How To Create A Blog On Blogware

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2 Blogware QuickStart Guide Table of contents Blogware QuickStart Guide...1 Table of contents...1 Introduction...2 Adding a blog to your Fasthosts account...2 Posting to your blog...5 Logging into your blog for the first time...5 Making your first blog post...5 Sharing your blog with other people...7 subscription...7 RSS syndication...7 Dealing with comments...8 Further reading...8 Page 1 of 9

3 Introduction This guide will show you how to: Add a blog to your Fasthosts account Make your first blog post Share your blog with other people Control comments made on your blog. You ll also find links to further information that will help you make the most of your blog. Adding a blog to your Fasthosts account You can create a new blog directly from your Fasthosts control panel. First, you need to decide what your blog s web address will be: your main domain name e.g. a sub-domain of your main domain name e.g. blog.yourdomain.co.uk a new sub-domain of blogware.com - e.g. myblog.blogware.com. Fasthosts web hosting packages all include a Starter blog. To start using it, you need to set it up in your Fasthosts control panel. Step 1 Log in to your Fasthosts control panel and click & Web Hosting. Step 2 Click on the domain on which you would like to add your blog. Page 2 of 9

4 Step 3 Click on the Blogs icon. Step 4 Click Add New Blog. Step 5 Choose the blogging package you would like to add. Each plan provides different bandwidth and web space limits. Step 6 Choose a name for the blog. Step 7 Choose a web address for your blog. You can use either: a sub-domain of the domain name (for example blog.yourdomain.com) a sub-domain of blogware.com. (for example ralphsblog@blogware.com) or the domain name itself. Important: If you choose to add the blog to your domain name, your current website will stop working and the blog will display instead. Page 3 of 9

5 Step 8 Enter a Display name and address for the blog administrator. The address will not be displayed on the blog site. Choose a Username and password to use as the administrator account login details and click Finish. Important: This should not be the blogger's main address as it will be available to anyone that visits the blog. Additionally, spammers use software to scan websites for addresses. We recommend you create a new mailbox specifically to handle blog . Your blog will be added and you will receive an on screen message to confirm this. If you Page 4 of 9

6 chose to install the blog to your domain name or a subdomain it may take up to 72 hours before your blog is fully active. Posting to your blog Logging into your blog for the first time Your blog has its own control panel. This lets you make new blog posts and manage almost everything else to do with your blog. Sometimes you may also need to use your Fasthosts control panel. It s easy to work out which one to use: Blog control panel: use this for anything that you can see on your blog. Fasthosts control panel: use this for anything that doesn t appear on your blog, such as choosing your blog package. You can log into your blog control panel at using the blog username and password you chose earlier. Making your first blog post Step 1 Log into your Blogware control panel. Step 2 On the Blogware control panel front page, click Post An Article. Step 3 Type the title of your blog post in the Article Title text-box. This title will be at the top of your post's page and seen by anyone who subscribes to your blog. Page 5 of 9

7 Step 4 Type your blog entry into the Article Body editor, which works like a simple word processor. You can set the colour, size and font of your text, and add pictures. To find out what the different buttons do, hover your mouse over each one in turn. Step 5 In the right-hand column, under Article Options, select the category you want your post to be in. To add the post to a new category, type its name in the Create new category textbox. Quick tip: When you add a post to a sub-category, you can automatically make it appear in that sub-category's parent categories by selecting Bubble up to higher categories. Step 6 Once you're ready to publish your post, click the Preview button at the bottom of the page. If you're not yet ready to publish and want to save a draft, click Save. Step 7 On the preview page, click the Publish button to publish your blog post. To return to the post edit page, click Edit. Your blog will now be updated with your new entry. Page 6 of 9

8 Sharing your blog with other people Your readers can subscribe to your blog just like signing up for a newsletter. Every time you make a new blog post, your subscribers will receive a notification. There are two different ways for your readers to subscribe: subscription RSS feed syndication. subscription subscription is included with all blog plans. When you make a post, your blog s your subscribers with a link to it. Subscribers can also choose to be notified when someone makes a comment on your blog. You don t need to do anything to let people subscribe to your blog. However, subscribers do need a Blogware account. If they don t have their own Blogware blog, they can sign up for a free Blogware Reader Account. RSS syndication Many blogs have something called an RSS feed. This includes the blog s contents but in a strict format that makes it easy for computers to use. Software and websites, called RSS aggregators, regularly check RSS feeds to see if the blog has been updated. When they spot a new post, they automatically display it to the reader. Depending on the blog plan you ve chosen, your blog can create an RSS feed. Step 1 Log into your blog s control panel from your Fasthosts control panel. Step 2 Click the Settings & Security tab in the top menu. Page 7 of 9

9 Step 3 Click Advanced. Step 4 Scroll down the page to the Syndication section. Click the Generate syndication feed check-box. Unless you are an advanced user, you should leave the syndication format as it is. Step 5 Click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page. Dealing with comments Most bloggers encourage their readers to post comments on their blog posts. Comments are one of the reasons that blogs have become so popular, as they allow readers to give their reaction straight away but also to discuss your blog post with other readers. You can also track what other bloggers are saying about your blog, using trackbacks. When someone posts a link to one of your blog entries, their blog software will usually attempt to notify Blogware. A successful trackback leaves a link to and quote from the other blog in your post's comments. Further reading Once you ve got your blog up and running, you can do almost anything with it. Film reviews, photo albums and even your own podcast are made easy. Our support site contains a comprehensive knowledge base containing may articles to help you get the most out of your new blog. Just visit and follow the links to the support website. Page 8 of 9

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