“There is no excuse for language that is anti-Semitic”

Blogging on The Local

The Local has always been a conversation between our readers and our journalists. Now you can make your voice heard by starting a blog on The Local.

What should I write?

The beauty of a blog is that you are limited only by your imagination. Some people just link to interesting articles and post images; others use their blogs to make serious points about politics or other burning issues of the day.

This being The Local, blogs with some link to Sweden or Swedes will do best. If you're a foreigner living in Sweden, The Local will be a great way to get yourself noticed.

See also: Choosing a topic to blog about

What else should I bear in mind?

The blog will be live on The Local's website. This means that The Local's editor will be legally responsible for what you write, and he reserves the right to delete your posts or even remove your blog. However, if you stick to our terms and conditions we'll leave you in peace.

These terms are rather long and legalistic, but a golden rule is to show respect for other people and organizations. Never spread unsubstantiated rumours likely to damage someone's reputation.

The technical side

The basics of blogging

The Local's blogs are hosted on the WordPress platform. You'll find almost everything you need to know about blogging over at the WordPress forums.

Customising your blog

Once you've set up your blog you can customise it by clicking on Appearance in the left column.

The Local's blogs are scaled down somewhat, meaning you can't change the theme, i.e. the overarching blog template. But you can change all the colours and upload your own background image.

How do I add a background image?

• Scroll to Media in the left column
• Go to Add New and upload the image you want to use from your computer
• Once you have uploaded an image, copy the URL from the File URL field
• Scroll to Appearance, Customise Theme
• Paste the URL for your image in the Background Image URL field and click Save

Adding an image to a blog post:

Since you are limited to 10MB of space, we recommend that you only use photos that have previously been uploaded to an external site, e.g. flickr.com

Once you've set up your blog you can customise it by clicking on Appearance in the left column.

Widgets

You can also add Widgets to the right hand side of your blog, such as, for example, The Local's widgets and RSS feeds.

Appearing on The Local's Blogs page

If you'd like your blog to be featured with an image on The Local's Blogs page, please send a photo - preferably of yourself - that you would like to have represent your blog to blogs@thelocal.se. We will then resize the picture to create a thumbnail image. Remember to write a first post beforehand.

Also, don't forget to change your tagline from 'Another blog at The Local' to something more appealing. You can do this by clicking on Settings at the bottom of the left-hand column.