Blogging 101
-
What is a Blog Name? What is an address? Will the name appear on every blog or just this thread? What if I want to blog about DIFFERENT things? Where does the blog appear? These are fundamental questions that a FAQ site will never help with. I need the basics before I can even develop a question.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Hi there. The best place to start for answers to your questions is here: the “Learn WordPress” support doc (http://learn.wordpress.com/) and the “Video Quick Start” tutorial (http://en.support.wordpress.com/video-quick-start/).
Those two links cover all the basics.
But shortly: The blog name or title is what appears on your blog’s header and is edited under Settings ->General in the dashboard. The address is the URL that appears in your browser’s address bar, in this case: http://galwaybooks.wordpress.com/
Will the name appear on every blog or just this thread?
Not sure what you mean with that question. The blog title appears on the blog itself, in the Reader along with a new post when you publish it (posts and pages also have their own titles, by the way), and when you share the blog on social media. When you comment on someone else’s blog your display name (which can be different from your username) will appear, and usually it’s linked to your blog so if someone clicks on it they get taken to your blog. Here in the forum your username you use to sign in is displayed, and it’s also linked to your blog.
What if I want to blog about DIFFERENT things?
Nothing wrong with that. Many people, myself included, blog about a variety of topics on one blog. Others prefer to cater to a very specific niche. In the end you do what works for you.
Where does the blog appear?
When you publish a new post it appears on your blog’s RSS feed. People can follow that feed through any RSS feed reader, including the WordPress.com Reader. If you add appropriate tags to your posts they can also appear under specific topic searches in the Reader. All this is explained in the tutorials I linked first.
You might also want to check out the staff blog, The Daily Post. They have a number of recurring courses in the Blogging University section of that site which are really excellent if you want a gradual introduction not only to the features of the WordPress.com site, but also to blogging in general, all the way assisted by other bloggers and staff members who provide tips and feedback. You can find that site here: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/blogging-university/
-
Epic fail and total disappointment. I guess I thought a blog was something different. I see blogs on Facebook with a provocative tag line like “Top Ten reasons a nice guy gets dumped and how to get revenge” and an image to support the theme. Clicking on the image or the line takes you to the list and the blog. I’m seeing none of this. No image. No links. Not even a font choice. There has to be something more but I now believe that without someone sitting right next to me, I’ll never get through the jargon and assumptions.
-
You can create posts here with an image and set up your blog to auto-post it to Facebook, but it doesn’t just happen. Those posts you see on Facebook take hours to compose and are done with blog editors exactly like we have on WordPress.com. Blogging, done right, is hard work, even on a platform like WordPress.com where we don’t have to worry about the coding side of things.
Like anything in life you need to put in the effort to learn how to do it, and you have to learn the basics before you’ll be able to craft the type of posts that attracted you to blogging in the first place. The links I gave you above will teach you the basics for this particular platform.
I really want to encourage you to try. Sign up for the next round of Blogging 101 on the Daily Post. Create a throwaway test blog for that purpose that you can mess around on while you learn how everything works. Once you’re through that process you should have the knowledge and tools needed to run the type of blog you want.
Lastly, regarding fonts: It is true that on most WordPress.com themes you are restricted to a single font. To gain the ability to use other fonts on your blog you’ll need to buy the Premium upgrade, but creating posts with headings, links and images are all possible with the regular free WordPress.com and without requiring you to know anything about coding.
-
I guess it’s like anything, you have to learn to do it first …..Until then it just seems daunting and not necessarily what you imagined it would be. Yesterday, I started my first blog ever and now today …after no views and visits I want to know why! I can see why people get frustrated at first, but then that’s all part of learning. There does seem however to be a lot of users on here with help and advice, so I guess if that’s what I have to do …I’ll try and give it a go. It’s too easy to just give up, but with a little bit of perseverance every now again, you can hopefully start enjoying the rewards for all the effort you’ve put it taking the time to learn a whole new world of things you never knew about before.
However, my brain hurts now ….so I better switch off
Cheers for the help kokkieh …..and good luck Donovangalway
-
Yesterday, I started my first blog ever and now today …after no views and visits I want to know why!
That’s completely normal. Especially with a new blog you’ll have to go out and get viewers. They won’t just show up.
A great way to get some eyes on your site is to comment in the Community Pool, a feature that publishes every Monday on the staff blog, The Daily Post. That feature specifically exist to help you connect with other bloggers and there you can ask others for feedback on your blog. The latest one can be found here: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/community-pool-103/
Then the most effective ways to draw visitors to your site is to leave quality relevant comments (i.e. not spammy ‘come visit my blog’ comments) on other blogs, to use social media to invite people you know to read it (but again, don’t be spammy), and also to effectively tag your posts so they show up in the Reader’s topic listings. Here are some more options to help you increase your traffic: https://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-more-views-and-traffic/
- The topic ‘Blogging 101’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 