Writing.Com 101

If you have an Upgraded Membership or higher, you can create a Writing.Com Blog. A blog, which is internet slang for a web log, is an online diary or journal featured in your Writing.Com portfolio in your Blog tab.

Although you can set your Blog access to be open to the internet, a Writing.Com Blog is designed for interacting with the audience of the Writing.Com community. Only members who are logged in can post comments to your Blog, Like entries or comments, or rate/review your Blog.

Set Up Your Blog Tab
The first step is to create a Book item with the sub-type Journal/Blog. This subtype allows the most entries in the Book and depends on your paid membership level: 725 entries max for Upgraded members and 1450 entries max for Premium+ members. Any Book item can be used as your Blog since the Blog tab overrides certain settings in the Book item. (For more information on creating a Book item, please see: "Create/Edit a Book" ).

After you have created your Book item, copy the Book's item ID number and enter it into the text box on your Blog tab in your portfolio, and click Setup my Blog. Your Book item is now connected to your account features as your Blog, and is accessible through the Blog tab of your portfolio as well as through the regular portfolio listing.

Access Your Blog
Once you've set up your Blog, you can quickly access it via the Blog link in the left navigation menu, via the Blog tab in your portfolio, or via browser favorites or a link by using the Writing.Com URL provided in your Blog's header.

Using the Blog Tab Features
Associating your Book item with your Blog tab enables some conveniences for the author.

You can add entries on the same page by clicking into the text box provided under your Blog's header text. The entry title text box, access restrictions menu, and passkey text boxes are beneath the entry body text box rather than above it as in a regular Book item.

When viewing your Blog, custom links will be shown in the left hand column of the page. To set up your links, click Manage Blog Links under the Blog's calendar in the left nav menu. The Manage Blog Links button is only shown on the Book item you have set up to be your one and only Blog. You can set up links in four different sections, and each category can have up to 25 links; to save changes, click the Update Blog Links button at the bottom of the page:

A small calendar displayed in the left nav menu tracks the days when entries are added. Clicking on the month or the left/right arrows displays entries added during that month. Below the calendar are links to Archive, which is a TOC listing of the entries, and an RSS feature.

You can monitor the number of entries used out of the number allowed, and the file size usage of the Book item near the top of its Manage Book page, which is linked in the Item Tools menu (click the gear icon at the upper right of the item).

Change Your Blog Item
You can have only one Book item assigned to your Blog tab. When the current Book item becomes full, or if you decide to change things up, you can change the Book item assigned to your Blog tab. To change your Blog tab item to another Book item, or to remove it, click the gear icon at the upper right to open the Item Tools menu, and click on Change Blog Item. [Alternatively, you can click the My Account/Account Settings link in the left navigation menu. Scroll down to Account Settings, and click on Personal Display Options.] On this page, find the text box and enter the item ID number for your new Blog Book item and click Submit Changes. To remove a Book item from your Blog tab, delete the Book's item ID number from the Blog Item text box and click Submit Changes. The old Book item will still be accessible as a regular item in your portfolio, but the special Blog tab features will no longer be available with it.

Additional Notes
While you can only have one Book item displayed on your Blog tab, which is listed on the Bloggers page and the Browse By Type/Blogs item listing page, you can have more than one Book item set up in the Blog style and formatting and stored in your portfolio. All other Book items set up as Blogs are listed on the Browse By Type/Books item listing page. The main search page (Community/Search All items with Type set to Books/Journal/Blog) does not differentiate between the two.

If you need to change your membership level from Premium+ to Upgraded, you should prepare your portfolio for the transition before it happens. Check that the entry and file space usage in your Blog item will fit within the requirements for the Upgraded membership. Otherwise the Blog item will become full and you will not be able to add or edit entries.1