Posts with tag how-tos

From our mini-guide to starting your own WoW blog, we spawned more in-depth posts for each step. Now that you know a bit more about finding a blog host, determining your goals, figuring out your slant, and becoming part of the WoW blog community, it's time for you to hop on your keyboard and get to work! Okay, wait. I don't mean for it to sound like a job (even though for some of us, it is). I mean, don't be afraid to just start writing! No reason to fear the blank screen, my friend. Here are a few tips to get you steaming up to at least your high school 30 words-per-minute mark.

Today we continue to expand on our mini-guide to starting your own WoW blog. After you find a blog host, determine your goals, and figure out your slant, you should work to become part of the WoW blog community. Although it's true that the WoW newsy-type sites like WoW Insider are very competitive with each other about breaking stories, WoW bloggers on the whole are a very collaborative, friendly, and helpful group. It can only benefit you to jump in and get to know them, so here are a few tips to help you break into the community.

Starting your own WoW blog is a lot of fun. We gave you the mini-guide to starting your own WoW blog, and then went into more detail on finding a blog host and determining your goals. In today's step, we'll help you work on what your slant is. A slant is your unique (or peculiar) way of looking at the topic you chose in Step 2.

Scout the competition
You need to know what's already being done out in the blogosphere in order to find out where the gaps are. For example, coming out of Step 2 you've decided that because you are a huge fan of the Hunter class you'd like to blog about all things hunting. You probably already subscribe or read some Hunter blogs already, but if you don't, a simple Google search of "WoW hunter blogs" will turn up over 400,000 pages. That's a lot of Hunter talk! But don't panic. Remember that the first search results page or three will list the most popular blogs on that topic and those are the main ones you need to look at. Subscribe to them and read them daily. In fact, putting your own spin or argument on a topic that another blogger discussed while linking back to that blog is a good way to pique the interest of the bloggers themselves. (We'll talk more about backlinking and blogrolling in Step 5.) So with all these blogs, how do you enter the fray?

Continuing to expand on the mini-guide to starting your own WoW blog. let's talk about something that's far more important than your blog host: What do you want to do with this thing? Goals determine what you're going to write about, how often you write, what not to waste your time on. They give you focus. That said, you may start out thinking you want to write about one thing and change your mind later. That's okay too. You're not a failure. That's the beauty of blogging; it's very fluid. However, when you're starting out, keep in mind that it's much harder to garner a reader base if you're all over the map with your posts rather than being more focused. That doesn't mean it's impossible, just harder. After the break, I'll go into some things you should consider before diving into your first blog post.

Last week I opened up a big can o' worms by giving you a mini-guide to starting your own WoW blog. I've conceded to popular demand and decided to give you more detail on what's involved with each step. Today I'm going to talk about what's involved in finding a place to host your blog.

There are about a bajillion places to start your blogging life. Some are easier; some are more customizable. Usually the more customizable they are, the more complex they are to set up and use, and sometimes they are also more expensive. Let's call these two options (1) the Easy Way and (2) the Fancy Way. After the break, I've listed five things to consider when choosing which of these ways you want to go:

I've been a blogger since before the term "blog" existed. (In the mid-90s, we called it a "diary" on our "zine.") I've been blogging about WoW for about a year now. For some reason, people really like to read and blog about WoW, which is the main reason WoW Insider even exists. WoW is a social game so it lends itself to group discussion. People want to share their experiences and their knowledge so much that there are literally thousands of WoW blogs out there. If you've been bitten by the blogging bug and want to start writing about your own game exploits, here's a 5-step mini-guide for you after the break.

Looking for something to read. Look no further -- here's the best of our weekly features from the last seven days, presented in a handy roundup format. If you missed it the first time, don't make the same mistake twice.

	Guildwatch: The aftermath The messiest part of guild drama comes after it happens. And when the bank has been ninja-d the last gquit has been typed in, and the last wipe happens -- that's when Guildwatch appears.
	Shifting Perspectives: Druids just wanna have fun Caw! Some Druids in the Penny Arcade alliance pull off a little fight-or-flight terror, The Birds-style.
	He Said, She Said: Hypermasculinity Amanda and David wonder why your mage is so incredibly buff.
	Build Shop: Shaman 18/43/0 Pound for pound, one of the best melee DPS dealers in the game -- the Enhancement Shaman enters the Build Shop.

More great weekly features after the break, including an in-depth look at Cooking, and a must-read post for every Hunter.

WoW Insider Weekly shows off our most popular weekly features of the past week -- if you missed them before, catch up to them here.

	Blood Sport: No scrubs allowed in Season 4 Arena matches in Season 4 are just like TLC -- they don't want no scrubs.
	Spiritual Guidance: Three priest specs your raid should not leave Shattrath without The Priest column gives any good raiders three Priest specs to look for.
	The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Are Warriors underpowered? No. Column over. Or is it?
	Blood Pact: Tanking Leo Vims shows warlocks how to do a little tanking on the big blind guy.
	Reader UI of the Week: Draxyl of Turalyon One of our great readers shows off his UI for your pick-apart pleasure.

Five more great can't-miss weekly features after the break.

We have moved our weekly features wrapup to Tuesday, since it seemed like a good idea at the time. So here's all of the weekly features from the past week (and a few days) here on WoW Insider, for your reading enjoyment.

Sunday Morning Funnies: Rogue stables
Laugh away with our weekly wrapup of WoW-related comics.

Spiritual Guidance: Holyform and lesser holy talents
Don't get your hopes up-- Holyform might not be yours to use quite yet.

All the World's a Stage: The passing of the beast
Playing a role in the Lunar Festival.

Officers' Quarters: Kicking and screaming
As in, first you do the /gkicking, and then comes the screaming.

Lots more right after the link below.