Google Power Tools Bible

Reading the blogs that people write is easy and entertaining. Visit the Blogger main page, and you see several ways to find blogs that you may like to read in the section of the page labeled Explore blogs. Notice the rapidly scrolling list of updated blogs. This information on blogs that have been recently updated comes from a special service called Weblogs.com. Each blog, as it scrolls by, appears as a link. Clicking the name of the blog takes you directly to the blog, opening the page in a new window.

To the right of the scrolling, updated, blog list, you see BLOGS OF NOTE. You can click the blog link listed there or use the left and right arrows to the left to advance to the next or previous “blog of note.” When you find a blog that interests you, click the title and the blog opens in a new window.

RANDOM BLOGS presents you with a NEXT BLOG button. Clicking this button takes you to a completely random blog. This blog does not open in a new window, but replaces the Blogger main page. You can use your browser’s Back button to return to the main page.

Each of the features in the Explore blogs section takes you to blogs within the Blogger site. When you want to find blogs that appear anywhere on the Internet, you can use the Google Blog Search box. See Chapter 24 for detailed information on using Google Blog Search. Type a search term, and click SEARCH BLOGS. You can review the search results and find blogs that may or may not appear on the Blogger site.

Perusing the blog page

Blogs are hosted on the Blog*Spot Web site. This can be a little confusing. You may create your blog on the Blogger.com site, but the blog address actually reads yourblogname.blogspot.com. Blogger blogs have a blogspot.com address.

Each blog page is designed by the author of the blog. There are, however, a few things common to all the pages. These all appear in the dark blue bar across the top of the blog page.

To search through the blog you are reading, type keywords or phrases in the search box located on the left side of the top bar. Click Search this blog to start your search. You also can search through all the blogs hosted on the Blogger site by clicking SEARCH ALL BLOGS. Either of these launches a search results page that lists each location within the blog that contains your search term. Read the snippet containing the search term, and then click either the posting title to go directly to the post, or click the blog URL listed below each result snippet to go to the blog home page.

Clicking GET YOUR OWN BLOG takes you to the main Blogger page where you can start creating your own blog. You can read more about this later in the chapter.

The FLAG? button is for alerting Google to possible objectionable content. Remember that Google’s SafeSearch can be used to search through blogs, and Google doesn’t make it a point to censor blogs. If the blog is seriously objectionable, it may be delisted and made available only over the Web, but not removed. Only illegal and spam blogs may be reviewed for removal based on Blogger’s Use Policies.

Posts

Each post on a Blogger page includes the following information:

• Post title

• Date and time of posting

• Post content (text and graphics)

• Author of the post

The content of the post is completely up to the author. Some posts are reviewed (moderated) before they appear in the blog. This is covered in more detail in the section “Managing your blog.”

When you read blog postings, you can comment on them. Below each posting is a POST A COMMENT link. Clicking this link launches a page where you can add a comment to the post. Type your post in the text box. You can even use HTML tags when creating your comment to enhance your text or even add a link. For example, see the formatting in this fictitious comment:

Hah! You think <b>that's</b> bad. You should see what they wrote about that in <a href="http://www.blogger.com/myblogpost">this guy's blog.</a>

Each comment includes the identity of the comment poster. The choices are to use your Blogger identity or another identity or to post the comment anonymously. While you can read blogs without logging in, you need to log in to your Blogger account to post a comment.

Profile information

Blog authors have the choice of displaying detailed profile information about themselves. This information can include everything from their name to their astrological sign. The author of the blog has complete control over how much or how little is displayed on the blog page. Most templates are designed to display the About Me profile item. Many blog authors have at least this information available, so it doesn’t appear blank in their blogs. When you create your own blog, refer to the profile information in this chapter to help you create your profile.

Logging in to Blogger

You can log in to the Blogger site using your Google account. Type your userid and password, or choose to create a new account. After you log in, you can begin creating or posting to your own blog. You may notice that after you log in to the Blogger site, your Web browser establishes a secure connection. This means that your communications to and from Blogger are encrypted and safe from prying eyes.