Starting a blog -- either here on blogspot, or on wordpress.com -- is fairly easy. All you need is the time, energy, and a high speed connection.To start a blogger or blogspot (same thing) blog, go to www.blogspot.com or www.blogger.com and follow the directions. Be sure to name your blog something you can stick with, and come up with an easy to remember URL (address on the web). You'll also have to choose a theme (the skin your blog wears -- e.g. color, design, fonts, etc.) but you can change that easily later.
You'll then see your dashboard, which shows you how to navigate, change, add to and shape your blog. On the left-hand side, you'll see tabs for "Posting," "Settings," "Layout," "Monetize" and "View Blog." On the right hand-side, there are links (to the right of your email) for "Dashboard," "My Account," Help," and "Sign Out."
POSTINGS: To post something, all you need do is click on "new post," and start typing. If you hold your cursor over the little letters and symbols in the tan-colored band at the top of your post, you'll see how to change fonts, font size, bold-face or italicize words (you do have to highlight what you want bolded or italicized and then click on one of these), make lists or bullets, insert catchy quotes, spell-check, add pictures or video. The little eraser on
the right-hand side is to erase previous formatting (if you are pasting in something from another file). You can also view your post in "Edit Html," which shows you the code involved (which can be helpful for learning how to post in the gadget boxes in code more easily), or "Preview," which is supposed to show you exactly how your post will look, but often is a bit off. You can add photos by clicking on the picture icon (tiny landscape with sky), and then clicking on browse, and going in your computer to your photos, or to a URL for a photo. You also indicate the size of your photo (small, medium or large) and whether you want it flush right or flush left. Once the photo pops in, it will appear at the top of your blog, and you need to drag it to where you want it. You can made the photo smaller by clicking on a corner and moving it in, like I did with this photo of fiddler Doug DuBois. You can also add a caption and URL if you want.SETTINGS: This tab links you to the settings for your blog, including whether you want it listed in search engines, who can edit it, and other options. There are tabs for "Publishing," "Formatting," Comments," "Archiving," "Site Feed," "Email and Mobile," "Open ID," and "Permissions" (the last one has to do with who can contribute to your blog, and allows you to invite a group to post items and even to help administer the blog). Most of these are fairly easy to understand or refer to possibilities not always so relevant.
LAYOUT: The most fun tab is Layout, which allows you to change the look of your blog. The first tab, "Page Elements," allows you to add gadgets (the blogger name for widgets, which are little boxes of this and that -- e.g. link lists -- that are always on the blog no matter how many posts are hidden deep in the archives) and to move around those gadgets. "Fonts and Colors" allows you to change the font (choosing from a small selection blogger offers) and colors. Note that if you want a color you don't see, you can google "html color code," find the color you want, and then add its code (where it says "enter color hex code"), and voila! You'll have that color. You can also see how it all shakes out below the line. You can also go to "Pick a New Template," and try on a new skin, see how the color and design looks, and decide what to do from there.
OTHER: The "Monetize" tag is not so relevant for promoting Goddard projects and/or programs, but if it turns out to be, just follow those directions.
IF YOU NEED HELP: Remember taht on the right-hand side of your dashboard, toward the top of the screen, there's a light blue "Help." Click on it, and look for help. Blogger is very good at giving people clear directions.
