EDIT202 – Web 2.0 Lab Assignment Guidelines – Creating a Blog

1. Before you can start creating your blog you will need to create a new Google account which you will be used to register for the resources used in this lab. This is being done to address the issues of privacy, security and convenience as it relates to your University of Alberta account.

To create a Google account open a web browser and type in the following web address:

http://www.gmail.com

Please note that if you already have a Gmail account you will not have to complete the upcoming steps and proceed straight to the blog creation steps.

• After you have typed in the above web address you will see the

following page.

• To begin creating your Gmail account click on the Create an account>> button located in the bottom right hand corner.

• The following registration window will now appear:

• You will need to type in all necessary information, this includes security question, answer and recovery email (it is recommended that you use your U of A email for the recovery email.

It is highly recommended that you take steps to remember your ID and password as you will need them for this and future assignments.

• Please note you will have to type in the proper Word Verification,

Read the Terms of Service, and then click on the, “I accept. Create my account” button.

• You should now receive verification that your account has been created.

Please note that you may be requested to sent a verification code to your mobile phone to confirm your account. If you have any questions about this please ask Felix.

• With your account created you immediately proceed to the next step.

Feel free to leave your browser window open and type in the next address to Blogger.com.

2. To create the webblog (blog) you will be using for this assignment first launch a web browser and go to the following website for Blogger.com:

http://www.blogger.com

• Once you have typed in the above address you should see a screen

similar to the one shown below. If you proceeded straight to Blogger from the account creation step you will not have to type in your ID just your password.

• After you have typed in your log in information single click on the

Sign In button and proceed to the next step.

3. In order to create your blog on blogger.com first you will have to create a new empty blog.

• To create a new blog on Blogger you will need to proceed through the

following steps:

o For the “Sign up for Blogger” step make sure you have the correct email address and name. Then type in a new display name, read the Terms of Service and click on the Continue button.

o For the “Name you Blog” step type in the Title for your new

blog along with the web address which will be used to access your blog and click on the Continue button

Note: This blog title should reflect the nature of the topic you will be using for the duration of this assignment e.g. “Felix’s Science Blog”. In order to make the finding of resources easier it is recommended that you pick a general subject such as science, social studies or math as your given topic. If you would like to find resources for elementary and would like to complete a blog for the elementary grade level then you can type in for example “Felix’s Primary Blog” or “Felix’s Elementary Blog”. Please use your own name and not Felix’s for your official blog title.

Hint: It may take you several tries to get a working blog address you can help the process by clicking on the Check Availability link shown above.

o For the” Choose a template” step feel free to browse through the available templates.

o To preview a template click on the available preview template

links.

o To select a template click on the radio button for your chosen template and click on the continue arrow. Please note that if you do wish to change your template at a later time you will be able to do so.

• After you click on the continue arrow you should see the following confirmation screen.

• This means your new blog has been created and that you are now ready to either post messages, create your personal profile, or further customize your blog.

• To post your first message click on the Start Blogging arrow and

proceed to the next step.

4. Post your first message on your newly created blog. • After you finish creating your account and selecting a template for

your blog you will be able to add your first blog posting. • Type in the following text but feel free to add in some of your own

text content to spice it up. Also you can format your text by clicking and dragging to select the text and using the available formatting options as highlighted below.

• Once you have finished typing your text and adding any desired formatting options you can either preview your posting to see how it would look it your blog or just post without previewing. It is recommended that you preview all your posting by clicking on the Preview link as highlight above.

• Once the post has been previewed to post the message to your blog click on the Publish Post button.

Hint: If you want click on the available Post Options link as shown above you can choose whether or not to allow user reading your blog to post comments. Comments will usually be post below the original posting. • Once you click on the Publish Post button you should see the

following message:

• To view your posting click on the View Blog link to edit your posting click on the Edit Post link.

5. Type in a blog description to inform the readers of your blog what your blog is about.

• To begin to type in a blog description single click on the Settings tab

located in the upper portion of your blog window.

• Your screen should now appear similar to the image shown below.

• Notice here that we are viewing the basic settings page, however there are numerous other settings you can apply to your blog and you are greatly encouraged to click on these links, i.e. Publishing, Formatting, Comments, etc. and test them out to see what you can do with your blog.

• To type in a description single click anywhere inside the Description

dialogue box and type in a one or two sentence description of your blog. You can include in your description that your blog is being created for the EDIT 202 course and what topic you have chosen.

OPTIONAL STEP

6. Customize your blog using the options available under the Layout tab. Please note that there are no specific features or settings that need to be applied you have free reign here to apply whatever settings to your blog that you think enhances it appearance or performance.

• You can begin to further customize the appearance of your blog by clicking on the Layout tab.

• Your screen should now appear similar to the image shown below:

• To adjust the settings for any of the available sections in your blog you can click on the available links as shown above.

• By clicking on these links they will open another window where

you can adjust the settings for that particular section. • For example, shown below are the settings for the About Me

section.

• To adjust the fonts and/or color settings for your blog click on the Fonts and Colors link.

• Your screen should now appear similar to image shown below.

• To adjust the color for any one of the screen elements on your blog

select the element from the available list of elements on the left hand side and click to select a color. Or to pick random colors for your blog click on the Shuffle blog colors link

• It is important to note here that none of these changes will take effect unless you click on the Save Changes link.

©Steven Scott & EDIT 202 Development Team University of Alberta