There are many different blogging platforms to allow users to create and maintain blogs. An understanding of the basic terminology used will help any beginner use the different blogging software with confidence.
What is a Blog?
A blog is like a website and an online diary combined. It usually has pages just like a website and posts, which are like diary entries or logs.
Blogs can be used as a marketing tool for business and users can blog for free.
The Blog Template or Theme
A blog theme and a blog template are essentially the same thing. Two common blogging platforms are Blogger (which uses templates) and Wordpress (which uses themes).
The theme is the look and feel of the website, incorporating elements such as the layout used, colors, font size and typeface, headings, layouts and images.
It is possible to change the theme or template without affecting the blog content (the written words).
Blog Category or Label
Categories allow the different parts of a blog to be categorized and then sorted so that only items relevant to that category are displayed. For example if two blog posts are written about computers and three blog posts about software, then all five posts can be seen by all visitors. However a visitor interested in computers can select just the items related to computers.
When setting up a new blog it is a good idea to identify four or five categories and categorize all posts and pages appropriately. An item (post or page) is allowed to be in more than one category.
Blog Page
A blog page is just like a web page. It contains information that does not change very often. For example, a contact details page or an about me page. The blog will also contain a page for all the blog posts.
Blog pages can appear in the search engines just like normal web pages.
Blog Post
A blog post is an entry in the blog. It has a title as well as the main text. Posts tend to be short and can be on any topic. For example:
- Good news the writer has received
- An event the writer is attending
- A write-up of an event attended
- News about a new product or service
- Latest photographs of a conversion project
- Opinion on a news story
Blog posts are the reason why blogs exist. They are very easy to write and can be published immediately, so information is live on the internet very quickly.
Each blog post can appear in the search engines just like a normal web page. This means that a blogger (a person who blogs) can have many entries in a search engine with just one blog.
Blog Excerpt
A blog excerpt is a short description of a blog post or a blog page. It is displayed in various places on the internet. For example it can be used as the description of a page or post by search engines.
Understanding the basic terminology used by blogging software and bloggers will help beginners blog with confidence.
Dawn Brewer - I have a portfolio career - as a writer, management consultant, instructor and coach - after twenty years in the corporate world. My ...
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