Lab objective

Basic: Setup a blog with a free blog hosting service and perform basic customizations to appearance and functionality.

Advanced: create your own blog by installing and setting up your own CMS software on a server (either manually or through an installer script) and customize it with plug-ins and your own theme.

The Big Idea Behind This Lab

A blog can be so many things, configured so many different ways, and have numerous functions. This lab exists to familiarize you with the basic components and building blocks of a blog, so that you can recognize them when analyzing other blogs and building your own with an objective in mind.

Basic Requirements

1. Sign-up for a free blog using the service of your choice
2. Change and customize the appearance to suit your personality or tastes
3. Write a post
   
4. Establish categories, tags, or labels for your posts
   
5. Configure commenting to reduce spam by using a captcha (word verification) and/or comment moderation for older posts
   
6. Customize sidebar widgets (sometimes called "gadgets" or "blocks")

Advanced Requirements

1. Install an open-source blog/CMS system on a server
   
2. Install anti-spam plug-ins and configure comment moderation/approval process (e.g., a captcha system)
3. Install and configure one or more plug-ins
4. Setup RSS or ATOM feeds for the posts and comments
5. Embed a third-party service as a sidebar widget
   

Deliverables

1. UIUC Students: Submit a link to your blog to the wiki page at http://adv400.pbwiki.com/Blog-Lab-Deliverables (it's also in the Labs folder).

1. SU Students: Submit a copy of your link through the assignment for this lab on iLMS. Also, post a copy of the link to your blog to the iLMS Blog Lab Discussion thread to show classmates what you created. Feel free to annotate this post with any tips or services you found helpful.

2. Include your name with your post

3. Include the name/title of what you've created as well

4. Indicate whether you followed the advanced or basic requirements