Blogging made easy @ mytelus.com

*Blogging made easy

By now, you probably know that the term 'blog' is short for weblog, a personal journal on the Web. Blogs cover as wide a range of topics and opinions as there are people writing them. Some are influential and have a large readership, while others are intended for family and friends.

A blog is a lot like an online journal or diary. The author can talk about anything and everything. Many blogs are full of interesting links that the author has found, as well as stories or bits of information he or she finds interesting.

Blogging basics
One of the great things about blogs is their simplicity. Instead of a traditional website consisting of a home page with links to sub-pages, a typical blog normally contains a single page of entries, with older entries archived.

Each blog entry is a text blurb that may contain embedded links to other sites, news stories or YouTube videos, for example. When the author adds a new entry, it goes at the top, pushing all the older entries down. A right sidebar usually contains additional permanent links to other sites and stories.

Online tools
Today, there are many web-based tools available to help you easily create and manage your blog. Among the most popular are Blogger, Wordpress, TypePad, and LiveJournal. Most allow you to create basic blogs for free, and add additional features for a small price.

There is also software (such as Movable Type**) that can help you create and self-publish your blog with even more customization. Plus, many blogging tools also allow you to post photos, video, and audio files. You can even post via your mobile phone.

Getting started
Creating a simple blog using web-based tools only takes a few minutes. Start by entering your name, email address and other basic information. Then choose your blog's 'look' from a selection of standard templates. A few clicks and you're ready to start adding new blog entries.

To add an entry, start a new post. You can edit the entry as much as you like by clicking the 'edit' button. When you are happy with it, click the 'publish' button to make the new entry visible on your public blog. In fact, with today's blogging tools making it so easy to express yourself online, the only challenge facing you is likely to be deciding what to blog about.

Your blog can be as simple or as complex as you like. It's all up to you.

*Article from here.

**This leads to MovableType.org but perhaps should lead to MovableType.com. The .org site is a professional development tool while the .com is a publishing tool.