Who was that masked blogger?

As we discussed on the class forum, a blog can be private (invite-only) or public (indexed by Google and other search engines).

Even folks who blog for glory and riches often maintain a hidden test site. A scratch pad lets you tinker and perfect projects before launching 'em. In Blogger, go to Settings>Permissions>Blog Readers. Click the radio button "only people I choose". Then include your list of emails, separated by commas.

Many blogs, like Boing Boing, cram a lot of cooks into the kitchen (yet somehow serve great broth). Should you decide upon a group-authored site, head to that same Settings>Permissions page. Enter up to 100 collaborators' email addresses into the top Blog Authors panel. (See Mike's Tips & Tricks: Blogger Settings Explained for a wild romp through the entire dashboard panel. We'll discuss further options in depth as they arise.)