+ “Introduction to Blogging” Katelyn Jacobsen By WordPress.org

+ Introduction What is a “blog?” The Difference Between a Blog and CMS Things Bloggers Need to Know Managing Comments Things Bloggers Need to Know Cont. A Few Blogging Tips

+ What is a “blog?” It is an online way of maintaining continuous information. Some are used like journals for personal use while others can have a more public use that focus on a particular topic. Most blogs are listed chronologically, have archives, a way of commenting, links, and “feeds.” Some blogs that multiple authors that submit posts at that time or through weblog software that allows the author(s) to submit later. Comment options allow viewers to to leave opinions, tips, Ect.

+ The Difference Between a Blog and CMS “Content Management System” is a software program that helps manage the person’s site. Blogging is more simple, and does the work for you. It allows the blogger to focus more on blogging and less on the complicated website stuff. WordPress is a blogging tool that makes it easier for the user to blog or begin learning how to blog.

+ Things Bloggers Need to Know Archives: Keeps track and organizes of articles. Feeds: A function that lists the latest blogs. Blogrolls: A list of links the blogger likes. Syndication: Automatically updates your “feed” with the newest posts of the blogs of your choice. Managing Comments: Allows a blog to become interactive and more interesting for the blogger and readers. The next slide goes into deeper detail about this topic.

+ Managing Comments Trackbacks: Provides notifications between your website and another website you like. Pingbacks: Are like Trackbacks, but use different communication technologies and don’t send content, just a notification. Comments can be written anonymously or by people claiming to be others. Moderation: Allows the blogger to delete unwanted comments or approve good ones. Spam: Comments irrelevant to the content. Spammers will post links to other sites that will help their site gain popularity with Google. Causing their site to appear first when going through Google Search.

+ Things Bloggers Need to Know Cont. Pretty Permalinks: Permanent URLs to individual posts. It makes it easier for the reader to find particular posts. Blog by Using , the blogger may instantly post entries. WordPress allows this feature. Excerpt: Summaries of posts automatically generated or written by the blogger. Plugins: These are like apps to the iphone. They add cool functions to the blog.

+ A Few Blogging Tips Post regularly, but not about irrelevant/boring subjects just to post. If you have a theme or specific topic to your blog, stick to it. Avoid multiple “Subscribe” links on the front page. Most times, people ignore them. Stick to a clean and simple theme. Comment on other blogs that you enjoy. They will usually comment back.

+ Conclusion A blog is a way for a writer or an average person to write posts in a continuous fashion. The online site will list these posts chronologically and will have a purpose or theme. It’s different from a “Content Management System,” which is a much more complicated system of creating a blog. Weblogs use archives, feeds, and plugins, for example to add fun and easier functions to blogs Comments allow a blog to be interactive and more fun for the blogger as well as the reader. To have a successful blog, a blogger should post often, stick to a theme, have a clean and simple layout design, and comment on other blogs because they will comment back and make the process more fun overall. Any Questions?