How to set up your blog

Despite all of the hype with “blogs” in recent years, a blog really isn’t anything much more complicated than a means for publishing a writer’s work on the web in an easy to read and easy to update format.  There are several different software options for doing this; for our class this term, we will be using WordPress.com, which is an easy, flexible, and powerful blog writing tool.  For our class, we will be using WordPress.com for two different purposes.  You will complete the assigned blog writing assignments as “posts” in the blog.  You will also post your portfolio of writing projects to your blog as static “pages” on WordPress, which will allow everyone (your classmates, me, anyone who stumbles across your site, etc.) to read your essays.

The first place to get started with this assignment is WordPress.com, where it is quite easy to set up an account and start blogging.  Basically, follow the instructions on the site.  And of course, use the comment space here to ask and answer questions, seek and provide help, etc.  But here are some tips to get you started:

• Poke around the site a bit– take a look at the features, the “our story,” the blog for WordPress.com, etc.  And once you set up an account, don’t be afraid to experiment a little.  You probably aren’t going to “break” anything.
• Once you set up an account, be sure to visit http://support.wordpress.com, which is the “Support” site for WordPress.  If you have a question and/or get stuck on how to do a particular thing, there’s a pretty good chance that there is an answer and step by step instructions on that thing on this site.  Specifically, I’d recommend the following parts of the site:
  • Getting Started (which is just that– instructions on getting started)
  • Post vs. Page, a distinction that will be important for you to understand since you will be writing both “posts” and “pages.”
  • Appearance, so you can customize what your blog space looks like.
• After you get your account going, play around with your blog a bit to see how it all works.
• And of course, if you’ve got questions along the way, post them here!