Blogging Services
January 7, 2010
A full-fledged blogging service from Google. Easily arrange the format to suit your needs and taste. Partial backup available. [features] [getting started]
www.blogger.com
Full-featured, powerful, flexible blog platform, e.g., you can post “pages” (fixed location) as well as regular posts. WordPress is challenging, but rewarding to use. Partial backup (e.g., no images) via Import/Export. It’s relatively easy to backup your images, etc., if you host the blog yourself. [getting started]
wordpress.com
The free version provides a simple, basic blog format and free hosting. Post photos, comment on events, or share your experiences with friends. Partial backup (e.g., no images are exported) via Export/Import under Settings. No control of format, no widgets (in particular, no archive listing).
www.typepad.com
Ties in with many services and sharing options. Fairly easy to use, but confused navigation at first.
spaces.live.com
A2 Hosting is inexpensive, it has worked very well for me for about 5 years, and they provide blog creation/editing tools. I have not tried it, but their blog looks much like, or maybe really is WordPress under the skin.
Quick Start Blogs and Websites
January 6, 2010
There are many places where you can quickly and easily set up a blog and/or website without needing to learn a bunch of stuff — if you’re willing to spend a little money — on the order of $5 a month.
Examples:
For January 7, 2010
January 6, 2010
Session Scope: This session won’t address creating a commercial web presence where the object is to enable or enhance business success in services, consulting, merchandising, etc. 
Our focus will be on creating a personal presence and creative outlet by using the Web — expressing yourself — telling your story — a journal. The social dimension can be another major reward, at least for some people.
Rudyard’s Six Questions about Blogging: [*]
- Who is blogging? Who’d like to try blogging? (questions for the audience)
- What is a blog? >> Look at some. >> How do they work? :: What to blog? (interests, travel, hobbies, events, people, family, photos, creative works) >> an answer
- Why blog? >> (what are your objectives? what content/topics? alternatives to a blog?)
- Where do you put your blog? (hosting, backup, moveable, editing)
- When to blog? (when to start? how often?)
- How to blog? (design, tagging, editing)
Internet Issues:
- Backup/Restore (test with another blog instance)
- Security for your readers
Checklist: (use this blog’s categories to see what’s we’ve left out.)
To progress on your own: There’s plenty of good (and not so good) blogging advice on the Internet. The “Blogroll” links in the right column are a good place to start.
Editing
January 6, 2010
Most WYSIWYG editors suffer from various vagaries. They sometimes just seem to make it impossible to do what you want. Knowing a little HTML can help, but some editors don’t use full HTML. For example, WordPress interprets double line spacing as paragraphs. [ <p>text</p> ]
Copy and paste can mix formats badly: You might copy something from a Web site, which will be full HTML, and it won’t work right in your WYSIWYG editor. Also, when you switch from “visual” to “HTML” edit modes the editor may automatically change things to the way it wants them.
Some WYSIWYG editors generate partial HTML. Then the blog server fleshes in the missing code when it generates the webpage for your browser.
Browser-based editors — the usual kind — need to interact with the blog server: That means that there are often delays, for example when periodically saving a post while you’re writing it. You need to watch for the little clues that tell you when the interaction completes.
All of these vagaries require you, the user, to experiment and find some way to get the result you want. Sorry.
Editor Programs
Microsoft Live Writer is perhaps the best software in the desktop editor category. You can use it to write (or edit) posts offline, and then upload them when you’re ready. I use it for Blogger and WordPress blogs. Unfortunately, there is a rumor that Microsoft is going to abandon Live Writer, but hey, it already works on Windows 7 as well as previous versions of Windows, so it still wouldn’t be a bad choice.
There are many other programs that are similar to Live Writer. [review] I compiled a list of editors (look under HTML Editors) some time ago. Some of them may still be relevant. Software Informer has a big list of editors. I wouldn’t download programs directly from Software Informer. Go directly to the program’s website instead.
You may also be able to find “plugin” editors. Here are some for WordPress. [CKEditor]
Setup your Blog
January 6, 2010
You’ll want to check/change the settings of your blog before you go very far in using it. First of all, security for you and your users depends on the right settings. Next, you may want things to work another way. Finally, you’re likely to discover options and functions that you didn’t know existed.
For example, Widgets (under Appearance) and Discussion (under Settings) are two of the first you’ll want to visit for this WordPress blog. The best plan is to go through them all in order at some point in time.
Security for your Blog
January 4, 2010
User comments on posts and pages (in essence fixed location posts) are the primary vector that cyber-criminals will try to use to booby trap your blog. And they won’t waste any time in doing it.
A poison comment will usually contain an enticement, and a link to a webpage that silently attacks your computer or tries to elicit information from you.
Askimet — a spam blocker — is one way to protect your blog, but you can do a lot with comment settings. (They’re found under Discussion in WordPress.) I’ve set this blog to require an administrator (in this case just me) to approve all comments unless I’ve approved one for that commenter before. I also block comments that contain even one link.
Web Sites
January 4, 2010
General:
There is a staggering amount of information about websites on the — duh! — Web. About.com is one of the best places to start. And don’t forget, Google is your friend. Search is often the best way to look for specific information.
Hosting ideas:
Google Sites > http://sites.google.com/site/election/
A2 Hosting > http://www.a2hosting.com/web-development/a2-sitebuilder
About.com’s hosting directory
Backup
January 3, 2010
Synopsis: The dirty little secret about free blogs and websites is that its not easy to backup the whole works. Images are the primary gap, but there are other little problems too. Images are most likely not backed up when you “export” or backup your free blog or website.
Blogs and websites where you pay for and have access to the web server do allow you to back up the whole enchilada, but it’s a bit tricky.
Responses:
So what’s a person to do? If you’re not vitally concerned with permanence, and just want to produce a stream related to current interests and events, don’t worry about it. The likely-hood that you’ll loose your blog or website is small. And you’re primarily interested in the stream, which you can easily reestablish.
If you want permanence, you’ll need to pay for it. For example, by providing your own domain and hosting, WordPress blogging software allows you to back up your blog fully. It’s not easy though. You need to back up the underlying database, back up up the WordPress structure and back up all the files located on your server that are related to your blog.
Finally, even if you manage to back up everything, there’s still the question or re-constructing it just right.
Illustrations:
Alternatives to Blogging
January 3, 2010
Blog Examples
January 3, 2010
My other blogs:
- http://cybercoyote.org/weblog/
- http://htccfeed.blogspot.com/ > http://htccfeed.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_archive.html
- http://spohnclan.blogspot.com/
- http://blue-moon.typepad.com/blog/ (abandonded)
Interesting (at least to me) blogs: All of these should have Web/RSS feeds.
