How to Establish a Blog

What is a Blog

• A blog is a collection of informational articles/ideas intended to update a viewer on new information associated with the topics of that specific website.

What is the Difference Between a Blog and a Forum

• A blog is intended to offer updates from a single user whereas a forum is intended to promote a discussion amongst multiple users.

• A blog is focused and maintained by a single author or a small group that chooses the topics, whereas a forum allows multiple users to start topics of a large variety giving the site a bit of unpredictability

Differences Between a Blog and a Forum continued…

• The author of a blog has the option of allowing viewers to comment on their work/issue which is not a necessity, whereas the main point of a forum is to get multiple responses and discussion on the different topics.

• The content on a blog is easier to manage due to the single authority of the author and their ability to edit out comments or not accept them at all, whereas a forum has the same unpredictability in the content where the moderators have to manage whatever content should arise ranging from mere language choices to verbal assaults.

Which is Better for Your Purposes?

• You want a blog if you are looking for easily manageable updates centralized around topics specifically chosen for your purposes with the option of receiving comments.

• You want a forum if you are looking for a more open form of communication intending to spark discussion amongst members of your specified/selected community of members.

Choosing Between a pre-established Blog site or Building Your Own

• The benefit of a pre-established blog site is that they are easier for you to set up, however they contain features outside of your control, and if you link to their website or attach it to yours, the blog on your website is inexplicably tied to the fate of their website.

• If you don’t mind more work you can opt to set up your own blog through your own site, although this requires more work in setting it up as well as maintaining it, but on the other hand you also essentially get full control over it.

Choosing Between Free Sources and Paying for Service

• The plus side to using sites with free service is that they are of course, free, however, they also normally have restricted access to certain higher end features which you may need later on. You also have to worry about whether or not the website remains active.

• When paying for a service, the longevity of the website is more dependable as well the full usability of the programs.

• For these reasons we recommend using paid for services, in order to ensure that you have full functionality and dependability, however, there are a few websites that make it apparent that they are able to stay and have been reviewed enough to make them viable as well. One such site is www.blogger.com

What Will This Tutorial Focus On?

• Due to the complexity and the amount work involved in making a blog from scratch, this tutorial will focus on the basics of setting up a blog using the free blog host www.blogger.com and their ability to put that blog onto a personal website.

• This will give the user a better idea of what a blog consists of before they put too much into the effort.

• It will also go over some of the main editing options that will help to customize your blog.

What Will You Need?

• You will need working knowledge of web programming skills

• You will need to make sure that your web host service supports FTP– Web hosting service: where you acquired your web

space.– FTP (File Transfer Protocol): a web protocol used to

transfer files from your computer to a web server, or vice versa (We recommend AceFTP, which is free and easy to use).

Step One: Signing Up for Blogger

• Go to the website www.blogger.com

• At the lower right-hand side, click the giant orange arrow that says, “Create Your Blog Now”

Step 2a: Sign Up for a Google Account

• Follow the directions on the page and fill out your information and click the orange arrow that says, “Continue,” when you are done.

• If you already have a Google Account, then it won’t let you sign up, but if you go back to the start page and sign in using your pre-existing information the sequence of steps that follow will be the same.

Step 2b: Signing Up For Blogger With a Pre-existing Google Account

• Just fill in the needed information and hit the big orange arrow at the bottom right.

Step 3

• In order to attach the blog to your website you will need to click on the hyperlinked text that says, “Advanced Blog Setup.”

Step 4a: Fill Out the Form

• The FTP Server is the website that you connect to in order to update your webpage and you will want to mark the FTP bubble for Protocol.

Step 4b: Fill Out the Rest of the Form

• The FTP path is the directory that you want to put the blog information. You want to use the directory that is accessible to the web in a form similar to this: web/wa/

• If you cannot figure out where that directory is, you can contact your web host

Step 5: Choose a Template for Your Blog

• Choose a template from their list, although it can be edited later on, either for another template, or with customizable options.

• When finished click the big orange arrow.

Step 6: Your Blog has been Created

• Click the big orange arrow to continue.

Step 7a: Make Sure That it Works

• Post a test (It can easily be deleted later)

Step 7b: A Successful Post Looks Like This

However…

Step 7c: Check To See If It Did Post

• To Check and see if it did post, type the URL that you wanted it to be located at into your browser.

• If it shows up, then you can skip the rest of step 7.

• If it doesn’t then have fun and good luck.

Step 7d: A Failed Post Can Look Something Like This

Step 7e: What To Do If It Fails?

• The first thing to do is go to the setting tab in the top left corner.

Step7f: Common Problems

• A common problem is that the website you used as the FTP server is incorrect. If you are unsure, contact your web host.

Step 7g: Another Common Problem

• There could be an error in the username or password associated with that FTP server. Double check that both are correct.

Step 7h: If It Still Isn’t Showing Up

• If it still isn’t showing up, and you are sure that your web host supports FTP, then it is very likely that the blog is being transferred to your site, but to a location you didn’t specify. From here there are two options

Step 7h: Continued

• The first problem could be due to an error in the Blog URL. Make sure that URL is where you want the blog to show up.

Step 7h: Continued Again

• The problem that is more likely is that there is an error in what directory the blog is being sent. In this case you want to make sure that the base web directory is first, followed by a backslash and whatever subdirectory, or subdirectories follow until you reach the folder you want.

Step 7i: Follow Up With the Changes

• Whatever changes that you make to FTP URL and/or the FTP path, remember to also change the lines under “Archiving” and “Sight Feed”

Step 7j: Repost Your Blog Entry To See If It Is Now Shown

• If it still does not work after this point, contact your web host and/or Blogger Help.

Step 8: Customize Your Template

• If you wish to personally edit your blog template, you will need to understand web code, both HTML and CSS. But to do this, merely click on the “Template” tab next to settings.

Step 9: Editing Your Template

• To edit your template, merely edit the code within the center box, and when finished click the large orange button in the bottom left corner

Step 10a: Editing Basic Content

• Go back to the Settings tab.

Step 10b: Editing Content continued

• To edit the content of your blog, click on the subcategories “Basic” or “Comments” under the settings tab.

Step 11: Editing the Format

• To edit the format of the site click on either the “Formatting” or the “Site Feed” subcategories under settings

Step 12: Adding Authors

• If you wish to allow specific other people to post on your blog, then click on the “Permissions” subcategory and the the “Add Authors” Button below your username and email address.

Step 13: Linking

• Now that the blog is where you want it to be, all you have to do is link to it from whichever part of your webpage you want it to come from (and if you want it really fancy, edit the code as is suggested in step 9, making a link back to your original site).

Step 14: Posting

• The final stage of your blog development is actually adding material for your audience. Be creative, informational, or however the wind takes you.