Blogger.com

---Why I Do This---

I started off as a complete novice - not even knowing what Blogger was.
I was organising a school reunion and asked my son if there was a way I could keep in touch with everyone without having to contact them all separately - so he set me up with Blogger and left me to it.
It must be easy as I was soon able to find my way around quite easily and learn how it worked without being shown.
I have now gone from having just one for the school reunion to now having 30.
I do not use them in the conventional sense of an online diary - but use them for village history and the history of local church and chapels etc - I will list my uses below.



---The Brand---

Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries.
It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003.
Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com.



---The Product & Instructions---

Easy to set up.
Pick you own name - which will end in 'blogspot.com' - there is a way of getting a proper web address but I have not bothered with that yet.
You have many templates to choose from so you can choose your own layout.
You also have the option of picking from numerous backgrounds, text styles and colours - you can also upload your own image for the background if you wish and add pictures.
You post in the blog as and when you wish.
You can alter the width of the blog columns.
You can have a large heading and also add an image if you wish.
You can also add a number of 'gadgets to you blog:
* Follow by Email
* Popular Posts
* Blog's stats
* Pages
* AdSense
* Followers
* Search Box
* HTML/JavaScript
* Text
* Picture
* Slideshow
* Video Bar
* Poll
* Blog List
* Link List
* List
* Feed
* Newsreel
* Labels
* Subscription Links
* Logo
* Profile
* Blog Archive
* Page Header
You can have numerous blogs and these will be listed on a page called your 'dashboard'.



---Cost---

FREE.



---The Sort of Blogs I Have---

* SCHOOL REUNION - this was used before our two reunions to let people know how the preparations were going and is still kept going as I added pictures of the event and also history of the school too.
I have added a Youtube slideshow of the reunions and also added Polls to see what people wanted for their next reunion.
* SISTER'S RUBY WEDDING - added wedding pictures and ones of where they were married and people left messages before the event. I then added pictures taken on the day. I was able to add a slideshow with red showering hearts from Photobucket.
* HISTORY SOCIETY - I am secretary so I have added lots of info for the group plus pictures and slideshows. Also a Youtube slideshow of around the village.
* OLD VILLAGE SCHOOL - pictures and history of our closed school.
* CLOSED VLLAGE CHURCH - pictures and history of our closed church.
* CLOSED VILAGE CHAPELS - pictures and history of our two closed chapels.
* COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION - minutes and pictures of community gardens etc.
* VILLAGE HALL - rental charges and minutes.
* COMMUNITY COUNCIL - council minutes.
* VILLAGE MILESTONES - pictures and history.
* THEN & NOW PICTURES OF VILLAGE - old and new images.
* VILLAGE REMEMBRANCE - recording our three war dead - pictures, Youtube slideshow and text.
* VILLAGE TIMELINE - text only.
* VILLAGE INTERACTIVE MAP
* VILLAGE BUSINESSES INTERACTIVE MAP
* NEW RESIDENT INFROMATION - lots of text and images.
* HISTORY OF MY PRIMARY SCHOOL DN CHILDHOOD VILLAGE - text and images.
* HISTORY OF EYAM - text and images.
* CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS (private) - text.
* FINANCES (private) - text.



---My Opinion---

As you can see from the list above, since I started blogging in 2007 I have expanded my list of blogs.
Blogger is very easy to get to grips with and I just started off with basic posts and then learnt of its features as I went along.
IMAGES - it is easy to add images to your posts or you can add them down the side of the blog or to the top.
POLLS - added a few of these to the school reunion blog.
PAGES - have added different pages to all my blogs now to give more an impression of a proper website.
SLIDESHOWS - have added these from Photobucket.
HTML - I use this feature to add google maps.
INTERACTIVE MAPS - I made these using Zeemaps (again free) and did two blogs for them - one showing businesses and one for places of interest.
LINKS LIST - useful for showing other interesting websites and for showing my other blogs.
LABELS - these are put at the end of each post regarding its content and can then be shown alphabetically down the side of the blog as a sort of index.

I do a village website which the village pays for by fundraising but I find these blogs very useful as I can create as many as I like without incurring any extra cost.
Blogger is very easy to use as I am no expert - I would suggest to anyone to give them a try - they have lots of uses apart form the conventional one of an online diary.
I have used two for private reference - one for my Christmas preparations (present lists etc) and also one for my finances - these can be kept private so only I can view them.



---Star Rating---

5 Stars.



---Would I Recommend?---

Yes definitely - they are so easy to manage..



---Website---

www.blogger.com