Saturday, October 11, 2008

Choosing the best tool

Choosing the best tool

Blogs owe a lot to the growth of dynamic publishing tools that greatly simplify the business of updating websites.

A tool for use with a blog must provide a user-friendly interface (easily accessible through an Web navigator) and dynamically manage its content, with such things as archives and searches.

A blog has two Internet addresses that don’t change after it’s been set up:
- its address for public access.
- its administrative address, protected by a password belonging to the person who runs it.

You can set up a blog by either joining a blog community or using a blog tool with your own server.

Blog Communities

(See the chapter on “How to set up and run a blog: the Civiblog system”)

Setting up a blog in an existing community usually takes just a few minutes. You pick a user-name and password and with a few clicks the blog is up and running. Some communities charge, some don’t.

This method is best if you want to set up just a “view only” blog. It doesn’t cost much (at most a few euros a month) and is straightforward and quick and you benefit from the traffic the community generates or from it being already well-known.

But snags include often limited options for layout and sophisticated features, as well as community-run ads and the risk of the community closing.

Using blog tools

These are programmes that are installed on a server, using scripts to run the site automatically and a database to store posted material. Once installed, it operates through a standard online navigator. No special expertise, such as using HTML, is needed to set up and run a blog, but installing and configuring it is sometimes tricky (setting access criteria, creating a database and arranging FTP loading).

This solution is for people already familiar with blogs and has the advantage that it entirely belongs to you and you can therefore adapt, configure and alter it whenever you want. But it does requite some technical skill, is also more exposed (to spam comments) and you have to store the contents yourself.

How to choose a blog community?

It’s not always easy to move from one blog community to another, so it’s important to make a good choice in the first place.

Before choosing one, consider these points:

* Other blogs in a community

Some communities group Internet users according to interests or age. Have a look at several dozen other blogs in a community to see if it has a “typical” group.

* What the blog looks like

Though the choice is often small, communities (platforms) usually have a fair range of colours, fonts and home-page layouts to choose from. You can get a good idea of the possibilities there too by looking at some of the community’s sites at random. Many free-of-charge communities require all blogs to carry ads on all pages. Also check options for the blog’s address, which could be http://myblog.thecommunity.com, http://www.thecommunity.com/myblog or http://www.thecommunity.com/mynumber.

* Features on offer

Check these to see if you’ll be able to redesign the blog, bring in other contributors, post images or sound, post things by phone or restrict access (totally or partially) to registered users. Also find out if posted material can be easily forwarded to another community and if you can insert paid ads to make money.

* Hidden costs

Some communities are free but have to be paid for after a certain point, especially according to the amount of data stored and the bandwidth used. Check this beforehand.

* International platforms
o Blogger Free. Set up in 1999, bought by Google in 2003 and the biggest one of all, with eight million blogs. Easy to use but features rather limited.
o LiveJournal Free or paid (about $2 a month) One of the oldest platforms, with six million blogs, mostly young people.
o MSN Spaces Free. Microsoft platform, set up in late 2004. Lots of features, some beyond the blog (photo-sharing, Messenger link). Must be aged at least 13 to register a blog.

* French-language platforms

o 20six Free or paid (€3-7 a month) Lots of features, some quite sophisticated and including basic version.
o Over-Blog Free. Well-designed and easy to use.
o Skyblog Free (with ads). The biggest platform in France, very popular with young people, though features sometimes limited.
o TypePad Paid (€5-15 a month, according to number of features). Very professional with good range of features. A free version can be had through blog communities set up by third-parties, such as Noos or Neuf Telecom.
o ViaBloga Free for non-profit associations, or €5 a month. Original and dynamic, with some unusual features.

* Major blog tools
o DotClear
o MovableType
o Wordpress

Pointblog.com

pointblog.com aims to highlight the meaning and extent of this key modern Internet revolution. The site is for beginners, experienced users or just visitors and consists of a blog and several independent sections. It is run by the firm Pointblog SARL, co-founded and headed by Christophe Ginisty and Cyril Fiévet.

The language of blogging

Blog
Short for Weblog. A website that contains written material, links or photos being posted all the time, usually by one individual, on a personal basis.

(To) blog
Run a blog or post material on one.

Blogger
Person who runs a blog.

Blogosphere
All blogs, or the blogging community.

Blogroll
List of external links appearing on a blog, often links to other blogs and usually in a column on the homepage. Often amounts to a “sub-community” of bloggers who are friends.

Blogware
Software used to run a blog.

Comment spam
Like e-mail spam. Robot “spambots” flood a blog with advertising in the form of bogus comments. A serious problem that requires bloggers and blog platforms to have tools to exclude some users or ban some addresses in comments.

Content syndication
How a site’s author or administrator makes all or part of its content available for posting on another website.

Moblog
Contraction of “mobile blog.” A blog that can be updated remotely from anywhere, such as by phone or a digital assistant.

Permalink
Contraction of “permanent link.” Web address of each item posted on a blog. A handy way of permanently bookmarking a post, even after it has been archived by the blog it originated from.

Photoblog
A blog mostly containing photos, posted constantly and chronologically.

Podcasting
Contraction of “iPod” and “broadcasting.” Posting audio and video material on a blog and its RSS feed, for digital players.

Post
An item posted on a blog. Can be a message or news, or just a photo or a link. Usually a short item, including external links, that visitors can comment on.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
A way of handling the latest items posted on a website, especially suited for blogs because it alerts users whenever their favourite blogs are updated. It can also “syndicate” content by allowing other websites (simply and automatically) to reproduce all or part of a site’s content. Spreading fast, especially on media websites.

RSS aggregator
Software or online service allowing a blogger to read an RSS feed, especially the latest posts on his favourite blogs. Also called a reader, or feedreader.

RSS feed
The file containing a blog’s latest posts. It is read by an RSS aggregator/reader and shows at once when a blog has been updated.

Trackback
A way that websites can communicate automatically by alerting each other that an item posted on a blog refers to a previous item.

Web diary
A blog.

Wiki
From the Hawaiian word “wikiwiki” (quick). A website that can be easily and quickly updated by any visitor. The word has also come to mean the tools used to create a wiki (wiki engines). Blogs and wikis have some similarities but are quite different.

What’s a blog ?

A “BLOG (OR "WEBLOG") IS A PERSONAL WEBSITE:

containing mostly news (“posts”).
regularly updated.
in the form of a diary (most recent posts at the top of the page), with most of the posts also arranged in categories.
set up using a specially-designed interactive tool.
usually created and run by a single person, sometimes anonymously.

A BLOG’S POST:

are usually text (including external links), sometimes with pictures and, more and more often, sound and video.
can be commented on by visitors.
are archived on the blog and can been accessed there indefinitely.

SO A BLOG IS MUCH LIKE A "PERSONAL WEBPAGE, EXCEPT THAT IT:

is easier to set up and maintain and so much more active and more frequently updated.
encourages a more open and personal style and franker viewpoints.
greatly encourages discussion with visitors and other bloggers.
sets a standard worldwide format for blogs, involving similar methods (two or three-column layout, comments on posts and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed.

How to backup the template

How to backup the template
By Kang Rohman. Sunday, November 25, 2007

If you were interested to replace new template or want to redesign your template, It is best to backup your template before you changing any code. this step was as prevented to reduce the fatal risk if the mistake happening in redesign or changing your template. For you that did not yet know how to backup your template, please followed steps below :


1. Login to blogger with your ID


2. After entering the dasboard page , click Layout. Please saw the picture :






3. Then click edit HTML tab. Please saw the picture :






4. Click the Download full template link. Please saw the picture :






5. After you click Download full template link, then will emerge new window just to download. Click the Save button. Saw the picture :






6. You could choose this data would in kept where and with what file name what, Afterwards ended with click of the Save button. Please saw the picture :






7. Finish.




Now you had back up the template, if next time you needed him, you could use this came back. But must be known, backing up the template like steps above could not back up the data inside widget. How to back up the data widget? This would in discussed in next post.

How to Settings your blog?

How to Settings your blog?
By Kang Rohman. Monday, November 12, 2007

If your blog want caried by google, you must doing several settings. This is how to setting your blog:

1. Login to blogger.com with your ID.


2. If your blog more than 1, click at the blog title want to setting.


3. Click Setting and then click Basic. Several form that must in the contents to the menu basic:


* Title : Content with your blog title. Example : Blog Tutorial.


* Description : Content with your description blog. Example : All about blogging can find here.


* Add your blog to our listing : chose Yes, so that every time posting always entered the Blogger.com list.


* Show Quick Editing on your blog : Chose Yes.


* Show Email post link : It is best to chose Yes, but if you chose No also it's allright.


* Show compose Mode for all your blog : Chose Yes.


* Show transliteration button for your post : chose Yes if the you wanted to be button to change normally alphabet to hindi (India) alphabet, Chose No if being the reverse.


* Click Save Settings.


* Finish.


4. Click Publishing to arrange the publishing menu.


* Blog’Spot Address : Content with your blog address. Example : kolom-tutorial.


* Send Pings : Chose Yes.


* Click Save Settings.


* Finish.


5. Click Formatting to arrange the formatting menu.


* Show : Chose the number of post want you to display in your blog. Example : Show : 6 post, it's means your posting will display in your page Totally six posting. Chose Post (don't days) at pulldown menu


* Date header Format : Chose the style of date/month what you wanted, this date/month will display above your post.


* Archive Index Date Format : Chose the style for your archive


* Timestamp Format : Chose the style of the time, what you wanted.


* Time Zone : Chose the matching zone with your place. Example for WIB : [UTC+7.00] jakarta.


* Language : Chose language what you wanted.


* Convert line break : Chose Yes, but if you chose No it's allright.


* Show Link Field : Chose No, but if you chose Yes it's allright.


* Enable Float aligment : Chose Yes, but if you chose No it's allright.


* Click Save Settings.

* Finish.


6. Click Comment to arrange the Comment menu.


* Comments : Chose Show.


* Who Comment? Chose Anyone. It's means anyone can comment to your post.


* Comments Default for Post : Chose New post Have Comments


* Back links : Chose Show. It's means you will know if another people has linked to your post.


* Backlinks default for Posts : Chose New post have Backlinks.


* Show comments in a popup window? : Chose Yes. It's means when the people click Comment link your blog not lost.


* Show word verification for comments? : It's better to chose Yes


* Enable comment moderation? : Chose No, but if you wanted chose Yes it's allright.


* Show profile images on comments? : Chose Yes. It's means the photo of commentator of blogger member can display.


* Comment Notification Address : Content with your email address.


* Click SAVE SETTINGS.


* Finish.


7. Click ARCHIVING to arrange the archiving menu.


* Archive Frequency : Chose monthly.


* enable Post Pages? : Chose Yes.


* Click SAVE SETTINGS.


* Finish.


8. Click Site Feed.


* Publish Site Feed : Chose Yes.


* Descriptions : Chose Full


* Article Footer : If you have advertising code like Google Adsense, you can insert the code here.


* Click SAVE SETTINGS.


* Finish.




One work of being finished, was kept welcoming the other work.