Blogs and RSS Feeds
An Introduction to the Read/Write Web
Kenneth Gerard Pinto
(e) citpkg@nus.edu.sg (o) 1531
Centre for Instructional Technology

Introductions
Name
Department
Interests

Admin
• Bookmark
• http://www.blogger.com/
• http://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/blogsfeeds/
• http://www.google.com/reader

Admin
• Remember your passwords
• Register for a blog using an active email
address
• Interesting sites: Add to your blog or wiki
• Window control - Try not to open so many

Admin
• Glossary
• URL or Address :
http://www.thisisaurl.com/
• Copy : Right click > Copy OR Ctrl-C
• Paste : Right click > Paste OR Ctrl-V

Blogs

Leshon Lee
The Young

Leshon Lee
The Young

Lam Chun See
The Young at Heart

Lao Ko Kok
The Young at Heart

N. Sivasothi
Academics

Bernard Leong
Academics

George Yeo
Politicians

George Yeo
Incidentally, he’s on Facebook too!
Politicians

Siew Kum Hong
Politicians

NUS Libraries
NUS Departments

School of Computing
NUS Departments

National Parks
Government Departments

National Library Board
Government Departments

Patricea
Mothers

Sarah
Mothers

Leslie Tay - Doctor
Dual Personality

Leslie Tay - Foodie
Dual Personality

Tiong Bahru
Places

Pasir Panjang
Places

Paul Barter -
Policy
Public Transport

Muhammad Hafiz -
Enthusiast
Public Transport

Blogger characteristics

Have a passion
Blogger characteristics

Like to read
Blogger characteristics

Like to explore
Blogger characteristics

Willing to share
Blogger characteristics

Why blog?

To communicate
Why blog?

To build community
Why blog?

To flex the mind
Why blog?

Blog about?

Your passions!
Blog about?

Time to think
Blog about?

Blogs in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs

Quickstart
• Start a blog in less than 10 minutes
• First post:
• What is my blog going to be about?
• Go to http://www.blogger.com/
Let’s start!

Write your first post!

Share your blog URL
• Go to
http://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/
blogsfeeds
• Click Today’s Participants
• Click your name
• Click Edit (near top right)
• Copy and paste your blog URL i.e.
http://yourblogurl.blogspot.com/
• Click Save (top right corner of text field)

Finding similar blogs

Search
Finding similar blogs

blogsearch.google.com
Finding similar blogs

technorati.com
Finding similar blogs

Using Blogrolls
Finding similar blogs

2nd post: Blogs I’ve
found that interest me
Finding similar blogs

Blog Terminology

Post/Entry
Blog Terminology

Permalink
Blog Terminology

http://yours.blogspot.com/
vs
http://yours.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-post.html
Blog Terminology

Date
Blog Terminology

Comments
Blog Terminology

Archives (Categories)
Blog Terminology

Archives (Date)
Blog Terminology

Blogroll
Blog Terminology

RSS Feed
Blog Terminology

Blogging Tips

Be unique
Blogging Tips

Be first
Blogging Tips

Be the expert
Blogging Tips

Nuts and Bolts

Dashboard

Posting > Create Post

Posting > Edit Posts

Settings > Basic

Settings > Basic

Settings > Basic

Settings > Basic

Don’t worry about
Settings > Publishing

Settings > Formatting

Settings > Formatting

Settings > Comments

Settings > Comments

Settings > Comments

Don’t worry about
Settings > Archiving

Settings > Site Feed

Don’t worry about
Settings > OpenID

Settings > Email

Settings > Permissions

Layout > Page Elements

Adding Media

3rd Post
Adding media

Add a photo
Adding media

Add a video
Adding media

Add a document
Adding media

Maximising your blog

Write, write, write
Maximising your blog

Read, read, read
Maximising your blog

Link, link, link
Maximising your blog

Comment, comment,
comment
Maximising your blog

Blog Issues

Copyright
Blog issues

Privacy
Blog issues

Libel & Slander
Blog issues

Feeds

RSS in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

Netflix vs Video Store?

Identifying Feeds

RSS XML Atom
Subscribe
Identifying Feeds

The Orange Button
Identifying Feeds

Identifying Feeds

Using Google Reader

Demo
Using Google Reader

Adding Feeds
1. Click the feed link or graphic
2. Highlight and Copy (Ctrl-C) the URL
3. Click Add Subscription
4. Paste (Ctrl-V) the URL to the Add
Subscription text field
5. Done!
Using Google Reader

Practice
Try subscribing to...
• Good Morning Yesterday
• Today Online
• A blog that interests you (remember your
2nd blog post)
• Any other blog or site that is RSS enabled
Using Google Reader

Not just for blogs
You can also subscribe to...
• News
• Photos e.g. Flickr
• Bookmarks e.g. Delicious
•
Using Google Reader