Better+blogging


 * Some Guidelines to Better Blogging**


 * 1) Post meaningful, relevant information on assigned topics. Never assume anything.
 * 2) Get a good title. Whether your blog is read or not depends greatly on your title. This goes for your posts too.
 * 3)  If you mention it, hyperlink it. Summarize information found on the Net, and link to it. In terms of blogs, nothing says "newbie" more than a bunch of words and no hyperlink. After you post, go to the quoted article, website, map, etc. Make sure you hyperlink to the actual page that your ‘quote’ is on by going to its individual page.
 * 4)  Use the websites you read about – post about them, link to them, mine them.
 * 5)  Be exciting. Be excited. Sure, you need to get your point across and you need to be descriptive.  But if you are not having fun with it, neither will your readers.
 * 6)  Continue to read your posts and ask yourself – “What do I not understand about this topic?” – and then proceed to answer that question and post your findings.
 * 7)  Don’t delete information unless it is otherwise redundant. You can always edit it to make it better. Add to it. But don’t kill an entry by dumping it entirely.
 * 8)  Write, then cut in half. Just a general guideline. Most readers will balk at something that is too long. This is not to say that you should abbreviate everything. Too little is always worse than too much. Try and find a balance.
 * 9)  Write then format. Use headings, bullets, quotations, italics sparingly but in meaningful ways to improve readability. Most people are somewhat lost in technology. If you use headings, folks can jump ahead, or scan for what is important to them.
 * 10)  Draw a picture. Include a photo. Make a map. Adding graphics to your blog with dramatically improve the ‘readability’ of your posts (this is especially true when you are posting about graphics, photos, maps). If you can tell someone in person without drawing a picture, then you’ll probably need to do the same in your blog.
 * 11)  Make sure you set your pages to archive. It is important that people can search your site, go through your archives, and link to individual pages of interest. You’ll need to check the options in your blog account to see if this is possible.
 * 12)  Invite others to visit you blog. Your fellow students have also created, studied, and reviewed these topics. They may prove to be valuable ‘collaborators’.
 * 13)  Use the class wiki. Students will post to this, providing feedback or asking questions. Post your own answers and reflections. And then update your own blog.
 * 14)  Always have fun! You can’t be a good blogger if you are not enjoying what you are doing.