Thing 2. Create Your Blog & Then Post About It

Now that you know what’s going on with MILI and the Information Literacy Things, it’s time to set up a blog! You will use the blog to record your thoughts, ideas, discoveries, and the results of your activities. We recommend using including Blogger a Google product. You do not need a Gmail account to set up a Blogger blog.

Note that Blogger doesn’t love Safari. Mac users should try Internet Explorer or Foxfire.

Set up your blog by following these steps:

1. Create an account in Blogger

• Go to Blogger.com
• Click on the long orange arrow that says Create Your Blog Now. Follow the 3 step instructions.
• You will need an email address. You can use any address—it does not need to be a Gmail address. Your email becomes your Username.
• Create a password for your Blogger account (if you already have a Google account for other services, that will be used here, too.)
• Remember to write down your Username and Password.

2. Name your blog

• This is the hard part! You will create a both a display name and a URL for your blog.
• The display name is the name that will appear on the banner at the top of your blog. The URL is how you will find your blog or tell others how to find it—your Web address.
• Remember that the whole web world can see your blog title and blog address. Consider creating a name that reflects the 23 Things On a Stick program, but is uniquely yours. Here are some names of other people’s 23 Things blogs: LibLongLearn or Lindsay’s 23 Things

• In Blogger, the URL format is name.blogspot.com There is no www in the address when using Blogger.com software. The URL for your blog will look like these examples:
  http://liblonglearn.blogspot.com/
  http://lindsaypeifer.blogspot.com/
• Please remember your URL address and/or bookmark it.

3. Select your template.
The fun part--Blogger has several templates so choose one that fits you. The first Choose Template screen has only a few; choose one. If you want to experiment with other Templates, go to Layout and choose Pick New Template. You will see many more choices. Try some out; it is easy to see how your blog will look in the different choices.

Hints

• If you run into problems, check out Blogger's Help file and Tutorial or here’s a MINITEX Blog Tutorial . Another tutorial is here. You can ask us, too.
• Be sure to enable comments on Blogger.
• Spend some time exploring the features of Blogger—spell check, upload photos or video, font choices, text size, and other features are available.

4. Register your blog with MILI.

Send an email to metromili@gmail.com Register in the subject box and your name and your blog name and the blog URL in the message.
We will add you to the blogroll so we can read and track your posts.

You’re ready to start posting!

Whenever you complete a Thing, write a post reflecting your experience with the Thing you accomplished. Please clearly label each entry in your blog in with Thing number and the subject. We just need to be able to see which Thing you are doing. Read and comment on other 23 Things bloggers’ posts, too. That’s part of being in a the project.Each of your posts should provide insights into what you’ve discovered and learned. Share what worked for you, what didn’t, what you’ve shared with your colleagues, any surprises, frustrations, and eureka moments. We will offer some blog prompts to get you thinking, but don’t feel limited by those—splash out and share!

There is More for Thing 2.--try some additional features and have some fun.