If you attended Mike Seyfang's 'Introduction to Blogging' workshop at CISA's Connecting Up 2007 conference then this page is for you. It contains all the links and other geeky stuff you heard but didn't get time to write down:
LIST OF YOUR NEW BLOGS:
Creating your first [FREE] blog:
Microsoft live.spaces:
spaces.live.comis where you can create your own space [blog] for free. You will need to sign in using your Microsoft live id [same as an old passport or hotmail signin] which is also free. Once you have signed in using your live id you can maintain your blog, hotmail, live.com start page and many other goodies.
NonDefaults: comments, trackbacks, public, customise theme/layout
Wordpress.com:
wordpress.com is another place where you can create a free blog. You will need to register to create an account that you use to sign in to maintain your blog. Begin by clicking 'Start your WordPress Blog',
NonDefaults: customise theme, add akismet antispam plug in
SUBSCRIBE to the RSS feeds of fellow bloggers:
If you attended my workshop in Adelaide, this is how we are going to support each other by monitoring and contributing to conversations with each others blogs.
RSS FEEDS from the group workshop:
<<<Update this section with links to the RSS feeds of blogs created by the participants, add some other interesting ones>>
feed.communit.info [when http://feed.communit.info/ works]
etc..
Get an RSS reader (or aggregator):
live.com startpage: sign in using your liveid, go to www.live.com, add stuff -> advanced RSS feed [paste each link from the section above]
google reader: register for a free google account, get google reader, subscribe to each RSS feed from the section above
Offline RSS readers: If you get serious about reading a lot of RSS feeds, and you have your own computer, then there are applications for both MAC and PC you will want to check out: my favourites are NetNewsWire (Mac), FeedDemon (PC). Others include ... [FREE, PAID]
If you already have a blog and want to try some more advanced stuff:
feedburner - so you can get statistics on subscribers and blog use, easy podcasting with iTunes and lots of other RSS/XML geekery is done for you.
DNS name - if you dont already have a 'DNS name' (mine is mikeseyfang.com) then now would be a great time to get one. They are cheap and easy to setup (I pay $6USD per year with godaddy.com ). Once you have your own DNS name you can do three really cool things:
1. Point www.<yourdomain>.com to your blog
2. Redirect e/mail to your current ISP (people can then reach you via <name>@<yourdomain>.com
3. Set up a short name for your blog RSS feed (mine is feed.mikeseyfang.com)
make a short name for the feed from your blog so that you can promote it and recruit subscribers (print it out on business cards, include it in slide decks, carve it into furniture etc...)
Fang - Mike Seyfang