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Getting Started: Five Easy Steps


It's Easy to Share Your Boating Experience with Others


Step One - Sign up for a Blog:
Complete our  "Registration" form and within 48 hrs. we'll set up your Blog and send you a confirming email. Once you receive our confirming email, you are ready to start blogging! 

Step Two- Access your Blog: To start blogging, simply make an entry in your blog - generally called a "post".

Click on the QuickPost Access Link, in our right hand Easy-to-Use menu area at the blogging center. Or enter the blog site directly for the full Blog Interface. Enter your username and password as received in the confirming email registration message noted above.

Step Three - Create an Entry: If you have signed up for more than one blog, select the blog you are posting to. Select "Post Status" as "Draft" (default). This will allow you to preview your entry before it goes live.

Add a title. In the "Title" box at the top, enter a subject, title or name for your post.

If you have created sections or sub-categories in your blog, select the Primary Category you wish to post to. Categories can be created in the Full Blog Interface by simply creating a blog subject sub-category.

Note: In most cases, you can leave the "Text Formating" set to "Convert Line Breaks." This will create a break with each of your carriage returns just like typing. If you are entering your blog using HTML, then set Text Formating to "None".

Step Four-  Add you Content: Underneath the "Title" box use the "Entry Body" box to begin entering your posting.

Enter "Entry Body" Text. This is a short description of your posting that is shown on the front page of your blog. It tempts people to read more. Your most recent postings are shown chronologically (usually the most recent ten).

Enter your "Extended Entry Text. This is the full text for your entry, the extended reading page with everything you wish to post. You can even upload photos as well using the Full Blog Interface.

Click "Post" or "Save" (if using Full Blog Interface) and you have successfully created your first blog entry. Congratulations!  If you saved it as a draft, only you can see it. Please be sure to review and revise it until you are happy with the results and then save as "Publish". You are now published!

Note: All entries are maintained in chronological order, most recent first like a diary. The only thing you have to watch out for is if you use the "copy/ paste" function from word. Word uses special characters for quotes " " which look funny in the blog. Simply type over them in the blog and they will be ok.

Formatting Tips: If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, bold, italics, underline and URL Link can be added by highlighting text in the "Entry Body" box and clicking one of the four formatting buttons in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. An example of formatting in IE is given in the picture at right. If you are using other browsers such as Netscape, Firefox, Mozilla, Opera or Safari, you must add the proper HTML formatting tags yourself.

Step Five - Preview your Post: After you have completed writing your post, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click the "Preview" button to review your post before it is published. Click the "Save" button to post your entry. You do not have to do anything else to post your entry. It is posted when you click Save.

To view your page, simply click the "View Site" button along the top of the web page. Your site will open in another window, and you should see your most recent post listed under the day's date.

Remember, a "Post Status" of "Draft" means that your post is not published immediately. You will have a chance to preview your post before it is published. But you can set the "Post Status" to "Publish" to make it public immediately.


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