In a previous post we’ve recommended 5 Blogging Platforms, one of which is our very favorite, namely Wordpress. Today you will be creating your first blog on the Wordpress platform. It’s completely free and painless.

To start off, simply go the Wordpress Signup page then follow our detailed instructions below.

First you will have to create your username which has to be unique in the Wordpress community. Secondly, you will create your own blog. Lastly, you will simply have to check your email and activate your blog so you can start using it. That’s all. We’ve outlined each step here below detailing the fields you have to fill out so that you can start blogging in no time.

Step 1: Creating your username

- Type in your username, password (twice) and email address.

- Check the “I have read and agree to the fascinating terms of service” checkbox.

- Select the “Gimme a blog!” option and press the “Next” button

Step 2: Creating your blog

- Choose your blog domain

- Type in your blog title

- Choose the language

- Check the privacy checkbox so that your blog can be searchable online then press the “Signup” button

Step 3: Activate your blog

- Check your email

- Find the latest email from Wordpress.com (donotreply@wordpress.com)

- Click the activation link in the email

Congratulations! You are now the owner of a brand new blog. In the next tutorial we will show you how to post your very first blog article.

There are tons of fonts out there but you need to look out for the Web 2.0 fonts which are clean, sharp and mostly rounded.  We’ve included here some Web 2.0 fonts to give you a head start in your hunt for the perfect logo. There are several sites you can check out for free fonts, but two we recommend are UrbanFonts and DaFont.

So, to get you started, we’ve compiled here a list of 6 free fonts that speak to the new generation of web surfers:

1. Arista 

2. Ubuntu Title 

3. Rezland 

4. Moderna

5. Carbon

6. New Republic

Here are 3 amazing online tools which allow you to play with color palettes and to choose a good, appealing color scheme for your site:

Kuler is an Adobe Labs creation and it’s all based on Flash. It’s slick and it allows you to do choose colors, create colors, and designing, mix and match colors. It’s definitely our favorite of the bunch.

ColorBlender is another web application which allows you to match colors into appealing palettes.While not as slick and powerful as Kuler, it provides a simple interface to choose color palettes and it even allows you download your blend as an Illustrator file or as a Photoshop Color Table.

Our third recommendation is ColourLovers, a community driven color design website. It is driven by user submissions and it is based on community input in color and design trends. A good site to bookmark and to keep checking back when researching the latest color trends out there.

In a way, that’s dynamic content right there. As a Christian Ministry, you need to keep people interested in your message. As humans, we are emotional (read moody) creatures so the same message could speak to us differently at a different time. That means that you can’t just put your message out there and hope that people will get it from the first read. You need to reword it, rehash it out for them and keep feeding it back to your audience. Well that’s what blogging is all about.

If you don’t have a blog, you should get one! You should make a habit of adding content to your blog frequently, at least weekly if not daily.  If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for. There are websites out there that allow you to create a blog for free. These are called Blogging platforms.

According to Mashable bloggers have selected Wordpress as the most popular Blogging platform out there. The runner up favorite is Blogger while the next three in order are Posterous, Tumblr and Livejournal.  We couldn’t agree more! We are hardcore Wordpress fans and as a matter of fact, Social Apostle is run on Wordpress.

So get out there and get yourself a blog and get the Gospel message out to the world!

1. Bluehost

2. Hostmonster

3. IX Web Hosting

4. JustHost

5. HostUpon

6. HostGator

7. EasyCGI Windows

We’ve gone with the top10webhosting chart which we find quite accurate with the only exception that we’ve placed Bluehost first, ahead of Hostmonster. If we had to recommend just one host that would have to be Bluehost since we’ve tested it personally and have found it very reliable and packed with goodies. They have quick support and they are considered the Best PHP host all around – even by top10webhosting. If you will need PHP – and  you probably will – then Bluehost is your best bet.

You can get a better idea of what they have to offer by checking out the Bluehost Review site.

It’s not that little with more the 15 millions of users in the U.S. alone, but its simplicity does make it seem like a small, humble site which puts the user at the forefront. As a matter of fact, all corporate links are located at the bottom of the page and all the attention of the visitor is focused on the account owner’s content.

Twitter is now a buzz word in itself but it has come to represent the standard in what is called microblogging - which is another buzz word for small posts, limited to a small number of characters. In Twitter’s case, each post is limited to 140 characters.  Microblogging makes a lot of sense in a world saturated by information. We all want information but the new challenge is to really sit there and sift through the clutter and pick only what you’re interested in.

Twitter comes in and let’s users share information in an extremely simplistic way which allows users to stay informed but not overloaded at the same time. You can think of it as a lot of tid bits of quality information at your fingertips. As a matter of fact, a lot of brands are starting to pay more attention to Twitter than to other traditional brand awareness media.

If you want to build a close relationship with your followers, there’s no better way out there than to get yourself a Twitter account and to start twittering. Spread your account name to your ministry members, parish members, friends, family and anyone you think might be interested in what you’re all about and then keep them up to date with daily tweets.

You too can follow others on Twitter. You can stay up to date with the latest developments in your local area, in your diocese and just about anywhere in the world. Once you’re all setup, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter as well and stay up to date with the latest Social Apostle new evangelization tips.