By default all myUSI Student blogs are created with a flag that keeps them from automatically being indexed by search engines. There are some pros and cons to this approach.

The Pros of Being Private

On the positive side, if someone wants to look at your blog they have to either know that you have a blog on myUSI Student or they have to go looking for it based on your myUSI user name or they have to follow a link to it that is posted somewhere else. This allows your blog to remain relatively private. Only those that know you, know about you, or follow external links pointing to your site will probably look at your blog.

This is by no means truly private (you are posting information to a publicly accessible website after all), but it is more private than having everything that you post indexed by search engines around the world. So, in effect, it is private by some degree.

It should be noted that we can’t guarantee that your content won’t be indexed. That really depends on the indexing programs used by search engines and whether or not they follow standard web conventions. You should take time to read the myUSI Student Privacy Policy, the myUSI Student Terms of Use and the USI Computer Use Policy for more information. Use of this service implies agreement with these policies.

Locally, having a blog on myUSI Student marked as private means that the administrators of the myUSI Student blog platform have fewer resources to publicize blogs that currently exist on the system. As an example, you might have noticed the Updated Sites channel on the login page for myUSI Student.

Updated Sites channel on myUSI Student login page highlighted in green.

This channel is updated whenever a blog that is marked as public is updated. Because the blog has explicitly stated that it is public, we can program against that flag and create channels like Updated Sites.

Why You Might Want to be (More) Public

While privacy, even in the limited degree provided by the myUSI Student blog platform, is indeed valuable, it does limit the exposure of your blog’s content.

If you would like it to be easier for people to find your blog, to read your writing, and comment on what you have to say, it may be a good idea to mark your myUSI Student blog as public.

A public blog will allow search engine indexing programs to crawl your blog. After they begin indexing your pages, it is only a matter of time and a few well constructed search terms before an audience finds your blog. A public blog doesn’t have to rely on people knowing (or knowing of ) the author for them to find or stumble across the site. Instead anything that you write about can potentially bring visitors to you. Your audience, for better or for worse, can get a whole lot larger.

Marking a blog as public will also be a prerequisite for any future myUSI blog directories and tools for sharing and finding other blogs on the myUSI Student blog platform. Remember that this implementation of our blogging platform is still in beta. We’re adding and tweaking new features, tools, content, and tutorials all the time.

Changing Your Blog from Private to Public and Back

By default, myUSI Student blogs are marked as private when they are created. Making them public or explicitly choosing for them to be private is a little convoluted, but not too difficult. The following steps will guide you through the process.

First, go to the myUSI Student and log in using your myUSI username and password.

MyUSI Student login page with login area highlighted in green.

Once logged in, you will be presented with your blog’s dashboard and dashboard toolbar. This is where you can control all aspects on your blog, including its privacy settings.

MyUSI Student blog dashboard with dashboard toolbar highlighted in green.

To get to the privacy controls, first click on the Options section of the dashboard toolbar. It will open the General Options configuration area and give access to other optional controls including your privacy settings.

MyUSI Student blog dashboard with General Options highlighted in green.

You can change your privacy settings by clicking on the Privacy section of the Options area. If you have never changed or set your Privacy Options you might notice that the default option selected is “I would like my blog to be visible to anyone who visits, including search engines, archivers, and in public listings around this site”. Don’t be alarmed by this. You haven’t explicitly set your privacy preferences yet, so by default your blog is set to private, thereby blocking search engines but allowing normal users.

MyUSI Student blog dashboard with Privacy configuration area highlighted in green.

To make your blog explicitly public you will need to take the somewhat counterintuitive step of marking it as explicitly private first. To do that, click in the radio button next to the text that says “I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors” and then click the Upload Options button. You should see the same screen with an Options saved alert just below the dashboard toolbar. Your blog has now been explicitly set to private.

MyUSI Student blog marked private and “Options saved” highlighted in green.

If you would like your blog to stay hidden from compliant search engines and web indexers, you can stop right now. Your blog is now flagged as private to ward these applications off. It will not be included in future myUSI Student blog directories either.

However, if you would like your blog to be indexed by search engines and included in future myUSI Student blog directories, you will need to explicitly indicate that by marking your blog as public. To do that, click on the radio button next to the text “I would like my blog to be visible to anyone who visits, including search engines, archivers, and in public listings around this site” and then click the Upload Options button. You should see the same screen with an Options saved alert just below the dashboard toolbar. Your blog has now been explicitly set to public.

MyUSI Student blog marked public and “Options saved” highlighted in green.

From now on, your blog will be visible to compliant search engines and web indexers and will appear in search engine results for relevant phrases related to your blog’s content. Your blog is now flagged as public in order to fully comply these applications

Your public blog can also be included in future myUSI Student blog directories. Also, whenever you update your blog it will appear in the Updated Sites list on the myUSI Student login page. Until a myUSI Student blog directory is released, you can watch that channel to find new updated public blogs on the myUSI Student site.

MyUSI Student Updated Sites before blog is marked as public and updated.

MyUSI Student Updated Sites after blog is marked as public and updated.