Blogging for Lawyers: How to Setup a Blog Using Blogger

Blogger is Google's web publishing service.

By default, blogs created on Blogger's platform will publish at a unique subdomain on Google's .blogpsot.com. Users may choose to direct a blog created on Blogger to a custom domain name.

To setup a blog using Blogger, one needs to create a Google account. On Blogger's homepage, there are easy instructions on how to create an account. Individuals who already have a Google account may use that account to log in or may decide to create a new account.FN1

Once signed into Blogger, one must enter the desired name of the new blog - e.g. the title of the web page - as well as the desired .blogspot.com URL. Again, the .blogspot.com URL will be where the blog is published on the web unless one chooses to publish his or her blog to a custom domain.

After the URL is created, one chooses a template. A template is how the blog looks and feels. There are only a limited number of choices when first setting up an account. Templates are easy to change so think of this as a starter choice.

At this point, technically, the blog is created. Although there are no posts, the blog will show up at the chosen .blogspot.com URL.

Adding Content

To create a post, one clicks on "Create" under the "Posting" tab. There is a space for the post's title above the box for the post's content.

One may compose a post in HTML format or in Blogger's what-you-see-is-what-you-get ("wysiwyg") editor. Depending on which editor is chosen, Blogger presents a different menu of tools to format the posts. The default is the HTML editor. For those unfamiliar with HTML, it may be best to click on the "Compose" tab on the upper right-side of the content box. This makes styling the post's content much more intuitive and the HTML tags do not show up when editing the post.

Once a post is drafted, one may add labels to the post for organization purposes. A label determines how the post is archived. A post may have numerous labels and will be archived under each. A post labeled litigation, federal court, and motions will show up under the litigation archive, the federal court archive, and the motions archive.

The last step is to press the publish post button. A finalized post may also be scheduled for a future date and time. Under post options, one would enter the future date and time and then press publish post. Under the options panel, one may also decide whether the post will allow reader comments.

As a web publishing platform, one may decide to draft posts on Blogger even if the post is not finalized. The save now button will save drafts of posts that are not ready for publication. Like the save function on Microsoft Word, it's best to freely use this function to prevent any future headaches.

After the post is published, the content will show up at the site's URL. It may be good practice to visit the live post to make sure it publishes correctly.

That's it! Without getting too fancy, a blog is created.

FN1. Those with existing Google accounts may want to create a new Google account for privacy reasons. Google ties all affiliated accounts together. For example, a Google profile will display all Google products associated with one Google address. Although there are privacy settings for Google profiles, it's best to create another account to prevent Google from disclosing this affiliation.

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