For Dummies 978-0-470-56556-8 Datasheet

Chapter 1Discovering Blog BasicsIn This Chapter▶ Recognizing the hallmarks of a blog▶ Getting started with your own blog▶ Deciding what to blog about▶

18Part I: Getting Started with Blogs Those common elements are: ✓ Branding/logo header: A header at the top of the blog displays the name of the blog,

19 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basicssidebar of a blog, you can usually access both archive methods. Figure 1-6 shows the date-based archives of Rose’

20Part I: Getting Started with Blogs • Information about the author: Because blogs are so personal, some-times you want to know more about who’s writ

21 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basicsneeded a printing press and a distribution method to get his or her work to people, but he or she still needed sp

22Part I: Getting Started with Blogs Different blog software offer different feature sets. Like with all software, the tricky part is finding the righ

23 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog BasicsHaving that much freedom can be a little scary and, if you’re like me, can leave you with an absolute blank in yo

24Part I: Getting Started with Blogs Watching how someone else blogs is a great way of finding out how to be suc-cessful yourself! Keep track of how

25 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog BasicsI’m not making an excuse, however, for ignoring all the rules of writing. Well-written and correctly spelled blog

26Part I: Getting Started with Blogs is almost unique to blogs. (Forums, also called bulletin boards, offer one way to engage in online conversation o

27 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basics Figure 1-12: The Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum blog allows readers to leave comments and ques-tions for t

10Part I: Getting Started with Blogs Making Yourself Comfortable with BlogsI talk to a lot of people about blogs, many of whom know that you can find

28Part I: Getting Started with Blogs If you’re blogging for business reasons, either on behalf of a company or to promote yourself, make sure that bot

29 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basics ✓ Sidebars: Sidebars usually become a major focus for a blog site. Sidebars are columns to the right or left (or

30Part I: Getting Started with Blogs 05_565568-ch01.indd 3005_565568-ch01.indd 30 12/23/09 12:12 AM12/23/09 12:12 AM

11 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog BasicsThink of a blog this way: It’s a kind of Web site. All blogs are Web sites (the opposite isn’t true, though), and

12Part I: Getting Started with Blogs the stamps; they only have to leave a comment on your blog post. You might find you’re talking more with your fam

13 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog BasicsExploring a hobby or passionIf you have a passion or hobby that you just love to talk about, consider doing so in

14Part I: Getting Started with Blogs Sharing informationSometimes, a blog is all about sharing information. Journalists use blogs to report on local,

15 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basics Figure 1-4: TechCrunch is your source for satisfying your gadget news appetite. General Motors, Google, and Sun

16Part I: Getting Started with Blogs Regardless of what the blog is about or who writes it, every blog features ✓ Frequent updates: Most bloggers upda

17 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basics Figure 1-5: Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum is a spon-sored blog written by a cookbook author. Courtesy o