Create your own Blog using Blogger

1. Go to https://www.blogger.com/start
2. Click ‘Create a Blog’ link on right side
3. Create/use existing Google account: if you already have a google account, simply sign in, if not you need to create one…. This is simple! Just fill in the blanks with a current email address (or it will create one for you), password (hint use a capital letter somewhere within your password and include a number… this will give you a strong password). Create a user name.
4. Name Your Blog page: enter the name that will appear on your blog Enter the name of the website: http://yourname.blogspot.com. You may have to try several different names….. click the ‘check availability’ link each time until you get a message underneath ‘This blog address is available’. Type in the word verification and click ‘continue’…. If you can’t see the word verification just attempt it, if it is wrong, you will get a different word. These are to prevent hackers/computer programs from accessing the system.
5. Choose a Template: This will be the layout people see when they view your blog…. Be creative! Select one of the templates listed, then click continue.
6. Congratulations! You have created your blog! Click “Start Blogging”

Posting Tab

Here you create a title of your blog… in the main body type your data. Labels are useful if you are going to customize your site with links to different blog categories for instance Kate has a “portraits” link on her blog. Use the ‘compose’ tab as opposed to ‘edit html’. Click ‘save blog’ at bottom when complete. Click ‘publish post’. You will get a screen that says ‘Your Blog post published successfully’. You can now view it, create another post or edit the current one.

Settings Tab

Here you will enter/select data about your blog website: a Description of the blog, whether you want this to be accessible by search engines, if it is adult content etc. Pretty self explanatory, but make sure you update the description and read all the selections. Click ‘save settings’ at bottom.

Layout Tab

Within this tab are further sections:

• Page Elements: this will show you how your template will look. Items can be moved around be click/hold/drag each blocked area. The best way to learn what each does is click the ‘edit’ button on each of the blocked areas.
• Fonts/Colors:This is where you can customize the colors you want of the template, fonts, backgrounds by clicking each selection in the top left corner: Text Color: then go over to the right and pick a color (you can enter hex if you know what it is), other options Page Background color, Blog Title Color, Blog Title Background Color, Blog Description color….. further down this list you can select your fonts too. When you are done click ‘save changes’.
• Edit HTML This is not for the novice…. This is where you call Wanna Web Design!!! Here you can further customize to include your current template from an existing website. You can also add a menu to your blog with links to the labels as discussed above when you post your blog.
• Pick New Template: You can always change your mind and try again!

View your blog…. See your creations and have fun! Remember to sign out when you are done posting your blog. Add this new blog site to your current website too.