H.P.S. Primary Computer Lab

All About Blogging!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=oDxg5ODEXEQ
**Make sure you complete the Blogs lesson posted in your BrainPop Jr Class.
The Four Main Parts of a Blog:
- The Header
- The Sidebars
- The Footer
- ​The Body
Notes and Highlights:
A BLOG: 
  • originally created from the words, web and log, is an online journal that shares information.
  • A blog is the logging of one's thoughts, ideas, experiences and more, all in one place on the web.
  • With a few clicks, you can share thoughts, opinions, news, anything! This makes blogs so easy to use.
  • The Blog is the staple of who you are.  It is the ultimate expression of You on the web.
  • People who write a blog, magazine, or group website are called CONTRIBUTORS. 
  • Blogs can be about any topic.  An example might be a class blog highlighting different activities students learn about within the classroom.  Other blogs might be more general and could be about sports, books, cooking, travel, dreams, news, or technology.
  • There are many types of blogs:
    • MICROBLOG- a type of blog with extremely short posts and consists of only a sentence or two (ie Twitter)
    • PERSONAL BLOG- a type of blog that is only about a person's life.  The contributor shares thoughts, opinions, and experiences about his/her own life.
    • PHOTO BLOG- a type of blog that shares photos
    • REVIEW- a type of blog in which the contributor shares their opinions, what they like and dislike, about a topic (examples include: a book review blog or a movie review blog).

The THEME for your Blog:
  • The looks of your blog comes from the theme you choose.  The THEME controls how your blog looks.
  • You choose a theme and personalize it. Just select the layout, the color and/or background images you prefer to get the looks you like.

Most Blogs Have 4 Main Sections:
  • The HEADER - is found at the top of a blog and it is where you'll see the blog's title, logo, and main navigational menu.
    • The MENU - is found in the header and is the tool your visitor will use to easily navigate the content of your site. Menus are a natural part of web experience and link the readers to the various contents and pages found on your blogs.
  • The SIDE BARS - Blogs usually have two of these: one on each side of the blog. This area contains the widgets and things you want to highlight for your readers to easily find..... like your favorite links, your popular contents, your recent blog activity, subscription options to your blog, and social media tools.
    • ​ARCHIVES- this is the area of a blog, usually found within the side bars, where readers can find links to old blog posts that do not show in the body anymore.
    • SOCIAL MEDIA Links- These are links to group sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, etc.
    • TAGS allow you to label your post based on a topic so your readers can sort your posts based on a topic and read other posts related to the same thing. 
    • WORD CLOUD in the side bar, which shoes the most common tags.  Bigger words in a word cloud mean that there are more posts tagged with that word within the blog.
  • The FOOTER - rests at the bottom of your blog. This displays content that doesn't often change but your readers can easily access. It includes links to read more About You, or a Contact Page.
  • The BODY - is the most important area of your blog. This is the main content area. This is usually the primary reason people come to your blog. It's where your thoughts and ideas come to life as you share them within your posts.  

Post vs. Page : What's the difference between a Post and a Page?
  • PAGES are different from posts. They're normally static (meaning they don't change very often). Pages display standard content such as an About Me page and a Contact page.
  • While POSTS are all the good stuff where you publish your thoughts. They appear on the main page of your blog.  Posts are usually organized in the standard format, which is usually in the order of the most recent post at the very top of the page.  The most recent dated post is at the top of the page and the oldest posts are found at the bottom of the body of page.
  • Blog posts are things like your daily update or news about your niche topic.  A new story appears at the very top of the blog for the world to see. This used to be done as journals.  PUBLISHED posts are the live-version of journal entries available for others around the world to see.   Contributors need to PUBLISH their post in order for it to be viewed publicly on the internet.
  • Before a contributor publishes a blog post, there are some things they need to remember to do first:​​
    1. ​Check for mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation in your blog post.
    2. Make sure that you didn't post anything mean or post anything you wouldn't say directly to someone.  You don't want to cyber bully anyone because it is easier to say mean things about someone online than it it is face to face.
    3. Double check that you didn't post any private information about yourself.
PRIVATE INFORMATION- information that you should never share in a blog about yourself.   You should never share your name, your address, your phone number, your school name, your photo, your social security number, or anything personal information about your family members.

Post COMMENTS:
  • Readers have the option to react to each blog post in a COMMENT section.  The comment section is where others can add their thoughts or opinions to posts by starting a conversation with you or by just providing feedback about your blog post. This brings a community element to blogs.  Hence, making them a popular medium of expression and information sharing.
  • Some blogs and comments share who wrote the blog or comment.  Others are done without giving a name.  Not giving a name or identity is called ANONYMOUS.

Sharing and Media
  • Blogs make it easy to share images, video, and other types of media file giving you complete freedom of creative expression.
  • The popularity of mobile phone lets people view your blog at any time from anywhere in the palm of their hand.
  • People share on blogs everyday. Blogging is a great way to connect with other people and get your ideas out there.
  • Remember there are two ways to participate in blogging:  
    1. You can either be the contributor and write blog posts to publish
    2. You can read other people's blogs and write comments to their posts.​

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Picture
https://quizlet.com/_498jxx
Additional information about Blogs and Blogging can be found HERE!
Tips to Writing a Captivating Blog:

Directions on Writing Quality Comments:

Blogging Safety:

Examples of Blogs by Kids:

http://spider.thetomorrowclub.com/

http://majorloveoffilm.blogspot.co.uk/

​https://childtasticbooks.wordpress.com/

http://tollydollyposhfashion.com/

http://callmehannah.ca/
Image Credits on this page: https://www.testyourpoker.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/blog.jpg