Designing and Installing Your Blog

 

"Basic Guide on How to Design and Install Your Blog"

Hello, Frenzies,

In the last issue, we talked about blogs and how to start one. In this issue, we're going to talk more about designing and installing blogs.

The internet offers more than just space for expression. It allows you as a blog owner the option to easily update friends, post messages, and earn money by advertising on your blog. People even use blogs as avenues for exchanging thoughts and opinions regarding a certain topic of interest. That is if you know how to design and install your blog.

For a lot of people out there who haven't tried blogging, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to setting up and personalizing your own blog. The steps can be as easy as one-two-three!

Step One: Get your own blog account.  

It all starts with getting a blog account. As we have discussed before to get your blog up and running, you need software to create your blog entries and a host that will show your blog on the internet. There are a lot of options and blogging companies that offer services for free or at a fixed rate. The choice is yours. You just have to be careful to weigh your options before making your final decision. Paid blog hosting often provides you with premium features, but if you do not need extra features, a free blog service will work just. 

"Here is the list of the blogging services that are readily available to you."

> Blogger

> Livejournal

> Livelogcity

> Blogdrive

> Squarespace

"Here is the list of software that you can download and install."

> Movabletype (Free)

> WordPress

> Geeklog

> Greymatter

> Pmachine (Free)

> Nucleus

Step Two: Personalize your blog by installing cool free resources.

It is actually fairly simple to make your blog attractive and user-friendly by adding free features that are readily available for most blog platforms. There are free resources that add practically and function to your blog.

Here are some examples:

Templates > Are generally HTML codes, but when executed, they add personality and style to your blog. Keep in mind when designing your blog, you don't necessarily have to stick to the preset templates offered by the blogging companies. The internet provides a lot of resources for acquiring templates. You can customize it to whatever you like Here are some free templates and skin resources for you to check out.

> Blogskins

Templates from Blogskins  are compatible with Blogger and Movable Type Software.

They also have a featured skin of the day you may want to try out.

> Blog Fashions

The company allows the site visitors to copy or alter the featured templates, The templates, however, are compatible only with Movable-type software.

> Blogmaker

Blogmaker offers tools that will make blogging easier. The only thing that users have to do is to provide content and use these tools to publish blog sites. They also offer a vast number of templates to choose from.

> Tag Boards 

Tag boards are like templates - an HTML code. But tag boards add a sense of interaction and instant communication to your blog site. With this feature, your blog fans will have a venue to instantly comment. You also get to read all their comments at once without going to each of the comment sections of your entries.

" Here are some commendable sites that offer tagboards."

> MyShoutBox

> Tag-Board

> Tagboardsite

With a blog, you will also have the flexibility to add games and animations to make it more dynamic. If you want to add animations to your blog, check out the following websites:

> animationfactory.com

> gifanimations.com

> aardman.com

Step Three:  The rest is up to your creativity, imagination, and determination.

Blogs are sets of HTML codes, the more that you know about HTML, the more that you will be free to make your own adjustments to your blog. keep in mind, it's not necessary to know HTML to start a blog. It will just make it easier for you to customize your blog.

Knowing a lot of resource sites can also be handy since the combination of these sources will determine the overall functionality the look of your blog.

Just remember, when you are building your blog it all starts with simple techniques and tools, and by following some simple steps you will become a master in the art of blog making before you know it.

Make sure you come back here again soon and check out my next article. We will be talking about the pros and cons of building a website versus starting a blog.

Thank you again for the time you've spent, I do hope that you enjoy reading this article and can help you on how you will be able to start your own blog.