1

Blogger is Google's online tool for creating blogs that can be used

for everything from expressing your thoughts, opinions, and ideas

to sharing pictures, videos, and much more. You will be

introduced to the dynamic features and tools Blogger has to offer

by learning how to set up an account, create your first blog, and

effortlessly integrate text, video, and graphics. You will then

continue on to discover how to add links to your blog as well as

optimize your settings.

2

Google Blogger

Open a web browser and navigate to: mail.google.com

At the login screen, key in your Username and Password and click on Sign In.

You must be signed into Google in order to utilize Google Blogger.

Left-Click on the More option and then on Blogger

3

You may need to re-enter your password to access Google Blogger and then click on Sign In

You have the option of how you want to create your profile for the world to see

Google+ Profile = Linking your blog to your common name

This option os for users who feel comfortable associating their blog with an established identity

Blogger Profile = Blogging under a display name of your choice

This option is for users who wish to appear discrete and blog via a pseudonym (secret identity)

As a personal preference I would suggest unchecking the Email box to receive Feature Announcements

Google+ has been blocked for use for

CPCSC staff and students.

You will be creating a Blogger Profile in

lieu of a Google+ account.

If you attempt to create a Google+

account while on the CPCSC Network,

you will receive a message stating it is

not available on our network.

4

This screen allows you to key in the display name that will represent you.

You may use your full name:

Brandi Rund

You may use a pseudonym:

Warrior Wired Workshops

You may use your formal name:

Mrs. Rund

You may use an identifying name:

CPCSC Techy Girl

As a personal preference I would suggest

unchecking the Email box to receive Feature

Announcements

Click on Contine to Blogger

Your Blog homepage will display

5

The New Blog section is how you will create you Blogs

With the Blogger Reading List, you can read all of the latest posts from your favorite blogs right on your Blogger Dashboard. Your Blogger Reading List, conveniently located under your list of blogs on your dashboard, enables you to subscribe to any blog. It will update instantly each time a new post is published on any blog in your Reading List.

It's simple to add a blog to your Reading List. Just click the Add button on the left side of your Reading List.

Next, type in the URL of the blog you'd like to follow in the URL box. You can add as many blogs as you'd like by clicking on +Add. When you've added all of your favorite blogs, decide whether you'd like to follow the blog publicly or privately, and then click Follow.

Click on Follow

6

The Blogger Buzz hyperlink located under the Reading List is for users who created the

Google+ profile. This option is not being used at CPCSC at this time.

Click on New Blog to get started

Name your Blog

Key in what you want your

URL to be for the blog. It will

prompt you if the URL is not

available or if it is not usable.

Choose a generic template –

you can change this later.

Click on Create Blog!

7

You will see a progress message as the Blog is created.

Once it is ready to use, a window will display to inform you that it is ready

Before you begin your blog, take a minute and think about how you want the blog to be navigated.

There is no right or wrong answer; it is your choice on the design – just keep the end user in mind for easy navigation

When creating a Blog, I like to start in the following order:

- Templates

- Pages

- Posts

Click on the drop down arrow

Click on Template

The default template you chose during setup will be displayed at the top

Use the scroll bar at the right to view all of the template possibilities to fit your needs

8

Hover your mouse over a template choice

Click on Apply To Blog to select

(Notice the magnifying glass – clicking here will

show you a preview of the template)

To see the template in effect, click on View Blog

Your Blog Template has been created

Take a minute to reflect on the color scheme

Does the color scheme match the theme of your blog?

Is the color scheme pleasing for the end user?

Click on the Sign In link

Now that your template is created, the next step is to build the pages for your blog

Think of navigating your Blog pages just as you would navigate a website

9

To begin creating your Pages, click on the Pages link

The first page is the Home page.

This page should be created

similar to the homepage of a

website. Do Not click on Edit to

change the name of your

Homepage

The end user should be able to

find out what your Blog is about

by viewing the homepage. This

section should contain

interesting information to catch

the attention of a reader

Click on the arrow next to Don’t

Show to indicate the layout of

the page

We will choose side links for this

training blog

10

Click on Save Arrangement to keep the changes

Click on View Blog to see your creation

Notice that the Center of the screen indicates that you are at Home

The Pages section appears at the right side of the screen and has one Page called Home

This is where the end user will navigate your blog and visit your different pages

Click on the Design link at the top right-hand side of the screen to continue building the Blog

From the Design area, navigate back to the Pages section

Continue to think about the flow of your Blog

Click on the New Page drop down arrow

Choose Blank page

11

Begin by typing a name for the page in the Page Title section

The name will appear as the link in the pages section – the end user will use this name to navigate to this page

The center section is where you will edit and format your information.

This works similar to using Microsoft Word or Google Docs to format text

I start by getting all my data on the screen and worry about formatting once I am done.

I typed in my info and am now ready to format using the Toolbar

Highlight the text you want to manipulate and click on the Heading option

The font size is now

a bigger size

12

We are ready to enter a picture that I have saved by clicking on the Insert Image button

For this photo, we will Upload an image saved on my desktop

Click on Choose Files

Navigate to the location of the

saved image

The uploaded image will appear.

Multiple images can be uploaded

at once if you so choose.

Click on Add Selected

The image will be placed into the exact

spot that your cursor was located in

Notice that the image is already centered with the text – if not click once on the image and choose the center button

I have extra spaces separating the photo and the wording – I can delete the spaces if I choose

Click on Save

Click on the Preview button

13

A new tab will open up for you to Preview your work

Click on the X to close the tab and return to work on your page

Click on Publish and your page will be live on your blog

Now you will have an official link on your blog that will

allow you to change pages

Click on View Blog to see your progress

14

Click on the Training Opportunities link located under Pages to leave the Home page

Practice changing pages by clicking between Home and Training Opportunities located in the Pages section

Use the scroll bar at the right of the screen to view the entire contents of the page

15

This section is where visitors will

comment on your blog

Visitors will type in the information they

wish to share about the topic

If you so choose, you can start Posting on

your own Blog. This may intrigue other

folks to respond to your post

Click on Publish for the comment

to go live

Click back on the Home hyperlink to navigate back to the homepage

Notice that the Homepage

doesn’t have any information?

The Homepage works a little

different than all of the other

pages. The Homepage requires

a POST to contain data.

To return to editing your blog, click on Design

16

Click on New Post

Begin creating this Homepage just like you would any other page.

The Main Name already appears – Warrior Wired Workshops

The Post Title section should be used as an attention grabber - …Welcome fellow technology advocates!

Type in the body of the text

Insert Pictures

Click on Save – To keep your work

Click on Preview – To see your work

Click on Publish – To make your work live

17

Click on View Blog

Now you have a “post” on your Homepage

Click on the Tools next to the page

This window will allow you to make

changes to your Page

You can key in a Title of the page

The most important item within this

section is the Page Order. From here,

you can rearrange the order of how your

pages appear on the blog.

Click on the Page that you wish to move

and drag and drop it on top of the page

in the new location.

It is best practice to always have Home

located at the top

Click on Save

18

Make sure you are located on the Home page

Copy the URL of your blog by left clicking and dragging to highlight the URL text

Paste the text into an email and send it to fellow teachers and students.

The Overview section can be very useful as you track how many hits you have received on your blog

19

Stats – Overview provides details on how many hits your site has received along with the Traffic Sources

Stats – Posts provides detailed info concerning the posts that are left within your blog

20

Stats – Traffic Sources inform you of how users are navigating to your blog

Stats – Audience provides useful information on the end users who are gaining access to your blog

21

The Layout section allows you to change the look and feel of your blog

22

Settings – Basic allows you to edit the name of your blog and add additional authors

23

Settings – Posts and Comments allows you to indicate who can post to the blog and when

24

Settings – Language and Formatting

25

Settings – Other allows you to import, export, or delete the blog