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BOOT CAMP 421 (25/04/06)

BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS

Weblogs or ‘Blogs’ have been compared to the invention of moveable type and the telephone. That’s probably a little over the top, but it is fair to say that blogging is responsible for a minor revolution in publishing and communications and represents another milestone in the development of the Internet.

The term Weblog dates back to 1998, it was coined by John Barger, the publisher of a US Internet site called robotwisdom, and used to describe his regularly updated list or ‘log’ of web sites that he found interesting or noteworthy. That remains the essence of blogs today, which are simply frequently updated personal journals, published on the web.

A blog can contain just about anything, from a family newsletter that will be seen by just a few people to a celebrity or politician’s public musings reaching a worldwide audience. However, what makes bloggging so interesting is the fact that anyone with a PC and Internet connection can create one in just a few minutes and make it instantly available to the one billion plus users of the web.

At the last count there were in excess of 60 million blogs on the web with new ones appearing at the rate of more than one per second. Blogs have become highly influential with popular ones being read by hundreds of thousands and in some cases, millions of people every day. According to research carried out a couple of years ago more than 12 percent of Internet users are regular blog readers and with over 700,000 new posts per day (over 29,000 per hour), there is plenty to read.

Everyone is getting in on the act and even large companies and powerful media organisations are trying their hand at ‘Nanopublishing’. Several blogs supposedly written by individuals have turned out to be nothing more than thinly disguised advertising campaigns, taking advantage of the fact that a carefully crafted blog, ‘seeded’ in the right places can reach large and precisely targeted audiences faster and more cheaply than most alternative means.

For the moment at least blogging remains close to its roots as a simple way for someone to express their thoughts and ideas or just tell stories; so what makes a blog different to other web pages?

There are several key features and the first and most important one is that you don’t need to be a web page designer, or own a website to start blogging. Most blogs are created using simple templates, supplied and maintained by a ‘hosting’ web site and accessed through a standard web browser. Many blogging websites are free to use (see Top Tip) but there are paid-for alternatives. Subscription-based hosting services usually offer more flexibility and freedom from ads and pop-ups (unless you want them). You still have to keep within the confines of a template, though this can usually be more heavily customised, with your own logo or images, layout, colour schemes and so on. If you have your own website or web space you can also host your own blog using blogging software and like free and subscription-based versions they are based on simple to use templates.

No layout or design skills are required to create a blog. All you have to do is write the words directly into a text box on the blogging website’s edit page. Alternatively you can prepare the copy in advance on a word processor then copy and paste the words into the text box. You have to give your post a title and assign it a ‘category’, to make it easier for you and your readers to find previous posts. The last step is to insert any pictures or graphics you want to appear in your post and this is another point and click operation. Simply select the image file on your PC, tell it where you want it to go on the page then how big you want it to be and the template does the rest. When you are happy with it click Save or Upload and the post you have just created is live on the web.

Posts are automatically dated, time-stamped and usually presented on the page in reverse chronological order, with the most recent ones at the top. Most blogging sites and programs assign posts their own web page or ‘Permalink’. This allows other bloggers to link to particular items, even though they may have disappeared off the bottom of the page or into an archive. Most weblogs also have a ‘Comments’ facility that lets readers add their own thoughts or reactions to a post in a separate box but the author retains overall editorial control and can reply to or remove anything they deem inappropriate or offensive.

That’s more or less all you need to know to get started and if you want to see for yourself what all the fuss is about a good place to start is the blog search engine Technorati. Just tap in a subject or topic and see what it throws up, you will be amazed! If you want to become part of the 'Blogosphere' see this weeks Top Tip.

NEXT WEEK - Travelling with a laptop

JARGON FILTER

BLOGOSHPERE

Collective term for the blogging community and network of interconnected links