Did you know that almost 6 new posts are published on WordPress blogs every second? That averages 342 posts per minute, just above 20,000 per day and a grand total of 7.49 million annually! Blogs are places to collect and share things that you find interesting —whether it's your personal diary, comments and links to websites you want to remember, or about your hobbies, personal interests, or business related stuff. Some bloggers earn a salary through blogging! If you enjoy writing, this activity may help you get some money in your pocket one day. Keep in mind that creating a blog may be simple, but keeping a blog "alive" requires discipline and commitment. Most successful blogs are updated daily!
READ
First things first
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A point of clarification: Why use WordPress.com instead of WordPress.org?
DISCOVER
Famous blogs!
- Arguably, the most profitable blog on the Internet! - Huffington Post (Teens' Section)
- The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change - Watts Up With That? (award winner weblog of the year)
- Failing at Pinterest pins so you don’t have to - Pintester (finalist for weblog of the year)
- A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language - XKCD (most humorous weblog)
CREATE
Tools
- Access to a computer with Internet connection
- A WordPress.com account
Tutorials to assist you:
IMPORTANT NOTE: In this activity you will use WordPress.com to create your online blogging website. WordPress.com is free and completely online. There are many other blogging sites on the Internet but WordPress was chosen for this module because of its ease of use, flexibility, and the ability to create multiple pages.
Step-by-step
- Review the tutorials before you sign up for a blog account
- Get an account for a free blog at wordpress.com
- Decide the topic you want to blog about
- Select a free theme to display your own banner or header graphic
- Create three pages: Home Page, About, and Resources and add content
- Add music or video (such as embedded YouTube video) to at least one page of your blog. If you have already created a digital story, you may embed that here for extra points!
- Personalize your blog by adding Widgets of your own choosing. Some good ones are Page, Links, Calendar, and Search.
- Post the link to your blog website in your Portfolio.
Need an advanced approach? Enhance your blog!
- If you have some experience coding, try a more advanced approach to blogging by creating a custom theme for your blog
- Get creative by adding a QR code to your blog
- You can compare and even try other blogging platforms
ACHIEVE
Don't forget to talk to your librarian about all the reading, discovering and creating you're doing this summer to earn your Achieve Badge!
Rahm’s Readers is made possible by The James & Madeleine McMullan Foundation, Cubs Care, Comcast, Dr. Scholl Foundation, CPL Foundation Junior Board, Helen M. Harrison Foundation, Macys, Peoples Gas, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, ComEd, R.R. Donnelley, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation, Verizon and RPM Advertising through the Chicago Public Library Foundation.
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