Getting Started Guide

Getting Started Guide

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Getting started with Blogger

Blogger offers an easy way to collaborate, discuss, or share your thoughts with others. This guide can help you familiarize yourself with the main features of Blogger and get started writing your own blog.

To start using Blogger, simply sign in with your Google Account. (If you use Gmail, Google Groups, or orkut, you already have an account.) If you don't have a Google Account yet, you can create one now.

Contents

• Create a blog
• Write a post
• Add an image
• Add a video
• Privacy and permissions
• Customizing your layout
• Follow other blogs

Create a blog

To get started with Blogger, visit the Blogger homepage, enter your username and password, and click Sign in. Enter a display name and accept Blogger's Terms of Service. Then click the Create a Blog link and get started!
Pick a name and address (URL) for your blog. Then, choose your favorite template (this is how your blog will look when you publish it). Now get greative, add information to your personal profile, and customize how your blog looks, if you feel up to it. Start blogging now!

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Write your post

Once you've signed in to Blogger, you'll see your dashboard with your list of blogs. Here's what you need to do:

1. Click the NEW POST button and enter anything you want to share with the world.
2. Next, you'll see the Create New Post page. Start by giving your post a title (optional), then enter the post itself:
   
3. When you're done, click the Preview link to make sure it's ready to go:
   
4. Once you're satisfied with your post, click the Publish button. This will publish your new post.

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Add an image

You can add an image from your computer or the Web to your blog. Click the image icon in the post editor toolbar. A window appears prompting you to browse for an image file on your computer, or enter the URL of an image on the Web.
Once you've selected your image, you can then choose a layout to determine how your image will appear in your post:

• The 'Left', 'Center', and 'Right' options allow you to customize the way your blog text will flow around your image.
• The 'Image size' options will determine how large the image will appear within your post.

Click UPLOAD IMAGES to add your image, and then click DONE when the notification window appears telling you that 'Your image has been added.' Blogger will then return you to the post editor, where you'll see your image ready to be published to your blog.
You can also publish images to your blog using your mobile device, Google's free photo software Picasa, or a third-party service like flickr. Learn more

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Add a video

To add a video to your blog post, click the film strip icon in the post editor toolbar above where you compose your blog text. A window appears prompting you to 'Add a video to your blog post.'
Click Browse to select the video file from your computer that you'd like to upload. Note that Blogger accepts AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real and Windows Media files and that your video must be less than 100MB in size.
Before uploading your video, add a title in the 'Video Title' box and agree to the Terms and Conditions (you'll only have to do this the first time that you upload a video with Blogger). Then click UPLOAD VIDEO.
While your video uploads, you'll see a placeholder in the post editor showing where your video will appear. You'll also see a status message below the post editor letting you know that your upload is in progress. Depending on the size of your video, this usually takes about five minutes. When it is complete, your video will appear in the post editor.
Want to see this in action? Click the link to watch a video on how to add a video to your blog post:
Adding a video to your post

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Customizing your layout

Your template is a fun way to customize your blog. When creating a new blog, you're first asked to choose a default template, this is the basic design of your blog. You can choose from customize your blog's design using our intuitive drag-and-drop interface. You can also add powerful gadgets such as slideshows, user polls, or even AdSense ads. Changing the fonts and colors on your blog is easy too. If you want more precise control over your blog's layout, you can also use the Edit HTML feature. To edit your blog's layout, follow these steps:

1. Click the Layout link from your dashboard below the blog you would like to customize.
2. From the Page Elements sub-tab, click Edit to edit existing gadgets, or Add a Gadget to add new ones.
3. To add a new gadget after you've clicked Add a Gadget, simply click the plus sign next to your desired gadget. You can choose from gadgets by category, or search for a specific gadget in the top right of the pop-up window.
   
4. Once you've added the necessary information to your selected gadget, click SAVE. Your layout changes will appear instantly.
   

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Privacy and permissions

By default, your blog is completely public, and can be read by anyone on the internet. However, if you want to keep it private, you can do that, too. You cna change these settings on the Settings | Permissions tab.

1. Under the 'Blog Readers' heading, you'll probably see 'Anybody' selected as the default. When you change this to 'Only readers I choose,' you'll get an Add Readers button.
2. Click the Add Readers button and then enter the email address of a person to whom you'd like to grant access to your blog. To add multiple people, separate their addresses with commas.
3. For each address entered, the Google Account associated with that address will be given access to view your blog. If an address is not associated with an account, that person will receive an invitation email with a link allowing them do one of three things:

• Sign in to an existing account.
• Create a new account.
• View your blog as a guest (no account required).

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Follow other blogs

With the Blogger Following feature you can keep track of the blogs you follow via your Reading List on the Blogger dashboard. There are several ways to become a follower of a blog. One of the easiest ways is to visit a blog that has added the 'Following' widget, ad then follow these steps:

1. Click the FOLLOW THIS BLOG link under the 'Followers' widget.
   
2. You'll then see a pop-up window with the options to either follow publicly or anonymously.
   
3. Select how you'd like to follow the blog, then click the orange FOLLOW button. You're now a follower of the blog! If you chose to follow the blog publicly, your profile picture will be displayed on the blog with a link to your Blogger profile.
4. When you become a follower of a blog, the blog will also be added to your Reading List on your Blogger dashboard. Additionally, you can become a follower of any blog or URL (even if the blog doesn't have the 'Followers' widget) by adding the blog to your Reading List on the dashboard.

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How do I show ads between my posts?

If you want to show ads between your posts but chose not to do it while initially signing up for AdSense, first go to your Template | Page Elements tab. Then, in the "Blog Posts" section, click on "Edit". A pop-up window will appear with options to configure your blog posts. Check the box next to "Show Ads Between Posts". (Note: You must be signed up for AdSense before you can check this box.)
Once you check this box you'll see the configuration options for your ads. You can then select how often you would like ads to be shown after your posts.
For example, if you want ads to be displayed after every post, select "1" from the drop-down menu. (Please note that AdSense policies limits you to a total of 3 ad units per page and Blogger will automatically prevent you from going over this limit.) You can then select your ad format and colors. Once you have finished configuring your ads, click on the orange "Save Changes" button in the bottom right corner.

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How to put AdSense in your blog's sidebar

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Note: This article assumes you are using a classic template. For Layouts-enabled blogs, you can simply add a new AdSense page element to your sidebar, or drag an existing element to the desired location.
If you're new to AdSense and not too familiar with making modifications to your blog's template, you can follow these instructions for placing AdSense code in your blog's sidebar (using the Minima template as an example).
Assuming you have already signed up and been approved for a Google AdSense account, you should be able to log in here. Once you're signed in, click the AdSense Settings tab near the top of the page. To cut right to the chase, focus on these steps:

1. Choose Your Ad Layout - To fit ads in your sidebar, it's best to choose one of the following ad layouts.

   Button (125x125)
   Skyscraper (120x600)
   Wide Skyscraper (160 x 600) 
   Vertical Banner (120 x 240)
   Small Rectangle (180x150)
   

2. Choose a color palette - They are very cleverly named but it's really just a matter of your preference.
3. Copy your AdSense code - At the bottom of the page, there's a box with code in it. Highlight all of that code and copy it.
4. Paste the code somewhere - Notepad or Text Edit or something like that is a good place for now.
5. Go to Blogger.com and sign in - Choose the blog you want to put ads on and click the template tab.
6. This is less of a step and more of a precaution - Copy your entire Blogger template and save it in Notepad or Text Edit just in case.
7. Find the place in your template that says this; you might have to scroll down pretty far:

8. Paste the AdSense code you saved earlier right after that part.

   
   
   PUT YOUR ADSENSE CODE HERE!

9. Save your template changes and republish your blog.