Lesson 3: Lock Down Your Club Blog

When a blog first gets created, it is assumed that the authors will immediately start to post content that they will want indexed by internet search engines.  Since you are developing a club website, you will want to close the website from public internet access and ensure that it does not appear on internet search engines until it has been approved by your club executive.

In addition, you will want to specify a few users that will have admin, author and read permissions to the club blog / website while it is under construction.

Here are the steps to "lock down" your club blog:

1. In the club blog dashboard, select the "Settings" tab and the "Permissions" link.
   
   
   
   
   
2. In the "Permissions" page, for "Blog Readers" you want to change who can view the blog.
   
   
   
   
   Select the "Only blog authors" option.
   
   
   
   
   Click "Allow Authors Only".  This effectively closes your club blog from public access.  Only those approved authors who logon to Blogger can gain access to the blog.
   
   
3. The next step is to add additional authors.  For "Blog Authors", invite one or more people to become blog authors.
   
   
   
   
   After the individuals are invited, the list of authors will change to show individuals who have been invited.
   
   
   
   
   Individuals who are invited will receive an email.
   
   
   
   
   People must accept the invitation before they get listed as an author.
   
   
   
   
   Once an individual accepts the invitation, they will be listed as an author.
   
   
   
   
   

Additional changes will be made to "Permissions" when you are ready to enable the site for review by selected club members.