Participatory Media Literacy : Starting a blog

You will need to make a few simple choices before you can start blogging. You can use an online blog hosting service such as Blogger or Typepad, or you can install blogging software onto your own webhost, such as Movable Type or Wordpress. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, and to the various hosting sites and software available.

Blogger is free and is a hosted service (so you don't have to worry about installing or maintaining software), but you will see ads (Blogger is owned by Google). WordPress is also free, but you need to have access to a web server and know how to install and maintain the software. Movable Type has a range of license fees, depending on how you use it, and you need to install it on a server. Typepad is a hosted version of Movable Type that costs $5/month. Our short list of blogging resources gives you a range of options to choose from.

Before you blog, you should spend some time reading blogs, preferably over a period of days, so you can get some feeling for the voice, style, and tempo of different blogs. Here is a list of blogs. After you understand the mechanics of blogging, you can read about Posting mechanics and etiquette and Voice.

Blogging: Basic Principles

Getting Started

First off, you need to decide what kind of blog you want to create -- an online journal of your personal thoughts and opinions? A community blog with multiple authors? A blog with a particular political or cultural focus?

1. Title and Description Once you have an idea in mind, you'll need to choose a name and title for your blog (these can be the same), and perhaps a short description. Example: "fresh eggs: fresh eggs is a communal blog devoted to sustainable food -- organic and biodynamic farming, traditional and vegetarian cooking, farmer's markets and community supported agriculture, local food, raw food, slow food, and the many other ways people are challenging conventional, centralized agribusiness."

2. Settings Whether your blog is hosted through an online service or on your own website, you'll have some control over the look and feel of your blog, and basic settings. Some blogs require HTML or CSS knowledge to customize colors, fonts and layouts, but many offer pre-made templates to get you started. You should additionally be able to add links to your blogs front page, images and personal profile information.

Your best bet is to explore the various settings and publishing defaults to see what kinds of options your blogging software offers.

Posting and Editing

The central features of all blogs are regularly updated posts that show up at the top of the front page. Most blogs include archives to past posts, indexed by date or category.

3. Front vs. Back End: Most blogs operate by having a "back end" and a "front end." The front end is what your readers will see -- your blog's title, most recent posts at the top of the page, and usually a sidebar or two with additional info -- past entries, archives by category or date, links, your profile or photo, etc. When editing or maintaining your blog, however, you'll have to access it through the "back-end" -- an interface that will display a complete index of all posts and comments, as well as links to edit various settings and configurations. The details of this interface depend on the particular blogging software you're using, such as Blogger or Movable Type. Most, however, will offer similar features and will work comparably.

To make changes to your blog, you'll always need to navigate to the back end interface, whether by logging into a service like Blogger or LiveJournal (which provide easy links to updating and editing your blog), or by bookmarking the a direct link. For instance, with Movable Type, you'll want to bookmark the correct .cgi file, mt.cgi, located in the "MT" folder on your website (usually in the CGI directory), e.g.: http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi/mt/mt.cgi. You can probably omit that last filename, and just use "http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi/mt/." If you're not sure where your Movable Type directory is stored on your web server, contact your server administrator or whoever helped you install it.
Once logged in to your blog's back end, you should be able to start posting. If your service supports multiple blogs, you may initially see a list of your blogs, often with quicklinks that will allow you to post or make changes. Clicking on the title of the blog you wish to edit should take you to a more detailed page, often showing a list of recent posts or comments.
With most blogging software, you can either create a new post or entry, or view a list of existing ones (both drafts and published entries), which you can edit or even delete altogether.
To post, look for a link titled "New Entry," "Create New Post" or something similar.

Posting Window Most blogs will let you type the text of your blog directly into a window in your browser. You could also compose the blog in a separate text editor and paste it in from there. Your blog's editor window will most likely include some basic formatting options in a tool bar above the main body field. These make it easy to add images, links, boldface and other text styles like block quotes without knowing HTML. There will also probably be a title field for the title of your post, a drop down menu with topical categories if you want to organize your posts by theme or subject, and possibly additional options like accepting or restricting comments and trackbacks.

Previewing Before you post, you should be able to view a preview of how your post will look from the front-end, which only you can see.

Drafts and Publishing

Once you have composed an entry, you can publish it immediately, but you can also save it as a draft (or as "unpublished"). This makes it easy to start an entry and finish it later, or review and edit it before publishing the final version. Of course, you can always make edits after you've published it, but common blogging etiquette usually entails marking any substantive edits (aside from small spelling or grammatical errors), such as inserting "Edited to add:" or something similar.

Publishing While you may just be able to click "Post," "Publish" or "Save changes," some sites require that you "rebuild" or "republish" the index page, and any additional pages if you've added a new category or other change that might affect your whole blog site.

Comments

Another key feature of blogging is commenting, where you readers can post responses on individual entries, which are usually viewable by clicking on the blog's title, or on a "read comments" link. Comments normally show up on the individual entry's page, to avoid clogging up your front page. Some sites, like LiveJournal or TypePad, allow you to restrict commenting to registered users (or even to a select set of users that you designate), or even to password-protect your blog entirely. Comments allow blogs to become ongoing conversations, creating a more interactive medium than traditional print publishing.

Readers post comments directly through the front end interface, rather than the back end, so they don't have any access to your actual posts. You, however, can manage comments and commenters through the back end, deleting or approving of comments, or even banning commenters if necessary (which is helpful in preventing spam as well).

Trackbacks

Trackbacks are a protocol that allow you to "ping" other blogs when you link to them, manually or automatically notifying them that you've done so. Blogger, however, still doesn't offer support for trackbacks.

Templates & Customization

Blogging services like Typepad and Blogger will most likely offer you some basic layouts and color schemes you can choose for displaying your blog. If you know HTML (and CSS, stylesheets), you'll often be able to customize these templates further, adding links, additional sections to the sidebars, changing the color scheme, etc. With Blogger, I was able to upload an image to a dummy entry, and then link to that image on the main template so that the image shows up on the front page of my blog. With Movable Type, I completely customized the colors of my blog to match my website, changed the fonts and added a picture of myself and some profile information. Some blogs can be customized even further to fit with the look and feel of an existing website.

Feeds

Once you've created your blog and started posting, you may want readers to be able to subscribe to it so they can keep up with new entries without having to visit your website. Most blogs automatically publish a syndication feed, either RSS or Atom (the two main protocols for syndication). This may just be a matter of finding the link -- look through your settings for information on the blog's feed, and even check the front page in case there's already a link there. If not, you should be able to add one so readers can paste it into their favorite news reader or feed aggregator.

Step-by-step Guides

How-to: Blogger.com

Blogger is Google's free blog hosting site, which used to be called "Blogspot" before Google purchased it. It's very easy to create your own blog and start posting, and you can create multiple blogs and invite additional authors. Blogger offers a reasonable amount of control over your settings and templates, as well -- while you can choose from a set of design styles and layouts, once you've created your blog, you can edit the template code directly (if you know HTML and CSS) and add links, images, and other static content. Blogger maintains their own blog of recent news at http://buzz.blogger.com/.

1. Getting Started On Blogger.com, follow the link to "create your blog now." Blogger will take you to a page to create your account, including your login name and display name. You'll also need to provide an email address and to read and accept their Terms of Service.

2. Creating Your Blog Next, create your new blog. You can create additional blogs later. Pick a name for your blog and an address for your blog's URL at blogger.com. You can always edit the name and location of your blog if you change your mind down the line.

3. Posting Once you've created your account and your new blog, you can start posting immediately. Click on the name of your blog or on the green plus icon next to it.

Blogger offers WYSIWYG editing, so just use the formatting tool bar at the top to add bold, italics, links, lists, images, etc. Alternately, you can view your post as HTML and edit the text that way. Like on most blogs, you can save your post as a draft, or publish it publicly.

Drafts will only show up in the list of posts that other authors you invite can view, but not to readers of your blog. Go to "edit posts" when you want to view the list of entries, and click on the title to make changes. Whenever you go back and make changes to your blog, you may also want to republish the index or even the entire site so that the new changes appear everywhere (under "Status"). You can also moderate comments readers make on your blog.

4. Settings Blogger allows you to change various settings, such as publishing defaults, comments, trackbacks/backlinks, formatting, and archiving. Click on the "Settings" tab to explore your options. You can change the title of your blog, add a description which will appear on the front page, control the privacy of your blog, change how dates and times are formatted, and manage how comments are handled, among other possibilities.

5. Templates You can also edit the blog's main template, choosing a new one or customizing how it looks. To change your template altogether, select "Pick new" from the menubar, and select whichever new look you prefer.

To edit the HTML of your template, select "Edit current" under "Template." This will be much easier if you're already familiar with HTML and CSS (style sheets). You can add links by using the exiting generic code:

Scroll down to where the code says . Nothing between those arrows will actually appear on your blog. Scroll a little farther to <MainOrArchivePage>. The code below this determines what you see in the column to the right of your posts (depending on the style you chose for your template). Don't touch anything with "#"s or "$"s next to it, unless you're sure you know what you're doing. That's the code that allows blogger to call up dynamic content, such as your username and profile info.
Scroll down a little bit more and you should see a "Links" section, set up as an unnumbered list with bullet points (<ul> and <li>). If you go view the front-end of your blog (by clicking on the "View Blog" tab near the top of the page), you should see a couple of links that just say "Edit me." Clicking this link will take you to a how-to page so you can learn to edit your links yourself. If you already know HTML, just replace the blank links with your own, or delete or comment them out altogether.l
When you've finished, click "Save Template Changes," or "Preview" to see how your changes will look on the front end (opens in a new window). Then, however, you must click on the "Republish" or "Republish Index Only" buttons for your changes to take effect.

6. Members If you'd prefer to have a community blog which multiple people can edit and add their own posts, click on the "Settings" tab and select "Members." You can invite anyone with an email address by clicking on "Add Team Members." Blogger will automatically send an invite email with all necessary instructions to anyone whose email you specify. Additionally, you can make other members administrators if you want them to be able to manage the blog as well, or you can remove members.

7. Feeds Blogger makes it easy to publish a site feed if you want other people to be able to subscribe to your blog using Atom syndication. Select "Site Feed" under Settings to view the URL of your feed. You can also add this to your main page by editing your template -- if you scroll down past "Links," you'll find a link to your feed that's been commented out. Remove the  to either side of the code and click on "Preview" to see how it will look. Then save and republish as above.

8. Have fun! The best way to get to know Blogger's features is to experiment and explore -- you can always edit or make changes later.

How-to: TypePad

1. Getting Started Go to www.typepad.com and click on the "Start Free Trial" button. Typepad is a pay service, but you can try it out for a month at no cost (although they do require a credit card to get started, and you have to cancel if you don't want to end up paying). If you just one to create a single blog, the "Basic" package at $4.95/month should suffice, and you'll get a discount if you pay for the whole year ($45.50/year). The "Plus" package up offers you three blogs, customizeable templates, and domain mapping (you can use your own domain name if you have one), and costs $8.95/mo. or $89.50/year. The last package, "Pro," will run you $14.50 a month, and allows multiple authors, an unlimited number of blogs, and access to the HTML code and permissions settings.

2. Create Your Account Choose a username, a password and enter your email address and the name you want for your blog (this will determine the web address for your blog, but not necessarily the title that shows up on the main page -- you enter that later). If you already have a Typekey or Movable Type account, you'll have to use the same username and password you signed up with, unless you want to specify a different email address. Lastly, take a look at the Terms of Service and check the "I agree" box.

3. Select Your Membership Plan The next screen allows you to choose the plan you want (as described above, but they won't charge you for the first month if you cancel), and enter your credit card information. If the information doesn't match, you'll run into errors setting up your account, even though they don't bill you yet.

4. Setting Up Your Blog If you chose the Basic plan, your next step is to pick the title, layout and color scheme of your new blog. The title can be anything you want -- it can match the URL (web address) or not. You get multiple layout options, including classic blog styles and mixed media designs. Then look at the different visual styles available -- there's a dropdown menu offering five different categories of styles (Bold, Classic, Cool, Pale and Special Interest). Browse through to see which you think you want, but if you change your mind later, you'll be able to change it. Finally, Typepad will take you to a final confirmation page explaining the trial billing, and you can review your plan before finalizing it.

Hint: The biggest glitch I encountered while setting up my Typepad account was at the very bottom of the page. Even though there are three radio buttons to let you set the privacy of your new blog, I couldn't move forward with either of the first two options (Publicize or Don't Publicize your blog). I kept seeing an error that said "The two passwords you typed did not match," even though I couldn't see any password fields on the page. Only when I selected "Password Protected" did I figure it out -- a username and password login field appeared, and I re-entered my account password. Of course, I also had to doublecheck that my design settings were the same, since the layout setting kept reverting to the default choice. Fortunately, you can change your privacy settings later, so if you run into this error (perhaps it's a browser thing), just make it password-only for now.

5. Quick Intro Typepad offers a short summary of the various links you'll encounter on your typepad home page, explaining Weblogs, Photo Albums, TypeLists and Control Panel. You can get started with your blog by publishing a post, or editing its look further. You can also edit your profile, addings interests, a short biography, AIM or other IM account names, and even a photo of yourself.

6. Posting To post, either click on the "Post" link next to the name of your weblog (it may just say "My Weblog"), or click on the Weblog tag. The main Weblog interface will display how many posts, comments, trackbacks and authors there are on your blog. Under "Shortcuts" you'll see links to create a post, list posts, list comments, edit design, and more. You can also click on the URL of your weblog to see how it looks so far, with the template you chose when you created your blog.

Click on "create a post" if you're not already looking at a page like this:

TypePad provides a basic editor window in which to compose your posts:

First, enter a title for your post, then write out the main text in the "Post Body" window. You can add boldface, italics, and other formatting, insert links, images, files and quotations by clicking on the icons in the top right of the window.
Once you've written your first post, you can save it as a draft (under "Posting Status") or publish it by selecting "Publish Now" from the status menu (it may be the default already). You can also edit the status of comments -- the post can be open to comments, you can disallow them entirely, or you can "close" a post in case you've received some comments but wish to restrict additional ones. You can also choose whether or not to accept trackbacks, and you can send a trackback in the TrackBack box.

Typepad, unlike Blogger, allows you to tag each post with a topic category. TypePad includes some basic categories you might use, but you can easily create new ones better suited to your interests.

Click on the drop down menu under "Category" and either select an existing one, create a new one by clicking "Add new category," or, if your post belongs in more than one category, choose "Assign multiple categories."

Finally, you can preview your post, or save it. When you click save, you'll see a status graphic as TypePad publishes your new entry (or saves it as a draft). Then you'll be returned to the editing page, but now you can manage comments and trackbacks, when people make them. To view your new post, click on "View Weblog" in the top right corner of the page.

7. Design Changes To edit the design of your blog, click on the "Design" tab. You'll see the current theme and layout choices, and can edit any of these, as well as your blog's name and description. You can also edit the content that shows up on your front page, and in what order. You can alter how your archived and recent posts are displayed, add a calendar, your email address, etc. You may have to republish your site to make sure all changes show up.

8. Feeds Typepad both provides a feed for your blog, which should show up by default on your blog, and allows you to subscribe to other feeds on your own blog. If you don't want a link provided to your blog's feed, you can uncheck the option by clicking on "Design" and then "Change Content Selections" under "Your Content." When you're done, be sure to republish your blog (you'll see a link on the design page next to "Preview" after you click on "Save changes").

9. Settings Under the "Configure" tab you'll find all your blog's settings which you can edit, such as archiving and publishing defaults, managing your categories, authentication for comments, and basic posting and viewing preferences.

10. Support And that's about it -- explore Typepad's features, and get blogging. If you need technical help, Typepad offers both an online knowledge base and a ticket system (you can also find these under the "Help" section, by clicking on the Control Panel tab). The ticketing system will connect you with a Typepad tech support person to help you out. Lastly, there's also the Six Apart Status Blog, which will notify you of any status issues with Typepad.

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