5.06.2003
-All about blogs-
I'm thinking of changing the format of this blog. If you have any suggestions please let me know - I'll do my best to learn how to implement them! Likewise, please let me know if there have been things that you think could have been done better (I'm not talking about the content of the postings, mind!).
I have also had some people ask me how I have managed this blogging business to begin with. So this is a very very quick lowdown:
How to start a blog:
I started with Blogger. This is I think by far the easiest way of creating your own blog. There are many other links that will provide you with a tool to publish, but this is free and very simple. The more ambitious ones out there can try using Moveable Type. This is preferred by the aesthetically minded as the basic layouts that are provided are a lot cooler than the ones you get with Blogger. If you are a photoblog type person I suggest Image Squirrel but they will probably charge you. If you want to showcase your stuff in a proper manner I'd recommend it though as it looks amazing - see Derrick Gomez's site.
But to have full control over my blog, I had to learn HTML. The best source I have come across so far for beginners is Webmonkey. For more advanced code there is Scripty Goddess.
If you want to add in comments using Blogger you need to link your blog to a separate server. There are many out there but I use Enetation. There is another one out there called Yaccs and a lot of people seem to be quite happy using it. If you use Moveable Type you don't need to worry about this, as the comments section is already built in.
Finally, if you get really ambitious, you may find you want to post photos and images on your blog. This means you need to have access to more web space than Blogger will provide you. This also means you need to fork out some cash. I don't have this need as yet so I don't post images.
If you want you can go the easy route by upgrading to Blogger Plus, or find your own host. The Woman's Trust site is hosted by Clara.net which is a U.K. based company. It shouldn't take you too much time to find one that will host your site. If you use Moveable Type I think this is again something you may not need to be concerned with as you should in theory already have a server and an FTP programme...(but that's a bit more than what you really need to do).
If you want a guestbook function - I use Dreambook. This is also free and provided you spend time adjusting the layout to at least vaguely match your blog it can be extremely handy.
Let me know if you start up your own!