Blogger: Start here

Blogger is a web log or blog publishing system owned by Google. This blog is published and hosted by Blogger. Other blog systems I have used are LiveJournal and WordPress. I have chosen Blogger for this demonstration because I find it the easiest for a beginner to use. If you are not planning on hosting your blog on your school server, hosting at Blogger is more than adequate. If you want your school to host your blog, check with your IT department.

Getting started with Blogger:

1. Get an account at Blogger. If you have a Gmail account, you already have a Blogger account.
2. Follow the simple step-by-step instructions.
3. You now have a blog!

Watch Blogger's getting started video:


There are other functions of Blogger that are beyond the scope of this workshop. You should decide if you want to moderate comments on your blog. If you choose to moderate comments do this: on you Blogger site click Customize >> Settings >> Comments, then select "Yes" for the "Enable comment moderation" option. Once activated, before a comment is posted to the blog, it will be emailed to you for approval.

If you want a collaborative blog, with more than one author, go to Settings >> Permissions and add your other authors. Collaborative blogs can be useful for research or class projects.

Adding widgets to Blogger

Most of the services I describe in this blog have widgets associated with them. These widgets are displayed in the sidebar (Flicker is at the top). Adding widgets to a blog is a good way to make your blog more interesting and to easily disseminate information.

If you want to add a widget to your blog, follow these steps:

1. Create a widget. Some of the posts below explain how to create widgets at different sites.
   
2. Select the HTML code for your widget with your mouse. The code will be provided by the website.
   
3. Copy it to the clipboard. (Press the CTRL key and the letter C at the same time.)
4. Login to Blogger.
5. From the dashboard, click on the "Layout" tab for your blog.
6. On the "Add and Arrange Page Elements" page, click on the "Add a Page Element" link.
7. On the "Choose a New Page Element" window that pops up, click on the "Add to Blog" link for an HTML/Javascript element.
8. Paste the HTML in the "Content" section of the "Configure HTML/Javascript" popup window. Entering a "title" is optional. (To paste, click your cursor in the box, press the CTRL key and the letter V at the same time.)
   
9. Press the "Save Changes" button to add the widget to your blog.
10. Press the "View Blog" button to see the widget on your blog.

Take a look at my widget video.

If you want to move a widget, you can drag and drop it to a new position on the "Layout" page.