Blog help

[drawerfixer]

Hola,

I have been toying with the idea of starting a small blog. I realized that I have free webspace through my provider, and I constantly come across links and information that I wish to share with others (mainly friends & family).

I'm looking for some help. The webpage doesn't have to be pretty or have all the bells and whistles. I really just want an easy way to display articles, links, and my commentary. The cuteness can come later.

I know no HTML, but was hoping there was software that could do all the hard work, and be fairly user-friendly (Yeah, I'm a Mac user. ). I've read through the posts here, and MoveableType seems popular, but I have no idea how to implement it or even where to start.

Of course, it would probably be a better idea to start with Blogger.com to see if I'll stick with it, but this is something I've been considering for awhile and am ready to jump into. Are there any knowledgeable bloggers out there who would like to lend a patient hand to a newb?

Thanks a caboodle.

[trache]

You need to know if your provider will let you run what are called CGI scripts - that's what Moveable Type is. Back in 1994, no one cared and many ISPs let you run them with no regard to security... these days, only actual webhosts will allow you to do that. Moveable Type needs access to an SQL type or Berkeley DB database. This means you may have to get special permission from your ISP (if it's local and friendly) to house one for you, or purchase webhost with added CGI and SQL database costs.

I believe there might even be a host that specializes in Moveable Type journals. I can't find that website currently.

I would start with blogger.com and see if it's something for you. I think they have a journal download facility if you wish to back-up your entries in case you decide to move.

I started with the following pages:

• index - showed links to last 3 recent entries, nice title graphic etc.
• archive - listed all of my entries
• entry - each entry, just copy/pasted a blank HTML file every time I added an entry with new entry text.

Everytime I made an entry, I had to change four files - the index, the archive, the current entry and I updated the link in the last entry to point to the latest one.

It got overwhelming every time I wanted to post an update... let's not forget to mention I then had to keep track of which files I edited and then upload them to my webhost. I've since moved my journal to a more advanced system, and I coded my own in the PHP programming language.

If you want to learn HTML, I highly recommend Writing HTML. I took lessons from that website just after it went live and have never looked back.

[pravin]

I'd suggest using Blogger because it has loads of features and is real easy to setup. However if you would like to host your own blog, you can try one of

• Wordpress
• Moveable Type

These are probably the most widely used content management systems. Both are free for private use. Setting them up may not be very straight-forward though.

If you want to share your blog with only a few people, you can choose to not publish your web address on blogger. Or if you are willing to shell out $5, you can host your blog with livejournal or deadjournal. They provide passwords to restrict access to your blog.

Blogger also has the option of publishing your blogger.com blog to your host. That way you can have a nice url like www.me.com instead of me.blogger.com.

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pravin
My Blog - http://dee.rediffblogs.com