One site I refer bloggers to frequently, especially fledgling bloggers, is Weblogs.About.com. My friend Shai Coggins is the guide for this site, which provides a wealth of comprehensive information about blogs and blogging.

For the blogging newbie there is a section called Web Logs Basics, a blogging FAQ section, and several how-tos/tutorials covering a range of topics including how to set up a blog using any one of the popular platforms (Typepad, LiveJournal, WordPress, etc.), how to add a counter to your blog, or how to add commenting and trackback functions.

Shai provides enough basic and how-to information that I shouldn't have to write anything along those lines! :-) I'll just refer to her.

Oh, I really encourage you to join the forums and participate in the ongoing discussion thread.