Summary

In this particular post, I will try to introduce blogging, the concept, guidelines & ways to blog, essential points, tips on how to participate among others to help newbies to understand this part of the world that we ofen refer to the blogosphere.

My personal experience?

I am present on the web since 2002 through my personal web site www.yashvin.net and started to blog since 10th October 2006.

The topics I usually blog about are usually related to my everyday life, problems that people or myself encounter, illegal practices, interesting facts and also, i do provide a platform for others to express themselves on topics they want me to discuss, gathering the views of the maxi of persons…

I am not the only blogger on earth, but I try to be original in what I write and usually this is wat builds your reputation in this world…

Mind some of you, calling me “Blogger” is something that really encourages me for I know that there are lots of people reading my pages…

All I want is your support through your regular visits and your participation in the various blog posts…

Definition

According to Wikipedia:

A blog is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

“Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

The different blogging platforms

For anyone to blog, you usually need to have a web log software (platform) which will allow you to maintain your blog, add new articles (blog posts) etc etc…

You have different such software available freely on the net, among which

• WordPress
• Blogspot
• Typepad & lots of others

You can either

• blog using a free service like that offered by wordpress.com (web add : yourname.wordpress.com ) or blogspot.com (yourname.blogspot.com)
• host your own blog on your web space and thus have a web address like mine http://www.yashvinblogs.com

For instance, this blog is hosted on my own space on which i also have my web site…

[You can read here how to set up a local wordpress installation on your home computer]

Whats the RSS and Feeds stuff?

In short, it will help you to keep track of new posts on a particular blog which you have subscribed to.

It is usually represented by the following image

For example, if you wish to be notified whenever I write a new post on this blog, you can subscribe

• by adding yourself to my Feedburner mailing list (1) or entering your email address (4)
• by clicking on the icon (2) on the top of my blog
• to new comments by clicking on icon (3)

The most handy RSS aggregator which I recommend is Google Reader, and it happens that i use it myself…

When you click on the RSS Icon, your browser will usually ask you to choose a RSS aggregator.

You can choose to use Google Reader as your default aggregator and your browser will then display the following page

You can display the latest posts on either your Google homepage or into the Google reader.

By visiting your google reader on a regular basis, you can thus keep track of all new posts on the blogs which you have subscribed to.

[see above, 2 new blogs have been updated since the last time i checked my unread items]

Participating in Blogs

Very often, while visiting blogs, you may ask yourself “Why should I leave a comment?”

Yashvin says:

For 2 main reasons:

• To share your view on the particular post, am sure, you have got something to say!

By writing your comment, you are not only sharing your views but also

• Encouraging the blogger (BELIEVE ME, its really a boost for the blogger!)
• Making other visitors know that you were here, reading the same article

The next time you read something, do think about leaving some words…

How to make your blogging experience better?

There are several ways to spice up your blogging experience, as a blogger or as a simple visitor.

For now, lets talk for a simple visitor who likes to visits blogs very often, and has the courage to drop a few words from time to time…

1. You can subscribe to RSS Feeds(2) and Comments RSS Feeds (refer to (3) from above picture)
2. You can build your own identity by registering your email address on social networking sites such as Gravatar, mybloglog which will allow you to display your avatar on most of the blogs, alongside with your comments…
3. Regular check specialised blogs to be up to date with the latest news in this world, example of such blogs are Technorati, del.icio.us, slashdot.org, smashingmagazine among others.

Signing up for a Gravatar

What does Wikipedia say about this?

Gravatar (an abbreviation for globally recognized avatar) is a concept for globally-unique avatars which was invented by Tom Werner.

On Gravatar, users can register an account based on their email address, and upload an avatar to be associated with the account. Gravatar plugins are available for popular blogging software; when the user posts a comment on such a blog that requires an e-mail address, the blogging software checks whether that e-mail address has an associated avatar at Gravatar. If so, the Gravatar is shown along with the comment.

With the latest versions of WordPress, Gravatar is highly used in all blogs and its a must for anyone to create their account…

With a gravatar account

without a gravatar account

So here are the steps which you should follow to get your free account at Gravatar.com…

Also applies to you Avish (above), you should follow them too 😛

Useful things on my blog…

Click on the Google Chat to immediately get into touch with me, if am online of course!

• A – Enter your email address to get onto my mailing list
• B – Click this to do the same thing as A
• C – Subscribe to my RSS Feeds (for posts)
• D – Subscribe to my Comments RSS Feeds (for comments of course)
• E – Add my blog to your Technorati Favorite Links
• F – Visit my profile on Hi5
• G – Visit my profile on Facebook
• H – Click this to add my blog to your Google directly

Through this part of my sidebar, you can

• See my facebook pic and status
• Join my blog group on facebook
• View my hi5
• View my LinkedIn Profile
• Add my blog to Technorati favorites
• Subscribe to RSS using a wide range of web services
• View mybloglog account

Do help me promote my blog and the blogging community by joining in!

MyBlogLog

Another service which I mentioned earlier is MyBlogLog, which also provides avatar display + other social networking features…

When signed in to MyBlogLog, your avatar is displayed on the blog if the blogger has included the thing(widget) below.

I sincerely hope that as from now, you have got a better view on the word “blog”.

It was a real pleasure for me to write this page since the last 3 (THREE) hours! Wow!

Lets work together to promote blogging in Mauritius & as i always say

Why not make blogging your passion?