The Skull Cinema

Well the blog is doing what it was supposed to do, as outlined in my first post . The content is quite 'blogging-about-blogging' heavy, but that topic is still interesting to me. So let's dig a little deeper into Blogger. Use of the platform is free, however the cost of hosting a domain is not. Although at £10/year it is not ruinously expensive. That said, there is no reason why part of that cost couldn't be offset by some ad revenue is there? From the outset let me state that I am not interested in a full-blown commercialisation of the blog with search engine optimisation, careful ad placement strategies and the inevitable desperate attempts to garner e-mail addresses or upsell readers. It's just too much effort. Instead, this is a curiosity-driven peek into another aspect of Blogger and the target of recouping the domain fees is just a means to this end. If you really want to get into that then there is an ocean of data, help and opinions out there. Good lu

The final step in the process of reworking the blog is to invite the new account to become an author. Open the blog using the managing Google/Blogger account and select the Settings tab from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Then scroll down to find Invite more authors in the Permissions section and enter the e-mail address of the person you want to join the blog into the dialog box that pops up, in our case blog@skullcinema.com, and hit SEND . Blogger will then send out an invite link by e-mail. Now log out of the original account and back into the new account, this stops Google from automatically switching the invitation to your currently open Google account (yes, the one you just sent it from). Go to your e-mail in-box (or extract it from your junk mail box) and follow the Accept invitation link, which will pop up a new tab back in your browser with another Accept invitation link. Clicking this will add you to the blog author list and open up a cut-d

As I've set up an e-mail address for the blog it makes sense to be able to post from it too. To do that I will need to set up an account with Blogger for the new e-mail address. At the same time I'll create a gmail account to both manage the blog and give access to the Google apps suite without the monthly fee. Skullcinema@gmail.com is already taken (as there is nothing new under the sun), but I can take a related e-mail address. I won't publish it here as the first address will generate enough spam as it is. Setting up a gmail account really doesn't require a guide, but it is covered here if you need one. So, off to set up an account  through Blogger . First of all though, log out of Google and/or Chrome or it will pull you straight through to Blogger on the account you are logged in on. Choose SIGN IN in the top right-hand corner of the Blogger home page, and then select  Use another account underneath the list of your current Google accounts. Now

This blog needs an e-mail: well it doesn't really, but I want it to have one. E-mail addresses can be set up via most domain registrars' control panels (presumably as the cost of supplying an e-mail service is minimal) and Google Domains is not an exception in this. Two options are provided: a full suite of apps aimed at business users called Google Workspace , provided on a monthly subscription basis, or basic e-mail forwarding , which is free. The free option is all that I require at the moment, so let's follow the steps in that last link. First sign in to Google Domains : this will be automatic if you're already logged in to Google, otherwise log in to Google and follow the link to your Domains control panel. Next click on the domain name that you want to set up e-mail forwarding on, and select Email in the command list that comes up. If the menu options are not visible then click on Main menu ( ☰ at top left-hand side). Under Email forwarding , s