07/25/2007 Web Developer

Step 1) Start a Blog

Click on the Start a New Blog button.

A file selection dialog appears. Enter a file name for your blog and click on "save" to proceed.

You will be asked a short series of questions and then your new blog is ready for use.

If you already have a blog file, click on "Open Blog" instead and skip right to step 2.

Question 1

Would you like to see "Recent Entries" on your home page?

Answering YES will set options to show recent entries automatically on the home page of your blog. Answering NO will set options to show a static link to a "Recent Entries" page instead where recent entries will show.

You can also change these options at any time in the "advanced options" tab.

Question 2

Would you like to create an "About" page for your blog?

Answering YES will insert a "static" page into your blog with the page name of "about". You will have to edit this entry later on to enter your "about" information.

Question 3

Would you like to create a "Links" page for your blog?

Answering YES will insert a "static" page into your blog with the page name of "links". You will have to edit this entry later on to enter your "links" information.

Question 4

Would you like to set basic options for your blog?

Answering YES will open up the "basic options" dialog. You can also enter this information later by going to the options page of Easy Blogs and selecting the "basic options" button.

The seven fields you can enter are:

 

• Blog Title - what is the name of your blog?
• Blog URL - enter the web site address where the blog will be found. Enter the "http://" and the address up to the point where any page name would start. For example you could enter "http://www.easyblogs.com/blog/" or "http://www.easyblogs.com/blog" but not "http://www.easyblogs.com/blog/index.html".
• Entries to show on Blog Index (and recent entries page) - How many entries to show is up to you.
• Archive by Date - how your entries will be archived - one page per month;one page per week; or one page per day.
• Archive by Category - control what kinds on entries can show on category pages
• Entry Date Format - is the default way that entry dates will be displayed on your blog.
• About my Blog - is a "version 1.00" feature and is now often left blank.Many older templates are designed to display the contents of this field on your blogs "home page" but newer templates expect a separate "about" page.

Question 5

Would you like to choose a template for your blog?

Answering YES will open up the "template options" dialog. You can also enter this information later by going to the options page of Easy Blogs and selecting the "Choose a Template" button.

You will be able to scroll through a list of installed template packages and hoose one for your blog.

You can change templates at any time to change the complete look and feel of your blog.

Finally...

Your new blog is ready to start using.

A sample entry is added to "welcome you" to your new blog. You can delete this entry at any time. If you added a "links" page or an "about" page then this might be a good time to edit them.

The blog will be opened and you will be switched to the Blog Entry section.

Step 2) Make an Entry

Click on the Add Entry Button.

The entry date/time defaults to current date and time,. Enter a title line and tab down to the text area and type a few sentences. There are lots of other things you can do such as basic HTML formatting or attaching a picture -- but for now just do a title line and a few sentences and click on the Save button.
Your entry now shows in the entry list on the right.

Step 3) Take a Look

Skip over the options and click on the Publish Button.

You can change the look of your Blog later by selecting a different template in the Options section.

Click on the Generate Pages button. Some status messages will appear on the status window on the right.

Now click on the Preview Pages Button. This will start your default browser program and show you your first Blog.

Step 4) Are you ready to publish?

Change over to the Options section by clicking on the Options button. It is the third one down on left side.

You need to enter your Publishing Options in order to publish your new Blog to your web site. You have a choice to publish directly to a web hosty using FTP or locally to a directory on your computer.

For FTP Options, these are common values that your web site host will provide you for use with any basic FTP program. If you do not have a web site host, then wander on over to a free host like tripod.com and sign up. Enter and save the parameters.

Go back to the Publish section by clicking on the Publish Button on the left side.

Click on the Generate Pages button again -- especially if you changed some of the options.

Click on the Preview Pages Button again if you want to see the Blog once more before publishing.

Now click on the Publish to Web button.

For publishing using FTP, please connect to the internet if you are not already connected. If everything was entered properly then Easy Blogs will log on to the FTP site and upload your Blog.

For publishing using file copy, the blog pages will automatically be copied to the specified destination.

Step 5) Close

Finally click on the All my Blogs button on the left to return to the All my Blogs section.

Click in the Close Blog button.

You are done for now. Go ahead and experiment with Easy Blogs.