Chapter 3. All About Posting

IN THIS CHAPTER:

15 Creating a Post Using the Blogger Editor in Compose Mode

16 Creating a Post Using the Blogger Editor in Manual Mode

17 Using Keyboard Shortcuts in the Blogger Editor

18 Using the Recover Post Feature

19 Understanding the Blogger Publishing Process

20 Editing Existing Posts

21 Creating Expandable Blog Posts

The art of blogging requires you to actually write something, which you might or might not post to your blog. Because it's your blog, you might write something and decide not to post it, or you might write something, post it, and a few hours later decide that maybe it's best to remove the post. Or you might write and post something that people comment on, and yet you go back and edit it laterbecause the argument you made was unclear, or the facts changed, or you decide you want to add pictures or links to your post. All of these actions lead you to one place: the Blogger management interface for posts.

Because your blog is your blog, you can write on any topic you please and as often as you like. Or you can go days and days without blogging a word. You should feel no pressure regarding the volume and frequency of blog posts you produce unless you're attempting to make a living from blogging. In this case there are a few more books you should probably read a few more books regarding journalism, law, privacy, and so forth. Assuming that you're not going that route (at least not yet!), remember blogging should be an enjoyable experience, not something that fills you with a sense of dread. If you feel you have some sort of writer's block, write about it! Your faithful readers will likely jump in and offer advicesome good, some not so goodand before you know it you'll be back to your old self.

After you've decided on a writing topic, you might decide to write an essay or you might decide that a quick post with just a link and some general commentary would do the trick just as well. Regardless, always remember to make your arguments as clear as possible and offer evidence and citations where appropriate. Many blog posts are brief remarks along the lines of "Jane uncovered this really interesting bit of information about XYZ. Here's where you can go read more about it," with hyperlinks embedded where appropriate. Other blog posts are long remarks about topics of great interest to the reader, and even more blog posts are simply accounts of events in the blogger's life. Blogs that are entirely personal are likely to have a low but loyal readership, whereas a blog that utilizes a combination of topics and types of postsessays, personal accounts, quick hits, and so forthis more likely to attract a larger and more varied readership. Neither type of blog is necessarily better or worse than the other, and the Blogosphere is large enough for all types.

NOTE

All the topics in this chapter assume that you have registered your blog and can log in to the Blogger Dashboard and begin posting.