Jordan High Alumni Association

Make Your Own Class Site

Beetdiggers have been contacting me recently asking how they can put up a website for their graduating class without pating a lot of money.

After trying to share with them information about registering a domain and finding out if their Internet Service Provider (ISP) allowed them to use their server space for a personal website... I resolved that their had to be an easier way to show people one-way to get a site going quick and simple.

Calvin Brady of the Class of 1949 contacted me the other day asking the same question. Then it dawned on me... One word: BLOGS.

The quickest, simplest and most cost-effective way to put a website up devoted to your graduating class is to make a free blog. There are several sites that allow free blogs, but I'm going to show you how to make one on Google's "blogger.com" since that is the one I have experience with.

Follow the instructions below and you'll have a class website up and running in just a few minutes; and best of all, it won't cost you an extra dime!

1. Start by going to Blogger.com
2. You'll see the following screen... click on the "CREATE YOUR BLOG NOW" arrow.
   
3. Create a Google Account (or sign-in if you already have one.)
4. Name your Blog - IMPORTANT NOTE: It would be wise to follow this naming convention so your Blog URL is easy-to-remember and more search-engine friendly: jhsclassof[YourYear] (either 2-digit or 4-digit.)
   Examples:
   • jhsclassof49
   • jhsclassof1991
   This will result in a URL to your Blog that looks like:
   http://jhsclassof49.blogspot.com/
5. Choose a Template - This will be the design of your class site; which is customizable later too.
6. Dashboard:
   The links you'll be using most on this are pointed to below...
   
   I can't stress enough, the need to click that Help link anytime you have questions. Google is much more articulate than I and can walk you through each step of managing your blog. I'm providing a simple explanation below of each link, but please take advantage of the rich Help section Blogger offers.
   
   • Help - Did I mention... READ THIS!
   • View Blog - click this to see the site the way everyone else does
   • Posts - the section where you'll manage the content of your site. This is the section of the site where you'll add the messages to your class.
   • Settings - Here you can control whether or not others may post comments to your "Posts" and whether or not you have to moderate them before they appear on the site. You can also assign others to help add content to the site; tweak the site's title and description, etc. There are tons of settings to play with, so experiment until you get the site just right for you and your class.
   • Layout - This is where you can customize your template to make the site look just how you like.
     
     We ask that you provide links back to the Jordan Alumni websites to help all of us stay searchable in the major search engines. This will help your classmates find your site easier so they can keep in touch with Centennial and Class Reunion information.
     
     To add the links:
     
     1. Click the Add a Page Element
     2. click Link List - you'll see this screen.
        
        Title: Jordan Alumni Sites
        Number of links to show in list: LEAVE THIS BOX BLANK
        New Site URL: http://www.jhsalumniassociation.com/
        New Site Name: Jordan High Alumni Association
        Click "ADD LINK"
        New Site URL: http://www.jordanalumni.com/
        New Site Name: JordanAlumni.com
        Click "ADD LINK"
        Click "SAVE CHANGES"
        
7. Click "New Post" on the Dashboard to start your first Post.
   (Make sure you're on the "Compose" tab and not the "Edit HTML" tab - unless you're an advanced webmaster and know what HTML means and how to work with it.)
   
   Click "Preview" to get an idea of what it will look like... and when you're satisfied, click "PUBLISH".
   Click "View Blog" to see your new message as it will appear when classmates visit your site!
8. Experiment and make your site your own... most importantly, HAVE FUN!
9. When you have your class site up and running, please add it to our database!
   
   This will help get your site in the search engines so classmates can find and have easy access to your site.

For those that would like to add graphics to the site... right-click the images below and click "SAVE IMAGE AS..." or "SAVE PICTURE AS..." -- save it to your computer and use Blogger's image upload feature to add them to your site. See the HELP setion for instructions on how to do so.

Thank you for saving copies of these images to your site and not "hot-linking" to them.