Thing #3 Grab yourself a blog in 3 steps

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Now that you’ve done some exploring around this website and understand how this program will work, it’s time to setup your very own personal blog to begin recording your thoughts, discoveries and exercises in. For this program, I recommend that you use Blogger*, a popular free online blog hosting service that is extremely easy to use.

There are many different blog hosting services out there, and each one has benefits and drawbacks. One popular service is LiveJournal. Many users prefer LiveJournal because of its focus on communities and "friends." With LiveJournal, you can set privacy restrictions on your posts so that only those you have previously designated as "friends" can read them. Wordpress is another very popular blog hosting service. Some people prefer Wordpress because it allows you to fully customize the look of your blog, but it is a bit more advanced. The OCL Web Things main blog is on Blogger. We recommend that you use Blogger for this challenge because it is extremely quick to set up a blog, and very easy to use for someone who's just starting out.

Creating a blog using Blogger takes just three steps:

1. Create an account (view screenshot)
2. Name your blog (view screenshot)
3. Select your template. (view screenshot)

Once you’ve created your Blogger site here are two important things to know:

• To add posts: The maintenance interface that you will use to add posts, edit or change the step-up your blog is accessed online at http://www.blogger.com/ Be sure to write down your login and password.
• To view your blog: Your blog address is http://(xxxx).blogspot.com, (xxxx)=the unique identifier you entered in Step 2. Be sure to also write down your blog address. For example, this blog is http://oclwebthings.blogspot.com.

If you run into problems or would like more information about blogs and using Blogger here are some discovery resources you can use:

• Freevlog's Quicktime Tutorial: Setup a Free Blogger Blog Note: Ignore the opening comments about downloading Firefox if your PC doesn’t have it. This will work in Explorer just fine.
• Blogger's Quick Tutorial

OK -- Now, it’s your turn...

Discovery Exercise:

1. Setup a blog for yourself through Blogger.
2. Add a test post or two.
   Note: Use one of your test posts to create an entry about the habits among the 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits that is easiest and hardest for you & why. REMINDER: You can ignore the learning contract.
3. Have fun!!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: How you choose to identify yourself on your blog is your choice. You can blog under a screen name, anonymously, or as yourself. However, in order to qualify for the staff incentives and staff day prize drawings, you will need to register by emailing us.

* Use of Blogger is only a recommendation. If there is another blog hosting site that you are more comfortable with, please feel free to use it.

Next up: Register your blog!

Technorati tags: oclwebthings, blogging, blogger