How to create a blog
Introduction There are different descriptions of that concept. According to most of the articles on the Internet 'blog' is short for 'weblog', a frequently updated publication of comments and thoughts on the web. Usually it is reflecting the views of the blog's creator. Blogs consist of text and images and are sorted by date. The newest information is on the top and there is an archive of the old one. People create blogs to share their thoughts with the world. A person writing in the journal is called a 'blogger'. Bloggers write about different topics: from the typical daily situations to the progress of some scientific researches. The readers also can leave comments and thus make the whole blog more interesting and useful. History of the blog Blogs are part of the World Wide Web since its creation. In the beginning they did not have a defined name, but their purpose was more or less the same as that of contemporary blogs. Here is a list of the first blogs: • Dawn of Internet: Tim Berners-Lee at CERN begins keeping a list of all new sites as they come online. • June 1993: NCSA's oldest archived 'What's New' list of sites. • June 1993: Netscape begins running it's 'What's New!' list of sites. • January 1994: Justin Hall launches Justin's Home Page which would become Links from the Underground. • April 1997: Dave Winer launches Scripting News. • December 1997: Jorn Barger coins the term weblog
Define blog There are different descriptions of that concept. According to most of the articles on the Internet 'blog' is short for 'weblog', a frequently updated publication of comments and thoughts on the web. Usually it is reflecting the views of the blog's creator. Blogs consist of text and images and are sorted by date. The newest information is on the top and there is an archive of the old one. People create blogs to share their thoughts with the world. A person writing in the journal is called a 'blogger'. Bloggers write about different topics: from the typical daily situations to the progress of some scientific researches. The readers also can leave comments and thus make the whole blog more interesting and useful.
Blog Features A Blog is a type of website that consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order. Today's blogs have many features. Some of these are designed to help the reader find information, other features assist the publisher in providing content.
Homepage The homepage of most blogs provide a list of the latest entries (or "posts") listed in reverse chronological order. There are typically around ten posts followed by a link to older entries.
Archives Some bloggers post hundreds (or even thousands) of posts each year. With such a high volume of posts being published, an archive feature provides an easy way for visitors to view older posts. Archives are usually accessed via a link in the blog's navigation. The links are usually date-based (i.e. March 2008, April 2008, May 2008,...).
Categories Categories allow visitors to browse the blog based on... categories! Each blog post is usually assigned one or more categories at the time it is published. This allows the visitor to view all posts on a particular category. As with archives, categories are usually accessed via a link in the blog's navigation. The links are usually the name of the category. Here are some examples of categories from the Natural Environment Blog: Sustainability, Climate Change, News.
Tag Cloud Some blogs contain a tag cloud. This is a list of tags - or keywords - that the blogger has applied to each post. A tag cloud is simply another navigation mechanism to help visitors in finding posts they're interested in.
Comments Most blogs include a comments section. These are usually located at the bottom of each post and allow visitors to post their own thoughts on the post (or their thoughts on someone else's comment!). Comments may not appear immediately after you submit it. Oftentimes, the author will want to approve (or reject) comments before they're displayed to the world.
Recent Posts Blog navigation sometimes includes links to the five or so most recent posts.
'Recent Comments Blog navigation sometimes includes links to the five or so most recent comments.
'Search Similar to traditional websites, most blogs have a search box that allows the visitor to search through all posts.
'Blogroll A blogroll is a list of links to other blogs that the blogger likes. Usually they will be related to the current blog but not always.
'Pages Some articles aren't included in the list of day to day posts. An example is an "About this blog" page. Pages like these are usually accessed differently to the posts (eg, as a link from the navigation).
'RSS Feeds Most blogs allow visitors to subscribe to its RSS feed. An RSS feed allows the visitor to keep track of every update to the blog. The visitor uses a feedreader to keep track of all RSS feeds he/she subscribes to.
'Create Your Own Blog Nowadays the most effective way to share your thoughts and opinion is to create your own weblog. But how to start your own blog? Fortunately, starting a blog site is an easy task. You do not need to know anything about web development to start blogging: you can create and manage your blog site using some of the free blog tools that are available. All you need to do is open a hosting account where you can have a blog application installed and activated.
How do I start?
Step 1: Choose a free blogging software.Read these articles from About.com Web Logs to help you choose the best blogging software for you: • 6 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find the Best Blogging Software for You • Blogging Software Comparison
Step 2: Register for an account and create your blogThese articles from About.com Web Logs provide step-by-step instructions to help you start a blog with either of the two most popular free blogging softwares - Blogger.com and Wordpress.com. • How to Start a Free Blog with Blogger.com • How to Start a Free Blog with Wordpress.com
Step 3: Select Your Domain, Theme and Other Options.During the registration process for your new blog account, you'll need to choose a domain name and blog theme. You also might want to take a few minutes before you actually start blogging to customize some of the other preferences for your blog that your blogging software allows you to modify such as the author name, comment moderation process, and so on. However, you're not required to do any customization before you start publishing blog posts.
Step 4: Start blogging.Once you've completed steps 1-3, you're ready to join the blogosphere and start publishing content on your blog. There are many more ways you can customize your blog with plug-ins, feeds, blogrolls, and more, but these four easy steps are all you need to follow in order to start a simple blog. look at the vedio-<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQMUx9pMbKY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQMUx9pMbKY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Where to log in? Once you have your Wordpress blog installed, you need to log in to the WordPress administration area from where you can write posts and articles, manage comments, change your theme, etc. To log in the WP admin panel, navigate to the WP login page or directly type the URL in your browser: http://www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin/
Writing a post in WordPress Writing posts and pages is the core activity in WP. You can start your editorial experience by clicking the Add New button located in the Posts menu: You can proceed with entering the desired content. Once you are ready, the new post can be published just by clicking the Publish button.
Creating pages in WordPress Creating individual pages in WordPress is quite similar to writing a post. You should simply click Add New in the Pages menu. When you are ready with your new page, click Publish to save it.
The use of blogs in education Like Podcast, wiki and other types of new technology, blogs can be use in classroom environment for diary entry; it also can be a useful tool to link communication between study groups within a class or other classes or even schools. If use effectively, blogs can create a learning environment that extend beyond the schoolyard.
Why should we use blogs in the classroom? There are numerous educational benefits of blogs. Blogs are: • Highly motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms. • Excellent opportunities for students to read and write. • Effective forums for collaboration and discussion. • Powerful tools to enable scaffolding learning or mentoring to occur.
How do we use blogs in education? Blogs can serve at least four basic functions.
1. Classroom Management
Class blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board.
2. Collaboration
Blogs provide a space where teachers and students can work to further develop writing or other skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can offer instructional tips, and students can practice and benefit from peer review. They also make online mentoring possible. For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills. Students can also participate in cooperative learning activities that require them to relay research findings, ideas, or suggestions.
3. Discussions
A class blog opens the opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. With a blog, every person has an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. Students have time to be reactive to one another and reflective. Teachers can also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals for a given unit of study for students to network and conference with on a blog.
4. Student Portfolios
Blogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference.
