Mind-Blowing Blogger Video Course

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Mind-Blowing Blogger Video Course

I came across the following free Blogger video course and ran a couple of the later videos. They impressed me so much I decided to go back to the beginning and do the full course (which is posted below). Boy am I glad I did! I discovered that many of the things I already knew had holes in it. I also learned about some tricks and resources that have turned my approach to Web 2.0 around in a new direction.

Now, here's the thing with these videos. They are short. Each video is about 3 or 4 minutes, although some are a bit longer or shorter. This quality alone makes them not boring. You can go at your own pace and understanding. You don't need to know hardly anything about the Internet and a normal 9th grade high school level of learning (or even earlier) is all you need as preparation. You can listen to one video at a time on up to a whole bunch of them during one sitting. You might want to stop after one to fool around and fiddle with what you just learned. The entire course takes about 7 hours or so.

This project is provided by Bob Sommers and his son Josh Sommers in Hawaii on his Magic With Blogger site. (All links below go to that site, although the videos are ultimately hosted on YouTube.) Bob narrates. He has a very interesting project that he developed as a marketing concept: likability. He talks about it as he goes along and uses it for examples. And likability pervades this charming course. I can't think of a more innocently enthusiastic teacher than Bob. His narration is pure delight. When you step into his universe, all the world's ugliness falls away and you get a heaping helping of the pure joy of living, learning and producing. I actually looked forward to each new video as I did the course just so I could share his worldview for a few moments.

Then I came across a wonderful surprise. While explaining why it is important to fill out your personal interests in the profile section (Blogger will provide you with a list of other blogs where the owners have given identical interests), he typed in an example. I watched slightly astonished as he typed in his favorite book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Then he showed that by doing that, Google provided him with links to over 7,000 other blogs where each owner had listed Atlas as one of his/her favorite books.

This certainly explains his commitment to competence. (As an aside, Bob Sommers is a perfect example of what I call the Silent Contingency. He is a producer of values who has been influenced by Rand. He has chosen the ideas that interest him and is happily going about his life living it as he sees fit. He does not need an Objectivist movement. On the most important level of all, his individual life, he is the movement.)

Why would you want a Blogger blog? Well, to start with, it is extremely simple-to-use for beginners, useful as all get out and free. You can have as many Blogger blogs as you want, too—thousands if you wish. But don't be fooled by the simplicity. As Bob shows during the course, it is extremely powerful if you learn it beyond the beginner level. Without paying a dime, you can transform it into a normal website, sell products and accept payments, or just use it as a running diary. You can have a group of authors. You can play with a bunch of cool audio and image features and games (among many other free programs on the Web) that tie into it. This makes it even more powerful and these resources are usually easy to operate. As Blogger is owned by Google, the advantages are impressive regardless of what you want to do. And you can make extra cash several ways, even if you don't want to do Internet for a living. But you can also make a living with it if you want to.

I can't think of a better place to start if you want to make a website and have no idea of how to go about it. As there is no cost, the only thing you invest is time. And with a course like the one below, you don't even need all that much time to do some amazing things. You can possibly solve some huge information/communication problems or even turn your life around just by watching some pleasant absorbing instruction.

I hope you enjoy this course as much as I did. When you are taken to the Magic With Blogger site during each video, I encourage you to look at the products Bob and Josh sell and at least click on an ad once in a while, and maybe even sign up for their email newsletter. You will be helping them and that is not too much to do in light of the tremendous value they provided.

Good luck to all of you who use this knowledge in your projects. I have no doubt that it will help you to achieve them successfully.

I hope I can find something half this good for Wordpress and other major Web 2.0 resources.

Michael

Magic With Blogger

Getting Started with Blogger

1. Introduction to Blogger (4:22)

2. How to Create Your Blogger Account (7:26)

3. Creating Your First Blog (2:08)

Navigating Blogger

4. Getting Around Blogger (4:53)

5. Understanding The Blogger Work Page (2:19)

6. Overview of the Tabs in Blogger (4:38)

Text and Links

7. Working With Text In Blogger (4:05)

8. Creating Links to Other Websites (3:31)

9. Creating an Email Link (1:36)

10. Formatting Text (4:11)

Uploading Images to Blogger

11. Uploading A Photo From Your Computer (4:46)

12. Uploading A Photo From Another Website (3:22)

13. Resizing Photos In Blogger (2:32)

14. Moving Photos On Blogger (2:52)

15. Finding Photos For Your Blog (4:21)

16. Resizing Pictures with KStudio (7:39)

17. Linking With Photos (1:51)

Video In Blogger

18. Uploading Video To Blogger Part 1 (2:47)

19. Uploading Video To Blogger Part 2 (1:42)

Post Options

20. Reader Comments (1:45)

21. Post Time and Date (3:34)

Managing Posts

22. Editing Posts (3:01)

23. Posting As A Draft (1:20)

Page Elements

24. Introduction to Page Elements (4:02)

25. The Header Page Element (4:43)

26. The Post Page Element (9:57)

27. Adding a Poll to Blogger (3:32)

28. The List Page Element (2:59)

29. The Link List Page Element (2:35)

30. The Picture Page Element (3:29)

31. Implementing Google AdSense With Blogger (6:15)

32. The Text Page Element (3:27)

33. The HTML and Java Page Element (4:22)

34. The Labels Page Element (4:28)

35. Adding The Blogger Logo (1:27)

36. The Archive Element (4:56)

37. The Newsreel Element (3:43)

38. The Video Bar Element (3:01)

39. Moving Page Elements (2:52)

40. The Profile Page Element (4:30)

Post Options

41. Creating Your Personal Profile (9:55)

42. Adding a Photo to Your Personal Profile (5:59)

43. Creating An Audio Message For Your Profile (4:20)

Gmail Account

44. Setting Up a Gmail Account (4:26)

Uploading Audio

45. Uploading Audio To Google's Servers (4:55)

Working With Your Template

46. Changing Your Templates Colors (3:01)

47. Using the Color Picker (3:09)

48. Selecting A Color Family (3:46)

49. Changing Your Blogs Font (2:58)

50. Saving Your Template (3:40)

51. Selecting a New Template (4:36)

52. Using Custom Templates (5:34)

53. The Customized Template Warning (3:43)

Blog Settings - Basic

54. Changing Your Blogs Title And Description (1:20)

55. Adding Your Blog To Googles Listings (1:47)

56. Show Quick Editing (1:43)

57. Show Compose Mode (2:13)

58. Show Transliteration Button (1:26)

Blog Settings - Publishing

59. Changing Your Blogspot Domain Name (1:22)

60. Send Pings (0:51) (No longer valid.)

Blog Settings - Formatting

61. Number of Posts on Home Page (2:06)

62. Change Time Stamps (2:09)

63. Convert Line Breaks (4:05)

64. Title and Link Field (5:19)

65. Enable Float Alignment (1:20)

66. Post Template (3:09)

67. Links in Post Template (6:02)

Blog Settings - Comments

68. Overview of Comments (4:30)

69. Show or Hide Comments (3:21)

70. Who Can Comment (1:18)

71. Comments Default For Posts (1:46)

72. Backlinks (5:41)

73. Comment Form Message (2:16)

74. Show Comments in a Popup Message (2:26)

75. Enable Comment Moderation (2:42)

76. Show Word Verification For Comments (4:28)

77. Show Profile Images For Comments 0:49)

78. Comment Notification (1:11)

Blog Settings - Archiving

79. Archive Frequency 0:57)

80. Enable Post Pages (1:37)

Blog Settings - Site Feed

81. Allow Blog Feeds (5:37)

82. Post Feeds Redirect URL (2:30)

83. Post Feed Footer (3:24)

Blog Settings - Email

84. Blogsend Address (1:45)

85. Mail To Blogger Address (2:36)

Blog Settings - Permissions

86. Inviting Others to Post on Your Blog (5:50)

87. Choosing Blog Readers (3:32)

Google Gadgets

88. Maps and Directions (6:01)

89. Adding Gadgets to the Sidebar (2:25)

90. Adding Games to Your Blogger Blog (2:35)

Slideshows

91. Slideshow Software Overview (5:18)

92. Uploading Slideshows to Slide.com (1:25)

93. Changing Your Slideshows Style (4:16)

94. Adding Slide Captions (2:35)

95. Adding The Slideshow To Your Blog (2:03)

96. Creating an Animoto Slide Video (4:15)

97. Adding The Animoto Slidevideo To Your Blog (2:56)

Credit Cards and PayPal

98. Accepting Credit Cards on Your Blog (3:03)

99. Setting Up Your PayPal Account (3:14)

100. Creating PayPal Code For Your Blog (3:32)

101. Adding PayPal Buttons To Your Blog (3:10)

102. Creating A Buy Now Button (4:40)

103. Repairing The Line Break Problem (3:31)

Converting Your Blog Into A Website

104. Difference Between A Blog And A Website (6:17)

105. Creating A Static Home Page (2:38)

106. Selecting A Website Template 0:57)

adding a photo to your websites header (1:21)

108. Removing Comments and Time Stamps (2:37)

109. Removing Subscribe To Posts Atom (1:50)

110. Removing Inappropriate Page Elements (1:06)

111. Removing Numbers From Labels (3:49)

112. Removing Show Posts With Label (2:29)

113. Removing New, Home and Old Posts Buttons (2:24)

114. Hiding Labels Text Under Each Post (1:34)

115. Hiding The Blogger Navigation Bar (2:52)

116. Organizing Your Navigation With Labels (3:43)

117. Building The Navigation Using a Link List (4:34)

118. Final Website Result (1:47)

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

If you are interested and a total beginner, before you even start on the course above, here is an excellent short introduction to what a blog is (2:58):

Blogs in Plain English

Now you know.

Michael