As we move TuDiabetes to its new home we are changing the way blog posts appear in the community. In the new design of TuDiabetes we will curate blog posts about life with diabetes from other sources, outside of the TuDiabetes website. Blogs that are written by members of TuDiabetes who want to post them on the website will go in a forum category called "Member stories", instead of within a separate blog area.
What does that mean?
It means that in the new blogs section we will be collecting great posts from other websites - including This is Caleb, Test Guess and Go, and Sweet Success, among many others - then highlighting them on the Blog page of TuDiabetes. In case you haven’t seen it, here is what we expect the new Blog page to look like.
Why keep a blog?
A blog is a great way to share your story and perspective. With a blog you can keep a journal and share your experiences. You can comment on the news and other happenings and share your opinions with the world. A blog gives you a vehicle for making your voice heard.
You control what goes up on your blog. Blog posts can be as long, or as short, as you want. You can format the text to appear the way you want. And you can include pictures and videos, giving you a rich communications platform.
There are two different types of blogs. One is to report to others how you feel, what you think or what you experience. For instance how did the doctor visit go or what did you see on vacation. This is the most common type of blog and is often very interesting to friends, family members and people you work with.
The second type of blog is sometimes called an issue blog. Often these blogs speak to issues, offer your opinion or report facts. In addition to the people listed in the report blog the issue blog might interest people who value your opinion, or who look to you for information.
In addition to the two main types of blogs, a typical blog might include variants of each main type. The form and purpose of the blog you choose to write is your choice. Often however the type of blog will dictate the amount of readership that follows your blog. General issue blogs have more readership but take a great deal of time to get noticed, while a personal blog usually has a readymade but more limited readership.
How do you set up a blog?
For the beginner, I suggest starting with a free blog hosting service. This will let you set up a simple blog by following step-by-step instructions at no cost. The two most popular services that host blogs for FREE are Wordpress and Blogger.
Of course these free sites have some limits, but for a beginner they offer more than enough features and data storage. Wordpress.com also offers a premium (for-money) account that will have more features and data storage. This comes in handy when the blog grows and the blogger becomes more sophisticated. You can find the premium prices for Wordpress here.
Blogger is run by Google so some people feel that using Blogger results in some kind of advantage in search.
If you’re not sure which blog hosting service you want to use, here’s a recent article comparing Wordpres.com and Blogger. Of course, since these sites are free, you can also just try them out and then decide which one you want to use.
How do you set your blog up so that the folks at TuDiabetes can read your latest post easily?
1. Set up a feed. This means that people (not just the folks at TuDiabetes, but anybody on the Internet) can, in essence, subscribe to your blog. Every time you publish a post on your blog the feed broadcasts a notice to your subscribers that there’s something new to read from you. Read more about feeds and how they work.
How to set up a feed on Wordpress
How to set up a feed on Blogger
2. Include a link to your blog in your TuDiabetes member profile.
Writing a blog is a great way to make your voice heard, both on TuDiabetes and in the greater Diabetes Online Community. Be sure to list a link to your blog in your member profile to make it easier for people to find. Every time another members views your profile, your blog link will appear.
