Complete the tasks listed below. If you get stuck, review the stimulus resources or search the web for open access materials to find help on competing the task.

1. Register an account and create a free blog on WordPress.com or Blogger.com.
2. Determine the difference between the dashboard used for editing and the public (published) view of your blog. (It is important to know the difference because when you register your blog for the course feed you must use the url for the public view of your blog.)
   • For WordPress click on the “WP Admin” link to access the dashboard for your blog site.
   • For Blogger view this Tour of dashboard features published by Jared Broker.
   • Do you know how to open the published (public view) of your blog in a new window?
   • Have you added a browser bookmark to your dashboard and public version of your blog?
     

     Typical URL formats	WordPress	Blogger
     Dashboard URL for editing	blogname.wordpress.com/wp-admin/	blogger.com
     Public URL for blog site	blogname.wordpress.com	blogname.blogspot.com

3. Complete your personal details for display on the “About” page of your blog.
   • Can you see the updates on your about page in the published view of your blog?
4. Review and customise your blog settings from the dashboard according to your preferences.
   • We recommend that you enable categories and tags on your blog (called labels in Blogger).
   • Consider whether you want to moderate all comments. Note that in WordPress there is an option to enable previously approved posters to post comments without moderation. Conduct a web search on “moderating blog comments” to find out more about the pros and cons on the flow of information when moderating comments.
5. Visit the appearance option on your dashboard and personalise your blog by:
   • Changing: your theme, header image, background colours or image.
   • Add at least one widget to your blog — remember “less is more“. One or two of the following are functional choices: archives, recent posts, categories or category cloud and blogs I follow.
     • For Blogger, see How to add a widget
     • For WordPress, see How to add widgets.
6. Draft a blog post reflecting on your experience of this e-Learning Activity on creating a blog. Click on “save draft” (so you can review before publishing live on the web). Your reflection could for example:
   • Introduce yourself and reflect on what you would like to achieve by maintaining a blog to support your learning.
   • What did you think of the activity? Was it easy or hard?
   • Share links to any additional resources you found useful in completing the tasks.
   • Provide tips for future learners who will be completing this activity. If you were to set up a new blog again, what would you do differently?
   • Add anything else your readers may find interesting or useful.
7. Review your draft post, and when you’re happy with what you’ve written, click on the “Publish post” button.
8. Send an email to a colleague, friend or family member with the web address of your blog and ask them to post a comment. This will give you the opportunity to experience how comments function on your blog and to test if they are working properly.