They’re super easy to add. Just go to Layout, then Add a Gadget (preferably one that is on your side column), and there is an option for Blog List/Followers. Then just click on “Add a Blog to your List,” and copy and paste the web address. Now hit Save. That’s it.
.
Monday, April 12, 2010
GIVING YOUR BLOG EXTRA LARGE PICTURES
You've worked hard to make your pictures look great, and if you're like me, you want to make sure they're big and beautiful on your blog. Blogger gives you different size options, but if you want your pictures to show up in XLarge size, keep reading.
It's very important that your blog has the Updated Editor selected, so let's make sure you have that selected first.
- Go to Customize, Settings, Basic.
- Now go all the way towards the bottom of the page where it says "Select Page Editor."
- Click on "Updated Editor."
- Click "Save Settings."
Now go back up to the top and click Posting. You should now be able to start a New Post. Upload your new picture, click ok, and click on your picture and you will be given an option for XLarge. It seems so simple, but you wouldn't believe how tedious it was before the Updated Editor. :)
.
It's very important that your blog has the Updated Editor selected, so let's make sure you have that selected first.
- Go to Customize, Settings, Basic.
- Now go all the way towards the bottom of the page where it says "Select Page Editor."
- Click on "Updated Editor."
- Click "Save Settings."
Now go back up to the top and click Posting. You should now be able to start a New Post. Upload your new picture, click ok, and click on your picture and you will be given an option for XLarge. It seems so simple, but you wouldn't believe how tedious it was before the Updated Editor. :)
.
ADDING A "TICKER" TO YOUR BLOG
Want an easy way to remind family and friends how old your kids are? Or a countdown till your big family vaction, or even a counter to know how many people have viewed your blog? Well, tickers are an easy way to get any of those done! A few great ticker sites to check out are :
Lily Pie (for kids ages,anniversaries, due dates, etc.)
TickerFactory (kids,vacation, due dates, weightloss goals)
FreeCounters (a counter to show how many hits you have)
Go to any one of the sites listed above. Create your ticker. ANd then find the HTML code. Copy this code.
-Click on the Customize link at the top right of your blog. Then Layouts, and Page Elements.
-Click on one of the Add a Gadget links.If you made a full size(long ticker) you will need it to be at the top or bottom of your blog. If you used a smaller half size ticker(short), then you can use a side gadget.
-Click on HTML/JavaScript to open the gadget.
-Leave your title blank(or this will show on your blog), and paste in your HTML code under Content.
-Click on Save
.
Lily Pie (for kids ages,anniversaries, due dates, etc.)
TickerFactory (kids,vacation, due dates, weightloss goals)
FreeCounters (a counter to show how many hits you have)
Go to any one of the sites listed above. Create your ticker. ANd then find the HTML code. Copy this code.
-Click on the Customize link at the top right of your blog. Then Layouts, and Page Elements.
-Click on one of the Add a Gadget links.If you made a full size(long ticker) you will need it to be at the top or bottom of your blog. If you used a smaller half size ticker(short), then you can use a side gadget.
-Click on HTML/JavaScript to open the gadget.
-Leave your title blank(or this will show on your blog), and paste in your HTML code under Content.
-Click on Save
.
ADDING A "PLAYLIST" TO YOUR BLOG
Adding a playlist to your blog is just one more way of letting the world see another glimpse of you and your style. Some people love hearing others playlist, and some would rather turn the volume down!Here are the steps so you can add a little "umph" to your blog. Whether someone turns your playlist down or not...well, thats up to them! :)
-Go to Playlist.com
-Go to Join Now, or log in at the top right corner. To join it is free...and VERY fast!
-"Start building a playlist"....search for you song title, words in the song, or artist name.
-You can listen to the song by pressing the play button next to the song. If you want to add it to your playlist press the + button.
- Your song will be added to your playlist on the right side of the screen.
-After all your songs are chosen, you can rearrange them how you want them to play,Or you can hi the little button on the top right of your playlist screen to "shuffle" them. SO each time someone visits your blog, a new song will play.
-At the bottom of the playlist screen, hit "SHARE" or "EMBED"
-Choose your settings and hit "GET CODE"
-Before you hit the BLOGGER button, copy the FULL code that is found at the bottom of the screen. Then click the BLOGGER button.
-Fill in your blog information. ( I have been having problems with this NOT working. It will say LOG IN FAILED). If this happens, go to your blog and add the copied code into one of your Gadgets(on the bottom).
.
-Go to Playlist.com
-Go to Join Now, or log in at the top right corner. To join it is free...and VERY fast!
-"Start building a playlist"....search for you song title, words in the song, or artist name.
-You can listen to the song by pressing the play button next to the song. If you want to add it to your playlist press the + button.
- Your song will be added to your playlist on the right side of the screen.
-After all your songs are chosen, you can rearrange them how you want them to play,Or you can hi the little button on the top right of your playlist screen to "shuffle" them. SO each time someone visits your blog, a new song will play.
-At the bottom of the playlist screen, hit "SHARE" or "EMBED"
-Choose your settings and hit "GET CODE"
-Before you hit the BLOGGER button, copy the FULL code that is found at the bottom of the screen. Then click the BLOGGER button.
-Fill in your blog information. ( I have been having problems with this NOT working. It will say LOG IN FAILED). If this happens, go to your blog and add the copied code into one of your Gadgets(on the bottom).
.
CREATING A SLIDE SHOW ROTATING HEADER
Have you ever seen those beautiful headers that rotate people pictures through it? Ever wanted one...well now you can have it! :) Here's how.....
- You want to make your header approximately the width of your blog. If you’ve followed the MAKING YOUR CENTER BLOG WIDER instructions, your blog width will now be 1000px, so keep that in mind. If you didnt, it should be 660px. Her recommended length is 300 pixels, but I found that to be very hard to work with. It’s so long and thin. SO you could go anywhere from 300- 400 pixels. Remember, the more pictures you have the slower your blog will load, so it’s suggested that you keep it between 2 – 5 pictures. Remember you can stretch your photos if you need to by following THIS EDITING TIP that I got from CoffeeShop.
- Remember ALL of your pictures have to be the same size for this to work!
- Go to Tinypic.com or Imagehost.org and upload your design. Copy the Directlink(tinypic.com) or the Hotlink(imagehost.com)
- Now minimize that screen and go to HTML BASIX
- Click on "Automatically Refresh Images" and set how often you want them to flash. I recommend ever 6 seconds.
- Enter the image height and width in pixels.
- Now, take the direct link(tinypic.com) or Hotlink(Imagehost.com) for your photo that you copied and paste it where it says “URL of Image.” Do this for as many pictures as you need for your slideshow.
- Click Generate.
- Now you will see a very long code. Click on Select All. This will highlight the entire code, and you can just right click to copy that code.
- Now just go back to you blog, click Customize, Layout, Page Elements. Then go to the top and click on “Add a Gadget.”
- Select HTML/ JavaScript, paste the code there and save. Now you should have a slideshow header.
TIP: you can also do the as a small square slide show that will go on your side bar. You images should all be down to about 200x200 px to fit.
.
- You want to make your header approximately the width of your blog. If you’ve followed the MAKING YOUR CENTER BLOG WIDER instructions, your blog width will now be 1000px, so keep that in mind. If you didnt, it should be 660px. Her recommended length is 300 pixels, but I found that to be very hard to work with. It’s so long and thin. SO you could go anywhere from 300- 400 pixels. Remember, the more pictures you have the slower your blog will load, so it’s suggested that you keep it between 2 – 5 pictures. Remember you can stretch your photos if you need to by following THIS EDITING TIP that I got from CoffeeShop.
- Remember ALL of your pictures have to be the same size for this to work!
- Go to Tinypic.com or Imagehost.org and upload your design. Copy the Directlink(tinypic.com) or the Hotlink(imagehost.com)
- Now minimize that screen and go to HTML BASIX
- Click on "Automatically Refresh Images" and set how often you want them to flash. I recommend ever 6 seconds.
- Enter the image height and width in pixels.
- Now, take the direct link(tinypic.com) or Hotlink(Imagehost.com) for your photo that you copied and paste it where it says “URL of Image.” Do this for as many pictures as you need for your slideshow.
- Click Generate.
- Now you will see a very long code. Click on Select All. This will highlight the entire code, and you can just right click to copy that code.
- Now just go back to you blog, click Customize, Layout, Page Elements. Then go to the top and click on “Add a Gadget.”
- Select HTML/ JavaScript, paste the code there and save. Now you should have a slideshow header.
TIP: you can also do the as a small square slide show that will go on your side bar. You images should all be down to about 200x200 px to fit.
.
CREATING AND INSTALLING A "FROM SCRATCH" BLOG HEADER
If you really want to make your blog original, you can create your own header to match your custom background from scratch using the same style and techniques used in your CUSTOM MADE BACKGROUND. The possibilities are endless! To do this:
-Open a new transparent document that is approximately 1000 x 500, set at 72ppi. You can make it a little bit smaller than that, but don’t go any wider than 1000 pixels. That is your max. This is for if you have already made your CENTER BLOGGER WIDER. If not, your max size would be 600px wide. Make sure not to set it at higher than 72 ppi, or it will take your blog FOREVER to load.
-Add your Papers, ribbons, bows, brushes, etc. to have your header match your background. Make sure to create each thing on its own layer so you can have lots of play with your design. Save it in layers before you merge it together in case you need to go back later to make changes.
- After you’re done, don’t flatten your image. Just "merge visible layers". This will keep a transparent background, rather than white. Now you can save your image as a .png file.
-To add it to your blog, go to Customize, Layout, Click Edit on your header, and upload your file.
- If your header is TOO large on your Blog, just go back to your editing program and resize it a bit smaller, save, and upload again.
.
-Open a new transparent document that is approximately 1000 x 500, set at 72ppi. You can make it a little bit smaller than that, but don’t go any wider than 1000 pixels. That is your max. This is for if you have already made your CENTER BLOGGER WIDER. If not, your max size would be 600px wide. Make sure not to set it at higher than 72 ppi, or it will take your blog FOREVER to load.
-Add your Papers, ribbons, bows, brushes, etc. to have your header match your background. Make sure to create each thing on its own layer so you can have lots of play with your design. Save it in layers before you merge it together in case you need to go back later to make changes.
- After you’re done, don’t flatten your image. Just "merge visible layers". This will keep a transparent background, rather than white. Now you can save your image as a .png file.
-To add it to your blog, go to Customize, Layout, Click Edit on your header, and upload your file.
- If your header is TOO large on your Blog, just go back to your editing program and resize it a bit smaller, save, and upload again.
.
INSATALLING PRE-MADE BLOG HEADERS
Another option for your Header is to use a premade template. Here are a few of my favorites:
-SHABBY BLOGS has lots of great ones (HERE).
-COFFEESHOP offers some great ones (HERE). She mixes her storyboards and blogger templates together, so just look to make sure the one you download is for a blog header. Now these can only be used in PS or PSE, but they’re great for getting ideas from if you use Gimp. If you do use these, just add your pictures to her template, and save as a jpg.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements. Click Edit on your Header, and load your new one, and select "Instead of Title and Description"
- Save and preview. If you want it to be smaller, go back to the editing program and resize and save again.
-SHABBY BLOGS has lots of great ones (HERE).
-COFFEESHOP offers some great ones (HERE). She mixes her storyboards and blogger templates together, so just look to make sure the one you download is for a blog header. Now these can only be used in PS or PSE, but they’re great for getting ideas from if you use Gimp. If you do use these, just add your pictures to her template, and save as a jpg.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements. Click Edit on your Header, and load your new one, and select "Instead of Title and Description"
- Save and preview. If you want it to be smaller, go back to the editing program and resize and save again.
CREATING AND INSTALLING A SIMPLE BLOG HEADER
If you want a simple blog header, COFFEESHOP (HERE) has a great tutorial that shows you what size to crop your photo and how to add text to it before uploading it. I actually used this tutorial for my BLOG (TheAndressFamily). To do this:
- Crop your picture between 660 – 1000 pixels wide and 150-400 pixels high. How big you go is more a matter of taste, and if you make it too big Blogger will shrink it to size. You can crop at 72ppi since it will be used for web, not print. The higher ppi, the longer it will take for your page to load. Sometimes it is best to create it bigger, so you only have to size it down if it's too big for you taste. If you make it too small, and want it bigger, you have to start all over.
- Now you can add your text. Remember that if you want to use a particular color from your picture as the text color, just use the eyedropper to select the color. And MeShell’s pattern fill challenge is great for creating letters for this.
- When you’re done, Flatten and Save your image as a jpg.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements. Click Edit on your Header, and load your new one, and select "Instead of Title and Description"
- Save and preview. If you want it to be smaller, go back to the editing program and resize and save again.
.
- Crop your picture between 660 – 1000 pixels wide and 150-400 pixels high. How big you go is more a matter of taste, and if you make it too big Blogger will shrink it to size. You can crop at 72ppi since it will be used for web, not print. The higher ppi, the longer it will take for your page to load. Sometimes it is best to create it bigger, so you only have to size it down if it's too big for you taste. If you make it too small, and want it bigger, you have to start all over.
- Now you can add your text. Remember that if you want to use a particular color from your picture as the text color, just use the eyedropper to select the color. And MeShell’s pattern fill challenge is great for creating letters for this.
- When you’re done, Flatten and Save your image as a jpg.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements. Click Edit on your Header, and load your new one, and select "Instead of Title and Description"
- Save and preview. If you want it to be smaller, go back to the editing program and resize and save again.
.
CREATING AND INSTALLING YOUR OWN BLOG BACKGOUND
If you want to take it to the next step up from using the pre-made blog backgrounds, you can CREATE your own blog background. This obviously takes more time...and patience. It can be a bit frustrating trying to get the sizing right. But if you are looking for something more personalized, then this is the way to go.
- In your editing program(Photoshop, Elements, or GIMP), open up a new page. Size it to 24inches wide and 15inches tall, at 72 ppi. NOW even though you create your page this big, not ALL of the page will show up on your blog. But if you create it any smaller, you will see white on the sides or the bottom. SO stick with this size.
-Create you background by using layers of Papers, ribbons, or Brushes. If you use premade Scrapbooking kits, make sure your give credit to the "maker of the kit".
TIP: From experience (of trial and error), I have found that its best to do a simple repeating background, because depending on the size of one's computer screen, it will change the way they see your blog. SO some things maybe cut off on other screens.
- Make your first layer a FULL(24x15) solid background of a paper or color you want. Can be solid or textured.
- On your next layer create a box using your rectangle tool. Fill it with any color.(we will only be using this as a guide tool, and will delete it before saving. The box should be 15 inches tall, and should fill everywhere between the 5inch mark and the 19inch mark. This will show you "ABOUT" where your center posting part on your blog will be. So everything under that box will not show up on you blog.
- Decorate the two outer sides of that box(Everything on its own layers).
TIP: Because everyone's computer screen show a different amount of your background, we have found the best spots to decorate are between inches 2-5 and 19-23. BUT also add decoration to the other few inches for those that it shows the FULL screen to. AND, there is no need to decorate any lower than 10 inches...this will not show on anyone's blogs. It is only used as extra space(but must be there). So it may be helpful to create ANOTHER layer with a second box(you can turn the opacity low). Put this box from 2-13inches, and 8.5 inches long. This will show you where MOST peoples computers will cut your blog off.
Here is an example:
- When you are happy with your design of your background,Make sure you delete the "box" layers we created as your tools. THEN save it FIRST as a (xcf(gimp) or psd(ps)). This will save it in layer form, in case you need to go back later to make and changes. Next save it as a jpg.
INSTALLING YOUR OWN BACKGROUND
- Open up a word document, or notepad. And Copy this code on to a new page:
<style type="text/css"> body {background-image: url("YOUR PHOTO URL HERE"); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; }</style>
- Go to Tinypic.com or Imagehost.org and upload your design. Copy the Directlink(tinypic.com) or the Hotlink(imagehost.com)
- Paste your link into the above code where it says "Your Photo URL here". MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE "" marks in the code!!!!
- Copy your NEW WHOLE code.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements.
- Click to "ADD a Gadget". You can use it anywhere...but I normal use the very bottom one to keep it out of the way. In the TITLE spot, leave it blank. If you type in it, it WILL show on your blog. In the CONTENT spot, paste your code. Hit save and then "preview your blog".
You can go back and change your blog background as many times as you want by taking the same steps. Just make sure you always use the same "gadget" spot, and delete your old code before pasting the new one. When you are creating your own background you may need to do a few "tries" before you get the look right. That's why it's best to leave them all in layers, so you can move your embellishments around to where you can see them on your blog.
- In your editing program(Photoshop, Elements, or GIMP), open up a new page. Size it to 24inches wide and 15inches tall, at 72 ppi. NOW even though you create your page this big, not ALL of the page will show up on your blog. But if you create it any smaller, you will see white on the sides or the bottom. SO stick with this size.
-Create you background by using layers of Papers, ribbons, or Brushes. If you use premade Scrapbooking kits, make sure your give credit to the "maker of the kit".
TIP: From experience (of trial and error), I have found that its best to do a simple repeating background, because depending on the size of one's computer screen, it will change the way they see your blog. SO some things maybe cut off on other screens.
- Make your first layer a FULL(24x15) solid background of a paper or color you want. Can be solid or textured.
- On your next layer create a box using your rectangle tool. Fill it with any color.(we will only be using this as a guide tool, and will delete it before saving. The box should be 15 inches tall, and should fill everywhere between the 5inch mark and the 19inch mark. This will show you "ABOUT" where your center posting part on your blog will be. So everything under that box will not show up on you blog.
- Decorate the two outer sides of that box(Everything on its own layers).
TIP: Because everyone's computer screen show a different amount of your background, we have found the best spots to decorate are between inches 2-5 and 19-23. BUT also add decoration to the other few inches for those that it shows the FULL screen to. AND, there is no need to decorate any lower than 10 inches...this will not show on anyone's blogs. It is only used as extra space(but must be there). So it may be helpful to create ANOTHER layer with a second box(you can turn the opacity low). Put this box from 2-13inches, and 8.5 inches long. This will show you where MOST peoples computers will cut your blog off.
Here is an example:
- When you are happy with your design of your background,Make sure you delete the "box" layers we created as your tools. THEN save it FIRST as a (xcf(gimp) or psd(ps)). This will save it in layer form, in case you need to go back later to make and changes. Next save it as a jpg.
INSTALLING YOUR OWN BACKGROUND
- Open up a word document, or notepad. And Copy this code on to a new page:
<style type="text/css"> body {background-image: url("YOUR PHOTO URL HERE"); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; }</style>
- Go to Tinypic.com or Imagehost.org and upload your design. Copy the Directlink(tinypic.com) or the Hotlink(imagehost.com)
- Paste your link into the above code where it says "Your Photo URL here". MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE "" marks in the code!!!!
- Copy your NEW WHOLE code.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements.
- Click to "ADD a Gadget". You can use it anywhere...but I normal use the very bottom one to keep it out of the way. In the TITLE spot, leave it blank. If you type in it, it WILL show on your blog. In the CONTENT spot, paste your code. Hit save and then "preview your blog".
You can go back and change your blog background as many times as you want by taking the same steps. Just make sure you always use the same "gadget" spot, and delete your old code before pasting the new one. When you are creating your own background you may need to do a few "tries" before you get the look right. That's why it's best to leave them all in layers, so you can move your embellishments around to where you can see them on your blog.
Installing Pre-Made blog backgrounds
There are MANY sites that you can get beautiful FREE, pre made backgrounds. ANd installing them is soooo easy. Its one of those things you can do over and over and over again...as often as your heart desires! :) Here is a few of my favorites:
- Scrap-e-blog
- Cutest Blog on the Block
- Shabby Blogs
- CoffeeShop
- Copy the code that is given to you with the background. It's a long code that starts and ends with < script >. Make sure you copy it all.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements.
- Click to "ADD a Gadget". You can use it anywhere...but I normal use the very bottom one to keep it out of the way. In the TITLE spot, leave it blank. If you type in it, it WILL show on your blog. In the CONTENT spot, paste your code. Hit save and then "preview your blog".
You can go back and change your blog background as many times as you want by taking the same steps. Just make sure you always use the same "gadget" spot, and delete your old code before pasting the new one.
.
- Scrap-e-blog
- Cutest Blog on the Block
- Shabby Blogs
- CoffeeShop
- Copy the code that is given to you with the background. It's a long code that starts and ends with < script >. Make sure you copy it all.
- Go to your blog and go to your Dashboard and hit Layouts, then Page Elements. Or Go to Customize, then layouts then Page Elements.
- Click to "ADD a Gadget". You can use it anywhere...but I normal use the very bottom one to keep it out of the way. In the TITLE spot, leave it blank. If you type in it, it WILL show on your blog. In the CONTENT spot, paste your code. Hit save and then "preview your blog".
You can go back and change your blog background as many times as you want by taking the same steps. Just make sure you always use the same "gadget" spot, and delete your old code before pasting the new one.
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
