blogging tutorials

Filed Under: blog, blog hop, blog swap, blogging tutorials · Tagged: blog, bloggers unite, facebook, support

Jan 25, 2012

Facebook Profile Picture Size

By Connie · 6 Comments

Did you know that you don’t have to have a small square profile pic on Facebook? Did you know that Facebook gives you much more space to have a bigger {taller} profile pic? Perhaps you have seen them. Here’s what mine looks like:

So how do you go about changing yours to take advantage of the space? Let me give you the dimensions first. Your picture can be a maximum width of 180 px. But the height can vary. The maximum height is 540 and I recommend you just stick with 180 x 540 but you can make it shorter if you prefer.

Open up your favorite design software and make your banner. I recommend using a picture or logo for sure. And since you have all this space I also highly recommend putting your blog name on the banner somewhere. But from there, design it how you want. Remember that it is a smaller space so lots of wording will be hard to read. Simpler is better.

Once you have it designed, upload it to facebook just like you would any profile pic. And viola there it is.

But wait, Facebook cropped it all wierd to use in your news feeds. What now? Here is how they cropped mine:

And here is how it looked throughout the site:

Doesn’t look so great does it? Lets fix it. Hover over your profile pic and click on Change Picture.

On the next screen look below your pic. It will say Edit Thumbnail. Click on that.

Once you click on Edit thumbnail, a box will popup and look like this:

See how it says Drag the image to adjust. That means you can hold down your mouse button on your Profile Picture and move the pic up and down. This allows you to choose where you would like it cropped. Once you’ve got it where you want it, click save. And there you have it. One Facebook Banner Profile Picture. You can now enjoy using it all over Facebook. If you have any questions, I’m happy to help. Just leave a comment and I will get back with you. Thanks for reading.

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Filed Under: blog, blog design, blogging tutorials, tutorial · Tagged: blog, blogging tutorial, design, facebook, profile picture, tutorial

Jan 18, 2012

How to add floating share this buttons to your blog

By Connie · Leave a Comment

New Year New blog @ Measured by the Heart

Have you seen those share this buttons that are floating around people’s blogs? Mine are on the left side as you read this. If you are reading it in a reader you will probably need to click over to the blog to see them. Here’s a pic in case you can’t.

{this is just a pic and doesn’t work, click on the one on the left side to share this post}

People can then click on it and share your post to those social media networks. Want to know how to get your own? It’s pretty easy, you just have to grab some html code and add it to your sidebar somewhere. It doesn’t matter where you add it, mine is in my footer. Want to grab the code? It’s here at Amazing e World. So go grab the code, add it to your blog and enjoy!!

Thanks for reading.

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Filed Under: blog, blog design, blogging tutorials, tutorial · Tagged: blog, blog design, blogging tutorial, floating, share, share buttons, share this, tutorial

Jan 16, 2012

How to make a blog button with a grab box

By Connie · 1 Comment

It’s time for another New year, New Blog installment.

This time I am going to show you how to make a blog button with a grab box.

What is that exactly you say? Well a blog button is a little graphic that people can click on and it brings them to your blog. Like the one above that says New Year New blog etc. The grab box is the box with a bunch of garble gook in it. That is code that you can copy and paste onto your blog. If you do that, it will show only the top image and when someone clicks on it, It will take them to my blog here. Make sense??

Step 1. Make your blog button image. I like to make mine 125 x 125. That is a pretty good size overall. Some people make them bigger but I don’t like that. Have you ever seen an oversized button that is hanging off of someone’s sidebar because it didn’t fit? I like things to be organized and pretty. So if someone’s blog button is too big, I sometimes won’t use it. You definately don’t want people not using your button because of that. And you cannot say what size someones sidebar will be. So stick with 125 x 125 and you should be very safe.

It’s a good idea to keep it simple and uncluttered. It is only a small area and you don’t want people squinting to read everything or confused with it. Put your blog name on the button. Usually people see these as they are scrolling through a blog so it needs to be something that catches the eye quickly with out too much fuss.

Step 2. Ok so now you have made your image, what to do with it. You need to upload it somewhere. I like photobucket. You can create a free account with them and they are easy to use. My friend uses Flickr. That works for her. If you are on WordPress, you can upload it to your media library. The point is that you want to get a link to that image. On photobucket it is the direct link.

Step 3. Here comes the coding. Copy and paste the following into a blank document:

You then need to replace all the colored text with the required information. So everything in Pink gets replaced with your blog address. Everything in Orange gets replaced with the name of your blog. And everything in Blue gets replaced with the url to your image. {this is from step 2}.

Step 4. Take the code with all the colors replaced with the relevant information. Paste it into your blog as html code. And viola you have a blog button with a grab box. You can use this on your sidebar, in your posts, on your pages. Pretty much anywhere you can put html.

This can seem confusing and daunting, but if you follow the steps you should be ok. If you have any questions please feel free to leave me a comment or email me. I’m happy to help.

If you’d like the chance to win a free blog button for your site, you can enter my January Blog Design giveaway. And as always, if you want me to do them for you, I design buttons for $10 and you can find more information by visiting my blog design site. {which isn’t designed very well and I need to update it.}

Hope this helps you guys out. Thanks for reading!!

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Filed Under: blog, blog design, blogging tutorials, tutorial · Tagged: blog, blog button, blog design, button, graphic, image, tutorial

Jan 9, 2012

New Year New blog…Blog Design Tips

By Connie · 2 Comments

It’s time for another new year new blog post!!

You guys know that a good design can help your blog grow right? No, well here are some ways it can:

Google considers some of these things when they are deciding what to display in their search results.
Good design can help readers stay on your blog.
A good blog design is another way to display your creativity and personality

Have you ever gone to a blog and it was so cluttered that you could barely stand it? Or the design was so distracting it was hard to read their posts? This is what we want to avoid. Here are some tried and true great things to think about when designing your blog for the year. {or however long you keep your design lol}

Layout

I recommend a 2 or 3 column template. We read from left to right so if you are doing a 2 column template, it’s best to put your posts first and your sidebar on the right. It’s also a good idea to make it easy for your visitors to turn into followers. Put your rss feed links and social media buttons in a prominent place near or at the top of your sidebar. If someone has to scroll and search for them, they may give up and just leave. Rumor is that Google Friend Connect {the followers gadget} will be going away. It is confirmed to be unavailable for non blogger blogs in March. And the buzz is that it will become a thing of the past for blogger too. Google’s solution is to set up a google+ page and connect with people there.

Computer screens are getting bigger and wider. One of my favorite blog tips is to make your blog wider. I don’t recommend going over 1200 px. {I will have a tutorial on how to do this coming up soon} It helps to immediately give your posts more space and less clutter to your blog.

White space is king in blog design. It’s easy on the eye and makes for a better reading experience. I know all those cutesy widgets that do all sorts of fun things are cool, but they can be so distracting to your readers. In blog design Simple is better.

Header

A header is important. It introduces people to your blog. Again we read from left to right so either have your blog name or logo centered or on the left. A header looks best if it is the same width as your blog. That way everything lines up and is pleasing to the eye. Height is also an important consideration when designing your header. Your header should be a brief introduction to your blog. It should not take up the whole screen when you pull up your blog. It is better to have some header and some content showing. I try not to go more than 250 px high on headers. There is some leeway for creativity but keep these guidelines in mind.

Posts

Posts should be written on a neutral background. I prefer white. I would avoid any kind of image behind your posts. Also font is important. I have no problem with a cute font for post titles, but too fancy of a font for your post content is distracting. Same with wild colors.

Blog Background

The background for your blog can be a great place to show off your personality. Colors can be added as well as images. Remember to look at your blog as the reader would see it. White is also an option.

About Me

It is incredibly important to have an about me page/widget in the sidebar. People want to connect with the author of the blog. Include a picture if at all possible. You don’t have to reveal too much about yourself if you are a private person. You can speak in general terms. But letting people know more about the blog author is necessary.

I hope these tips help you in deciding what to do with your blog. Remember these tips are guidelines only. Your blog is your own and you can design it to suit your desires. But guidelines are there to help. Thanks for reading!!

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