How to Create a FREE Blog using Blogspot

Many Nigerians are lookimg for avenues to share their knowledge online. Blogging provides you that platform. Here is how you can create a FREE blog on Blogspot, Blogger's hosting service.

The first step is to create a gmail account.
Then go to www.blogger.com and log in using your gmail account login details  

Once you've logged into blogger.com, click New blog next to your list of blogs:

1. 
   Click on the orange arrow that says "create your blog now."
2. On the "Create a Google Account" screen enter in the information required, namely:
   1. Enter your personal gmail email address, which should be the one that you want to use to be paired with your blog that you are going to create [must not be your official education one. You'll have to retype your email address in the second box.
   2. Enter password (it's a good idea to write this down somewhere safe -- or email it to yourself and then save the email so you can refer to it later if you forget it). You have to retype the password in the second box.
   3. Enter a display name
   4. Choose a user name. If you prefer people not to know who you actually are, then choose a fictitious name. e.g. 2tech4me
   5. Accept the terms (it is safe to do and won't generate junk mail).
   6. Word verification: type the letters that appear as a graphic above the verification box. This is there to ensure that the blog is being created by a person and not automatically being generated by a computer.
   7. Click on the "Continue" arrow
3. On the "Name your blog" screen:
   1. Enter title: This is the title that will appear at the top of your blog page and will also be the default name that will appear in users' browsers when they bookmark/add to favorites you blog, so choose something that will give readers a clear idea of what your blog is about
   2. Blog address: pick something that you'll remember easily and that is easy to type.
   3. Click on the "Continue" arrow
4. On the "Choose a template" screen:
   1. Scroll through the selections and click on the little radio button next to the name of the template that you choose. e.g. I chose the snapshot template. Note: you can change the template later if you decide you don't like the one you have selected, so don't spend too much time at this point worrying what will look best!
   2. Click on the "Continue" arrow
5. On the "Your blog has just been created!" screen:
   1. Click on the "Start Blogging" arrow
6. A window will appear that looks much like a word processing window. Start typing, and use the formatting bar at the top to help you format your entry. e.g. You can change font size, type of font, color, justification, create links and so on. Experiment with these to see what they do.
   1. When finished, click on "Publish Post"
7. Once you have posted an entry, a screen will appear telling you "Your blog post published successfully!"
   1. To see the results, click on the link to "View Blog."
8. To get back to your blog so that you can add a new entry or edit the existing blog, click on the little orange "B" next to the search field at the top left of your browser window. If you are already logged in, this will take you to your blog Dashboard. If you aren't logged in, then you will first need to log in (using the user name and password that you set up when you created your blog -- that's why it's important to write down what these are when you first create your blog).
9. From the dashboard you can:
   • create a new post (a new blog entry): click on the "NEW POST" button
   • change your blog settings (don't worry about this now, but do explore later)
   • edit your existing posts: to do this, click on "Edit Posts" --> this takes you to a screen that gives you the option of creating a new post or editing your entries. To edit entry, click on the "Edit" link next to the entry. This opens the blog in editing mode, and you can go ahead and edit
   • to post blog once you are done editing, click on the orange "Publish Post" button (which takes you to "Your blog post published successfully!" window, and from there, click to "View Blog").

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