Creating a Post

This is the fun part!  Where you get to tell the world (or a few select friends) what you really think.  The post editor basically works like a normal word processor and then some.  You can type, edit the format of your text, the color and insert hyperlinks, pictures and even video.  I'll give a few tips on getting a little fancy.

I'm not going to go into detail on how to type and edit your text . . . I think we're all at least a little tech savvy.  I will however let you know how to easily insert links, photos and videos.
On the picture below, I've inserted text to show you where I'm talking about when I'm mentioning these features.

For hyperlinks, it is best to connect the link to a word identifier.  For example, if I wanted to link you to my PicassaWeb Album, I first typed my words, "PicassaWeb Album" then clicked "Link", to create the hyperlink, and entered the URL of my actual Picassa Web Album.  (Hint:  Its smart to test your links before publishing).  That's it.  Link entered.  See it!  Its blue!  Feel free to test me ;)


Pictures can be a little bit more cumbersome, depending on how "connected" you're trying to be.  I've tried my best to connect as much as possible, so I am choosing to use the Google owned PicassaWeb Album for my image storing.  Really nice if you use the Picassa program on your Mac (if you don't have a Mac, its not my fault) and I'm sure its simple on a PC (well, as simple as anything is on a PC).  Unfortunately, there are no (free) upload apps for Picassa for the iPhone or iPad (however, you can directly blog and save images to your PicassaWeb album from the i-device which I'll go into later . . . )  Anyway, to start you just click on the Picture in the toolbar to insert your picture.   Once you've clicked that, this box will open.  You have a few options here, you can Upload directly from your computer by choosing the file, choose images you've already attached to your blog another way, choose from your Picassa Web Albums or enter a URL if you use another online photo storage option like Photobucket or Flickr.

Here is where I select "From Picassa Web Albums"and choose the pictures I want to insert (which you are looking at RIGHT NOW - pretty cool, huh?)

Once your picture is inserted, it is easy to change the size and layout of the picture or add a caption describing the picture.  Hover over your picture until crosshairs appear and then click ONCE.  A menu will appear under your picture allowing you to make changes.  

View once image is selected (Wee!  A caption!)

Videos have a similar process to photos.  First, click on the picture to insert your video.  You'll then get the Add Video box.  Again, you have several options.  You can upload from your computer, choose a video from YouTube or choose from videos you have uploaded to YouTube (like from your Flip camera perhaps?)

I chose from my videos on YouTube and this is what you get.  

 Finally, to geotag your post you can add your location (helpful for those on the road posts you'll be making during our field trips!)  To add your location, you click on "Add" next to "Location" at the bottom of your post editing box (pretty straight forward so far, right?)  Then, you search for your location in the search box and click "Save".  You can get as specific as you want, I choose not to give the world my home address . . .

And that's it!  Now you too can create a blog post, complete with hyperlinks, pictures and video!  One option that blogger is missing is the ability to password protect some of your posts.  Your blog is either public or private, and nothing in between.  So, keep that in mind as you blog away!