Each registered user at the Carnival Cruise Blog Portal has their own personal blog:

Your blog can be accessed directly at http://carnivalcruiseblog.com/blog/username.  Replace "username" with your own username.  If you are not sure how your username should be displayed in the URL path, just visit your "my account" link on the navigation menu and click on Blog: "view recent blog entries" and copy the URL shown in your browser's address bar.  Each blog post also has it's own unique URL. Just click on the "read more" link at the bottom of the blog post or snippet on your blog's home page. Your post is automatically promoted to the portal's home page (see below for more information on snippets and promoting posts).

To post to your blog, click on "create content" on the navigation menu (you must be logged in to see this menu and to post).

Click on "blog entry" on the expanded menu or on "personal blog entry" link on the create content page

This brings you to the Submit personal blog entry page. There is some help information and links at the top of the page.

Enter a descriptive title, for your post,  in the "Title" field (example: "My Carnival vacation to Cancun" or "Recent voyage on Carnival Valor").  You can title your post any way you wish, but a good description will attract more readers.  The title is also automatically used in naming the page.

The "Topic" selector box allows you to add your blog entry (or post) to a specific category.  This is a very flexible feature that will be developed over time.  Currently there are only two choices, "<None>" and "Help" (for grouping all the site's "Help" pages). Unless you are creating a "Help" resource, please use "<None>" for now.  Once several users start posting, we will add to this feature.

"Body" area and "Formatting Toolbar":  The "Body" area is where you compose your blog entry.  The "Formatting Toolbar" allows you to format your text and insert images.  Note:  Not all formatting options are enabled, due to security concerns.  We are testing various options against their security implications and will post a list of disabled options shortly.

If the "Formatting Toolbar" is not visible (collapsed), click on the down arrow below the word "Body".

Type in your content (story, cruise review or whatever).  For additional help with inserting images, see "To insert (upload) your own image".

Once you have composed your blog post, you can "Preview" or "Submit" your entry.  If you "Preview your entry, you can see how the "Snippet" will be shown on the site's main page.  See "Snippets" below for additional details on how to control where your entry will "Break".

You can also "Subscribe" to receive notification of replies to this personal blog entry.

Snippets: are trimmed versions, or teasers, of your entries that are used on the main site's and your blogs' home page to allow easier browsing of your content.  Click on the "Read More" link to see the entire entry.  This is very similar to a newspaper's "Continued on page two", except the entire entry is shown after you click on "Read More".  This destination page's URL (web address) can also be used when you want to direct someone to particular entry.

Promoting:  The first portion of your entry is "Promoted" to the site's home page. This allows other members and visitors to see what's "Inside" the site.  The newest entry goes to the top of the stack (directly below the site introduction).  As other members post their entries, yours moves down the stack and eventually goes to the archives.  You can control how much of your entry is shown on the site's main page by using the "<!--break-->" tag.  This is explained on the results page when you "Preview" your entry.  You have to add the <!--break--> tag in the source of your post (click on "source" on the toolbar).

Formatting Key:

"create content" = a menu choice, link or field name

navigation menu = a page or block name (blocks are the little areas on the sides of the page containing various information)