So you want a blog? It's pretty simple to get one up and running on itp.nyu.edu. Simply login to your itp account (see How to use SSH) and type in:

$ mt-installer

This will install a fresh version of Movable Type into your directory, and you're ready to fill in your own details from here. The results should look something like the following:

running Movable Type Setup
You have a brand new blog! To finish the setup go here http://itp.nyu.edu/~NETID/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi and login as user 'itp' with the usual password.

where NETID is your own NYU NETID.

Now that MT is installed, let's getting it working. Copy and paste the url (http://itp.nyu.edu/~NETID/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi) from the installer results and open it in your browser. You'll find the MT login page. Fill in the blanks with the normal ITP login/password combination (with user being 'itp' with the usual password). This next part is really up to you.

Welcome to Movable Type, You should probably change your login details first. To do this find "Edit Your Profile" along the sidebar on the right and select it.

On the next page, click the "Edit" button to change the details of the 'itp' user. Here you can change your username (for logins), nickname (appears on your blog), your password and more. Remember to change your password above all else!

Now you're ready to configure your first blog. Back on the main menu page, select "Configration" from the "First Weblog" section.

On this page you can give your blog a title and setup the proper urls. If you want your blog to appear at the topmost part of your site (http://itp.nyu.edu/~NETID/) then you're done--just adjust the timezone. If you're setting up a new blog or need to use a subdirectory then try the following:

where NETID is your own NYU NETID and 'new_blog' is the directory name you'd like. Hit "Save". The option to rebuild your site will appear, but we need to create our directories first (if you followed the above). So, back in your terminal window type

mkdir ~/public_html/new_blog

where new_blog is the name of the directory you would like. Note: you can also do this via an SFTP such as fugu; check your program for the option to "Create New Directory."

Whew! We're done. Go and take a look at your new blog. There's many more options to explore and templates to update (to achieve that stylish look you've been dreaming about) but for now the nuts and bolts are done! Welcome to the blogosphere.