New to Blogging? (updated)

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 highly recommend Blogger.

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 those on Blogger in some way.

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
How to add Digg to Blogger posts

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

tip: Always update your blog frequently, because if people keep visiting you blog and not finding anything new, it gets disappointing and boring

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
70 fresh and modern Blogger templates
50 more beautiful Blogger templates. 
freshbloggertemplates.com
btemplates.com
Fresh blogger templates

Desktop applications for publishing posts
Whether you're on Blogger and Wordpress, this is something I highly recommend.
Don't publish your blog posts on that box offered on their websites. Windows Live Writer is a wonderful desktop application that allows you to publish and edit your blog posts, including inserting video, pictures and anything you want.

Also, Word 2007 allows you to create and publish your blog posts once you register your blog.

Read Publish your blog posts from Word 07 and WLW

Digg
Digg allows you to discover and share any kind of content on the web. All you have to do is submit it and if others like it, they'll digg it. Digg some of your posts and make a link to your blog on your profile to get more visitors on your blog. If they like your content, they'll digg it.
It's even easier to allow people to digg your content while they're on your blog; here's how.

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