his column in the paper, and (2) I wanted to see if I could pick up any tips to help with my stories. Blogging actually started in the 1990s. It gave people a chance to express themselves and have a voice in society. Gil talked about some of his favorite blogs he enjoys reading and how to access them. He then told us about his own blogs that he writes during the week which are sponsored by the newspaper. I found out that some people enter posts as little as once a week or month and as often as several every day. The more posts you publish, the more people will know when to look for your posts. If you decide to start a blog, you will first need a platform which is the actual set-up that you use to type your blog. You can use a Standalone platform which you have to pay for or you can use a Hosted platform such as I use for the blog you are reading. I use www.blogger.com and there is no charge for it. When you access www.blogger.com you will be given instructions as to what you must do to start your blog. You will have to choose a design such as the one you are looking at right now. When you view my blog you can see my photo, info about me, my stories, the title of the blog, and the content. The directions will tell you how to do all of this. When you type the content you will see how you can change the font of type, make things bold or italic,change the size of the type, change you justification, check spelling (I know I may forget to do this from time to time), and add photos and movies. Pretty neat! Once you get started you will want to promote your blog and you can do this on your Facebook and Twitter accounts or as I do, add my blog address to all my comments I make on my favorite forums I read and participate in. Found out that when you type content, your stories should be compelling, timely and relevant. Wow, I'm not sure my stories are any of those, but seems that people read them anyway. My reason for going to the seminar were to see if it was feasible to add advertising and to find a way to make a glossary that people could use to see all my previously entered posts. Found that the ad thing is distracting and I'm still working on the glossary. Carol actually wanted to see if she was interested in starting her own blog, but after listening to Gil for an hour, decided that it wasn't for her. She said to me, "What would I write about. You covered everything already!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - I assume you have noticed something different when you accessed my blog the last couple of days. I am in the process of adding story subjects for all the stories I have entered. Since there are more that 900 by now, it will take me a few weeks to re-read and decide what theme area I should place them under. Directly under my blog title you will see the topics I have picked. Next to each topic is a number in parentheses. That number tells you how many stories I have entered with the word as the subject or theme. Click on the word and all the stories will appear. To return to the latest story entered today, go back to the top of the page and click on "show all posts" which is directly next to "showing posts with label __________" Soon I will have all my stories entered into one of the topics to make it easier for me and you to see stories on a specific theme. It will be my check to make sure that I don't re-do a story that I did over the last three years. You know I could do that! Hope you enjoy the feature.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The "Starting You Own Blog" Story
It was an ordinary day. Watching and listening to a seminar on blogging sponsored by Lancaster Newspapers. What is a blog? A blog is a personal journal published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete posts (stories) typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Blogs are usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often are themed on a single subject. Gil Smart, a columnist for the Sunday News is leading the seminar. Gil, while a student at Manheim Township High School where I taught school, had his locker in the hall by my room. He never took any of my classes, but I got to see him everyday as I stood guard in the hall outside my room. Not sure that he even knew my name. That was years ago and as Carol and I arrived for the seminar, I stopped to talk with him to see if he remembered anything about his high school experience. Nope, not even me! Well, we decided to come to the seminar because (1) my wife loves his column in the paper, and (2) I wanted to see if I could pick up any tips to help with my stories. Blogging actually started in the 1990s. It gave people a chance to express themselves and have a voice in society. Gil talked about some of his favorite blogs he enjoys reading and how to access them. He then told us about his own blogs that he writes during the week which are sponsored by the newspaper. I found out that some people enter posts as little as once a week or month and as often as several every day. The more posts you publish, the more people will know when to look for your posts. If you decide to start a blog, you will first need a platform which is the actual set-up that you use to type your blog. You can use a Standalone platform which you have to pay for or you can use a Hosted platform such as I use for the blog you are reading. I use www.blogger.com and there is no charge for it. When you access www.blogger.com you will be given instructions as to what you must do to start your blog. You will have to choose a design such as the one you are looking at right now. When you view my blog you can see my photo, info about me, my stories, the title of the blog, and the content. The directions will tell you how to do all of this. When you type the content you will see how you can change the font of type, make things bold or italic,change the size of the type, change you justification, check spelling (I know I may forget to do this from time to time), and add photos and movies. Pretty neat! Once you get started you will want to promote your blog and you can do this on your Facebook and Twitter accounts or as I do, add my blog address to all my comments I make on my favorite forums I read and participate in. Found out that when you type content, your stories should be compelling, timely and relevant. Wow, I'm not sure my stories are any of those, but seems that people read them anyway. My reason for going to the seminar were to see if it was feasible to add advertising and to find a way to make a glossary that people could use to see all my previously entered posts. Found that the ad thing is distracting and I'm still working on the glossary. Carol actually wanted to see if she was interested in starting her own blog, but after listening to Gil for an hour, decided that it wasn't for her. She said to me, "What would I write about. You covered everything already!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - I assume you have noticed something different when you accessed my blog the last couple of days. I am in the process of adding story subjects for all the stories I have entered. Since there are more that 900 by now, it will take me a few weeks to re-read and decide what theme area I should place them under. Directly under my blog title you will see the topics I have picked. Next to each topic is a number in parentheses. That number tells you how many stories I have entered with the word as the subject or theme. Click on the word and all the stories will appear. To return to the latest story entered today, go back to the top of the page and click on "show all posts" which is directly next to "showing posts with label __________" Soon I will have all my stories entered into one of the topics to make it easier for me and you to see stories on a specific theme. It will be my check to make sure that I don't re-do a story that I did over the last three years. You know I could do that! Hope you enjoy the feature.
his column in the paper, and (2) I wanted to see if I could pick up any tips to help with my stories. Blogging actually started in the 1990s. It gave people a chance to express themselves and have a voice in society. Gil talked about some of his favorite blogs he enjoys reading and how to access them. He then told us about his own blogs that he writes during the week which are sponsored by the newspaper. I found out that some people enter posts as little as once a week or month and as often as several every day. The more posts you publish, the more people will know when to look for your posts. If you decide to start a blog, you will first need a platform which is the actual set-up that you use to type your blog. You can use a Standalone platform which you have to pay for or you can use a Hosted platform such as I use for the blog you are reading. I use www.blogger.com and there is no charge for it. When you access www.blogger.com you will be given instructions as to what you must do to start your blog. You will have to choose a design such as the one you are looking at right now. When you view my blog you can see my photo, info about me, my stories, the title of the blog, and the content. The directions will tell you how to do all of this. When you type the content you will see how you can change the font of type, make things bold or italic,change the size of the type, change you justification, check spelling (I know I may forget to do this from time to time), and add photos and movies. Pretty neat! Once you get started you will want to promote your blog and you can do this on your Facebook and Twitter accounts or as I do, add my blog address to all my comments I make on my favorite forums I read and participate in. Found out that when you type content, your stories should be compelling, timely and relevant. Wow, I'm not sure my stories are any of those, but seems that people read them anyway. My reason for going to the seminar were to see if it was feasible to add advertising and to find a way to make a glossary that people could use to see all my previously entered posts. Found that the ad thing is distracting and I'm still working on the glossary. Carol actually wanted to see if she was interested in starting her own blog, but after listening to Gil for an hour, decided that it wasn't for her. She said to me, "What would I write about. You covered everything already!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - I assume you have noticed something different when you accessed my blog the last couple of days. I am in the process of adding story subjects for all the stories I have entered. Since there are more that 900 by now, it will take me a few weeks to re-read and decide what theme area I should place them under. Directly under my blog title you will see the topics I have picked. Next to each topic is a number in parentheses. That number tells you how many stories I have entered with the word as the subject or theme. Click on the word and all the stories will appear. To return to the latest story entered today, go back to the top of the page and click on "show all posts" which is directly next to "showing posts with label __________" Soon I will have all my stories entered into one of the topics to make it easier for me and you to see stories on a specific theme. It will be my check to make sure that I don't re-do a story that I did over the last three years. You know I could do that! Hope you enjoy the feature.
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