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What is a Blog?

Also known as WeB log, is a web site that has entries listed in reverse chronological order. It is basically a journal or a diary available on the web for everyone to see. Blogs also allow viewers to post their comments on the articles or entries posted by the “owner” of the Blog, who is also known as the BLOGGER.

So it's a website. Why don't you call it that instead of giving it a new name?

Yes, it's true that blogs are websites that have lots in common. They are means to publish information and are present on the internet.

While both can be created by just about anyone, a blog tends to be lot more dynamic with posts being updated on a regularly basis and with content that has time stamps. In addition, blogs are also interactive allowing viewers to type in their comments.
In a website an update might include changing of images, layout, pages etc., whereas for a blog the overall structure remains the same and new posts keep getting added.

So who can setup a Blog?

The one word answer to this question is- Anyone. Yes, any entity can create a blog. It could be about one's personal journal, travel details, a photo album or even full fledged articles. There is no limit to the possibilities of what a blog can be about.

So what do I need to setup my own Blog?

Since a blog can be broken down in certain standard components, it is very easy for Bloggers to share the same resources and structure for hosting their Blog. There are many webhosts, companies, others who offer Blog space to users. Blogs can be paid or free.
All you need is to decide what your blog is about and visit one of the many online blog providers. Ofcourse there is no rule that a Blog needs to be about a specific topic, but conventionally blogs are used as an information outlet or a forum covering a specific area. This generates active interest in viewers and enthusiasts and leads to the success of a blog.

So why are Blogs so popular?

Blogs have gained popularity mainly due to the rise of tools that allow users to easily publish what they want online. Even with WYSIWYG tools, users were not comfortable creating, publishing and updating their websites. A blog allowed them to do away with the nitty-gritties and focus on publishing their content without knowing even HTML.
With everyone entitled to one's opinion and even more entitled to share it with others, it was only a matter of time before Blogging would become the next big thing in content publishing. A small community of a handful of blogs as recent as 1998, today there are over 3 million blogs worldwide.

What are some popular Blog tools?

Just as blogs have proliferated, blogging tools are also available in every nook and corner of the internet.

A very limited list of the popular blog tools follows:
a) Blogger: One of the first and most popular blogging tools, Blogger is a one stop comprehensive blogging tool. It not only allows you to create and manage your blog and publish it to your own website or server space, it also offers blog hosting at http://www.blogspot.com.

They follow a model of Basic/Advanced for Free/Premium to cater to the needs to the highly diverse (an understatement) community.

b) Livejournal.com: Again a free/fee based service that has its bloggers closely interlinked into an online community. They too offer a number of value added features such as “mood icons” and “current music” for some fee.

c) BlogComp: A tool that allows you to compare the features of upto 5 blog tools to assist you in selecting your tool.

What information do I need to enter in a Blog?

While the sky is the limit for the type of information one can enter in a blog, a blog in general does have some standard features.
They are:

1. Blog Title

2. Sub-Title

3. Date Stamp

4. Entry title

5. Entry's main body

6. Blog Author

7. Comments tag

8. Time stamp

9. links

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