Customer comments on this selection.
 Okay, BUT Outdated (already)
Published in 2005, this book has, to an extent, become obsolete. In general the HTML hasn't changed, but during the last few years Blogger has updated its interface so what you see as an example in the book won't correspond 1-to-1 with what you'll see on today's Blogger pages.
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br /Now if this doesn't intimidate you, then you might go ahead and consider this little book for a quick-look-see into how Blogger works. (I'd get it from the library though).
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br /Here's the TOC so you can see what's covered.
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br /Table of Contents
br /Introduction
br /Starting your blog
br /Writing your blog
br /Blogging from afar
br /Personalizing your blog
br /Telling others about yourself
br /Getting others to contribute
br /Hosting your blog yourself
br /Getting the word out
br /Appendix a: template tags
br /Index
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br /Appearance of the material:
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br / Nice format with enough color to keep it interesting. The font is large-ish so that I didn't have to wear me specs. In general, there's not alot of text which is something I appreciate. Ms. Castro gets down to business without a great deal of fluff.
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br /The material is taught using the "screen shot" approach. This approach seems to work well for computer oriented learning.
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br /My Impressions
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br /While the screen shots of the menus no longer correspond with Blogger today I had no problem following what she was saying. I DO think it might be a problem for the true Newbie. If you are too timid to just throw yourself into Blogger and experiment, then this book will likely only succeed in confusing you.
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br /To give an example, there is no Layout Tab in the book's Blogger examples.
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br /Sooo, in my opinion the true residual use of the book is the html fixes that the author demonstrates. She shows, for example, how to rename "Archives" as "File Cabinet" in edit mode; and also how to change the look of the header, changing the padding and altering the color to exactly what you want.
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br /Pam T.
Sorry, Out of Date
Well written and easy to use but some "settings" have changed on Blogger and it is a bummer to have to figure that out.
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br /Time for an update.
 A Bit Dated
Back in the day, this would have been a most excellent book. It still is in some respects. But, saddly, it suffers from the fact that Blogger has moved on, and like most technology books in this rapidly changing world, it has not.
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br /I truly respect Ms. Castro's talents as a writer and teacher. Her books on HTML, XHTML, and CSS (for example HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition (Visual Quickstart Guide)) have saved me much time and grief over the years. However, much of the still useful information in this book could just as well be found in the Blogger Help pages.
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br /Still, if you need a little hand holding to get started I highly recommend "Publishing a Blog with Blogger."
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Great book.
I love the Visual Quick Start series, and this book is no exception. It has jump starred my blog and I feel it is worth keeping around for hints and questions that come up. I wasn't sure if the book being published a few years ago would still be relevant but it is.
Short, Simple, Powerful
Wow, I am shocked at how much I learned about blogging in just 120 pages. The author has done a great job at getting this book down to the bare-bones, leaving nothing but the necessary information. The method of using graphics more than text really made this an easy read, yet conveyed much more information than text alone.
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br /I knew a little about blogging and had already begun using blogger when I read this book. I did not expect to learn as much as I did; I did not know about the many extra features, such as blogging from a phone. This book is work every penny.
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