If you are quite familiar with blogging or updating web pages this is very simple:

• Add your job title, brief biographical details and photo here. (You only need to do this once)
  
• Go to the blog URL you have been sent with your name at the end
• Click "Add Weblog Entry"
• Write your blog then save it
  
• Publish your work by changing the state from Private to Publish

More detailed instructions are below.

Configuring your blog

This is just a matter of adding your job title, brief biographical details and photo here.

This will then appear in the right hand column of your blog, like this, only prettier:

Weblog Authors

Martin Sims

Location: UK

PolicyTracker's Managing Editor

A step by step guide to updating your blog

1. When we created a blog for you we sent you a URL with your name at the end,  similar to https://www.policytracker.com/blogs/martin-sims
   
   
2. Navigate to that page and you should see this bar at the top:
   
3. If the green bar is missing and the page looks the same as all the others on the site please get back to us.
   
   
4. Click "Add Weblog entry"
   
   
5. You will see a screen like this:
   
   
   
6. What to put in the boxes:
   Title: the main headline
   Excerpt: a second headline, a brief summary, or just the first line of the article
   Entry text box: main body of the text. Best to write directly into this box as cutting and pasting from programs like Word can throw up strange formatting errors
   
   
7. Feel free to experiment, no one can see what you write until you click publish right at the end of the process
   
   
8. Most of the text stylings will already be familiar, but here's a few which you may not know:
   
   LInk to an external website or to an article on the PolicyTracker website (if you already have the url)
   
   Search the PolicyTracker website for a story you want to link to
   
   Insert an image saved on your computer. (You can also cut and paste images)
   
   Insert a table
   
   Reveal the HTML code
   
   
9. Its best to click "save" as you go along, particularly if you are creating a complex post. The save button is at the bottom of the page, where you will also see this:
   
   
10. Please choose a category for your item, or more than one by holding down the Cntrl key. This helps to find the item in searches. You can create a new category by typing into the  the box on the right.
    
    
11. We recommend that you click the "Allow comments" button to stimulate debate! Only PolicyTracker subscribers can comment.
    
    
12. Once you are happy with your work and have saved it, it is time to let the public read it. At the top right corner, change State: Private, to Publish and it will be available for anyone to read.