Thursday, October 30, 2014

How To Blog

by Anne Ashley & Eryn Sutterlin

Create a Blog: (only need to do this once)
1.      Go to www.blogger.com
2.      Sign in using your Google account
3.      Click on New Blog
4.      Create a title and web address (make sure your address is available)
5.      Select a template
6.      Click on your new title to start blogging

Set Up: (only need to do this once)
1.      Select Template from left menu
2.      Click Customize (orange button)
3.      Select Layout from top left corner links
4.      Choose from layout options for post and gadget locations
5.      You can explore the other links to adjust widths, colors, backgrounds, etc.
6.      Click Apply to Blog once you have finalized your selections
7.      Click Back to Blogger to return to your home screen and all options
8.      You can visit this anytime to change your blog appearance

Settings: (only need to do this once)
1.      From the homepage, select Settings
2.      Select Basic where you can add a blog description that will appear under the title on your webpage.  Make sure you set your Blog Readers (bottom of page) to PublicClick Save Changes.
3.      Posts and Comments to make sure that you can monitor comments from others before they appear on your blog.  You can also choose to remove comments as an option if you do not want anyone to comment on your blog posts. Click Save Settings when you are finished.
4.      Select Mobile and Email to confirm that comments will be sent to your desired email address for approval before they appear on the blog.

Blogging: (posting on your blog)
1.      Select Posts from left menu on homepage
2.      Click on New Post (orange button top left)
3.      Add your content, links, pictures, etc.
a.       This is saved automatically
b.      Select Close to save as a draft
c.       Select Publish to post to the blog for all to see
4.      You can select any post to Return to Draft at any time and it will be removed from the live webpage
5.      You can click View Blog (grey button near top center) to see how your published posts appear at any time on the live webpage

Adding Gadgets: (links, polls, marginal text, etc)
1.      From the homepage, Select Layout from the menu on the left
2.      Click Add Gadget for the location on the blog you want to use
3.      Select the type of Gadget from the list (Link List, Text, Poll, Follow by Email, Newsreel, etc.)
4.      Add your information to the Gadget by following the directions in the window
5.      Make sure you click Save once you have finished
6.      Click Save Arrangement (orange button near top right)
7.      You can click View Blog (grey button near top center) to see how your additions appear at any time