Customer Reviews

Blogging For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like many Dummies books, this book is comprehensive! It's a thorough introduction to blogging from rank Internet newbie, to the typical active
blogger seeking to learn more about the medium.

As a 2008 book, it's reasonably current. This is one of those Dummies books the publishers will need to update annually. I recommend readers always seek the latest possible edition of any blogging book, as popular technologies change so rapidly in the field. RSS, comment spam, social networks and podcasting are all given their due space. An entire chapter is devoted to adding and managing photos for your blog.

Two large chapters offer the fundamentals of blogging for business and adding advertising. This won't be specific enough to get any would-be pro blogger rich, but *does* provide enough basics to get started with affiliates, AdSense, TextLink Ads, AdBright and the like.

Lots of screen captures and sidebars explain complex concepts quite clearly. I enjoyed one sidebar in particular about why comment spam exists (and hint; it's more about page rank juice than possible click-throughs).

I'd recommend this book for the newbie through advanced blogging beginner. Intermediate level bloggers looking to to brush up on the basics would likely enjoy adding this as a reference to the bookshelf, and might find a few gems they originally missed.

Advanced bloggers won't find much useful here...but as it's a Dummies book, that's to be expected!

From all the blogging books targeting the beginner, this one offers the most bang for your buck, and really does a nice job of holding your hand along the way.

Don't let the "dummy" title fool you. With so many blog "how-to" papers written, I wanted a good "how-to" book that would walk me through and hold my hand as I venture into the blogosphere. Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley provide just that ... a perfect reference book that takes you one step at a time until you are ready to publish. Thanks Susannah and Shane.

Blogging For Dummies is a fabulous resource for bloggers, new and old. This book is full of great information, tips, ideas, suggestions and resources that any blogger can benefit from reading. Written by two Pros in the field of blogging, you can't go wrong if you're looking for a one-stop, desktop reference on the world of blogging. Highly recommended!

This is a very helpful book for anyone who is beginning to blog and even for a person like me who has started to blog for about eight months but is still learning along the way. The authors give many websites where the reader can go to see exactly what the text is referring to. I finally learned the HTML code for doing lists in posts from this book. It also covers suggestions for getting traffic to your blog and how to get and handle comments. I highly recommend it for any blogger, especially beginners.

I first checked out the 2005 version of this book from the library, found it helpful, as a complete novice interested in starting a blog. I bought my own copy of the 2008 version, thinking it would be updated.
On the one hand, I can say that this book helped me toward starting a blog. On the other hand, once I had actually started a blog and knew more, I saw the book's shortcomings. There are a lot of typos in the book. It was not adequately proofread. Which means some of the content may also be unreliable. The newer version had not corrected any of the errors, as far as I could see. It had still not been proofread. Though I give it high marks for clear and complete explanations in general, I did find one point on which it failed to explain a procedure on Blogger.com. The Blogger website provided a clearer and more thorough tutorial on "Comments".

No, really, a BIG dummy because I've been blogging for two years now! I got tired of looking at other people's awesome blogs and thinking, "Why can't I do that?" I finally admitted that I was a big, hopeless dummy and bought this book. God, I wish I'd done it sooner!

With two years of experience under my belt, I figured that I'd just skip around the book, picking out little nuggets of info here and there. On the contrary, I find myself reading the vast majority of the chapters in their entirety. The book is written in a pleasant and engaging style. I figure it can't hurt to do a little remedial work on the stuff I THINK I already know. Meanwhile, I'm just thrilled with what I've learned already. Don't laugh at the blonde girl, but links have always been a mystery to me. Now, I'm a pro! I've "claimed" my blog through Technorati. I'm committed to adding occasional guest blogger posts. I'm working on a simpler redesign of my blog, and I'm considering ways to add multimedia posts. I'm going to spruce up my sidebar and try to engage my community more. The great thing is that now I have a reference that will help me accomplish all of this and more.

My only complaint is that while this most recent edition (the third) is barely a year old, already some of the information is becoming outdated. I don't know if I'll spring for the fourth edition once it's published, but I'll definitely take a look at it to see what's new.

I have a list of friends waiting to borrow this reference book. It may not be the right tool for all bloggers, but it you're as clueless as I clearly am, Blogging for Dummies is highly recommended!

This is the book you want to read if you are new to blogging. It has everything you need to get you started quickly. I really appreciated the pointers on advertising and the blogs listed for blog help. It is easy to read, as are all Dummies books, and has some excellent information. The book is lacking on RSS feed info, so this is not a good source. If you haven't blogged yet, get this book and proceed.

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This is the best "Dummies" book I've ever read. Its best feature is that it gives readers both the big picture (why are you blogging?) and fine detail (links to vital info).

I am planning a blog for my web site and books, and thanks to this book I went from knowing nothing to feeling fairly confident I know what I'm getting into. I got my copy from the library, but am considering buying a copy of my own as a resource.

This is a great book for people who want to learn wordpress. The only reason I do not give it a 5 is because it is dated. That is not the fault of the author, but simply how fast Wordpress has evolved. It would be very difficult for any book to keep up with fluid changes of an online medium. The best reccomendation for learning wordpress is the same advice for learning a language. Jump in! Textbooks cannot replace the learning that comes from experience.

There's a lot more to a blog than many people realize. Just sign on and start writing, right? Wrong. This book begins with the simple facts and answers the questions so you can get set up the right way and start blogging. A few corny "Dummies" book jokes as always, but a good way to learn the basics and well worth the money.