and be updated when you post
   
4. List, Link List. Are great ways to show our support of others out there on the web (and how they can in return show support for you)
   
5. Fonts and Colors: Here you can change your text colors and such to match your eyes, your shoes, or your book. This is fun, but not important

NOW YOU CAN POST

When you are done setting up the basics, you can begin blogging. By clicking the “new post” button it will open up a page for you to write in.

What each blog should have:

A title

Body text

Labels (words that help readers identify your subject and be able to search it – like a library catalog

What each blog CAN have:

Video uploads

Links to other websites and such

Pictures