What is Blogger?
Blogger is a web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly -- whenever the urge strikes. Blogger is the leading tool in the rapidly growing area of web publishing known as weblogs, or "blogs."

What is a weblog/blog?
A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically—like a what's new page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly—from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction.

Blog posts are like instant messages to the web.

Many blogs are personal, "what's on my mind" type musings. Others are collaborative efforts based on a specific topic or area of mutual interest. Some blogs are for play. Some are for work. Some are both.

Blogs are also excellent team/department/company/family communication tools. They help small groups communicate in a way that is simpler and easier to follow than email or discussion forums. Use a private blog on an intranet to allow team members to post related links, files, quotes, or commentary. Set up a family blog where relatives can share personal news. A blog can help keep everyone in the loop, promote cohesiveness and group culture, and provide an informal "voice" of a project or department to outsiders.

To see some examples of different types of blogs, see our Blog of the Week archive.

What does Blogger do?
Blogger gives you a way to automate (and greatly accelerate) the blog publishing process without writing any code or worrying about installing any sort of server software or scripts. And yet, it still gives you total control over the look and location of your blog.

More specifically, instead of hand-coding your blog posts and frequently uploading the newest version of your page, you make posts to your blog by submitting a simple form on the Blogger web site, and the results immediately show up on your site, with your design.

What do I need to get started with Blogger?
You need about two minutes. If you already have a web site you want to use Blogger to publish to, you simply need FTP access to it (if you're not sure if you have this, ask your web host or look at their documentation—you probably do). But if you don't already have a web site, don't worry, Blogger will create one for you.

How does Blogger work?
Magic! Actually, you provide Blogger a template of your page (or use one of several pred-designed ones) that indicates where you want your posts to appear. When you want to publish something, you simply enter it in a form. When you're ready, you hit a "Publish" button that will automatically send your new page to your web server. No muss. No fuss. Total control.

If you're more sophisticated, your template can even contain script, such as server-side includes, ASP, or Cold Fusion pages, and that script will still be processed after the Blogger content is inserted. Or, the Blogger file that is publish can be an include file itself. (Don't worry if you don't know what any of that means—it's not necessary.)

Is Blogger Free?
The basic Blogger service is completely free. The only "payment" we require is that you include a link back to Blogger.com to help spread the word (this button is a good way). There is also a subscription version of Blogger, called Blogger Pro. It offers advanced functionality, and you can upgrade at any time. You can learn about Pro here.

How do I get started?
Easy. Click here. If you have questions, problems, comments, suggestions, please use the help system.

Happy blogging!