Welcome Back
Are you ready for Lesson #2?
By now you should have a good understanding of what a blog is, different types of blogs for kids and the important parts of a blog.
Before we get started…
For members who are under 13 years of age – you cannot create a blog on Blogger or WordPress. You must be at least 13 years old to use these two blogging platforms.
If you are 13 years old or older you can create a blog and use Blogger and WordPress.
If you are under 13 years of age, your parent can create and use the blog and you can observe under their supervision so that when you turn 13 you will be ready to blog! We will give you all the instructions because if you want to blog, these are the two most popular programs.
Don’t worry if your parents cannot set up a blog. In future lessons, we will practice setting up group blogs which will be supervised by our team.
So relax, one way or another you will get the chance to practice blogging.
Are you ready to learn how to create your own blog?
There are two main places to create a blog. Blogger and WordPress. Do you know about them?
WordPress can be more difficult if you do not use the free service. It involves getting a domain name and hosting. So if you are a beginner like most of us, you will want to start with blogger at http://blogger.com or the free WordPress at http://wordpress.com.
Later if you are still serious about blogging, you can sign up for individual lessons that will teach you how to set up a blog using WordPress with your own domain and hosting. But for now it is all about learning and it is important to read the information. It is interesting and will help you become a better blogger.
For those who may have forgotten our new blogging words, see if you can remember these words – domain, hosting, template, platform.
Well are you ready? Here we go!
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Overview of Lesson 2
Part 1: Comparing Blogger and WordPress
Part 2: Steps to Create a Blog with Blogger
Part 3: How to Create a Blog with WordPress
Part 4: Template and Headers
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Part 1
Comparing Blogger and WordPress
For those who are familiar with blogging or those who surf the Net regularly, the names Blogger and WordPress are words you probably know.
This should not come as a surprise especially since these two websites are the most popular blogging platforms on the Internet!
It will be fun to compare these two great blogging websites and see the results. Just read on and discover great things. Before the comparison starts, you should know that Blogger is also called Blogspot.
Blogger had been in business long before WordPress. Blogger was created back in 1999 and WordPress did not start until years later in 2003. Blogger has more years of experience than WordPress. But this does not stop the two from having many followers – which run into millions.
Both Blogger and WordPress offer free webhosting services to their users. What this means is that you can have your own blog free of charge using any of the two platforms. There is an amount of free space for a new user. For Blogger it is 1GB while it is 3GB for WordPress.
Experience and studies show that Blogger is more secure than WordPress. Maybe Blogger has been able to tackle security issues better than WordPress because it has been in business longer than WordPress. Blogger fights off hackers. They have an effective team of security experts. WordPress has not been too successful in fighting off hackers.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT A HACKER IS?
Here are some clues. Did you see the movie WarGames or Die Hard 4?
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Part 2
Steps to Create a Blog with Blogger
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McRiRbyRxpE[/youtube]
One of the most interesting activities on the Internet today is blogging. With blogging, you can learn a lot of things while also teaching others. You also have the opportunity to make new friends. Many people think that having your own blog is a very difficult thing or you need to have a lot of money. This is not true. There are many websites where you can create your own blogs free. One such website is Blogger.
We will discuss the easy steps to take if you if want to create your own blog with Blogger. You will be surprised how simple the whole thing is!
The very first thing is that you must have a Google Mail (Gmail) account if you want to have a blog with Blogger. This is important since Google owns Blogger.
If you do not have a Google Mail account, it is not a big deal. Simply go to mail.google.com and open your own Gmail account. It is free and simple, just like opening a Yahoo Mail account. The only difference is that your Google Mail address will end with @gmail.com instead of @yahoo.com.
Once you have your Gmail account, you can then go the website of Blogger which is www.blogger.com. Here you will see an arrow that tells you to ‘Create Your Blog Now’. All you do is click the arrow and you will be taken to the next page. You will choose a name for your blog. This is called the blog title.
After creating a name for your blog, the next thing is to choose a design or template you want, and you have your blog! It is that simple and you can start to post immediately and even upload a few pictures.
Here is another video about Blogger. There are many videos to help you but this one is created by Blogger for bloggers! They also include a place where you can go for additional help.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU4gXHkejMo[/youtube]
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Part 3
How to Create a Blog with WordPress
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZULGg9kfCo[/youtube]
Blogging can be very interesting. By having your own blog, you learn many things and you also share what you know with others. You can make wonderful friends and get the latest news.
As important as blogs are, many people do not have them. This is because they think it is very difficult to create a blog. Some even believe that to have your own blog, you need to have a lot of money. This is not true. To have your own blog is as simple as learning the alphabet!
WordPress.com is one of the most popular blogging platforms on the Internet. With WordPress, you can create your own blog and start connecting with friends all over the world. The good thing is that you do not have to pay anything –creating your own blog is free. We will discuss the simple steps you need to take to create your own blog.
The first thing you do is to visit the website of WordPress (www.wordpress.com). The website has a very beautiful and cool design. On the top right hand corner of the homepage, you will see a small orange area which says ‘Sign up now’. If you want to create a new blog, you click this sign. First you must have an email address. You can use any email address.
Once you click the sign, a page will come up and here you give a username, password and your email address. Then you confirm that what you want is a blog and not just a username. That is it. You now have your blog!
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Part 4
Template and Headers
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_k_PvV5gAM[/youtube]
For those who know the Internet or graphics, a template is not a strange document. A template is a pre-designed format or layout for other designs. In other words, a template is a kind of example from which other designs can be made.
Templates are always used in blogging. As a blogger, you will see that blogs have a certain design for the different sections of a blog. When you create your own blog with Blogger and WordPress, you will be asked to select a template, which you can later change to your taste.
Templates can be designed by anyone with artistic skills. It is a fact that not all of us can design beautiful templates for our blogs. If you are like this, you do not have to worry because there are many websites where you can download templates of your choice.
In the future you may want to learn how to design templates on your own. There are many websites on the Internet that offer free design tutorials to those that are interested and ready to learn.
A blog header is usually part of the template. The blog header is a very important part of your blog. It is the first thing that visitors to your blog will see. You can see the difference between a beginner and professional blog by the type of headers they have. If you wish to create new headers, you can simply design new ones or edit the one you are using by changing the settings.
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Things to Do
1) There are many reasons why people create blogs. Do you know of other reasons why people start blogging?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajqq9bHomn8[/youtube]
2) Practice, Practice, Practice!
Kids Learn to Blog also has videos on the different steps to create a blog with Blogger. Check them out here!
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Extra Fun Activities!
Have you heard about creating a Vlog? Yes, this is correct, not a BLOG but a VLOG!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82aZZraeSxk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HUDDZVOt7Q[/youtube]
Send your parents a Tech Support Care Package at http://www.teachparentstech.org
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHa1Dj3JIFQ[/youtube]
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Remember:
- If you have not done so already, try to do these things this month.
- Activate your email – We sent members a welcome email but some have not responded. Contact us this month and you will start getting more emails from us.
- One on one time – As part of your membership you can have a private session with our staff to talk about your blogging. Give it a try this month.
- Login – We moved the membership login to the bottom right hand side of home page.