Blogging -- Part 2: Blogger and Choosing a Name

Ok. So you've got your Gmail address and your Google User ID. Now it's time to set up your own blog.

Go to www.blogger.com and login with your Google User ID and password. This will bring up a page where you are given the option to 'Create a Blog'. Click it.

The first step is to choose a blog name. I would advise against such names as 'Mr. Melon's Fourth Period Latin II Class" as that would make your url address the unwieldy 'mrmelonsfourthperiodlatiniiclass.blogspot.com'. Rather, pick something short and catchy.

Nota Bene: You are not the first person to ever create a blog. Millions have proceeded you. That means you must not be frustrated by the fact that 'latin.blogspot.com' and 'caesar.blogspot.com' are not available. You are going to have to get creative here. One of the tricks I often use (having written several other blogs) is going by poet Allen Ginsberg's old method of taking two seemingly random words and sticking them together: hydrogenjukebox, etc. In addition to helping you get in touch with your inner Hegel, this method generally produces results when you click the 'Check Availability' button.

Another important consideration: if you plan to use your own domain name, you should also check the availability on the name registrars. Simply go to www.myhosting.com or any other registrar of your choice and enter your name to see if a .com, .net, or .org version is available. If you are serious about your blogging, don't consider choosing a name that is not available as one of these domains.

If you do manage to get your dream-name, I would strongly encourage you to purchase it with the special 'domain forwarding' feature. This will allow you to use your domain name to 'point' to the blogspot server where your blogging is being kept. For example, when you type www.teachpaperless.com, you are first being directed to my name being hosted on myhosting.com which then forwards you immediately to teachpaperless.blogspot.com. There's a really good reason to do this: a domain name and forwarding service on myhosting.com runs about $6 to register and a buck a month for forwarding; the blogspot blog itself is totally free. So for less than twenty bucks a year, you've got a totally professional looking site.

Alright, so once you've got a name, you need to enter in the word verification. Now, you are off to the races.