3. Create a blog

powered by ODEO

The first step is to set up your own blog to record your thoughts, discoveries and exercises in.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. Your blog should be work friendly. For the duration of this tutorial there will be work related content on it and your coworkers may read it. After the tutorial is over, it doesn't have to be about work, but readers should be comfortable reading it at work.

2. Your blog posts should be at least 100-150 words each week - we'd like to have a conversation and the more you post, the better the conversation will be

3. How you choose to identity yourself on your blog is your choice. You can blog under a screen name, anonymously, or as yourself.

For this exercise I am recommending you use Blogger, a popular free online blog hosting service that is easy to use. Creating a blog using Blogger takes just a few easy steps:

Exercise

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com/

2. Click on "New Blogger using your Google Account"


Click on image for larger view

3. Your sign in name is your gmail address, without the @gmail.com for example yourname
your password is the same one you use for your gmail account
Click on image for larger view

3. Your sign in name is your gmail address, your complete address, for example yourname@gmail.com
your password is the same one you use for your gmail account

4. You'll be taken to this screen, click on "Create blog now"


Click on image for larger view

5. Select a display name.

6. Name your blog and choose an address.

• The name is the title that displays at the top. For example, Bobbi's Thoughts or Bobbi's Babbling
• Your address is the URL people will type into go to go your blog, they do not have to match. For example your address could be bobbi123.blogspot.com
• It may be hard to find an address that's available, you may have to try several and use the "check availability" button
• Be sure to also write down your blog address.

Click on image for larger view

7. Select your template.

8. You're ready to start blogging! Create your first post, even if it's just a test post.

9. Email me with the address.

Once you’ve created your blog here are a couple important things to know:

1. To add posts: Log into your account at http://www.blogger.com/
2. Click on the Blogger Beta sign in
3. Use your gmail address and password to sign in

4. To view your blog: type in your URL from step 6.

Resources

If you run into problems or would like more information about blogs and using Blogger here are some discovery resources you can use:
Freevlog’s Quicktime Tutorial: Setup a Free Blogger Blog Note: Ignore the opening comments about downloading Firefox if your PC doesn’t have it. This will work in Explorer just fine.
Blogger’s Quick Tutorial