Thing 1: Setting up your blog

***NOTE: REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR THIS PROGRAM.***

It’s finally time to get started! This Thing is really important—you will be using your blog throughout the 23 Things experience.

Set up up your blog
To set up your blog, choose a blog hosting service. There are many you could pick, but we strongly suggest Blogger, which is owned by Google. Other possibilities include Wordpress and Typepad. Here are the instructions for Blogger:

Go to http://www.blogger.com/, and click on the button that says “Create a blog.”
The next page will ask if you already have a Google account. If you don’t have one, create one.

Name your blog!
It’s time to choose a name for your blog. Click on the links below for some ideas of blog names from other 23 Things programs around the country.

http://sjlibraryparticipants.blogspot.com/
http://vermontlibrarieslearn.wordpress.com/participant-blogs-summer-session/

Once you name your blog, choose a URL. Be sure to click on “Check Availability” in case someone already has already used the URL. If so, just choose a different URL. When you’re all done with this page, choose “Continue.”

Choose a template!
A template is the colors and style of how your blog will look on the screen. Choose your favorite one and click “Continue.”

Congratulations!
You’ve created your blog! Now click on “Start Blogging.” You will see a screen where you can type your very first blog post. Take this opportunity to say hello to your fellow 23 Things participants. Be sure to give your post a title. When you’re finished with your first post, click on “Publish.” Congratulations on writing your first blog post! Now, you can see what your blog looks like to visitors. Just click on “View Blog.” You should see your blog.

Register your blog!
***NOTE: REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR THIS PROGRAM.***
Send the following information in an email to northtexas23@yahoogroups.com:

1) Your real name
2) The name of the library where you work
3) Your blog URL

You will not receive an email confirmation. After about a week, your blog will appear on this page. Your real name and library affiliation will NOT be included. If you don’t see your blog’s name after about a week, please send another email.

A note about privacy and responsibility
Because your blog is public, anyone might be reading it. For this reason, we recommend you use caution in what you post on your blog. Don't post anything you wouldn't want to be revealed to the world. If fact, this same caution holds as we start to explore other Web 2.0 tools. Additionally, you may also want to avoid using your name or library affiliation on your blog, and in fact, we recommend it.

Congratulations! You've completed Thing 1. On to Thing 2!