Product Description

If you want to give yourself a Web presence without spending a lot of time or money, a blog is your answer and this is your guide. Blogs (Web logs) are short, diary–like entries on a Web site that has a chronological, journal format. Fun or informative, but not formal, blogs are easy to set up, maintain, and update. You can share your personal, stream–of–consciousness musings or your expertise on any subject ranging from your family vacation to world peace. This guide helps beginners (even technophobes) get started fast, with the essential info on:

• The elements of blogs, such as entries, sidebars, categories, comments, and index pages
• The different types of hosting services, from free to fee and from “turn key” services that are easy–to–use to DIY programs 
• Details on two popular, free “social community” hosted Web services that are ideal for casual bloggers—MSN Spaces and Yahoo! 360
• The scoop on Blogger, a popular free hosted service that has some community tools like the social networks, but is basically blog–intensive
• DIY blogging, covering three of the most powerful and flexible blog programs—Movable Type, WordPress, and Radio Userland
• Hooking into RSS feeds to distribute your blog entries beyond your site
• Choosing a newsreader
• Ways to raise the visibility of your blog and make money from blogging

Complete with step–by–step instructions and lots of screen shots, this guide walks you through everything from setting up your blog and posting your first entry to adding photos, audio, and more. It includes the URLs of lots of sample sites to see to give you an idea of blog possibilities. In addition to the essential how–to, it fills you in on:

• The blogosphere, blog culture and etiquette, snarks, macrologues, and more
• Moblogs that let you post entries remotely using your portable computer, PDA, or cell phone
• Buying a domain through a registrar such as Network Solutions, Register.com, or Go Daddy
• MP3 blogs, vlogs (videoblogs), photoblogging, audioblogging, podcasting, and more

You know you have something to say, whether it’s heavy stuff or just your thought for the day. Make your opinions known. Get your photos shown. With Blogging For Dummies, you’ll soon be blogging with the best of ‘em.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303191 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
“…Blogging for Dummies gets the thumbs up…you should be able to find all the answers to those questions about blogs you’ve been afraid to ask…” (The Inquirer (Web), 21 February 2006)

From the Back Cover
Compare blog services, find out about feeds, and blog safely

So you′re really curious about this whole phenomenon called blogging? Wondering if you should jump on board? Here′s your ticket! Find out what makes a blog a blog, how to start one and choose a host, and how to keep your blog updated. Explore styles and content sources — you may even be able to make your blog make money!

Discover how to

• Compare options for hosting your blog
• Follow blogging etiquette
• Work with Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad
• Set up RSS feeds
• Explore sponsored blogs
• Check into podcasting, moblogging, and photoblogging

About the Author
Brad Hill has worked in the online field since 1992 and has written 20 books. As a best–selling author, columnist, and blogger, Brad reaches a global audience of consumers who rely on his writings to help determine their online service choices.
Brad′s books include a Publishers Weekly bestseller and a Book–of–the–Month catalog selection. Brad’s titles in the For Dummies series include Google For Dummies and Building Your Business with Google For Dummies. Brad is often consulted in the media’s coverage of the Internet. He appears frequently on television, radio, Webcasts, and has been quoted in Business Week, The New York Times, and innumerable other publications.
Brad is Associate Editor of Weblogs, Inc., the world′s largest blog network, where he helps to manage about 100 blogs written by nearly 200 bloggers. As a staff blogger at Weblogs, Inc., for two years, he posted well over 3,000 entries in blogs about digital music, Google, Yahoo!, search engine marketing, and others. As a hobby, Brad operates independent blogs about dogs www.fourfooted.com, classical music (www.undeadmusic.com), and his own bad self (www.bradhill.com). He and his wife maintain a photo blog about their adventures at home and on vacations, read mostly by friends and family.
Brad has not won the Nobel Prize, and the prospect seems doubtful. He remains cheerful.

Customer Reviews

Too Heavy On Humour - Too Light On Facts
Whilst I applaud the author of "Blogging For Dummies" for not attempting to teach his readers how to write well (I'm of the opinion that you either can or you can't (and if you try too hard it becomes contrived)), I do feel that he could have taken a more formal, academic approach to giving advice on the world of blogs in general.

Yes, I know that this is a "For Dummies" guide and it was hardly likely to be the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. On the other hand, blogging can be a daunting prospect for many people who are just starting out and I find Brad Hill's attitude to be a little flippant at times.

Of course, at least he had the decency to warn us. Within the first few pages, he tells us that we must have a tolerance for "quips and asides." Whilst this would be fine in small doses - once every few paragraphs perhaps - Hill has a bad habit of inserting a little "aside" at the end of almost every sentence. In fact, he does it so often that he sometimes has to clarify that he was actually joking and that you shouldn't try the last piece of advice that he mentioned. Overall, it makes for very tiresome reading. He ends up falling victim to his own advice: "know your audience - you don't want to be jovial about a serious news issue." What may work perfectly in a blog does not necessarily translate to the page. I feel that Hill's editor could have reigned him in a little in order to create a better balance between fun and education.

To be fair though, Hill does (eventually) get the information across. There are chapters on signing up for a blog, customising a blog, gaining readers (and keeping them), adding yourself to directories and even earning money from advertising. However, this information is available freely (and more concisely) from other sources and is also a little more up to date.

Of course, it's not Hill's fault that the book is now behind the times. But if you're looking for advice regarding today's blogging scene, you'd best stay away from "Blogging For Dummies" (at least until a revised (and preferably edited) version is released). The sites used for case studies have changed dramatically since 2004. MSN Spaces is now Windows Live Spaces, Blogspot has had a major overhaul and the rise of MySpace has re-invented blogging with the (admittedly very flawed) kudos system. Having said that, it's not exactly brain surgery to sign up to these sites so I'm sure you'll manage just fine without Hill's help.

Ultimately, this book comes across like one big advert for Hill's own blog (and there are plenty of screenshots within these pages just in case you forget his web address). It's very self-indulgent and smug at times which can irritate greatly. Yes, the information is there but you have to dig deep beneath a surface of jokes and sarcasm before you find it. Half the time I just went online and found the information I required elsewhere, the other half was spent double-checking that the book had not in fact been written by Chandler Bing from Friends.