Get blogging!
Get blogging!
What's coming up?
Now that you understand how blogging works and how to choose a topic, it's time to dive in and set up your blog.
In this activity, you'll learn how to:
- Create a free blog using a simple blog system.
- Publish posts and share them.
A simple, automated website
A blog is a website, but you don't need to build it from scratch or know anything about computer programming.
Just like any other website, visitors can access your blog using a web browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
Visitors don't need to log in with a password unless you decide to make your posts private.
Blog services make it easy
There are many different blogging services that make it easy to create a blog site. These services mean you don't need to build your blog, find somewhere to store it on the internet or arrange a web address – that's all taken care of for you.
Our example blog service
In this activity, we'll use Google's Blogger as an example of a service that handles everything for you.
You can get started with Blogger by clicking on this link https://www.blogger.com. But don't worry if you're not ready to do that yet, we are going to show you step-by-step how to set yourself up with Blogger in this course.
You don't need to pay to blog
The Google Blogger blog is absolutely free – all you need to do is create a free Google account as part of the sign-up process. (If you already have a Gmail email address, you will already have a Google account.)
Some limitations, but not many
With Blogger, there is no limit on the number of blog posts you can write. You can also use as many photos as you like, provided they are no bigger than the size specified by Blogger.
If you want your blog to be private, Blogger allows you to have only 100 members.
Blogs have their own web address
When you create a free Blogger account, the name of your blog can become part of your website's address so it's easy to remember.
For example, a blog on Blogger called Sew Many Craft Projects might have the address sewmanycraftprojects.blogspot.com
Choosing how your blog will look
Once you have logged into your Blogger account, you can choose a design for your blog.
First, click the Layout and Theme buttons to see options for how text and images will appear on your blog. Explore the different designs and select the one you like. The style will be applied automatically to your blog page.
Writing and publishing a blog post
Once you've chosen a design for your blog, it's time to create your first post.
On Blogger, it starts by clicking the New Post button. This opens up a simple window where you can write your post and give it a title. There are the options to add images and labels too.
Saving and previewing your blog
If you can't finish your post all at once, click Save and come back to it later.
To see what the post will look like when you publish it, click the Preview button.
If you're happy with your post, click the Publish button.
It's that simple!
Sharing your blog
There are simple things you can do to help anyone on the internet discover your blog.
When you're editing the look of your blog you can add buttons that let people subscribe, so they're notified when you publish a new post.
Sharing on social media
You can also publish the links to new blog posts on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media services to help get the word out about your blog.
Congratulations
You've completed the Get blogging! activity.
You have learned that free services like Blogger make it easy to create a website for your blog. You should also know some simple settings for publishing, sharing and changing the look of your blog.
Next up, you'll learn about good blogging practices in the Staying safe while blogging activity.
