New to Blogging?

Chech the updated version of this post

If you are a newbie at the blogosphere or you've recently created a blog, here are some tips and links (chosen by me) to help you get started in blogging:

What is a Blog?
Take the Blogger Tour
What is a Blog?

Blogging service
The most popular blogging services are Blogger and Wordpress.

Both are good services, but I personally prefer Blogger.

If you're a newbie and not into really into html, I recommend Blogger for you.

Also, if you want to host your blog on a custom domain, Blogger makes it much easier for you.

On the other hand, Wordpress has more options than Blogger, like creating pages and categories; but you can still do that in Blogger in some way.

The only thing I don't like about Blogger is that it doesn't work with the latest version of Windows Live Writer, a desktop application that allows you to publish content to your blog. Wordpress does.

Blogger and Wordpress comparison chart

Tutorials
There are great tutorials for Wordpress and Blogger on the web.
Here are the best Blogger tutorial sites I know:


Bloggertricks.com (tutorials and templates)
Bloggerbuster.com (tutorials, widgets, templates)
Blogger's YouTube channel
Blogger Help center
Blogger Help group

How to add a category roll on your Blogger blog

If you are an absolute newbie, this video will show you how to create a blog with Blogger

Tutorials for hosting Blogger on a custom domain:
Set up your Blogger custom domain
custom domain questions on Blogger Help
How I set up my blogger custom domain
Video: Setting up a custom domain on blogger (shows you how to fill the Advanced Blog Setup form on Blogger)

Widgets
A widget is an add-on for the sidebar of your blog that makes reading your blog more enjoyable.

It can show your recent viewers, comments and posts, most popular posts, and other fun stuff.

Feedjit offers free live traffic feed and page popularity widgets, and other widgets (you don't need to register)
Yahoo! Widgets have great widgets that require you to have a yahoo ID

Blog Post ideas
Tips for great blog posts or if you've run out of ideas for your next post:

Ten Tips for Writing a Blog Post
23 Great Ideas for Blog Posts
101 Blog Posting Ideas
Discover hundreds of post ideas for your blog with mind mapping
10 Killer Post Ideas

I also use dictionary.com (thesaurus and dictionary) when writing blog posts

Blogger Templates
Although Wordpress and Blogger offer some pre-made templates, you can download some from other websites, free and paid.

Warning: Some template websites can harm your computer

Bloggertricks.com
Suckmylolly.com
freshbloggertemplates.com

I hope this helps. I will be updating this post every time I find good links.

UPDATED version