Create Your Own Family Blog

By Leslie Pleasants
Many of you have a facebook page already but do you have a family blog yet?  This is a great way to share with your family and friends all the pictures and memories that happens in your every day lives.  Some people love to write short stories about a particular day and others just post pictures and might include a few words to go along with what they are doing. 

Most of your family members by now should have email but not all of them use facebook.  To me a blog is almost like a diary but with pictures.... a scrapbook but with more wording.  You really can get creative when putting one together.  It all depends on your style and how much time you have.  Some days I don't have time to write so I just add pictures and a title.  Every couple of months I will email out to everyone that I want to see it letting them know that I updated my blog. 

Blogs are FREE!  Of course there are sites out there that want to charge you if you want to upgrade..  have your own domain http://www.yourname.com/.   But for an example of a free blog... your blog address would be http://yourname.blogspot.com/

They are so easy to make.  They pretty much walk you step by step on what to do.  Below is five FREE family blog sites to choose from.

Blogger.com

Blogger.com is a great free family blog site resource. You can create a blog with a unique name (www.blogname.blogger.com) and website. You can choose to list the blog on Bloggers website and to list it in search engines (or not). You should note that everyone will be able to view the blog you create on blogger unless you go to "settings" and then "Permissions."

In this screen, you can add additional blog authors, so you can add them to the list. You can also choose to have your blog viewable to "Anybody," "Only people I choose," or "Only blog authors." If anyone will be posting information about children, it is recommended that you choose either "Only people I choose" or "Only blog authors."



Wordpress.com

Perhaps one of the most popular free family blog sites on the internet is WordPress.com. Like Blogger.com, you can post whether you would like your blog to be listed, whether you would like to limit the blog to only people you choose, and who is able to post on the blog.

Unlike Blogger.com, there are a large number of "Themes" available for WordPress. You can select exactly how you would like your family blog site to look.


Weebloggity Blogs

If you are looking for a way to keep in touch with family in a way that's family friendly and lacks advertising, WeeBloggity Blogs might be the place for your free family blog site. The website sets you up with an online baby journal, free family blog, and free pregnancy blog. It can be a great way to keep in touch with a simple user-interface. You can determine whether you want your blog to appear in Google search.

Interestingly enough, WeeBloggity Blogs are run through WordPress.com. However, the website is set up to make it so that you are a part of a community. Just like with WordPress, you can control exactly who is able to view your blog.


Familylobby.com

FamilyLobby.com is a fourth choice among the available free family blog sites. Family Lobby offers free private family websites. When you sign up, you can choose whether you are creating the family website for "Family," "Baby," or a "Group." After you choose, you can select what features your website will have. You can require all members to log in before they can view the website (recommended if security is an issue for you), choose the website layout you enjoy, create an email for members, add members, and more. You can also host a calendar, recipes, and even voting polls on your FamilyLobby.com site. This can be a great option for families that want to plan reunions and more.

LiveJournal.com

The final the five free family blog sites listed is LiveJournal. LiveJournal is another great option. On LiveJournal, you can select a theme, describe what your interests are, upgrade your account should you desire, find people by interest (and find friends, since it's also a social networking type site), create voice posts, select how you will be notified when someone interacts with you, and set your privacy level.

The 5 family friendly blogs brought to you by brighthub.com