This is Part 5 of the 5 Part Tech Series on “Blogger Basics.” Find the rest of the series here.

Blogger, you need images on your posts. Trust me. It just “works” better.

But, only put images up on your blog that don’t take forever to load. What this means, then, is that you need to do a little homework on image compression.

It almost doesn’t matter if it’s a .gif, a .jpg, a .png, or a .whatever… it just needs to a good size relative to it’s use. A logo, for example, shouldn’t be 100k+. But, a strategic featured image for a post might be.

Get it? Keeping your site load time is just as important as the image itself, so a good balance is required. If you want more information, check this out.

[Image from Splorp]

This is Part 4 of the 5 Part Tech Series on “Blogger Basics.” Find the rest of the series here.

As fun as the web is it’s just as dangerous, especially for the blogger.

“Security” can involve anything from your data being compromised, your information being lost (or stolen), your identity being taken, personal information released, etc. It can also be related directly to your hardware and where all of that “stuff” is ultimately being stored.

Being a blogger makes you an even bigger target, and the “bigger” you are the more of a target you become. Blogging systems can be hacked, compromised, or worse.

What you need to make sure you’re doing is keeping all your software up to date, backing up your data, making sure you’re discerning about the information you store on your blog and your server, good passwords, and who you’re hosting with (if they are legit).

Taking things for granted is pretty much the worst place for you to be as a blogger and even the smallest bit of information is important. There’s a lot to cover, but here’s a good start.

Remember, online security as a blogger is, for the most part, your responsibility.

[Image from Piet]

This is Part 3 of the 5 Part Tech Series on “Blogger Basics.” Find the rest of the series here.

Did you know that I get “the chills” when I see one of these being unpacked? Chills of excitement.

But let’s be honest, not much to look at right? It’s not your hot red Ferrari. Although, they are a lot more useful (and practical).

The servers that manage and help run your blog are doing things you probably care little about, but being aware of their purpose and their very important roll can change the way you think about your blog.

In fact, knowing more about servers, generally speaking, can help you better understand why your blog performs in certain ways, and why things apparently “break” when you least expect it.

Of course, you’ll need to know at least the basics if you’re going to be setting up a blog on your own server and knowing more (not less) about servers and how they run can help you troubleshoot any issues (or spot a few).

Where do you get started? Try this visual guide for starters (and believe me, it’s just “starters”). Wikipedia has a good primer too. Then “Google” the rest.

This is Part 2 of the 5 Part Tech Series on “Blogger Basics.” Find the rest of the series here.

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, despite what you’ve heard…

How many of you knew that?

Maybe most of you, but perhaps a few did not. And, for many of you, that’s pretty much where your knowledge ends (and that’s ok!). HTML (and any code for that matter) can look rather scary (if you stare at it long enough).

And with the rise of WYSIWYG editors, the “need” to actually know any HTML can be completely avoided, but if you want to take your blog to the next level you should know about it (and perhaps know a little code too).

Sometimes taking your blog to the “next level” is more than just better writing; sometimes it’s adding graphics, media, widgets, or a little code to make your blog standout of the crowd. Knowing even the basics can arm you with enough to make your blog look fantastically different (and up-to-date).

If you want to get started,  check out W3Schools and their overview. Want some history? Wikipedia has good coverage.

[Image from Will]

This is Part 1 of the 5 Part Tech Series on “Blogger Basics.” Find the rest of the series here.

The Internet.

It’s pretty big. It’s pretty wide. It can be pretty complex (but doesn’t have to be).

And although you don’t need to know everything, especially as a blogger, about how the web works, it’s good to know at least some of the basics, like how data travels across the world on frail lines that shouldn’t actually work.

In fact, if you really understood how the “internet” was set up you’d probably be pretty flabbergasted that the darn thing actually does what it does and that we aren’t constantly plagued by outtages and downtime.

Why is knowing some of this important to you, the blogger? Because it can actually help you, especially if you’re setting up hosting or managing your own domain. And even if you’re on free hosting or a hosted environment it can help you understand outtages, speeding your blog up, and why your visitors  are apparently experiencing your blog “differently” depending on where they are located.

So, where can you get started? Check out this great article here that will give you a good primer. Read only as much as you’d like, and if you manage to get through the first page you’ll be more intelligent about the “internet” than about 99% of it’s users.