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7/15/2004
How to start a blog
I'm a total novice at this point (just started this morning), but perhaps that point of view may be helpful for others wanting to start blogs?

I started at Blogger.com. I signed up for a free account and gave my new blog both a name (Humanize the Earth!) and an address http://tedernst.blogspot.com . People that already have a website can get fancy and host the blog there, but it's much easier (especially for those of us that don't know what we're doing) to just let blogger do what it knows best and make the site at blogspot.

Anyway, I chose a template (colors and style of the pages) and that was it. Then I learned a bit about making links in a post and all that jazz. Blogger (or perhaps blogspot, I'm not sure which) seems to have comments automatically as a feature, but I've heard that there are other providers for comments that may be better for some reason. I do notice already that some blogs have comments that you can link to directly whereas my site does not allow that at this point.

The next thing I added was my blogroll in the right column. I went to blogrolling.com and signed up there for a free account. Maybe someone knows of an easier resource because it did take some exploring to figure out how it works. I entered my first two links manually (cutting and pasing URLs and titles), but then I found the BlogRollThis feature which means it's very easy to add any site to the list. Does anyone have an easier way for me and others?

That's where things stand right now. Hopefully I'll figure out more as I go and I will be sharing that as well.

{comments migrated when changing commenting method}

We look forward to reading your thoughts and following your dreams. Blogging is another form of personal journal, only public.

If you want a great aggregator, try www.bloglines.com. They also have a "Bloglines this" tool that you can put in your browser when you run across other blogs you want to track - it uses RSS feed to your Bloglines page. It gathers all the news and blogs into one place where you can organize them and read them each day rather than chasing all over through your bookmarks.

By the way, we choose the same blog format www.colbys.blogspot.com

Best of luck from one of the OS gang in expanding your blog readership.
Colby, thanks for your comment. How do you manage your links to your favorite blogs? Do you do that by hand or use a tool? Thanks for visiting!
Great to see you online!
Ted and all--

I'm interested in adding a blog to my site. Anybody know of any tutorials?

:-Doug. Germann
Seeking people making change.
Dear Ted,

It was nice to make your vocal acquaintance yesterday on the OSonOS conference call (you too, Doug!)

Thanks for including your novice blogger experience here along with your report on the Giving Conference, and everything else. Your energy and thoughtfulness come through clearly in your writing!

warm regards,
Christy Lee-Engel
Doug, I'd recommend you get in touch with Jonh http://blog.wirearchy.com as he expressed interest in helping people get this stuff set up. Good luck and please let us know when you're up and running!
Thanks Christy. I really look forward to more learning and growing together both online and in person and am excited about the plans for the OSonOSinUS.
This is so awesome, Ted! I read all your blogs and comments. Let me know how your conference goes this weekend.
Ted--

Thanks for reminding me of Jon Husband.

:-Doug.