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ABOUT BLOGS 

If you have never used a blog before, here are some key terms to understand:

•  Blog. A blog is a website with content that is (usually) arranged by date. You will create one blog for this class and you will be adding new blog posts for each assignment. As an example, here is Robyn’s blog, and here is another Multimedia Blog. As you can see, they look very different, which is one of the great things about a blog: it’s your own personal creation, showing and sharing the work you are doing in class in your own way, different from the other students. It’s very individual!
• Post. Each new piece of content that you add to the blog is called a post, and most of the assignments in this class will result in a new blog post. A post can be just a sentence or two, or it can be something that would be several pages long if you were to print it out on paper. A post can contain text, links, images, and video; most of your posts for this class will contain at least one image.
• Template. Most blog software uses a design template so that each post in your blog has the same basic look as every other post in the blog (font, colours, etc.). You can modify or switch templates at any time, changing the design of the blog without changing the content. So, don’t worry about the design right now; you can keep on playing with the blog design later until it feels right to you. Some people play with their template design all semester long, in fact!)
• Sidebar with widgets. Most blog templates allow you to have a sidebar (or multiple sidebars) with content in little boxes that are called widgets or gadgets. If you look at the class announcements blog, you will see different kinds of widgets in the sidebar, like the class Twitter widget. Widgets can be just for fun, and they can also be very useful: for example, the labels sidebar widget is how people will navigate your blog. In some blog templates, the sidebar displays all the time; in other templates, you click on the bar button up at the top to display the sidebar if it is not already visible.

 Blogging platforms. There are lots of different blogging platforms! If this is your first time blogging, I recommend using Google Blogger; that is the platform I will be documenting in detail for the assignment instructions. But you do not have to use Blogger; as long as your blogging platform meets the requirements listed here, you can create your class blog using whatever software you prefer:

• full RSS feed for posts
• separate RSS feed for comments
• linkable post labels
• no advertisements 

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For this assignment, you will create a blog for this class, and you will be using this blog for different assignments all semester long. Don’t worry if you have never blogged before; you will find detailed (very very very detailed) step-by-step instructions below.
You will probably need about 30-45 minutes to finish this assignment. And don’t be nervous: I think you will be surprised when you find out how easy it is to use a blog. Publishing a blog post is basically like sending an email… but a lot more fun.

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And now: the assignment. It comes in THREE PARTS:

Part 1. You will create a Google account for this class (if you don’t have one already).
Part 2. You will create a Blogger (Google) blog and publish a test post.
Part 3. You will adjust some important blog settings.

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Google Account. Please begin this assignment by creating a Google account; regardless of which blogging platform you choose, having a Google account will make it much easier to leave comments at people’s Blogger blogs. A Google account will also be very useful if you decide later in the semester to build a website with the Google Sites website tool.
Step 1: Google account. It’s easy to create an account: Create your Google Account. If you already have a Google account (for example, if you already use Gmail), move on to Step 2.
Step 2. Google account security. I would recommend that you check your Google account security to make sure you have set up an account recovery procedure along with any other privacy settings you want to adjust. Here is the Google Security Checklist. The key thing is to make sure you have a recovery email and/or recovery phone number in case you forget your password

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2He7qNdQUQ

You may find the above video useful, though complete instructions for this step are below. The instructions below assume you are using Blogger; if you are using WordPress instead, create a new WordPress blog and then adjust the settings as needed (see Part Three below).
Step 1. Create a new Blogger blog. To create your new blog, go to Blogger.com, log in with your Google account (if you are not logged in already). Click the New Blog button that you see on the right-hand side of the Blogger home screen. You will then need to give your blog a title (you can change the title whenever you want), and you can choose the web address (it’s not really important what this is, but you cannot change the address later, so keep the address short and simple).
For now, choose any template. I would recommend the Simple template for now, and you can experiment with the detailed template options later.

Step 2. Create a test post. You will see a prompt to go ahead and start posting. Click on that link to “start posting” or “start blogging” to add a test post and see how that works. You can always go to Blogger.com to get to your blog dashboard, which is where you will create new posts and edit existing posts.
Step 3. Write the test post. The screen for writing a new post has a lot of different features. The key things to notice here are the following:
* Title box at top of screen — every post needs a title!
* Compose or HTML option. Compose is what you will use most of the time, but the HTML view can be very handy.
* Labels options to the right — and labels are VERY important for blog navigation, as you will see in later assignments.
* Tx is the “remove all formatting” function which is really useful if you are cutting and pasting from somewhere else; just highlight anything that has unwanted formatting and use the Tx button to remove the formatting.
* ABC is a spellcheck feature

Step 4. Publish the test post. Type a title for your post plus a quick message in the post box, just something to test to make sure your blog is working. Try out some of the formatting like bold and italics and then highlight the text and use the Tx button to remove the formatting. (In your next assignment, you’ll learn about images and other formatting options, labels, etc.) When you are done, click Publish to publish your first post.
You will then see the post listing page. On the post listing page, you just need to HOVER over the blank space under the post title to see the options: Edit and View. You can then click on View to see your post open in a new browser tab.

 

After you click on view, you should see your post in a new browser tab. Take a look at the URL; the address you see shows what a typical blog post address looks like:
https://shaunsclassannouncements.blogspot.com/2018/09/first-day.html

There are three components in that address:
shaunsclassannouncements.blogspot.com is the blog homepage address
2018/09 is the year and month of the post
first-day.html is the title of the post
Because each post has its own specific address, you can link to any post at the blog, as well as linking to a blog’s homepage. The contents of the blog homepage change whenever new posts are added, but the address of the homepage is always the same.

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So, now that you have a blog and a blog post, you have just one more task to complete for this assignment:
Step 5. Adjust settings. To adjust your settings, go the blog dashboard at Blogger.com, and click on Settings in the left-hand menu (that is also where you will be adjusting the blog design and layout). Here are the specific settings you should adjust now:

•  Posts and comments. For “Who can comment?” choose “Users with Google Accounts” and click Save Settings to save this option. In my experience, choosing this option pretty much eliminates any spam on your blog. Since you have limited comments to Google users, you can turn off the word verification. Members of the class (who all have Google accounts) will be leaving comments at your blog, and if you turn off the word verification, that will make the commenting process easier for them. If you run into problems with spam, let me know and we can strategize about that!
• Mobile and email. Make sure you put in a “comment notification email address” that is an address you check regularly. This can be any address at all; it does not have to be your Gmail address. Use whatever email address you check most often. Don’t forget to click Save Settings to save your choice on this page.
• Language and formatting. Choose your time zone, and then don’t forget to click Save Settings one more time to save your choice on this page.

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IMPORTANT: Please Click on the button to add your Blog details to the form. This is essential as it allows me and your peers to provide feedback.

Then, after you complete the form you can complete the Declaration for this assignment! Next assignment: you will create a new blog post! Here are those instructions: Picture a Favorite Game.

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DECLARATION: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: Test post. I created a blog for this class and published a test post. Comments. I have configured the blog for comments, and I chose an email address so that I will be notified about new comments. Time zone setting. I have adjusted the time zone setting. Form. I have completed the form with my name and blog address.

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