Good luck! :)

I was going to add a twitter feed....not now!

Thanks again!

Mary

Everything should be learned in small steps :)

btw...I did take notice of the below statement:

"We love positive and productive discussions, so please keep comments on the topics at hand and not on other members of the community. Thanks!"

Happy New Year!

So as you can guess our learning to blog curve was much different than those who are learning WordPress.com blogging now. The way raincoaster and I learned how to blog on WordPress software was the go figure method. By clicking buttons and determining what happened when we did that, by documenting what happened when we clicked buttons, we found out the how-to's for doing this, that and everything. Then we and shared what we learned on the single forum with those who posted asking for help.

I'm over 50 and it's my observation that many new bloggers today don't have that adventurous, independent, self-sufficient inclination towards going off and figuring out things for themselves. Currently both Volunteers and Staff answer many repetitive questions every day posted by bloggers who chose to wait for an answer, rather than using the tutorial prepared for them, searching support documentation and forum threads, and using Google search to locate answers to their own questions, etc. As some of those who have demonstrated those behaviors are not new bloggers but just lazy people, it takes a lot patience to type out instructions over and over or copy and paste them and a lot of self-control not to shout - go figure!

Offput ways of answering, usually don't answer the questions that were asked. How dare the inquirer not realize the efforts put into this.

I think it comes in waves - The video on the Dashboard got me started - then I focused on content. Once I got a couple weeks’ worth posted I went through the Learn Tutorial.

Then I subscribed to the forums and found out what I didn't know through the questions of others. I learned where all the specific articles were posted (some are linked here) and started learning the language.

The challenge for me is not that there is no assistance - but that there is so much it is hard to sift through. Each day I hope my blog gets a little better as I learn new stuff and more of the language. I am still fuzzy on SEOs and I have been here a month, but it is on my list to learn. Think of it as learning how to cook – you not only need recipes, but you need to know how to learn a mixer, oven, ect. Try to start with Jello and work yourself up to beef bouillon.

Once you have gone through the articles on the link that timetheif gave you – you should have a better understanding of what you need to learn next.

It's more joking around than insulting you, we come here for fun so lighten up.

It's entirely premature to be worrying about keywords, etc when you don't know how to use the tool to blog yet. Get that down and then take on the other things one at a time.

The best way to avoid having the same links given to you over and over is to read them and if you have specific questions, return to the forums and ask them.

Just as well the wheel has already been invented - these days, we'd be waiting awhile!

is there not a more basic advice

You can read and follow the step by step tutorial provided by Staff > http://learn.wordpress.com/ and start blogging.
You can use the support documentation to search for every term you listed and even more. http://en.support/wordpress.com and you can search forum threads.

Of course we all want followers however do be aware that the "build it and they will come" slogan does not apply. It takes at least 6 months to a year of frequent publication of fresh and original content, blog promotion, commenting on related blogs, etc. to build enough connections and relationships to create a blog centered community. If you aren't a self starter then blogging may not be easy for you. If you need more help click my username as you may find what you need in my blog.

Read what TT said. Then read http://learn.wordpress.com/ and start blogging.