How to Create a Blog AND Link your friends

****DISCLAIMER - This step-by-step guide is not perfect, but should help to get you started on your blogging. If you see any major defects, please be sure to leave a comment (or email me) and I will edit it ASAP. Thanks!****

It has become more and more simple as the years go by. When blogging first began, people HAD to know how to write HTML or other computer code in order to get their thoughts and words onto their web page of choice, but because those same people knew that us "commoners" wanted to do it too, they made blogger.com just for us.

Here's the few very easy steps to beginning you blog by using blogger.com:

1. Go to blogger.com and click the big orange button that says "Create Blog". From there you will be on their 1st step, which is to make a google account. If you already have one (I did because I use gmail), you can go back to the main page and log in with that username and password, otherwise they will help you create a google account on that first page. Fill out the respective blank areas and click next.

2. Name your blog. First you will be given the option to make a title for your blog. This will be the first words that everyone sees when someone comes to your page (obviously, mine is Oral Hash), then you will need to put in the address you want people to use when they need to get to your site. All you have to do is type something creative into that box (I type oralhash) but some other examples are: *yourlastname*337oraltraditions, oraloraloral, floraloral, oralforthemasses, sexsonrocks, crazyoraltraditions......or whatever you want. Then fill out the rest of the blank spaces and click next!

3. On this page they give you a few options on templates you can choose. These will be the overall look of your blog. You choose one, fill in any remaining empty boxes, and click the next or finished button (I can't remember which one it is) and then it will take you to make your first blog entry. Type something short or something log - click publish post - then click view blog to go have a looksy at it.From your blog you should be able to do most editing, option changing, etc. from the top right of the page. Only a few little words at the tope, you can click customize to add nifty little pictures, programs, games to the page. Once you click customize, another word, dashboard, pops up at the top right of the page. You can click dashboard and it will take you to your blog editing page where you can look at the many blogs you may or may not have, edit them, delete them, or whatever.For those out there that already had a past blog using blogger.com, the steps are much simpler for creating their blog. All you need to do is sign into your old blog (as if you were going to edit it), click customize, then click dashboard, then click "create a blog" which is right below the language selector. From there it should be recognizable. If not, take a look at my steps above.

*IMPORTANT* Dr. Sexson would like to see at least this one customization on everyones blog if possible. It is the "My Blog List" customization. You can see an example of one by looking at the right side of my blog and seeing the links with our classmates names (of course, mine is title The Blogs of Orality, but it's still My Blog List ;).

You can get it to the side of your blog by doing the following:

1. Log into your blog and while viewing it go to the top right corner of the page and click Customize.

2. When the page with a bunch of empty boxes and boxes that say things like "Blog Posts", "Add A Gadget", "Add A Gadget" then you know your in the right place. Click the "Add A Gadget" blue link that is on the right side of the page, not on the bottom.

3. Once you have done that, a page should pop up that has many different gadgets. "My Blog List" SHOULD be the first one at the top of this page (if it is not, email me and let me know that you need help finding it, or feel free to look around until you do). When you've found it, click the blue + sign to the right of it and it will be added to your blog.

4. Now that you've added it to your blog, and your back at the page with the empty boxes and such, you can actually rearrange gadgets by "dragging" the gadget up or down in that layout. You would do this by clicking and holding the click and dragging the gadget to wear you want it to appear on your main blog page.

5. Once you've got it where you want it, click the blue "Edit" word next to "My Blog List".

6. A page will pop up, and this page will allow you to change the title of your blog list, decide how you want them sorted (I never really mess around with this stuff), decide what you want to show one them, but, MOST IMPORTANTLY, will allow you to add your peers blog addresses onto you blog. (This is the reason MS sends those emails with the blog addresses).

7. So get those addresses from his email, copy and paste those addresses into the box that pops up when you click "Add To List", then click "Add".

8. Once you've added, their blog title will pop up in your blog's list. I find that it's more helpful for other students and the teacher when the title is renamed to the students name, so that we know who's is who's. So click "rename" next to their blog title and type the name of the person who's name is on the email MS sent. Once you've done this, it should be safe to delete MS's email because all that info is now saved on your blog.

9. Once you've gotten all your friends' and peers' blog onto the list, don't forget to add save at the bottom of the page, then click save again when that page will all the funky boxes pops up, and your good to go!

Go look at your blog list on you blog and continue having a blast bloggin' for Oral Traditions!