Blogger Setting - Using my CLB-TVCUG blog

Blogger has 5 groups of settings which one needs to understand.  This is so that their blogger blog can be arranged to operate as desired.  Having a basic understanding of the options available leads to a better blogging experience.

I will use my CLB-TVCUG blog as an example showings some of the basic settings.

The five blogger settings categories are -

The first category is "basic" and includes the blog title (CLB-TVCUG) , the Blog Address (computer-lunch-bunch.blogspot.com), and the blog author & email (Donald McLaughlin videodon27@gmail.com).

 

The second setting category is the "post and comments".
This includes details about who can comment and if the comments need to be moderated (reviewed).

The third setting category is "mobile and email".  Here you can enable posting via your email (disabled), adding comment notification email (videodon27@gmail.com) , and add folks you want to see new posts (provide a list of their addresses in the box).  There are 4 shown in this example.

The forth setting category is "language & formatting".  I chose English and the Pacific Time Zone.  Pretty simple.

 The fifth setting category is "other".  This has the important option to delete your blog.  If you are just trying out blogging as an experiment and are worried that you can't get out of blogging.  This is where you do it.  Remember, however, anything you created could have been saved if you made the blog public.

The setting for "your open ID URL" gives you some protection.
I have selected, "no trusted sites yet".

This summary does not cover all the option but should give you a basic understanding of the most basic options available for a blogger blog.

Blogging Basics 101 by Jessica Knapp - tips for doing a blog

This is a good resource for more experienced bloggers.  Jessica Knapp has this website -

bloggingbasics101.com

I have borrowed some of her material and posted it here for easy reference for those who want help with creating their blog(s).

Reason to Blog

Upgrade from W7 to W10

 Posted August 7, 2015

Now that I have a W7 PC, I can try to get a free upgrade to W10 from Microsoft.  I went to their web site and looked for the upgrade download.  They wanted me to install all the updates for my W7 OS first.  That seemed foolish as I was going to go right to W10 so why update the old 2009 version of W7?

They had some options:
First, you could request and upgrade and get on a waiting list or download the upgrade either to a DVD or USB flash drive. As I had to remove the worn out DVD R/W drives from the "test" PB and installed a DVD-ROM optical drive, burning a DVD was out.  I had a spare  new SATA DVD R/W but the 2005 vintage PC needed the old IDE version.

They also allowed you to down load to a USB flash drive.
I decided to download the upgrade to a blank USB flash drive.  They wanted 4 GB min but I used a 32 GB flash.  The down load took over 3 hours so I know my WiFi interconnection is slow.  The idea of having a USB flash was to use the W10 upgrade on other PCs.  I used it on the one I down loaded it to.

The upgrade from the USB flash drive took a few hours which included the setup time before I got the to the W10 screen.  Here is the initial screen -

I started looking into the W10 operation.
No more IE, instead you have a newer internet browser (MS Edge). -

The Control Panel has been replaced with "Settings" - Not really too different.  Here is the opening screen and the System Settings Screen for my "Test" Computer -

The START button has been returned (I guess it was taken away in W8.1) and give you the basics -

I need to try using the computer after installing some "aps" (Useful Programs) and source data like, text files, images, and video clips.

Video-Don-27

Updated Post - March 22, 2017

I have since this time, had to buy a new laptop as my old HP laptop failed in the summer of 2016.
It was a Vista Machine which I purchased in April of 2009.  The model was HP dv7-1243cl which had a large 17 inch monitor.  The DVD R/RW drive was slim to fit into the laptop case and worked poorly.  It was also flimsy in construction, in my judgement.  I had trouble loading CD and DVDs using it.  Other than that, I loved it.  Eventually the processor failed and I took it apart to see how it was made.  I will post those photo in another post, in the future.

The point is, I now have a W10 HP laptop, and am slowly learning to use Windows 10.  In general, I don't like it much.  My HP Vista desktop also failed in 2016, I bought a new desktop last year as well.
I got an ASUS with W7 on it and like W7 better.  I am using the large flat screen monitor I got when I got the "red test PC".

I have many books and manuals on earlier versions of MS Windows OSs but not a good Windows 10
manual yet.

So, in summary, I am using W7 mainly. and learning W10.  Most of my real computer work is done on the Desktop where most of my "good PC SW tools" reside.  The newer W10 wants me to buy new SW tools.  I can't afford two sets of many sets of software.

Here are some of the tools:

Photoshop
MS Office (I still use 2003)
Pinnacle Studio (I have version 18 on the W7 but still have a license for 14 & 15 which were on the two Vista Computers which failed in 2016.
ACDSee 20 (My older version 7 is no longer supported)
FantaMorph 5 from Abrosoft (morphing SW)
GIF Animator 3 (no longer supported but still installs and works)
Splash Lite (Free video player - supports MP4 which I use mostly as my Camcorder creates these)
Nero for CD and DVD data creation or copies.

I am slowly adding tools to the laptop.

VideoDon27

Note - Much of my "computer work" is editting photo images and creating videos for my YouTube accounts (2 - Yahoo and Gmail based)

Windows 7 "Test" Computer

Original Post - August 7, 2015

I have  used  most of the Microsoft Windows programs starting with W95 and going up to W7.
I liked W98 and XP and was forced to go to Vista which I still use along with XP.  I had W7 but went back to Vista and after wiping the Hard Drive.  I re-installed the original software using the backup disk. I felt it was always nice to have the install disc as it was common to wipe a hard drive and go back to day one (the day the PC was born - or at least turned on for the first time at my home).

I never use Windows 8.1 and now that you can get Windows 10 for free I decided I need to at least try it.
So I needed a PC with Windows 7 that I would be willing to use as a "test" computer.

I had an old computer that needed work to get going again and I decided that would be the "test" PC.
It was built as a custom PC in 2005 so I began as an XP based computer.  It got upgraded to Vista and later to W7.  But the Hard Drive needed to be replaced.  I bought a new 2 TB HD and installed Windows 7. It has a 3 GHz microprocessor and 2 Mega Bytes (MB) of RAM.

The upgrade disc allowed me to load a black HD as long as I didn't need the files.

Here is the PC -

 Update - March 22, 2017

I got this PC from the wife of a computer friend of mine who passed away.  So she sold me his computer and a bunch of other computer related items (Monitor, Printer, cards, cables, and Software0.

I since have abandoned it as it was difficult to use and upgrade.

I have had many other computers which I got from other people and experimented with.  As newer versions came along I have abandoned them as well.  This PC was born as an XP computer and was a 2005 vintage machine.  It got up graded to Vista and later to Windows 7.  When I later tried to up grade it to W10 (after the free upgrade period from MS was over) I could not get it authorized as I had not authorized the earlier version (why do the up grades when I was just "passing thru" to get to W10.  Anyway it has been recycled along with many of my older computers and monitors (mostly W98 and XP based machines).

This is some very basic information about blogs (the item) and blogging (creating them).

I have found them to be very interesting for a number of reasons:

1. Unlike web sites and wine tasting here in California (both use to be free 10 - 15  years ago) some blogs are still  FREE.  The platforms are free and the hosting is free ( blog platforms - 

Blogger and Tumblr, for example).  Those are the two I have chosen to start with here in 2015.

2. You can have almost an endless amount of them.  I have started a few this year to play with and learn about them.  I hope to spent this year learning what my real "blogger calling" is.  In 2016 I expect to limit the types to those I have a real passion for.  By having many, you can have different topics in each and cover many interests.

3. You can post a variety of items - just text, images, images with captions / descriptions (like this one), video clips, GIFs, links, and other media.

4. They can be interactive - people can comment on yours and you can comment on theirs.

You have to "join a blog platform" to comment (Similar to Youtube and Facebook).  Anyone can view blogs but only active members can interact.  You don't have to actually post anything you created but you need and ID and password.  You can reblog other peoples posted material on your blog or create your own posts.  You can submit items to someone elses blog. You can "follow" their blog and they can follow your blog.  So there is a blogging community like Facebook & Twitter.

5. It is easy to quit blogging and delete you existing blog(s).  This is a real plus if you are not sure about blogging and want to "test drive" one.