In the Brainpeace.com header line,

you can place your mouse on My Account, then select Profile, then select Change Avatar. Follow the directions to upload a picture (in stated formats) to be shown to other users. The picture can be a personal photo or just an image that you like. Remember that your avatar is visible to anyone who accesses your blog.

Now on to the real reason why you are reading this. How do you put your information on your blog? Think of it in the following manner. You write your story – long or short doesn’t matter. You get your story where you are happy with it and then you want to post it on the board for others to read. In this case, we are far away from each other so we are going to post it on a computer board, called a blog. So in blog terminology, what you write is called a Post and placing it on the board for others to read is called Publish. Later on, you can edit your Post and change it if you found something wrong and then you just re-Publish. Don’t you wish it was that easy in school to fix something. The best way to see if you did it right is to either logout from the blog application (click logout button) or have a friend check it for you. If you logout and then enter your blog address, you will see what others see. If your post is not showing, then log back in going to the Dashboard. Under the Right Now (At A Glance) box, you will see how many Posts, Pages, etc. you have.

Figure 1. Dashboard At a Glance Section

Click on Post and it will bring up a screen that will allow you to create new Post, edit existing Post, or delete Post. Just bring your mouse over the Post title area and you will see the actions that you can take.

Figure 2. Dashboard Edit Posts Section

Now you notice in the picture above, that there are Categories. This allows you to group your articles in some fashion that makes sense for you. You do not need to create categories unless you want to. If you don’t then all of your Posts will be in one group and that is okay. If you want to add Categories, then click on the Categories button on the main Dashboard (see Figure 1). There may be several ways to add Categories but this is an easy way to remember. As you can see from Figure 3, just enter Category name and press Add Category button bottom.

Figure 3. Dashboard Categories Section

Now to get started with your Dahn blog, you will need the following:

• Address for your blog. For instance, mine is www.laurelsjourney.com.
• Username and password sent from brainpeace.com (contact Phil if you did not receive or accidentally deleted/lost it)

Now the username is probably fairly easy to remember but the password is just confusing.  Let me tell you how to change the password to something that means something to you.  I don’t recommend setting the computer to remember it for you because when you need to use someone else’s computer or you have to replace your computer, then you don’t know your password to log on.

After you logged in, you should be in the Dashboard view.  If you still see your blog main page, then click on the SysAdmin button and it will take you to your blog dashboard.  Click on Profile and scroll to the bottom of the page where you can enter your new password.  You will need to enter it twice so that the system can make sure you are entering the information that you wanted.  You can also fill in any of the profile fields that you want.  If you fill in the About Yourself box, just remember that the information is public.  Make sure that you click on Update Profile to save your changes including password changes.

Your blog looks like it does because of the theme that was last selected.  Themes are changeable by an Admin user.  Don’t wait to do your post until you get the perfect theme.  Start blogging and then look for your theme when you become more of a power user.  If you don’t have admin privilege, then you don’t have the ability to change your theme anyway.  But don’t worry, themes can be changed at any time.

This is also a good link for basic definitions of the Dashboard from WordPress.

http://en.support.wordpress.com/dashboard/

Well you are now a blogger because Phil just set you up with your very own blog based on a web address that you helped decide with him.  For new computer users, the web address is the information that you type in the bar at the top of your web browser (like Explorer, Safari, or Firefox).  When you enter the address and press the return key, your computer takes you to that address through the magical mystery of the Internet.

It is good to know some basic terms that will help you begin to feel like a blogger.

Blog: A blog (a contraction of the term “web log”) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (Video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.  [from Wikipedia, 3/14/2010]

Post:  An entry in a blog.  The process of publishing this entry can also be referred to as Posting.

Comment:  A special entry in a blog where you are making comments on an entry in a blog.  Comments can also be made against comments.

WordPress:  The software program that provides the blog capabilities for brainpeace.com and other blog websites.

Avatar:  When you log into to WordPress, you can associate a picture with your login id.  This picture is called an Avatar.  The picture can be a personal photo or a photo that communicates the image that you want (pet, scene, flower, etc.).

Dashboard:  This is the main writer page for your web page which gives you access to do things like change your password and write or manage your blog content.

Theme:  This is the name for the look and feel definition of your web site.  This means the color and pictures for the background, the color and fonts of the text, the position of where data is placed on the web page.  Themes can be changed at any time by users with admin privileges for your blog.

Now for an introductory to what you are doing and what is a blog.  Please type in the following web address (sometimes you can just click on the link and your computer will automatically bring up your web browser and go to that site).  Scroll down and watch the 3 minute video.  It is a cute video that explains blogging in a fun and easy to follow way.

http://en.support.wordpress.com/introduction/

This same site has other useful links and answers to commonly asked questions.  Yes, you are not the only one who is confused by all this blogging stuff.  Some people read the manual (hints on WordPress help pages).  Others just keep exploring every button to see what you can and can’t do.  The next stage is to then share notes with your friends to see what they learned that you hadn’t and to share what you learned that they hadn’t yet.

Hello all,

Welcome to BrainPeace.com. Here you can share your stories with others through your blog.

1. If it is the first time you visit your blog, then please go to your blog first. And find the “Log In” link, from the side bar, which is in your right side in most cases. It is under “Meta”.

2. After clicking the Log In, you will be asked to enter your username and password.

If you check “Remember Me” then your PC (Internet Browser) will remember your username and password, and you will not have to enter them again.

3. At the backend page, to add a new post, click “Add New” under Posts.

4. Enter the title and the main writing.

5. After you filled out the title and body, then add key words in the Post Tag box.

6. Also please choose (or add) categories.

7. Click “Publish” to publish.

That’s it! You will be able to see what you just wrote.

Enjoy!