Getting Started May 20, 2008

You have now begun to create your own blog!

Here are the first steps to getting started:

1. Create a username
2. Create a password
3. Create a url name

How to create your username:

• Make sure it’s fun, catchy, and in some way relates to your blog
• Make sure it doesn’t use your real name

How to create your password:

• Make sure you can remember it
• Make sure it’s “strong”

How to create a URL name:

• It must relate to your subject-matter
• The catchier it is, the more people will check your blog out
• Think of a funny phrase, word, or combination of words that relate to your subject

Now, spend some time getting to know other blogs that deal with similar subject-material to what you want to write about.

1.  Find 3 blogs that you feel are great examples for you to look to as you blog.  You may use the blogs on this sidebar as a reference, but you may not write about them specifically.

• Write down their names, addresses, and give a brief summary of each.
• Explain the visual effects that you like, colors, graphics, and the general layout
• Explain the way each author writes that makes him/her effective.

2.  Explore each of these 3 blogs.  As you do so, find 10 topics that interest you and relate to the subject-matter of your blog.  Write them down.

3.  Finally, write down one paragraph explaining your blog to me as if we had never discussed it before.  Since you have at least 10 topics written down, you should be able to look at that and get a clearer picture of what kinds of posts you will be writing.  Your paragraph should describe your blogs look, topics, and tone, giving the reader a sense of what to expect as a regular viewer of your website.

*This paper will be due at the beginning of next period.  That means you can finish it outside of class if you want.

**Additionally, since you can’t access email in the school library, you must have validated your new WordPress blog before class begins on Thursday. Those who fail to fulfill this step will find themselves floundering behind the rest of the class.

If you need to, you can access your email from one of the computers in our classroom.  See me after school to do this if you can’t access the Internet from your home.