The Anatomy of a Blog – Getting Started
Blog /blag/ v: A personal online journal website that contains comments, reflections, or opinions. Abbreviation for WebLog. – Webster’s Dictionary
Wherever you click on the web, you are bound to find a blog or three. Blogs run the gamut of topics, from family news to celebrity gossip. Regardless of your theme, if you’ve ever considered creating a blog for yourself, depending on your personal style, there are plenty of free and easy-to-use platforms like Joomla, WordPress, Posterous, or Weebly to choose from.
Some platforms allow you to make minor changes to their existing templates or even incorporate your own template designs. The latter option is great for more advanced users, especially those who understand HTML and CSS and have access to design software like Adobe Creative Suite. But if you’re a newbie, don’t worry, blogs are usually run on a WISYWIG (what you see is what you get) system that allows you to enter your text the same way you would in a word processing program.
Once you’ve found the right platform, understanding the basic anatomy of a blog will help you create a successful website. So what should your skeleton look like? Here are the bare bones:
The bones
Platform
Unlike a few years ago, there is a wide range of platform options for blogging. The templates are fun and generally easy to navigate. Some of the more well-known platforms include Blogger and WordPress, but newcomers to the arena like Posterous and Weebly are giving them a run for their money. Many offer tutorials on topics ranging from tech support to getting started and blogs. If you are new to blogging, choosing a platform with great support will definitely be an advantage. All in all, determining the best platform for your needs is a key element in the overall success of your blog.
Administration area (back door)
This is the dashboard that allows you to control the appearance of your blog. You will enter with a username and a password that you will configure. In this area you will be able to make adjustments to your master settings, change your template, customize your template design, add blog posts, add or remove pages, view blog comments, view your traffic statistics, add or remove widgets and if you have monetized your site you can see your earnings. You’ll also be able to toggle between your dashboard and your blog’s edit mode so you can get an idea of how your changes will appear when posted. The layout and components of the admin panel will vary between platforms, but are generally easy to navigate.
Header
This is the area at the top of your blog template. This is where you put the name of your blog, ie Stewie Griffin deep thoughts – Depending on how interactive the template you choose, you may be able to change the color, dimensions, or add an image or logo. Once you learn how to navigate the backdoor or admin area of your blog, you can make changes to its appearance as needed.
sidebar
A sidebar is located on the right or left side of each page of your blog. Its purpose is to move your reader to other sections within your blog quite easily. The sidebar area can also be used for secondary navigation as well as interactive elements, including widgets like Twitter or Facebook feeds or your favorite YouTube video. Depending on the style template you choose, your blog can have one, two, or three columns. Understanding template space will help you determine what you’d like to see in your sidebar.
Footer
Your blog footer is located, well, at the bottom of your blog. This is where your reader will find a mirror of your navigation links, your copyright (highly recommended), and, if your platform supports it, your sitemap.
Site Map
The Big Picture: Sitemaps help search engines find your blog and index it for others to find. The bigger picture: Because search engines can’t process content from embedded programs like Flash or Silverlight. Having a sitemap allows search engine crawlers to find and index this content.
The meat
homepage
This is the home page of your blog. It’s where you display your posts, information about the blogger, as well as your sidebar with your choice of fun interactive elements. Since you blog regularly, this page will house your most recent blogs, as well as an area for your archived blogs. Your home page can contain any combination of words, photos, videos for every blog post you write.
Pages
You have lowered your home page; next in line are their support pages if you choose to activate them. The pages can contain whatever you want; like a dedicated page for video, one for a photo gallery, and one for a blogger bio, etc. Some programs allow blogs to have an unlimited number of pages, but to keep readers interested in your content and coming back to your blog, it’s best not to overwhelm them with everything but the kitchen sink. You may want to limit your blog to five pages at first, adding more as your popularity grows.
Publications
This is the filet mignon from your blog. You publish, therefore, you write in a blog. Posts are your content. Your platform’s WISYWIG feature will prompt you to create a title for your blog post and you have a place to write your story. You can also format your text, check your spelling, and add features like bulleted lists. They can be editorial, pictorial, video or audio or a combination of elements. You can share funny family stories or discuss world news. The sky is the limit.
So how do you keep track of the posts you create? Posts contain date and time stamps that help keep the most recent posts at the front of the queue. Older posts go back in order but have no fear; they are still available to your readers as part of your blog archive.
Ready, Set, Go!
Having a good idea of the basic elements that make up your blog template will help you more easily implement your ideas and style. Creating the right atmosphere for your blog can be a work in progress at first, but the more you blog and gain a loyal following, the more you’ll be able to assess what works and what doesn’t for you and your readers. Who knows, you might find a career in professional blogging.