Friday, July 4, 2008

Advice to newbies

Q: Like others - and thank goodness I am not alone - I have no idea of what I am doing, how to do it, or or why. I am not that sharp on the computer, but I can do what I want to do ! Any help on getting the knack of this would really be appreciated. Thank you

Quite frankly, I was very much like you, and did not quite understand the concept. I have only been doing it for roughly two months, and I am still a novice.
I have a couple of recommendations. First, take it slow and do not do anything that seems complicated or dramatic. I see questions from folks all the time that suggest that something catastrophic has occurred.
Second, I have learned a little week by week, mostly by trial and error, and checking out this Google Group.
Third, I believer that it is helpful to understand what is going on conceptually, before actually trying to do it. In that regard, check out a couple of encyclopediac entries on blogging such as those on Microsoft Encarta or wikipedia.com, and read what blogging is all about first. There is also a Blogging for Dummies book in some bookstores, which is very helpful. What you want is plain language.
Fourth and finally, the hardest thing to do is to figure out how to get people to visit your site. Blogger just published a piece on "Promoting Your Blog," which is half-way decent, although somewhat self-serving. At least the info is in one location. Go to http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42377 . Good luck.
http://www.theviewfromoutsidemytinywindow.blogspot.com/
Logistician
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Logistician is right. Please don't try to do too much at first. Avoid codes, html and templates like the plague and you will have an enjoyable blog experience. Blogging web sites are free and so don't ever pay any money to any one. It does not work! I have also written a blog dedicated to newbies: http://davidchin342.blogspot.com
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3 comments:

  1. David - sorry for leaving this comment here, couldn't figure out how to reach you again. You can delete....

    laurabdon@cox.net

    OK David and Lawny - I spoke too soon and realize I'm still at square one.

    David, thank you for the good step by step on adding a profile. I have/had actually done that, my problem is the need to add an additional profile-like widget/template element. Once you have used the profile once, the point and click interface doesn't seem to support adding another custom-named section for text.

    Lawny, I think what you sent me was HTML text. I tried to get to that element and edit HTML but couldn't find in the html text that came up the word profile or about me, Gave up, thought maybe this is something that can be interpreted if I type it in as text in my text entry within the profile. So it crashed the system. I'm not alarmed, but let's say it didn't work.

    Thanks for your continued help.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd like to have a small picture of each link in my links list so that when the reader clicks on it they go to the website. (Rather than just having the words to click on)
    Is this possible with Blogger?
    thanks,
    Mar

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi David,

    It seem that we need to take a long way to get money on the internet or to be "GURU", but your advise is good to be aware of scammer in this world. Slow and steady and safe.

    Thanks
    Make Money Now

    ReplyDelete

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