Welcome To "How To Use A Forum"

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Throughout this lesson we will be using Big Marketing Forum as an example.

It is recommended that you open a new window or tab with http://BigMarketingForum.com/Forum so you can follow along with the guide.

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Starting your own Blog. First if you are not sure what a Blog is. Here is a brief definition: A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. (from www.comparenow.net/glossaryofterms.html)

Now that you know what a Blog is, I will show you how to create one on Big Marketing Forum. The picture below shows the main Blog Page of the forum. You can get there by clicking BLOGS on the menu bar which the RED Arrow is pointing to. To start your own Blog click on the link the BLUE Arrow is pointing to "Want your own blog?" and scroll down.

On the picture below click on the here that the RED Arrow is pointing to and scroll down below to see how to set up your blog.

The picture below is similar to what you will see. This is the page that you will use to customize your blog. The RED Arrow is pointing to the Blog Name. This is what other users will see when they visit the Blog Page. You can name this anything you want. The PINK Arrow is pointing to the Blog Description which is where you will want to write a brief description on what you Blog will be about. If you want to Hide your blog from guests, you can click in the box that the ORANGE arrow is pointing to. I recommend you do not do this. The Meta Keywords that the YELLOW arrow is pointing to is to place words that are related to your blog. This is for search engines. So if your blog is going to be about Gardening you could use words like: how to garden, gardening blog, gardening, etc. For more information on this you can click the ?.  The BLACK Arrow is pointing to show previous and next article links. This is a personal decision that you can change later. If you choose it there will be links to go the next article at the bottom of your blog. The same goes for the next box that the GREEN Arrow is pointing to. You can choose to have a link at the bottom of your blog that when clicked on will take the reader to the top of the page. The BLUE Arrow is pointing to Articles and Comments which is a section that allows you to customize your blog to how you want it to look. All of the choices are personal and you can change them at any time. There is more to this page, so scroll down to see the picture of what the bottom half of the page looks like.

The picture below shows the bottom half of the page above. The RED Arrow is pointing to Side Windows. All the features listed again are personal decisions depending on how you want your blog to look. The Side Window is basically a window that is to the side of your main blog. You can add different things to this or delete from it. Either way you will be able to go back and change them at any time. After you are happy with what you have, click on the Save button which the BLUE Arrow is pointing to and your blog will be ready to go.

On the next page I will show you how to make your first blog post.