I guess the first question to ask is What is a blog?

I thought it would be good to start with some definitions:

"Blog" is just a shortened form of "Web log" meaning a log or journal or diary that you keep online.  A

"Blogging" then means writing blog entries.

"Posting" is what it is called when you have written your blog and you click the publish button so that the blog is made live and everyone can see it.

"Post" - A post is either a single entry in a blog or you could say "I'm going to post this in my blog" meaning "I am going to publish an entry about this in my online journal".  But the first way is much quicker!

In Minti, all blogs are open to the public.  So be careful that you don't give away details of your name or location that you would not be comfortable with the world knowing.  There is some great advice on Minti about staying safe while using the internet that is worth having a read of before you begin.

So let's write a blog!

Getting Started
To start, find the link titled "blog" in the orange bar at the top right-hand side of the web page.  Click on this and it will take you to your personal blog.  All the entries are in date order with the most recent being at the top of the page.  Above the most recent entry will be today's date and a link in green that says "Add a blog entry".  So if you're ready, just click on the link.

You will then be taken to another screen that has a green box with two white boxes inside it.  The title above the top white box says "Please write your blog below".

The first white box is for your title.  This can be whatever you like.  But it can help if it relates to the content of your blog.  Sometimes not always easy.  Just click in the box and type your title.

The second white box is for the content of your blog.  Again, this can be whatever you like (so long as its within the Minti Code of Honor and Terms of Service).  Just click in the box and start writing!  For an example of what a blog is like, have a look at Rachel's blog.  You can talk about what happened to you that day, you can advertise your business (one of the few places on Minti that it is acceptable to do so is in your blog), you can just give your opinion on goldfish kisses if you like! 

There is a small toolbar at the top of the white box which you can use to give your writing emphasis.

• You can put words in bold by clicking the "B" button.
• You can put words in italics by clicking the "i" button.
• You can put emoticons in by clicking the "" button.
• You can add numbered lists by clicking the "123" button.
• You can add bulleted lists (like this one!) by clicking the button with three dots.
• You can add links to other places on the net (either inside or outside of Minti) using the button with the picture of world and a chain below it.
• You can "unlink" an existing link in your blog by using the button with the picture of the world and a broken chain below it.
• You can also add pictures to your blogs if you want.  For this use the button with the yellow background and what looks like grey mountains and a grey sun on it.

Adding links to your blog
Perhaps you've referred to some other place in your blog and you want your audience to be able to find the same place that you have.  I find the best way to start is to find the web page you're interested in on the net (perhaps in a second window) and highlight and copy the web address at the top of the page.  I use Ctrl + C to copy in this circumstance.

When you're in the contents section of your blog, click the "insert link" button described above.  A little grey pop-up box will appear.  Although this box gives you a few options, I personally have never needed them.  My advice is just to click in the empty white box underneath where it says "URL" and then paste your web address. I always do this by using Ctrl + V.   Then click "OK" and the web address will appear in your blog.  It will be in blue with an underline to show that the reader can click on this and it will take them directly to that web address.

You might want for the link to be a bit tidier and show what the link is for, rather than the whole address.  For example, you might want to say "Go and visit minti" rather than "Go and visit minti www.minti.com."  To do this, first highlight the word or phrase that you want linked.  In the example this was the word "minti".  Then  click the insert link button and enter the web address as before.  When you click "OK", the word or phrase you highlighted will now be blue and underlined, and if you click on it, will take you to the web address you specified.

If you have a link in your blog and you only want the words to show and not the link e.g. "www.minti.com", then highlight the address (or word or phrase) in blue and click the "unlink" button specified above.

Adding pictures to your blog
If you would like to add pictures to your blog, then you first need to upload the photo onto Minti.  I often have a separate window open to do that.  I've written another advice on how to do that, so I won't go into it here.  Then click the "Insert image" button that looks like the picture of mountains.  This will bring up a grey pop-up box titled "Image properties".  To add your picture:

• First you need to find the picture.  Click the button on the right hand side that says "Browse server".
• This will bring up a list of the photos that you have uploaded to Minti.
• Go through the list and click the title of the photo that you want to add.
• When you do that, it will close the list box and should open the photo up in the preview pane at the bottom right hand side of the grey box.  This can take a while so be patient.  If it doesn't come up after a reasonable length of time, you might need to try choosing your photo again by redoing the first few steps.
• When you are happy with the photo in the preview pane, click "OK". 
• The grey box should close and the photo appear in your blog.  
• If the photo does not appear but instead you get a red cross in a box, then it has not worked.  Click on the red cross to highlight it and press backspace or delete to delete it.  Try adding your photo again.  Sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get it.

So now you have a picture in your blog!

Posting your blog
Now that you're happy with the title and the content, you can post your blog.  To do this, click the green "save" button under the white box.  Your blog is now live for everyone to read and comment on.

If you then find your entry in your blog, you will notice that underneath the title it has some information. 

• The first bit of information is the time your blog was published.
• The second tells you how many comments there are on your blog.  This is also a hyperlink to let you look at those comments.
• The third is how many visits there have been to your blog.  It only counts as a visit if someone clicks on the title and looks at that blog in isolation, so people can be reading it and you may not know it. 
• The fourth is a link that allows you to edit your blog.
• The fifth is a link that allows you to delete your blog.

Editing your blog
Click on the hyperlink mentioned above.  It will open up your blog in the same form as it was when you first wrote it.  Make any changes you need then click the green "save" button to repost your blog.

Deleting your blog
You might decide that you no longer want or need a particular entry in your blog.  To delete it, click the "delete" hyperlink mentioned above.  When you do so, it will come up with a box that says "Are you sure you want to delete this entry?".  If you are, then click "OK".  Otherwise, click "Cancel".  Easy!

So now you have all the know how to write your own blog.  All that's left is deciding what to write about!