New to blogs?

If you’re new to blogs, read this first, it will help you.

What is a blog?

Briefly, a blog is a series of chronological entries written by ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) people, and published on the internet.

Some blogs are simply online diaries, some concentrate on particular topics. Some aim to teach, some to amuse, some to raise awareness of political and other issues. Many concentrate on a particular hobby or interest.

Typically, a blog contains words and pictures, often music, video and the spoken word (podcasting) as well.

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What is a post?

A post is simply one dated entry on a blog. So I might write something on a topic, and publish on a particular date. I would then be said to have published a post, or “posted”, on the topic. Posts can be any length: a couple of lines sharing something interesting, or an essay-length article.

How do I keep up to date with your blog?

A word of warning: if you get into this blogging lark, you will find many, many interesting blogs around, and you will want to keep up with what your favourites are saying. (There’s a load of rubbish around as well, sadly.) Fortunately, you don’t have to bookmark your favourites and remember to keep checking back to see if there’s something new.

You can use something called a blog reader to subscribe to all the blogs you’re interested in, then just check that one place. At a glance, you’ll be able to see which blogs have new content. You’ll have a choice to either scroll through the text in the reader software or click on to the blog itself and get the full effect of page design, make comments etc.

This is possible because most blogs publish an RSS feed – a bit like a homing device – that tells the reader software when a new post has been published.

Two of the most popular examples of reader software are Bloglines and Google Reader. Both are free to sign up for, and easy to use. To add a blog to your reader software, either copy and paste the URL into the reader or, even simpler, if the blog has a RSS logo (it will probably look like the illustration to the left) click on it and subscribe that way.

What’s about comments, and who writes comments?

You may have heard references to the blogging community. Since I started blogging I’ve “met” some wonderful, like-minded people from all over the world and exchanged comments and conversations, both on our blogs and via private emails.

At the bottom of most blog posts is a link that generally includes the word “comments”. Click on that link and you’ll be able to take the discussion further, or simply tell the writer that you liked (or even disagreed with) their post. You’ll often be asked to leave your email address, but it will never be published.

People sometimes think you need to have your own blog in order to leave comments. Couldn’t be further from the truth: if you’re interested in what the writer has to say, you can “talk” with them by way of the comments.

How do I find other blogs that might interest me?

Most blogs contain a blogroll: a list of other blogs that they enjoy. If you like the blog you’re reading, you’ll probably like some of what they link to. And then you can find other links from the next blog and so on, a bit like tumbling down the rabbit hole and finding lots of tunnels.

You can often find blogs you like through the comments other bloggers leave, as well.

If you’re looking for something specific, try a search on a service like Technorati, or scroll through the topics on BlogHer, a huge community of female bloggers.

Want your own blog?

If the blogging bug well and truly bites you, it’s easy to set up your own blog. You can do it in minutes with no technical knowledge. Probably two of the best-known sites where you can set up a free blog are WordPress and Blogger.

They both come complete with a range of templates (the design elements of your blog), which you can often customise with very little difficulty to get your own distinctive look.

So good luck, thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you soon, out in the blogging community.