Creating a Website: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

Getting Started with Blogger

Blogger is one of the most commonly used blogging services. It provides the easiest way to start a blog, and it’s chock full of nifty blog management tools. Once upon a time, Blogger’s premium features required a small yearly contribution. But all that changed when Google bought Blogger. Now all of Blogger’s features are part of the same free package.

Setting up a blog on Blogger is ridiculously easy. In the following sections, you’ll learn how to create a blog, add posts, and take charge of a few neat features.

Tip

You can also check out the official catalog of Blogger help at http://help.blogger.com and the discussion boards at www.bloggerforum.com, where bloggers share tips, ask questions, and vent their frustrations.

Creating a Blog

Before you create your blog, it’s a good idea to assess your goals and decide exactly what type of content you plan to showcase. Although you can create a blog with random thoughts or a chronicle of daily life, the most successful blogs have a clear voice and purpose. They attract a loyal audience with targeted, topic-specific posts.

Once you know how you want to position your blog, you’ll be able to choose a snappy name and a suitable URL. Start with these steps:

1. Go to www.blogger.com.

   This is the home page for the Blogger service.

2. If you have a Google account, enter your login information and click Sign In. If not, click “Get started.”

   Before you can create a blog, you need a Google account (see Figure 13-4). If you use other ...