How to: Start Blogging!

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‘Blogging’

Wikipedia Definition: A blog (a contraction of the term “Web log“) is a Web site, 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.

Why Blog?

Blogs have commonly been used for individuals to express their thoughts, beliefs and opinions. This can be on a range of topics and subjects with no necessary or dictated structure. Blogs have grown to encompass all groups, from the public sector to corporate, and host a variety of content including picture, audio and video.

This platform is perfect for someone who wishes to discuss issues that they feel relevant to their faith or otherwise. Beyond tackling topics of popular discourse, cross-blog engagement and discussion can be a key tool in breaking down barriers online. Blogs are not an unfamiliar venture and are now used by big sites including the Guardian (Comment is Free) and the BBC’s Blog Network. Visit the Wikipedia article on Blogging to learn about the influence of blogs in the global sphere.

How Do I Do It?

Blogging is incredibly straight forward and will cost you nothing. It should take no more than 5 minutes to set up a new blog and post an item for the world to see.

Where do I start?

There are numerous services available online which will provide you with a free ‘place on the net’. A simple Google search will reveal hundreds of platforms to choose from. Arguably the two most popular platforms are ‘Blogger’ and ‘WordPress’.

Setting up WordPress

WordPress is offered in two forms. Originally it was software which required access to a server and database for the user to set up (relatively high level). Now it is also offered as a free service known as ‘WordPress.com’ and has grown to host over 3.5million blogs. These steps will guide you through signing up to posting a new article.

Step 1 – Visit WordPress.com and click ‘Sign up Now!’

If you select ‘Features’, you will be able to see exactly what this service has to offer. This can include web space, email addresses and more.

Step 2 – Fill in your details and select the appropriate options.

You will always need a valid email address to set up any online service. If you are not keen on receiving extra email, set up a free email account to use for web services.

Step 3 – Customise your Blog settings as you see fit.

Most of these options can be changed after the blog has been set up, usually in the ‘settings’ tab on the control panel. Don’t worry about entering personal information, you can usually leave such fields blank – or you can

Step 4 – Get to blogging!

You will be asked to check your email – once you have received the details for your blog you can log in and get right to blogging!

Blogging with WordPress

This section assumes that you are logged into your WordPress.com dashboard. With WordPress, the article/blog/entry is known as a ‘Post’.

To create a new post – Visit the ‘Write’ tab and select ‘Post’.

There are a variety of fields which give you flexibility with your post, but you don’t need to worry about filling anything in apart from the ‘Title’ and the ‘Post’ to begin with.

Experiment with layouts, using the WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) editor.

On WordPress, this is known as the ‘Visual’ editor. With this you will be given the standard formatting options used on most Word Processors like bold, italics and so on.

Insert visual and audible content using the Add Media buttons.

The ‘Add Media’ button brings up a window which allows the uploading of images, audio and video. This powerful tool can come in most useful when blogging, enhancing the experience of your visitors by adding visual and audible aids.

You can organise your articles using categories or tabs, these are self-explanatory and can be adjusted at any time.

Publish your writing by hitting the ‘Publish’ button.

Alternatively you can select ‘Save’ to save the post as a draft which you can then come back to later, or select ‘Preview Post’ to see what your blog will look like when you hit publish.

Finally, click ‘View Post’ to see your first item!

Commenting on Blogs

A key feature offered by blogs is the ability to comment on the content of the blog – usually on a per-post basis. This feature allows analysis of the post by visitors and offers interaction with the blog. There are many positive aspects to commenting, especially on articles with a controversial nature. The ability to voice your opinion on someone else’s writing adds another dimension to the website and gives an equal opportunity for visitors to express their thoughts. There are also drawbacks where the discussions can spiral out of control, often becoming repetitive, tiresome and entirely off-topic.

To enable comments – Visit the Settings

There are a number of methods which WordPress uses to allow you to control the flow of comments on your blog. The discussion settings allow you to customise whether the visitors comments are moderated, who can comment and so on.

Comments Per Post – Manage your Posts

As well as the global settings, you can also customise which post allows comments and which don’t, as well as having the option of coming back and disabling or enabling comments at a later date.

Some blogs have other factors which dictate whether or not you can comment, including time limits and anti-spam measures. It is wise to comment as soon as you have read an article so that those reading after you will see your comment but most importantly so that you don’t miss your opportunity. Commenting on websites, from videos to articles, is crucial in getting an unheard point of view across.