Step 1 - Register and Set up your Blog

Register and Set up your Blog

Approximate time: 5 minutes

a) Go to www.blogger.com and begin to create your blog (website) by clicking on the "Create Your Blog Now" orange arrow.




b) Fill in the "Create a Google Account" form . If you already have a Google account (e.g. Gmail, Google Groups, etc.) then click on the "sign in first" link.

Your username will have to be quite unique as there are already millions of Blogger users. Your display name will be what is used to sign your website postings.



Be sure to use a strong password (click on the "Password strength" link for more information).

For the "Word Verification" field, just type the word that you see on your screen. This step is to ensure that you are a real human being, and not an automated robot trying to automatically create hundreds or thousands of accounts.

Once you have completed the form, click on the box next to "I accept the Terms of Service" and then click on the orange continue arrow on the bottom right hand side.

c) Name your blog.

For the "Blog title" field, enter a display name for your e-portfolio website... this display name will appear in the masthead (main area on the top) of your website. It's usually best to name this something descriptive and it's good to include at least your first name (you may not want to put your full name for privacy considerations). For example, if your name was Maria Gonzales you might want to call the blog title, "Maria Gonzales' e-Portfolio". You can change the blog title quite easily later if you wish.



For the "Blog address (URL)" field, enter the name that you would like to use for your location (URL). You can change this URL later if you wish...

It is recommended that you use a descriptive address that also includes the word e-portfolio. It's best to separate any names that you use with dashes. For example if your name was Maria Gonzales, you might want to use a URL like maria-gonzales-eportfolio (Blogger will add the blogspot.com after the blog name you come up with so the full URL would end up being: http://maria-gonzales-eportfolio.blogspot.com).

d) Choose template

The next and final step in creating your blog is to select a template -- i.e. your blogs' "look and feel". You can easily change or modify your template later on so don't spend too long choosing!



Blogger will now start creating your blog. This usually only takes a minute or two.



When you see this "blog created" screen, you are ready for Step 2, creating your first blog posting...