Step By Step, Blog Tools Explained

Susannah took the microphone and the keyboard today in order to demonstrate via a live Internet connection the details of various blogging tools.

She set up a demostration blog, using Typepad.  Then she walked through, step-by-step, how to:

  • sign in
  • make a new post
  • edit an existing post
  • change the color of the post
  • formatting a post to add bold, italics, indents and lists
  • linking to other Web sites

    • These are very basic things to do, but they were a warm up for one of the most confusing things to do: the trackback.  The demonstration was carefully planned, and went smoothly without error.  I could see the signs of relief as understanding settled over the audience. (For those reading along, here’s a good primer.)

    With trackbacks accounted for, Susannah undertook a review of blog site designs: what works, what doesn’t.  Without the screenshots, it’s a little hard to recreate the discussion, but essentially… most blogs share many of the same design characteristics.  A few blogs use radical designs, but in a quick survey of the room, it seems that if you want a blog to be immediately accepted, adopted and read, stick with a basic format.  In fact, Paul Chaney added that perhaps one reason for blogs’ success is that there’s such uniformity of design—you don’t need to relearn an interface with each new blog.

    Basic blog design similarities were covered yesterday.  Today, discussion was more about color and font choice, alignment and other structural details, and then how to actually modify the design, yourself through one of the blogging interfaces, or by hiring a consultant.

    BlogAsia SnacksOther blogging tools were demonstrated, too: Expression Engine, Wordpress and Blogger.  All share the same basic tools, but in fact the interfaces do take a bit of getting used to, and each has its own quirks and additional features.

    I should also add that the morning tea break had something you never see at North American conferences: instead of bagels and danishes, the food provided was deep fried chicken morsels with spicy red sauce, and “mee” noodles with bok choi and mushrooms.  For someone who loves Asian food as much as I do, this was wonderful.

    I’m cross-posting this on three sites: Buzz Marketing with Blogs, Radiant Marketing Group, and BlogAsia.  If you’d like to comment, please come to BlogAsia to do so.

    Posted by Travis Smith on 09/21 at 08:47 PM • A Little Design -- Blogging Events -- Blogging Tips

    Comments

    1. Your blog is really great! Especially your article about the trackback was really helpful.

      Posted by Erde on 04/20/06 at 10:39 AM

    2. A light at the end of the (blog-) tunnel.

      Posted by Volker on 06/16/06 at 04:01 AM

    3. I think Paul Chaney might have hit something dead on the nail there. The reason why the blog is so successful is because people understand and know the format. They don’t have to relearn it. It’s like a newspaper – they’re all the same basic design, just a little differences here and there and of course different reporting. A newspaper that changes the design completely isn’t really considered a ‘newspaper’ and even if it tried to sell itself as one, those that read newspapers probably wouldn’t like it. It’s good that blogs are the way that they are. I think, like Paul, this has been one of the factors that has contributed to such great success. Great insight!

      Posted by baby on 11/15/07 at 06:33 AM

    4. I’ve been blogging for almost four (4) years now.  But I admit no one ever taught how me to start with it.  Everything I know about blogging was self-learned or DIY.  Although the discussion here is for Typepad, I believe the basic procedure apply for all blogging site.  Thank you for sharing this to us.  This is never late even for someone who is already into blogging.

      Posted by portrait paintings on 05/05/08 at 01:00 AM

    5. Great post!  Although Typepad is one of the popular stuff in the Internet today, I’m sure not everybody knows the secret behind mastering it.  It’s nice that you have posted a pic during eating time.  What a cool way to de-stress.

      Posted by Oil painting art on 06/04/08 at 02:10 AM

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