1. How to Establish a Blog

2. What is a Blog A blog is a collection of informational articles/ideas intended to update a viewer on new information associated with the topics of that specific website. It is focused and maintained by a single user or small group that chooses the topics. The author of a blog has the option of allowing viewers to comment on their work/issue. Finally, the content of a blog is easy to manage due to the single authority of the author and their ability to edit out comments or not accept them at all.

3. What to Use to Set up Your Blog There are a few options when choosing a blog: –How you do it: Building your own from scratch – gives you more control over the content of the blog page, but takes more time and effort Using a pre-existing blog website such as www.blogger.com – there may be downsides concerning possible advertisements, but it is much easier to manage and less hasslewww.blogger.com –Where you do it: Free Sources – they have a tendency to disappear Paid for Sources – they cost money but are more stable in the long run

4. What Will This Tutorial Focus On? This tutorial will focus on the basics of setting up a blog using the free blog host www.blogger.com using your own personal website. www.blogger.com It will also go over some of the main editing options that will help to customize your blog.

5. What Will You Need? An email account, doesn’t matter where. A working knowledge of web programming skills is recommended, especially when editing the blog page once established You will need your own web site already established with a web host You will need to make sure that your web host service supports FTP –Web hosting service: where you acquired your web space. –FTP (File Transfer Protocol): it essentially allows you to send files from your computer to the server that hosts your website (This is how you update your website). To send the files you can get an FTP program, we recommend AceFTP, which is free and easy to use, and can be found here: http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/aceftpfreeware/ http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/aceftpfreeware/ or here: http://www.allapp.com/AceFTP-3-Freeware_softinfo_30289.html

6. Step One: Signing Up for Blogger Go to the website www.blogger.com www.blogger.com At the lower right-hand side, click the giant orange arrow that says, “Create Your Blog Now”

7. Step 2a: If you do not have an account with www.google.comwww.google.com Follow the directions on the page (Filling in your own personal email address) and click the orange arrow that says, “Continue,” when you are done. If you already have a Google Account, then go to step 2b

8. Step 2b: If you already have an account with www.google.comwww.google.com Fill in your personal email address associated with www.google.com and then the name that you want people to associate with the blog. www.google.com Hit the big orange arrow at the bottom right.

9. Step 3: Beginning to attach the blog to Your Website In order to attach the blog to your website you will need to click on the hyperlinked text that says, “Advanced Blog Setup.”

10. Step 4a: Fill in the Blog Title and then Your FTP Server Fill in the Title you want and to make things easier, make sure the bubble for “Listed” is filled in. If you do not know the internet address for your FTP server, contact your web host. The FTP Server is a web address for the host of your website that you connect to in order to update your webpage (ex. ftp.example.com). Select the FTP bubble for Protocol

11. Step 4b: Fill Out the FTP Path The FTP path tells where to place the files on the server hosting your website. Make sure to use a folder that is linked to the internet, essentially the folder where the files for your website is located. We recommend making a new folder to separate your blog from the rest of your site (the path should look something like this: webfolder/blog/). If you are unsure as to what the path should be, contact your web host.

12. Step 4c: Fill in the File Name You Want and URL The file name is what you want the file to be called in your blog folder. The URL will be the address of the the blog folder, such as: www.msu.edu/~burke ja6/wa/Tutorial/blog/ www.msu.edu/~burke ja6/wa/Tutorial/blog/

13. Step 4d: Filling Out Your FTP Information Now you want to fill in the username and password that you use to log in to your FTP server (this is what you use to log in in order to edit your website information) Finally, type in the word that they have at the bottom and hit the orange button to continue.

14. Step 5: Choose a Template for Your Blog Choose a template from their list, although it can be updated later. When finished click the big orange arrow.

15. Step 6: Signs of a Successful Blog Click the big orange arrow to continue.

16. Step 7a: How to Test if it Works Post a test (It can easily be deleted later)

17. Step 7b: What a Successful Post Looks Like However…

18. Step 7c: Check To See If It Did Post To Check and see if it did post, type the URL where you wanted it to be (along with the file name at the end including the.html) located at into your browser. If it shows up, then you can skip the rest of step 7. If it doesn’t then have fun and good luck.

19. Step 7d: A Failed Post Can Look Something Like This

20. Step 7e: What To Do If It Fails? The first thing to do is go to the setting tab in the top left corner.

21. Step7f: Common Problems A common problem is that the website you used as the FTP server is incorrect. If you are unsure, contact your web host.

22. Step 7g: Another Common Problem There could be an error in the username or password associated with that FTP server. Double check that both are correct.

23. Step 7h: If It Still Isn’t Showing Up If it still isn’t showing up, and you are sure that your web host supports FTP, then it is very likely that the blog is being transferred to your site, but to a location you didn’t specify. From here there are two options

24. Step 7h: Continued The first problem could be due to an error in the Blog URL. Make sure that URL is where you want the blog to show up.

25. Step 7h: Continued Again The problem that is more likely is that there is an error in what directory the blog is being sent. In this case you want to make sure that the base web directory is first, followed by a backslash and whatever subdirectory, or subdirectories follow until you reach the folder you want.

26. Step 7i: Follow Up With the Changes Whatever changes that you make to FTP URL and/or the FTP path, remember to also change the lines under “Archiving” and “Sight Feed”

27. Step 7j: Repost Your Blog Entry To See If It Is Now Shown If it still does not work after this point, contact your web host and/or Blogger Help.

28. Step 8: Customize Your Template If you wish to personally edit your blog template, you will need to understand web code, both HTML and CSS. But to do this, merely click on the “Template” tab next to settings.

29. Step 9: Editing Your Template To edit your template, merely edit the code within the center box, and when finished click the large orange button in the bottom left corner

30. Step 10a: Editing Basic Content Go back to the Settings tab.

31. Step 10b: Editing Content continued To edit the content of your blog, click on the subcategories “Basic” or “Comments” under the settings tab.

32. Step 11: Editing the Format To edit the format of the site click on either the “Formatting” or the “Site Feed” subcategories under settings

33. Step 12: Adding Authors If you wish to allow specific other people to post on your blog, then click on the “Permissions” subcategory and the the “Add Authors” Button below your username and email address.

34. Step 13: Linking Now that the blog is where you want it to be, all you have to do is link to it from whichever part of your webpage you want it to come from (and if you want it really fancy, edit the code as is suggested in step 9, making a link back to your original site).

35. Step 14: Posting The final stage of your blog development is actually adding material for your audience. Be creative, informational, or however the wind takes you.