I can't seem to leave my blog alone, tweaking bits and bobs around, I know what I want but do not have the coding skills to do it! Thanks to many fabulous tutorials I'm having a go and learning as I go, my computer whizz brother would be so proud - or shamed that I'm so rubbish!
So, I've gone back to the white template, I really liked the notebook style but whilst having a go at the wonderfully helpful Haptree's link bar tutorial I messed up and needed to upload my saved code. There were a few from previous changes and seeing the white again I thought I'd stick with it and explore potential tweaks. I couldn't work out how to adapt the notebook template so it's gone, for now.
The changes are few but I like them:
Link Bar - at the top, hopefully handy and an effort to save trawling through page after page of bloggage. I've kept the label link bar on the right hand side for the more curious browser! I've added new 'about' and 'shops' posts and buried them with a 2008 date.
Folksy mini - thanks to Haptree again, a linkable slideshow of work available in my Folksy shops
New Header - still working on this as I'd like it to be wider, once I get it sussed (or someone points out the obvious to me) it'll be good to have the option of changing this as and when.
That's it so far, maybe one day I'll be able to code effectively. Or maybe not. If you, like me, need lots of help with all this blog, code, web, design stuff you might find the following links useful:
http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/
A dummies guide, blog tips, tricks, help for all new bloggers on Web templates, Blog templates, designs, widgets, layout, JavaScript, HTML codes, SEO, Google AdSense, gadgets, diagnostic tools, and how to monetize Blogger or Blogspot blogs.
How to create a menu bar, from the Real Life Blog.
I'll leave you with a dramatic representation of my long suffering brother trying, again, to explain coding to me as interpreted by Fathers Crilly and Maguire.
Showing posts with label Handy Links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Handy Links. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Sunday, 5 July 2009
31 Days to Build a Better Blog
I have mentioned the Problogger site before and a few months ago I worked through most of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge. As a new blogger it was hugely beneficial for me to consider the nature of what I want my blog to be and through the challenge I feel I've improved various aspects of my blog.
Darren Rowes explains his challenge:
If you are a newbie floundering in blog land or even an established blogger there is something for you in the challenge. The challenge involves a daily email with a short lesson and task to complete, however you can take the challenge at your own pace and complete the tasks to fit in with your schedule. There is no charge to participate in the challenge, however, if you wish to have a compilation of the teaching, challenges and extra material you can buy a workbook for about $20. I haven't purchased the book as I'm still working through some of the daily tasks which, by nature of the task, allow you to revisit the ideas and apply them to different posts.
Some of the my favourite lessons around writing effective posts include:
These are just three out of the 31 tutorials which you can find on the Problogger site or have sent directly to you when you sign up to the challenge. I've learned a lot, spoken to some fascinating people, read some brilliant blogs and highly recommend this challenge! Do let me know if you have been or become involved, I'd love to hear how you get on!
Darren Rowes explains his challenge:
"The idea behind this is simply to have a group of bloggers setting aside a month of their time to work at improving their blogs. While we all want to have better blogs sometimes it becomes one of those things that we’re going to do…. one day. I personally find that I improve (in all areas of my life) when I’m more intentional and set aside a specific time to make the improvements. That’s what this project is about."
If you are a newbie floundering in blog land or even an established blogger there is something for you in the challenge. The challenge involves a daily email with a short lesson and task to complete, however you can take the challenge at your own pace and complete the tasks to fit in with your schedule. There is no charge to participate in the challenge, however, if you wish to have a compilation of the teaching, challenges and extra material you can buy a workbook for about $20. I haven't purchased the book as I'm still working through some of the daily tasks which, by nature of the task, allow you to revisit the ideas and apply them to different posts.
Some of the my favourite lessons around writing effective posts include:
These are just three out of the 31 tutorials which you can find on the Problogger site or have sent directly to you when you sign up to the challenge. I've learned a lot, spoken to some fascinating people, read some brilliant blogs and highly recommend this challenge! Do let me know if you have been or become involved, I'd love to hear how you get on!
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Eight Fabulous Blogs
Eight fabulous blogs which I have found helpful, interesting, inspiring or all of the above in the first few months of my self employment:
1. http://www.modishblog.com/biztips/
Looking to turn your creative passion into a business? Already in business for yourself and need some guidance? Modish BIZtips offers bright ideas to help make your creative business a success.
2. http://papernstitchblog.com/
Thanks for stopping by for daily inspirations in art, design, home, craft, and more. I would love to hear from you, so feel free to email me and introduce yourself.
3. http://emptyeasel.com/
Welcome to Empty Easel, the online art magazine with practical advice, tips, and tutorials for creating and selling art
4. http://www.rightbrainbizplan.com/
Stay tuned for more creative ideas for your business and opportunities for connection and community with fellow right-brainers!
1. http://www.modishblog.com/biztips/
Looking to turn your creative passion into a business? Already in business for yourself and need some guidance? Modish BIZtips offers bright ideas to help make your creative business a success.
2. http://papernstitchblog.com/
Thanks for stopping by for daily inspirations in art, design, home, craft, and more. I would love to hear from you, so feel free to email me and introduce yourself.
3. http://emptyeasel.com/
Welcome to Empty Easel, the online art magazine with practical advice, tips, and tutorials for creating and selling art
4. http://www.rightbrainbizplan.com/
Stay tuned for more creative ideas for your business and opportunities for connection and community with fellow right-brainers!
This is NOT business as usual!
Welcome to ProBlogger - a Blog that helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs. (Am nearing the end of ProBlogger's free 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge and will be writing a post about it soon, worth the effort!)
6. http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking
Project blogs - the whole an site is really interesting and offers Artist's Insurance Policies as part of their membership.
Why do Artist's have a hard time making a business out or their passion? It's the limits they place on themselves in the first place. "Artist's Hub" (www.arthub.ca) explores business, Art techniques, and software tools for freelance illustrators and artists to make a great life out of their passion.
8. http://www.artnewsblog.com/
Art News Blog is a selection of visual art news, art reviews and art related stories online. We search the web for some of the more interesting art news stories published each day.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Digsby
Anybody else working hard promoting their work using Twitter, Facebook, Myspace?
Anybody else got more than one folksy shop using separate email addresses?
Anybody else tired of logging in here, then having to log out so you can log in there?
I've wanted a way to manage these accounts, to be able to keep an eye on what's going on without having to spend a long time online and I hope I've found a solution. My biggest problem was switching between my two email addresses, which use the same provider, so allow me to be logged in to only one at a time. It's only a few minutes but I've got other things to do!
After a bit of perusing I came across a blog post by Greg Nemer about Digsby, which is:
"multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list."
"an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as 'Delete' or 'Report Spam' with just one click."
"a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live Newsfeed of what your friends are up to."
To appease my downloading paranoia I checked Digsby out and it appears to be safe, you can read more from their blog here.
I've downloaded Digsby and so far so good. I don't think it is as handy as TweetDeck for Twitter users as there doesn't seem to be the option to split up activity into friends' tweets, replies and direct messages which I like. However, being able to see new emails in both accounts just by moving the mouse is so very handy!
Do you use anything similar to manage your accounts? Would love to hear from you if you do and if you try Digsby let me know how you find it!
Anybody else got more than one folksy shop using separate email addresses?
Anybody else tired of logging in here, then having to log out so you can log in there?
I've wanted a way to manage these accounts, to be able to keep an eye on what's going on without having to spend a long time online and I hope I've found a solution. My biggest problem was switching between my two email addresses, which use the same provider, so allow me to be logged in to only one at a time. It's only a few minutes but I've got other things to do!
After a bit of perusing I came across a blog post by Greg Nemer about Digsby, which is:
"multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list."
"an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as 'Delete' or 'Report Spam' with just one click."
"a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live Newsfeed of what your friends are up to."
To appease my downloading paranoia I checked Digsby out and it appears to be safe, you can read more from their blog here.
I've downloaded Digsby and so far so good. I don't think it is as handy as TweetDeck for Twitter users as there doesn't seem to be the option to split up activity into friends' tweets, replies and direct messages which I like. However, being able to see new emails in both accounts just by moving the mouse is so very handy!
Do you use anything similar to manage your accounts? Would love to hear from you if you do and if you try Digsby let me know how you find it!
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