May 30, 2008

Workshop 1.3 – New Media – How to set up a school library blog with no budget

School Library Symposium - 30 May 2008, Jointly organized by NLB & MOE

Workshop 1.3 – New Media – How to set up a school library blog with no budget

By Mr. Ivan Chew, Manager, Adults & Young People’s Services


Aims of the session:

  • Understand how blogs can be used as publicity tools to engage students and the school community

  • Through a hands-on exercise, learn how to create and manage a school library blog

  • Learn how to engage bloggers and users in the blogosphere


YOUR ASSIGNMENT FOR THE NEXT 1.5 HOURS

  1. Create a blog with Blogger.com
  2. Publish at least THREE posts (suggestions: Record the learning points from this workshop. Or interview the person next to you.)
  3. Add your blog here, by leaving a comment
  4. Delete your blog (if you choose to do so)

CREATING A BLOGGER.COM BLOG - ON-SCREEN NOTES: START HERE

REFERENCES


Questions & Comments? Contact me via my blog.

A highly subjective and biased list of social media tools for libraries, librarians, library school coordinators

Here's a highly subjective and biased list of social media tools for libraries, librarians, library school coordinators :)

Useful stuff for librarians/ libraries


Blogs, Wikis & other social media platforms


RSS/ Feed Readers/ Alerts


Search
Blog search: Blogsearch.google.com | Technorati.com
Blog 'Bulletins': Tomorrow.sg | Yesterday.sg

Statistical tools - www.sitemeter.com | www.statcounter.com | www.google.com/analytics

Discussion forums/ mailing lists: groups.yahoo.com | groups.google.com

May 26, 2008

Updated: Creating blogs with Blogger.com

DISCLAIMER: I created this post as an aid for the blog courses I conduct. They are not endorsed by Google or Blogger.com.

Click on the images to view additional notes.

Login/ Create Blog
Blogger: Create your Blog Now -- FREE
Go to Blogger.com to sign up for an account.

STEP 1: Create a Google account
Blogger: Create Blogger Account
You need a Google user account in order to create a blog with Blogger.com ('cos Blogger.com is owned by Google).

You don't need to create an account if you already have Google-related accounts like Gmail and Google Groups (read the instructions below the header "Create a Google Account".

Blogger.com requires you to enter an email address (you can always create an additional email account Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail).

TIP: Write down all the addresses/ IDs/ passwords that you create along the way. And keep this safe (destroy it once you've committed it to memory). Some participants get confused after signing up for a few things along the way, that they can't log in to their accounts when they try to do after the session)

The Word Verification is a feature for blogger to ensure it's a human being that's creating an account, rather than an automatic program (spambot).


IMPORTANT: Keep your password secret. Google will never, ever ask you for your passwords. If you ever receive any emails asking you for your account ID and passwords, read it very very carefully and you probably should ignore it. Because they are likely to be scam mails.


STEP 2: Name your blog
Blogger: Name your blog
Here, you're required to enter a Title for your blog and the blog URL (the blog title can easily be changed later, from your Settings Tab. For the URL, it can also be changed provided it's not taken up by someone else. So at this stage, it's best to choose wisely at this stage).

TIP: Use the Check Availability link to confirm that your desired URL is available. Then write the URL for easy reference.


STEP 3: Choose a template
Blogger: Choose a template
Choose a blog template. You can always change the design later. So don't spend too much time at this stage. There aren't much designs to choose from and you can spend more time customising your blog later.

Confirmation of new blog
Blogger: You are done
Congratulations! You now have a blog.

Create/ Publish Post
Blogger: My demo blog - Create Post
This is where you create a new post. It's almost like composing and sending an email.

Dashboard
Blogger: Dashboard
When you next login to Blogger.com, you'll see your Dashboard. This is where you can create a new blog, and also access your existing blog(s).

Settings tab
Blogger: My demo blog - Basic Settings
Go to the Settings Tab to:
  • Change the blog name or description
  • Delete your blog
  • Change your blog URL
  • Blog formatting (date/ time settings)
  • Comment Moderation/ Image Verification/ Email notification
  • Permissions to view/ post to your blog

Layout tab
Blogger :: Edit Layout
The Layout Tab is where you can:
  • Add "Page Elements" (these are things like a blogroll, counters, HTML codes for stats etc.)
  • Change your fonts and colours
  • Edit your blog HTML template directly
  • Pick a new Blogger.com template

For more tips on using Blogger.com, read this post.

[This is an updated post, from an earlier one, dated Nov 2006]

Creative Commons License

This work by Ivan Chew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. For permissions beyond the scope of this license , please contact via RamblingLibrarian@gmail.com.

May 23, 2008

Tips on using BLOGGER.COM

Some links from Blogger.com's Help pages that I feel all new Blogger.com users ought to know. These tend to the the Frequently Asked Questions from those new to blogger.


More tips, for blogging newbies:

#1 - Write down your User ID, Password, and Blog URL somewhere (keep it safe, until you've committed it to memory).
I've seen many people get all caught up in the excitement of creating a new blog for the first time that they forget their User name, password or the blog URL. They'd lament that they can't find their blog or login etc.

#2- When creating your new blog, just choose a blog design quickly. And move on!
I've personally experienced this myself -- you spend ages choosing and mulling over the blog design template, colours, layout etc. My advice is to just quickly choose a design to get through the process. It's more important to familiarise yourself with how the Dashboard (the admin stuff) works. You can always change the design later.

#3 - Choose a consistent blog name with your URL
For instance, if I want my blog to be called "Rambling Librarian", then my preferred URL is also "RamblingLibrarian.blogspot.com". This is for consistency.

#4 - Blogger.com Vs Blogspot.com
I get this alot: Newbie creates a blogger.com blog. Then says "my blog can't be found". I'd tell them to check the URL. The blog URL should be "blogSPOT.com" and not "blogger.com". Example:
  • MyFirstBlog.blogger.com is incorrect
  • MyFirstBlog.blogspot.com is the correct URL
So far, only Blogger.com has this sort of arrangement. If you signup for a Wordpress.com blog, your blog url would be MyFirstBlog.wordpress.com. See what I mean about consistency? :)

[See also: Creating blogs with Blogger.com, 26 May 2008]


Creative Commons License

This work by Ivan Chew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. For permissions beyond the scope of this license , please contact via RamblingLibrarian@gmail.com.