Blogging Basics 101

How We Communicate: FAQs for Beginning Bloggers

I just returned from BlogHer 2008 in San Franciso. I appeared on a panel with four other women called FAQs for Beginning Bloggers. Our panel was flat-out amazing. We met fantastic bloggers and answered many beginner questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to answer everyone’s questions. I hope to talk to the BlogHer Three (Lisa, Jory, and Elisa) to discuss having this panel again next year and including a Birds of a Feather Room so we can continue our discussions.

Below you will find my notes from my portion of the panel. After each of the presenters (me, Michele Mitchell of Scribbit, Nelly Yusopova of Webgrrls International, and Shazia Mistry of Adventures in Motherhood) gave a short overview of some basic FAQs, we broke into smaller groups discuss platform-specific questions (i.e., TypePad, Blogger, and WordPress).

We have also compiled a Blogging Resources Document (pdf) for you to download.

In addition, you can find Nelly’s notes at WebGrrrls and Michele’s notes at Scribbit.

How do I find basic html resources to help me remember how to do things like strike-thrus etc.?

When I research information for Blogging Basics 101, I start with a Google search of key words. I also go to each of the three main platforms (Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress) and search their help files with those same key words. More often than not, I find what I’m looking for.

The following five sites are excellent resources for all bloggers to refresh your memory on how to do things like strike-throughs or add a button to your sidebar.

• Blogging Basics 101: This site starts from the beginning and walks you through everything from choosing your blog host and choosing a blog name to figuring out how to do a strike-through and customize your sidebars.
• Blogger Buster: Blogger users should have this one in their bookmarks. Everything you want to know and then some about how to manage and customize your Blogger blog.
• Edublogger: This site is specifically written for people who design, develop, and use educational blogs. However, the information spans niches and is valuable to all bloggers. The author uses many screen captures to make instructions especially easy to follow.
• BlogWell: This site offers everything from theory and design articles to HTML and CSS instruction for WordPress. It is targeted to small businesses and non-profits.
• Lorelle on WordPress: As the name suggests, this blog focuses on WordPress.org and WordPress.com blogs and how to take them to the next level. Lorelle provides tips, advice, and techniques for WordPress bloggers.

What are and how do I create permalinks?

A permalink is the link to an individual blog post. These are important because if you ever need to link to an exact blog entry (e.g., for a carnival or an archived post), you use the permalink as your link. It's poor blog etiquette not to use the permalink.

If you don't use the permalink, you'll just be linking to your main blog page. The problem with that is that, as you post new blog entries, the newest entry appears at the top of your main blog page and the other entries are pushed down on the page. The entry your readers are looking for may be down at the bottom of the page or already in the archives; your reader has no idea where to find the entry! If they click over to your site expecting to see a post specific to a carnival and they see a different post, they may not take the time to find the "real" post they're looking for.

You can find the permalink link under any blog entry. However, not all blog hosts/designs handle permalinks the same way.

• Typepad: There's a link that actually says Permalink under the entry.
• Blogger: The link varies. It's usually the time stamp of the post or the title.
• WordPress: Has a link at the bottom of the post named Permalink and/or the title of the post.

What kind of basic sections should I have in my blog?

I take this to mean What should I place in my sidebar? Your sidebar is your list of things you want to keep handy for your readers and for yourself. Your sidebar is offering your readers something in addition to the day’s post. However, too many links in the sidebar can clutter your design and overwhelm your audience. Keep things clean and orderly.

• Recent Posts/Most popular posts/Archives: You don’t need all three. Just choose one of these.
• Categories or Search: I find that search works well for my blogs, because I have a long list of categories. The search takes up less space and is an easy-to-install widget from Widgetbox.
• About Me/E-mail/Contact information: This is your opportunity to explain your blog. E-mail or other contact information should be readily available so your readers (or PR and marketing people) can contact you.
• RSS subscription button: Blogging Basics 101 has an entire section on RSS and installation and you can review Nelly’s notes at WebGrrrls as well.
• Blogroll (if you choose to do one)

Hosted vs. Non-Hosted?

Hosted: A blog that resides on the host’s server (e.g., Blogger or TypePad or WordPress.com).

Non-hosted: A blog that resides on the user’s (yours) server. You pay a third-party to host your blog (e.g., Moveable Type or WordPress.org).

Hosted Pros: Easy to get started because you don’t have to worry about server issues.

Hosted Cons:

• Blogger blogs can appear to be less professional
• Platform limitations (e.g., archiving can be less than user-friendly; TypePad can have issues with comment spam and trackback spam; difficult SEO)
• Less control over HTML and CSS
• WordPress.com does not allow advertising.

Non-Hosted Pros:

• Control over permalinks (articles aren’t randomly named) which can help with SEO
• Control over how archives are managed
• Control over CSS/HTML

Non-Hosted Cons:

• WordPress.org only supports one blog per installation; however, Moveable Type supports multiple blogs per installation.
• Moveable Type isn’t as malleable as WordPress.org.

How do I make a custom header?

• Using GIMP (free to download) to make custom blog banner (via Simply A Musing Blog)
• How to use PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements to design a custom blog header (via DesignMom) 

To those of you who joined us, thank you! It was a pleasure meeting you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions. For those of you who were unable to attend our panel or BlogHer ’08, please follow the links to our Blogging Resources Document and panel notes. I’d love to hear from you if you have questions!

I am cross-posting this at Don't Try This at Home and BlogHer.com.

How can I encourage more people to subscribe to my blog?

Today's post is brought to you by the ever-popular and knowledgeable Jordan from Momma Blogga. She has graciously agreed to guest post for me all week while I bask in the glory that is a family reunion. Welcome Jordan (as you always do) and leave her many comments so she's come back!

Blog subscribers are one metric that bloggers often use to promote their blog, encourage advertisers and mark their progress.

Probably the most important thing you can do to encourage your readers to subscribe is to write good content.  (That's always the first tip in blogging!)  After that, though, you have to let your readers know what to do—encourage them to subscribe and make it easy on them.

One important way to do this is to add a standard RSS button to your blog.  People familiar with blogging will recognize the universal RSS symbol.

Also important with that button is to include text with it to explain it to people not as familiar with the RSS icon.  A good idea is to use a phrase like "Get updates to a feed reader" (or email) to help people who aren't familiar with the terminology of the blogosphere.  You should make this text, like the button it will accompany, a link to your feed.

Offering e-mail subscriptions opens up your blog to more subscribers than just people who use feed readers.  Once again, changing the default text in the widget to read something like "Get updates from this blog in e-mail" can help more people understand the function of this feature.

If you have a good number of subscribers (at least a few dozen, though professional blogs might want to wait until they reach at least 100) already and you're using FeedBurner or FeedBlitz, adding a feed count chicklet can encourage more people to subscribe.  This is called "social proof"—it sends the message that "all these people have found this information valuable, so you might, too."

Finally, if you're able to edit your blog template (as in Blogger, for example), you can add a line of text that will show up at the bottom of all your posts.  This has been called the "magic sentence," and usually takes the form of "If you enjoyed this post, you can get updates from this blog" or "subscribe to this blog."  This sentence should include a link to your RSS and/or e-mail feed.

I see lots of blogs that show the number of subscribers they have. How can I do this?

Today's post is brought to you by the ever-popular and knowledgeable Jordan from Momma Blogga. She has graciously agreed to guest post for me all week while I bask in the glory that is a family reunion. Welcome Jordan (as you always do) and leave her many comments so she's come back!

The easiest way to find out how many subscribers you have and is to use a service like FeedBurner.  FeedBurner provides some nice bells and whistles for blogs' RSS feed syndication, including subscriber numbers.  You can show off your subscriber numbers with FeedBurner-made chicklets, which you can customize to match the colors of your blog.

To create your custom chicklet, log in to FeedBurner and go to Publicize>FeedCount.  Here you choose your options:

• Animated/static: the animated option tends to draw people's eyes more, but only if it's visible when the graphic loads.  (If your readers will have to page down to see it, they'll miss the animation).
• Color scheme: here you can set the colors of the text and the background of the chicklet to match the colors of your blog.  You can use the rainbow chip or pull the color numbers directly from your blog's CSS and enter them in the boxes to the right of the rainbow chip.

Click Activate.  The page will change, showing your chicklet and the HTML code you'll need to insert the chicklet in your blog.  FeedBurner also has options to click through to TypePad or Blogger blogs to directly add your widget.  In WordPress.com, you'll have to go to Design > Widgets.  Add a new Text widget.  Click Edit by the new Text widget and paste the HTML code for your chicklet into the widget.

If you use FeedBlitz for e-mail subscriptions, FeedBlitz also provides an e-mail subscriber count chicklet.  Again, FeedBlitz provides TypePad and Blogger widgets, but you'll have to get the HTML code and paste it as above for WordPress.com blogs.

How can my readers get e-mail updates from my blog?

Today's post is brought to you by the ever-popular and knowledgeable Jordan from Momma Blogga. She has graciously agreed to guest post for me all week while I bask in the glory that is a family reunion. Welcome Jordan (as you always do) and leave her many comments so she's come back!

E-mail subscriptions are a good option to offer your loyal readers.  Many readers haven't yet begun using a feed reader, but still want to receive updates from your blog at their convenience.  Or maybe you prefer to get updates from your favorite blogs via e-mail, but they don't offer that option.

There are lots of good RSS-to-email services to provide your readers (or you) the latest posts on your blog.  Two good services are FeedBurner and FeedBlitz.  Each service has its own advantages, of course.

FeedBurner

If you're already signed up with FeedBurner for your blog's RSS, you can easily add e-mail subscription options.  Go to Publicize>Email Subscriptions.  From here, you can choose which service to use, since FeedBurner offers all three of the services listed above.  FeedBurner's own e-mail subscriptions offer a number of customizable options, including a (set) subject line, an image header, and some control over fonts and colors to help to make your e-mails look more like your blog.

FeedBurner also provides you with HTML code to create a form or a link to put on your blog to promote your email subscription.

FeedBlitz

FeedBlitz is especially good if you're looking for a service to offer e-mail updates from your favorite blogs that don't offer e-mail subscriptions.  Just go to Feedblitz's homepage and enter the blog's address in the box at the bottom of the page.

Like FeedBurner does for RSS, FeedBlitz provides a "chicklet" to display the number of e-mail subscribers you have.  FeedBlitz also helps you create widgets (if you're on TypePad or Blogger) to promote your e-mail updates.

While FeedBlitz is free, the free option will include ads placed by FeedBlitz in your e-mails.  However, you can also place your own ads through private advertisers or services like Google AdSense to make money for yourself (I believe this service is a premium service, however, meaning that it does require you to pay a fee to FeedBlitz).

FeedBlitz fully integrates with FeedBurner to show your total stats numbers whether you use it as a stand alone service or through FeedBurner.

A third service, Send Me RSS, can e-mail you updates from your favorite blogs with the forms on their homepage like FeedBlitz does.

How can I find out how many RSS and e-mail subscribers I have?

Today's post is brought to you by the ever-popular and knowledgeable Jordan from Momma Blogga. She has graciously agreed to guest post for me all week while I bask in the glory that is a family reunion. Welcome Jordan (as you always do) and leave her many comments so she's come back!

The easiest way to find out how many RSS and e-mail subscribers you have is to use a service like FeedBurner.  FeedBurner integrates fully with Blogger, TypePad and WordPress.org (self-hosted WordPress, not to be confused with WordPress.com).  WordPress.com users can also use FeedBurner, though it may not "catch" all of your subscribers.

To integrate with FeedBurner, first you ahve to set up your feed with FeedBurner.  It's pretty easy to do and quite self-explanatory, but if you'd like step-by-step instructions, see the MamaBlogga post 5 Steps to Getting Started with FeedBurner.

Once you've set up your feed with FeedBurner, you'll need to make some changes on your blog to indicate that your subscribers shouldn't use your default feed (which still exists on your blog and is the source for your FeedBurner feed).

Integrating your FeedBurner feed to your Blogger blog

After Google's recent acquisition of FeedBurner, Blogger has more fully integrated with FeedBurner.

Go to Settings>Site Feed.  In the Post Feed Redirect URL box, type the address of your newly burned FeedBurner feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/WhateverYouNamedIt).  Save your settings.

Integrating your FeedBurner feed to your self-hosted WordPress blog

Use FeedBurner's own FeedSmith FeedBurner Replacement Plugin, which directs your subscribers to your FeedBurner Feed automatically (again, youíll have to enter your FeedBurner address).  Once your plugin is installed and activated, you enter the address under the Options>FeedBurner FeedSmith tab.

Integrating your FeedBurner feed to your WordPress.com blog

You can still use FeedBurner (which is owned by Google), but there's a chance that people will subscribe to your blog using your "regular" WordPress feed instead of your FeedBurner feed.

Integrating your FeedBurner feed to your TypePad blog

Go to Configure>Feeds.  Find the FeedBurner section and click on the button to connect your feed with your FeedBurner feed.  You'll have to enter your FeedBurner login information, then youíll be given the options to choose which of your FeedBurner feeds you want to associate with your blog.  Save the changes (twice).

FeedBurner numbers are only updated once a day, so you won't begin to see accurate numbers right away, but soon you'll be able to track how many subscribers you have. 

Fluctuations from day to day are normal, so don't worry or think that individual posts are necessarily turning off your readers.  As with all stats on your blog, feed subscribers aren't the be-all and end-all of your blog, but it's nice to have some idea where you stand.

When I click on an RSS feed button I'm sent to a page with a bunch of code on it. What's going on?

These days when you click on a feed button, you are usually linked to a page that asks which feedreader you use and adding that feed is a relatively easy process. Sometimes, though, when you click on a feed button you do get sent to a page with a bunch of code on it. This is frustrating and confusing, right?

What you need to do when this happens is

1. Copy the URL of the page with all that code.
2. Go to your feedreader (I use Bloglines, lots of people like to use Google Reader).
3. Paste the URL (from step 1) into the appropriate box in your feedreader.
4. Click the Subscribe button.

Here are examples of where you may need to paste the URL in Bloglines and in Google Reader. Other feedreaders will be similar.

May 1st is RSS Awareness Day

No matter who you are, if you blog and you want to be read consistently, you need to provide an RSS feed for your readers to subscribe to. Blogging Basics 101 has several articles that explain RSS and aggregators (or feed readers). This site even have an article explaining exactly how to add the orange RSS button to your blog.

Daily Blog Tips is encouraging everyone to ensure they have their RSS feeds working and displayed prominently on their site. On May 1st DBT is asking everyone to discuss the importance of RSS feeds. This Daily Blog Tips article, May 1st RSS Awareness Day: Get Involved, explains exactly what they're trying to do and how you can help. There are prizes involved, people!

(This article is cross-posted at Don't Try This at Home.)

How can I add the orange RSS button to my blog so people can subscribe to my feed?

This button has become the standard for finding and subscribing to a site's RSS feed. When a reader is interested in subscribing to your feed, he/she is probably looking for that button. You need to have that button! (I'm sure you can feel the urgency, right? RIGHT?!?) Never fear, I'm going to walk you through getting that button and linking it to your feed.

Before We Begin

You need to have the graphic you want to put on your sidebar. In this case it's the orange RSS feed button. Follow these instructions to download the button and save it on your computer (this way you don't pull from someone's bandwidth and everyone's happy).

1. Right click the image below.



2. Choose Save As from the menu.
3. Choose where you would like to save the image on your computer and click Save.
4. For Typepad and WordPress you can use the image straight from your computer; Blogger users will need to upload the graphic to a secondary host (e.g., Flickr, Photobucket, etc.). Blogger users, determine your image's URL and copy it to the clipboard.

Finding Your Feed URL
Now we need to figure out your feed URL.

Blogger:

Generally speaking, the Feed URL for your site is

YOUR BLOG NAME.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=atom

Or

YOUR BLOG NAME.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

You can read an excellent tutorial on this at The Real Blogger Status.

TypePad users can read about your Feed URL in this tutorial from TypePad.

Putting It All Together

Blogger:

Blogger blogs have a footer that says, "Subscribe to: Posts". This is a link for readers to subscribe to your blog with their feed reader. However, I think you'll agree that having the subscription at the bottom of the page is not optimal. We want it to be easy and obvious for your readers to find your RSS feed and subscribe. It should be placed at the top of a column for easiest access.

1. Log in to Blogger and click Layout.
2. Click Add Page Element.
3. Under HTML/Java Script, click Add to Blog.
4. In the pop-up window, you can leave the Title field blank or type a title (e.g., Subscribe to My Blog's Feed). In the Content field you will need to type in the following code:

   <a href="YOUR FEED URL"><img src="IMG URL" alt="subscribe via rss" /></a>

   Make sure you change "YOUR FEED URL" to your actual feed URL. Also change "IMG URL" to the URL you copied to your clipboard earlier (see #4 under Before We Begin).

5. Click Save Changes.
6. Click Save.

TypePad:

In addition to the instructions below, TypePad offers several widgets to help with RSS Subscription.

1. Go to TypeLists and make a new Link typelist.
2. In the NOTES field type in the following code:

   <a href="YOUR FEED URL"><img src="IMG URL" alt="subscribe via rss" /></a>

   Make sure you change "YOUR FEED URL" to your actual feed URL. Also change "IMG URL" to the URL you copied to your clipboard earlier (see #4 under Before We Begin).

3. Click Save.
4. Click the Configure tab.
5. Under Display, click Show Notes as Text.
6. Save Changes.
7. Publish to the appropriate blog.
8. Order Content as necessary.
9. Republish blog for changes to take effect.

WordPress (from Jordan McCollum at Momma Blogga):

1. Find an orange RSS button and save it to your computer. (Here's a really big one, which you'll probably want to make smaller before uploading it: http://www.road2graduation.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/rss-big-small.jpg ).
2. Upload it to your blog or a photo website like Flickr or Photobucket.   
3. Once you've uploaded the button, get the URL for the image. If you uploaded it to your blog, it will be under Manage > Uploads. Click on the picture of the button and the URL is displayed in the first box. Copy the URL of the image to your clipboard.
4. Go to Presentation > Widgets.
5. Drag and drop a new Text widget into your sidebar. If you don't have a Text widget available, scroll down to Text Widgets, choose a higher number from the pull-down menu and click Save. Then drag the new Text widget into your sidebar.
6. Click on the Configure box on the same line as the Text widget you just added.  This should open a popup window with two boxes.
7. The first box is for the title of the Text widget.  You can make this "Subscribe via RSS" or "Read this blog in a feed reader" or anything else you want, or you can leave it blank.
8. The second box is for text.  You can enter HTML here.  To get the image of the RSS button, enter
   
   <a href="http://YOURBLOGNAME.wordpress.com/feed/"><img src="INSERT URL HERE" alt="subscribe via rss" /></a>
   
   This will display the image and make it a link to your blog's feed.  If you would like to add some accompanying text, you can insert it before the "</a>."
9. Close the configure window (with the X in the corner of the popup)
10. Click Save Changes.

My real name is showing up on Bloglines from my TypePad account. Any idea where I change that?

Many bloggers like to maintain their anonymity. Part of this is not inadvertently telling people your real name because you didn't know what options you have in your Author Profile.

TypePad

1. Go to Control Panel > Profile > Author Profile.
2. Type in the appropriate name in the Nickname field. If you leave the Nickname field blank, your real name will show up on feeds and such.
3. Click Save Changes.

Blogger

1. On your Blogger Dashboard, choose Edit Profile.
2. Uncheck the box next to Show my real name if you'd like to keep that secret; check the box if you want your real name to be shown.

You have links to kirtsy, Digg, Del.icio.us, etc. at the bottom of every post. How can I get that on my blog? *UPDATED*

The footer I have at the bottom of the posts here at Blogging Basics 101 is from Feedburner.com. Feedburner is the service I use to distribute my RSS Feeds. It has an option called FeedFlare that allows a blog owner to easily provide links to popular social media outlets (e.g., kirtsy, Digg, del.icio.us, Technorati, etc.) so readers can save, promote, or share any article they're interested in.

To set up a FeedFlare, you'll need to first set up your RSS feed through Feedburner.com. They have a Quick Start Guide for all the major blog platforms (Blogger, Typepad, WordPress, MySpace, etc.). Just go to the Guide and click on the link for the platform you use. They also have a Feedburner Help Center to answer any other questions you may have.

Once you've set up your feed via Feedburner, click on the Optimize tab for your blog's feed. On the left sidebar, scroll down until you see FeedFlare. Click it. Then you'll be directed to a page that shows you all the options you have for your FeedFlare footer. Pick and choose what works for you and your readers, then follow their instructions for installing it on your blog.

UPDATE: To add the kirtsy link to your feedflare, please follow the simple directions at kirtsy. Just scroll down to where it says kirtsy FeedFlare.