01.11
Need help with all this blogging and twittering stuff? Keep reading…
What is a blog anyway?
A blog, short for web log, is basically a website that lists a collection of “posts” that are published by a group or individual on a somewhat regular basis.
How do I contribute?
While only certain people can enter a blog “post”, the main interaction by readers is to submit comments on these “posts” and reply to others. On this blog, you can see the comments by clicking on the blog title. If you want to add a comment, then click on the link just under the title of each “post” labeled “Add Comment.” By clicking that link you can enter your comments in the form. (Note: you can’t add a comment from the Home page. You must click on the title of the blog and go to the individual blog before you can add a comment.)
You can also comment on someone’s comment. To do this, just click on “reply” and submit your comment.
Be advised that everyone can see your comments.
Subscribing to updates
There are a couple of ways to have blog posts sent to you rather than you having to visit the site. This blog includes an RSS feed that can be used to subscribe to updates. The universal icon for an RSS feed looks like this 
. When you see this it means a feed is available for the site.
An RSS feed is really just a type of file that contains articles from a blog or news site. But it must be “read” by a particular type of software called an RSS reader or feed reader. Most modern Web browsers include a built-in feed reader. Check your browser’s documentation for details.
You can use the tools on the right column of this blog to add posts to iGoogle, My Yahoo!, or even have the posts sent to your inbox using the Feed My Inbox service.
When prompted for the feed’s URL, enter: http://www.westcobbchurch.com/blog/feed/
Helpful links: RSS feed information, iGoogle, My Yahoo!, Feed My Inbox
What about Twitter?
Twitter is referred to as a “microblog” because it is made up of short text messages (tweets) that are sent on a more frequent basis than a regular blog. You can “subscribe” to a person’s twitter feed by becoming a follower. The first step is to create a Twitter account (FREE – https://twitter.com/signup). Then, you can follow a person or group. You can even enter your phone number and have the tweets sent as a text message, if you want to get tweets as soon as they’re sent.
Further help
If you need even more help on “social networking” lingo or more instructions, check out the sites below:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/help/start
Blogs: http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging
If you have other questions, click “Add Your Comment” (below), type your question into the “Comment” section, click the submit button, and then check back later for your answer.
