Creating a blog with Blogger

Here are the step by step instructions for beginners to create their own blog.

1.)    If you don't have a person gmail account, go ahead and create new gmail account now.


2.)    Once you have created a personal gmail account, link to the https://blogger.com/start website.


3.)     Signup without your gmail account.


4.)     On the "Name your blog" screen:
          Enter title: This is the title that will appear at the top of your blog page and will also be the default name that will appear in users' browsers when they bookmark/add to favorites you blog, so choose something that will give readers a clear idea of what your blog is about
          Blog address: pick something that you'll remember easily and that is easy to type. Then continue...


5.)     Then choose a templete which you feel is better for your blog.


6.)      On the "Your blog has just been created!" screen, Click on the "Start Blogging"


7.)       A window will appear that looks much like a word processing window. Start typing, and use the formatting bar at the top to help you format your entry. e.g. You can change font size, type of font, color, justification, create links and so on. Experiment with these to see what they do. When finished, click on"PublishPost"


8.)       Once you have posted an entry, a screen will appear telling you "Your blog post published successfully!"


9.)        To see the results, click on the link to "View Blog."


10.)      From the dashboard you can:

• create a new post (a new blog entry): click on the "NEW POST" button
• change your blog settings (don't worry about this now, but do explore later)
• edit your existing posts: to do this, click on "Edit Posts" --> this takes you to a screen that gives you the option of creating a new post or editing your entries. To edit entry, click on the "Edit" link next to the entry. This opens the blog in editing mode, and you can go ahead and edit
• to post blog once you are done editing, click on the orange "Publish Post" button (which takes you to "Your blog post published successfully!" window, and from there, click to "View Blog").

Posting a photo or other image on your blog:

1.)       When you are in the compose window to create a blog, you will see a little picture/icon that looks like a mountain on the tool bar (right next to the spell check icon). Click on that.

2.)        This opens a box that gives you a choice to add an image from your computer or an image from the web. The easiest is from your computer. So click on the button that says "browse."

3.)        Navigate to where you have a picture saved on your computer and select it.

4.)        Back in the upload image window, select the layout (if you want the picture to be left, center, or right, or none). I like the option of having the text wrap around the picture as it reduces scrolling -- but this is a personal choice -- no "right" way!. Also select if you want the image to be small, medium or large. My advice: go small or medium, but avoid large as it makes the blog take too long to load.

5.)         Click the "Upload Image" button. It will take a little while for it to load, but that should do it!