Blogging!

Blogging is one way of broadcasting on the web. It is a series of 'posts' and 'comments' about a common theme (ie Clarencourt Cycling Club). You can 'post' a story onto the blog and get then get 'comments' back about it. The 'comments' are linked to the 'post' and so anybody reading the post can see the history of the conversation. Rather than 'comment' you could 'post' a reply yourself which could then get 'comments'.

An example: I will 'post' information about the proposed 'Guildford-Brighton-Guildford' day out on the blog. The advantage to me is that I can put a wide range of material about it and then wait for people's questions (or 'comments'). The questions (ie, can I use a touring bike for the trip?) will be seen by anybody prompting them to ask further questions that in turn will be seen by everybody and so we can organise the event in a very organic way.

The trick is to get people used to looking at the blog every week or even every day if there is a lot going on. A 'post' can be text, images, both, links to interesting sites or articles, video..etc the list is extensive. The blog supplements the newsletter and the website and also, to a certain extent; email, telephone, face-to-face contact, club nights and 'word of mouth' - although this is a quite a list of ways of contacting people it is clear that different methods will suit different people in different situations (we haven't even mentioned Facebook yet! but it may be worth considering a page if we want to attract new and younger members).

Have a go (see below), and don't be worried if it 'goes wrong'. If you have any problems let me know and I'll go through it with you. Lastly, you need to ensure that if there is anyone in the club without access to a computer that they might be interested in hearing about what is going on to - don't forget about them.

Steve


You need a Google account to use the blog to either 'post' or 'comment':
To set up a Google Account go to:
http://www.google.co.uk
and hit
Sign in on the top right, you will be taken to a default page
hit
Don't have a Google Account? Create an account now
you will be taken to a page where you set up an account, its quick, easy and free. With a Google account you get access to all kinds of stuff which is not the subject of this email. You can also get to the blog through your Google Accounts page as well, go to Blogger under My Products and remember you can sign in and out whenever you like.


To write a 'comment':
Go to the website www.clarencourt.com and hit the READ OUR BLOG button or go to http://clarencourt.blogspot.com and click on the comments link of the relevant 'post', (the link is found at the bottom right of each post), write in the box provided, sign in then hit PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT.


To write a 'post':
Go to the website www.clarencourt.com and hit the READ OUR BLOG button or go to http://clarencourt.blogspot.com and sign in.

Once you are signed in there are quite a few options but the only ones you need concern yourself about are:

NEW POST - Allows you to upload text, images and video and put in links to other things on the web, just type in what you would like to say and hit PUBLISH POST. You will be told if it is successful and asked if you want to view the blog, edit it or create another new post.

Edit Post - Allows you to edit your post or delete it, it is generally the administrative section of the blog not seen by the public.

View Blog - Allows you to view the blog.