Blogging 101 is mostly about understanding the blogging
vocabulary. To understand blogging, you need to know
the lingo - mainly blog, platform, domain, and web host.
Once you understand these key elements of
blogging, you can enter any conversation about
blogging with confidence. After you know what
exactly a blog is, you will be on your way to
passing the final exam of blogging 101. (And yes, there will be a test later.)

Blog is short for weblog, which simply means a
series of online posts presented in reverse
chronological order - the first one is today's, the next one is yesterday and so on back in the past. That's all! Most blogs are text,
but there are also photo blogs and video blogs (called vlogs).

The
rest of blogging 101 has to do with the technical
side of things. If you are setting up a blog, you will
need a platform, a web host, and a domain. A
blogging platform is a computer software program
that allows you to write posts and to update your
blog. Your platform is also what you use to design
the look of your blog, from color scheme to font
size. Wordpress and Typepad are the most common two right now. I personally use Wordpress.

The web host is sort of like the virtual file
cabinet where your blog is stored. Your computer
communicates with the host when you upload or
edit a post. Bluehost or Dreamhost or 1and1 are web hosts.

The domain is the online address of
your blog, and usually ends in ‘dot com' though other common extensions are 'dot net' and 'dot org'. You need to register your domain name through a registrar of domain names - most web hosts provide this service for their customers. I would not recommend that you have your registration with the same company as your hosting. If your hosting company was to have a downtime and you couldn't access your account you couldn't switch the routing on your domain so you could setup your site elsewhere. Backup plans are good things - especially when you make all your money online!

Now that
you know what a blog is, what a platform is, and
what domains and hosts are, congratulate yourself!
You have just passed blogging 101. (Just joking about the test.)

Now go get posting!

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