How to create a blog or a space using Vistas programs

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Create a Space on Windows Live Spaces

Windows Live Spaces is Microsoft’s free social-networking site. Windows Live Spaces was formerly known as MSN Spaces before Microsoft brought it into the fold of Live services. A Space lets you create standard elements such as your profile, a blog, a photo book, and lists of items you like for example, songs or movies. By filling in all the blanks, you can quickly create a personal web presence that gives visitors some idea of you, your interests, and your tastes. You can choose whether to make your Space public so that anybody on the Internet can view it or restrict it to a list of friends whom you choose. These features are attractive for social networking, but you may find them limiting if you want to create either a focused website or a blog that doesn’t have distractions. To create a Windows Live Space, you must have a Windows Live ID, which is the new name for what used to be Microsoft Passport. If you have a Hotmail account or an MSN account, you already have a Windows Live ID. If not, you can sign up for a Windows Live ID by pointing your web browser to http://get.live.com/windowsvista/winlive/or taking the following steps:

1. Choose Start Control Panel. Windows displays a Control Panel window.

2. Click the System and Maintenance link. Windows displays the System and Maintenance window.

3. Click the Welcome Center link. Windows displays the Welcome Center window.

4. In the Offers from Microsoft area, double-click the Go Online to Learn about Windows Live icon.

Write a Blog

Blog or web log sites such as Blogger.com http://www.blogger.com make it easy to create an ongoing journal in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent item appears at the top where the reader sees it first. Blog sites tend to follow a mostly standard format but allow you to customize it by using different templates. Blogs are typically best suited for text-based information, but some sites host other kinds of blogs, such as video blogs.

Posting to a Blog

The procedure for posting to a blog varies from site to site. Most blog sites provide a web-based mechanism for creating blog posts through a web browser; you can either type the text directly into the boxes on the web page or copy it from an existing document and paste it in. Many sites also allow you to post from other devices, including mobile phones.

Blogging from Microsoft Word 2007

If you have Microsoft Word 2007, you can publish a document directly to a blog on certain blogging sites, including Windows Live Spaces and Blogger. To set Word up for blogging, take the following steps:

1. In Word, click the Office Button, and then click New. Word displays the New Document dialog box.

2. In the Templates box, click the Blank and Recent item, and then choose the New Blog Post item.

3. Click the Create button. Word creates a new blog document, displays the Blog Post tab of the Ribbon, and opens the Register a Blog Account dialog box.

4.Click the Register Now button. Word displays the New Blog Account dialog box, as shown here.

5. In the Blog drop-down list, select your blog provider, and then click the Next button. Word displays a dialog box with options for the blog provider you chose, as in the example shown here for Blogger.

6. Enter your username and password, select the Remember Password check box if you want Word to store the password for your convenience, and choose any other options that are available. Then click the OK button. Word sets up the account for blogging. Once you’ve created your post in the Word document, you can publish it by choosing Office Button Publish Blog.

Post Materials to Content-Specific Sites

If you have only a particular type of content to post, consider a content-specific site. For example:

• If your only content is videos of your band performing, you might post them to YouTube http://www.youtube.comor a similar video site, where they may receive more views than on your own website.

• If you have only photos to post, you might use a photo-specific site such as Flickr http://www.flickr.com.

The Bottom Line Resolve content, copyright, and quality issues You can freely publish any material that you’ve created yourself and whose rights you haven’t assigned to anyone else. You’ll need permission to distribute anyone else’s copyrighted content. While you can publish material of any quality at all to the Web, higher-quality content tends to draw more eyeballs and more return visits.

Create your own website For full control over your web presence, create your own website, either on space provided by your ISP or on space you rent from a web-hosting company. You can create HTML files using any tool from Notepad upward, but you’ll probably want to get a web page editor if you’re creating a full-featured site.

Create a Space on Windows Live Spaces Windows Live Spaces lets you quickly create a personal web presence within a canned format. You can make your Space available only to specified friends or to everyone online.

Write a blog A blog lets you easily create an online journal, with the most recent post appearing at the top of the page. You typically create blog content by using a web page, but you may also be able to post from other devices or directly from Microsoft Word 2007.

Post materials to content-specific sites Content-specific sites such as YouTube videos or Flickr photos let you post particular content types for others to browse. Such sites can provide greater visibility for your material than a personal website or a Space.