OT-starting a cycling blog

[jgspin]

I'm thinking of starting my own cycling blog a place to write down my cycling misadventures and what not. Is there a blog 101 site that will enlighten me on the pitfalls and nuances of having a blog. Any and all advice appreciated. One requirement, it has to be a free blog site.

[riceburner]

Try Wordpress or Blogger. My good friend Emily Gresh recently started this one on Wordpress:

Swanoretti On A Bicycle
http://swanorettionabicycle.com/

[AngryScientist]

just make it whatever you want it to be. the blogger and wordpress are both super user friendly, so no worries there.

i keep mine to mainly pictures that remind me of what i was doing at the time. see my sig if you're interested.

[killacks]

...imo. We've been using it for close to two years for our baby blog.

[onekgguy]

I've been using Blogspot since I began my blog in 2003 so I can't speak to how it compares with other formats. Knowing how to do some basic HTML coding is helpful when it comes to tweaking it but it's not necessary.

You can chronicle so much within the blog depending on how much time you want to invest in it. I write mine mostly for myself, to look back on years from now and jog my memory about things I might have otherwise forgotten. It can also be a useful tool to work through things that are on your mind and may be troubling you.

Use your imagination. Let it grow in ways you never imagined at this point and see where it leads you. Enjoy.

Kevin g

[GRAVELBIKE]

I use WordPress for my GRAVELBIKE blog/site. The interface is simple, and makes it easy to post content (both images and text).

[Nooch]

Using wordpress as well for bonCourage!cycling...

found it to be more user friendly than blogspot..

[br995]

Is there a blog 101 site that will enlighten me on the pitfalls and nuances of having a blog.There are no 'nuances' to having a blog. A blog is whatever you want it to be. You write and post what you want, and people either read it or they don't. The only downside is potentially posting things that come back to bite you in the @$$ or spending too much time on it. But that's really the internet in general, innit?

[tiretrax]

A friend just started a blog for his wife on Wordpress. He says it's the easiest on which to get started. He's a literary agent, so I trust him on this.

[FastVegan]

I use blogspot or blogger, for my site http://boyauxbandit.blogspot.com/

I like how easy it is to use, I am not good at the computer and I can us it.

[Keith A]

Just a thought, what if we had a link to all the cycling blogs from the forum members. Would you guys/gals be interested in this?

[jgspin]

Thanks for the replies. Will check those out and hopefully start one soon. Question...When readers reply, if they can, can you edit their responses, for example to take out vulgar words or maybe prevent my personal information from being divulged if one of the readers happen to know who I am?

[br995]

Most (all?) blogging sites will let you screen comments before they are viewable to others on your blog. I don't know if you can edit AND post them, but you can at least prevent them from being visible to anyone but yourself.

[GRAVELBIKE]

WordPress has the option of using Akismet to filter replies to your blog. It's an absolute godsend as you'll be spammed with LOTS of fake replies to your posts.

[tiretrax]

Just a thought, what if we had a link to all the cycling blogs from the forum members. Would you guys/gals be interested in this?

That would be great, but there are so many. I had at least a hundred bookmarked on my laptop that just died. I was not happy when I couldn't retrieve them.

[Keith A]

That would be great, but there are so many. I had at least a hundred bookmarked on my laptop that just died. I was not happy when I couldn't retrieve them.My focus would be on the blogs from the forum members. We could certainly have more, but I was thinking that we could have a sticky and just have a long list with the forum member's name and a link to their blog.

[onekgguy]

Thanks for the replies. Will check those out and hopefully start one soon. Question...When readers reply, if they can, can you edit their responses, for example to take out vulgar words or maybe prevent my personal information from being divulged if one of the readers happen to know who I am?

On Blogger you can choose to either post the comment or delete. You're given no option to edit it.

Kevin g

[cassa]

Depending on how you want to blog, what kinds of posts you want to have, you might consider a "microblogging" platform like tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/why-tumblr).

[jgspin]

I don't really know what kind of blog I will be doing. Most likely ride reports with pictures, maybe reviews of equipment I use. I don't have any specific content just ramblings I guess.