In the beginning...

Tuts4Blogs is a new blog which I have set up today to post all the tutorials I intend making. A big undertaking I know, but if you never try you never achive anything. :)

I'm dedicating this blog to Fr.Tim Finigan for giving me the idea in the first place! :)

You Tube Tutorial

Those who read blogs and want to comment, but are new to Blogger, soon find they have to 'sign up' to Google to obtain a Blogger ID before they can do so. This can be a bit of a challenge to some and so they tend to 'pass' on the opportunity to leave a comment, which is a pity, because it's very easy to get a Google account and a Blogger ID.

In an effort to help Father Tim Finigan (The Hermeneutic of Continuity) who put out a message for Help this week, I decided to create a tutorial for this very purpose. After spending a while yesterday morning taking screen shots of the webpages on http://www.blogger.com/ and then cropping them with the idea of loading them up to this new blog which I also created today, I came across a video which does the job much better than I could do it. So here it is for you to use at will...enjoy!
Sorry to say the video is not available any more so I have removed it.

Signing up to BLOGGER

The following tutorial is made up of screenshots of the relevant web pages at http://www.blogger.com/ The first of which is where you would normally 'log in' to start writing on your blog if you are already a Blogger. This is also the page you need to be at in order to follow this tutorial. As you will discover, each screenshot has its own set of prompts telling you what to do and why you have to do them. Just follow these prompts and all should go smoothly. A note of advice before you start, you will need a valid email address. If you don't have one, then you need to sign up for one first. You can sign up for a 'Google' email account HERE So let's assume you have an email address and you are just needing a Blogger ID in order to be able to make a comment or two on the blogs you read here on Blogger.Com.

OK...Let's Get Started!

This first screenshot (above) shows the start page at http://www.blogger.com/. If you haven't already opened this website in another window, right mouse click HERE and select 'Open in New Window' or 'Open in New Tab' - you will then have the web page open so you can switch between it and this tutorial thus getting nearer to having your own Blogger ID.
(NB: You can CLICK on any of the 'screenshot' images to see a larger image)



The next screenshot (above) shows the page which you MUST complete in order to sign up for a Google Account (this is a prerequisite). It's straight forward enough and is well documented so you should not have any problems. One thing to note, however, is that you are asked for a 'Display Name', this is the name which will be displayed when you 'post' a message to your own blog or comment on some other blog. When you are done with this page click on the arrow which says 'CONTINUE'



The next screenshot (above) shows the page you set up your blog name. This you have to do even if you don't want to use the blog. One advantage, however, of having your own blog is that even if you don't use it as such you can use it as a 'test area' to become more familiar with writing comments and trying out a few HTML commands. When you are happy with whatever name you have chosen for your blog and that you have checked to see that the name is available, click on the arrow marked 'CONTINUE'



The next screenshot (above) shows the page where you are asked to choose a template. This is not too important at this stage since you can change the template at anytime. If you can't decide which template to have just select the first in the list, 'Minima' by Douglas Bowman. When you have decided and selected a template, click on the arrow marked 'CONTINUE'



And that it! Hopefully you will see this page, which tells you your blog has been created. You are ready now to see what lies behind the blog. This part may not be anything like you imagine. I remember thinking it was a little scary, that here and now was an opportunity for others to read what I was about to write! But of course the chances are that at this early stage no one really knows, or even cares for that matter, that you have just signed up for a blog! OK...when you are ready, click on the arrow marked 'START BLOGGING'



The screenshots (above) briefly explain where you are in Blogger land, and how to get to the 'Dashboard' which is the 'Mission Control' of your blog. To move away from this page, CLICK on the word 'Dashboard' in the top right hand corner of the page.



Although this last screenshot is of my dashboard, yours will be similar. It will have the name you called your blog. The Dashboard is where you will be taken to each time you sign in to your blog in future. A note to remember: the more blogs you have the longer this page will become. I would advise at this stage for you to become more familiar with your Dashboard. If you get stuck check out the HELP feature, you will find quite a bit of useful information there.

Something to remember: The email address and the password you used to sign up at the beginning, will be the User Name and Password whenever you sign in to Blogger or make a comment on a blog.

And that's it! This is as far as this tutorial takes you.

Oops! One last thing to tell you. When you first signed up for a Google Account at the beginning, you will be sent an email from Google asking you to 'verify' your email address by clicking on a link they send you. This is so your account can be set up.

I hope you found this turorial helpful? If it worked and you managed to set yourself up with a blogger ID then leave me a message.

Happy Blogging :)