Posting to Blogger: Instructions
See Also: Editing Posts Guide, Uploading Images Guide, Uploading Files Guide.
These documents on Blogger were written to provide Blogger help and assistance for various clients who wanted a very simple blog set up. However, most of what is contained here may be of use to anybody looking for help with Blogger. Feel free to make use of this for your own Blogger weblog!
When your blog was created on Blogger, I established a username and password for you with their service. I emailed this information to you at that time, and may or may not keep that information permanently on file. Please keep track of your username and password!
There are two ways to post to Blogger:
Posting to Blogger: Auto-publish
The first way is to use the auto-publish feature provided. I will enable this in Blogger at your request. This feature enables you to post text-only messages to blogger by mailing the message to blogger. The address you must use will be your username, followed by a point and a secret word which I establish for you and notify you of, at blogger.com. The address will look like this:
username.secret@blogger.com
When making a post in this manner, the subject line of the message will become the title of the post, and the message body will become the post content. Be aware that the entire content of your message will be posted, including any signature block or other extraneous content, so be certain to remove anything you do not wish posted.
Posting to Blogger: Blogger Interface
The Blogger interface provides a rich method to add more complex formatting and content (such as images) to your website. To begin, you must login to your account at Blogger using the username and password I've provided. Upon logging in, you will be presented with the screen that Blogger refers to as the dashboard.
There are two panels on this screen that directly effect your blogs. On the left, the main panel, containing the names of your blogs (you may have more than one within a single account), a green cross which links directly to the Blogger posting interface, and a blue gear image which gives access to your Blog Settings. In general, you should not need to enter your Blog settings. Contact me if you need Settings changed or assistance with changing your settings. In addition, this panel provides you with information concerning the last update to your blog (settings changes or new posts) and the number of posts in the blog.
The panel on the right, at the top, gives access to your Profile (to Edit or to View), and the ability to change your password or interface language. The profile is an extensive survey area where you can enter information about yourself if you choose. This information may be viewed by people visiting your blog, if you have the view profile section available on your blog.
If you click on the green cross, to create a new post, you will be taken to the Posting Interface. This screen gives you a number of options, as well. To start, we will discuss creating a new post. If you are familiar with HTML, the interface gives you the option to enter your posts directly in HTML. If not, there is a rich variety of options available in the post editor.
- Blogger: New Post Screen
- Settings
- Change Blog Settings Interface.
- Template
- View and Edit Blog Template (Requires extensive knowledge of XHTML)
- View Blog
- Shortcut to view your blog.
- Edit Posts
- Provides a list of past posts, sorted by date. [Link to Edit Posts Guide.]
- Moderate Comments
- If you have elected to moderate your comments, this tab will give you access to approve or reject comments on your blog.
- Status
- The publication status of your blog. Provides the option to publish or republish your blog with current changes.
- Title
- The title of this new blog post. Not required, but can be very helpful if you may be making further edits on the post, or wish to find it more easily in your archives.
- Edit HTML
- If you have HTML knowledge, you can switch to this view to enter your posts using HTML tags. Extensive knowledge of HTML is not required.
- Font Tools
- This set of buttons allows you to set the font you will type in or to change the font of a selected group of text. The tools are Font, Size, Bold, Italics, Text Color.
- Create Link
- This button allows you to create a link. To create a link, you should select a group of text which you would like to have appear as the link text, then click on the Link button. You will be prompted to provide the URL of the destination. This URL must be complete: e.g.,
http://www.domain.com/orhttp://domain.com/directory/file.html - Align Paragraph
- Click to set whether selected text will be left aligned, centered, right aligned, or fully justified.
- Define List
- Create a list item: numbered or bulleted.
- Create Quote
- Creates an indented blockquote.
- Check Spelling
- Check spelling of your post.
- Upload Image
- Add an image to your post. [Link: Image Upload Information]
- Upload File
- Upload a file to your post. [Link: File Upload Information]
- Remove Formatting
- Removes formatting applied to selected text.
- Preview Post
- Previews the general formatting of your post. Does not apply the style of your blog, only the formatting you have defined in the post interface.
- Post Creation Area
- You may write your Blog post here. It may be as simple or as complex as you wish.
- Post & Comment Options
- Post and Comment Options - Allows you to change whether comments will be permitted on your post or the posting date and time.
- Save as Draft
- Not ready to publish your post? Click here to save as a draft. You can access your post to finish or publish it from the Edit Posts tab.
- Publish Post
- Click here to publish your post. If you find you've made an error, you can return to Blogger and edit the post through the Edit Posts tab.
The image above is annotated to explain what various features in the window are and what they do. Place your mouse over a button or area to see an explanation of that feature.
Further information: Editing Posts Guide, Uploading Images Guide, Uploading Files Guide.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.
