Making Space on Windows Live.
Now we can move on to creating a Space. What is a Space? Well, think of it as your very own Webpage which is completely free to use and which can be used by you in any way that you wish. Being able to have a Space inside Windows Live is a feature that makes Windows Live so unique when compared to other Social Networking sites which do not offer an equivalent feature.
Many users use their Space in which to write a blog, others to simply to display and share their photo’s and pictures or their graphics capabilities and poems. You can let everyone know far more about yourself by displaying lists of your favourite books, films and music and many users on Windows Live will only include you in their Network if they can visit your Space and get to know more details about you. You may not have found Spaces so far as a newbie because it is under the More tab on your Home page. So let’s set up a Space shall we?
1. Go to your Home page, click on the More tab and then click on Spaces. You will then be taken to your Spaces page and invited to Create your Space.
2. Click on Create your space. You will now be in your Spaces page. At the top of this page are numerous icons namely Choose web address, Edit Profile, Share Photos, Add blog entry, Invite friends, Add a list and lastly Space permissions where, as we have already covered, you can set up who has permission to view your Space. At the top just above the line of icons you are invited to View the Spaces tour if you require anymore information about spaces Below those icons you will notice a title, which on mine currently says Newbie’s space. Below that is your Profile (which you have already completed) and next to that is a main area where you can add some content such as a blog entry or one of your photo albums. Also in that main area, you are invited to Customize your space. and we will do that in the next post.
3. For now let’s work our way along the icons at the top beginning with Choose web address. Your web address is very important because this is the address that you will give to others such as your family and friends so that they can easily find your space, so think carefully and choose something that will enable them to easily find your spaces page. Put your chosen name into the box provided and then click on Check availability to see if that particular name is available. Once you have successfully chosen your web address, it will be http://(your chosen name).spaces.live.com. I will choose http://anothernewbie.spaces.live.com as that is available. You are warned that you cannot change it later. If you are happy with that web address for your space, then click on Save.
4. The next icon is edit Profile so if you wish to do so then click on it to be taken to your details page where you can make any changes that you are not happy with. I am happy with my Profile for now, so I will move onto the next icon in the list. Share photos.
5. When you click on the Share photos you are taken to your photos page where there are already four albums created for you titled New album. Two have lock icons attached, one has the world icon and the other has the two people icon. All this means is that two albums are private, one is for anyone to view and the other is just for your network. For now let’s add some photos to one of the albums.
6. Click on Add photos. You will then be invited to select which of the four albums you wish to store your photos, or you can create a new album. For now let’s select one of the default albums.
7. Click on one of the albums so that you can upload some photos from your computer into that album and then click on Select photos from your computer.
8. A window will open containing all of your photo files currently on your computer. To select some photos just drag and drop them into the area that says Drop photos here. (to drag and drop, just click on each photo then hold down the left mouse button and ‘drag’ the photo over to the area, then release the left click button on your mouse.) NOTE. If you have any problems doing this as it does not always work, try clicking on just one photo first to insert it into the area, and then drag and drop the others into the new area below.
9. When you have inserted all of the photos that you intend to include, click on Upload and then once all of the photos have uploaded you can either change who can see those photos or leave it as it is and then return to setting up your space.
10. Next we will add a very short blog entry to our space. What is a blog? A blog can be many things depending on its content and its intended audience. Many blogs on the internet are professional blogs written to be read by as many people as possible. They may contain news about technology for example or media or any subject. The Windows Live team posts a blog on their space containing news for all Windows Live users about new changes to the service for example. Lot’s of users on Windows Live tend to write more personal blogs which are similar to a diary of sorts, with daily occurrences in their lives that they wish to share. Some like to write jokes and/or poems for others to read and enjoy. You can write about anything that interests you in your blog space.
`11. Click on Add a blog entry to be taken to the inbuilt blog editor. First of all you need to give your blog post a title, so type something appropriate into the Title box. I’ll put Our new bus station as this short demo blog will be about the photos I just uploaded.
12. Next you can give your blog a category. There are already some provided for you, such as books, computers and internet etc, or you can click on Add a category to add one of your own. I will choose travel, seeing as this blog will be about the bus station.
13. Now just write something into the area below. You can choose a font, its size and its colour and also include some smiley's into your text.
14. When you have finished, you can click on either Save as draft so that you can work on it later at a later time, preview your post to check just what it will look like or publish it to your space. Here’s my Space page so far!
Next post we will continue with our new space by customising its theme, layout and colours.
TG
