Part Two: Creating an Attractive Wedding Blog
Last week we talked about setting up a blog. By now you should understand the basics of creating and publishing to your own blog through Blogger. You may have even played around with different templates and font colors, etc., by exploring the tabs on your Blogger Dashboard. But if there are only about twenty templates available, how do some people get their blog to look so unique? Well, some of those people are computer geeks who know all about writing their own code and building a web page from the inside. If you're one of those people, just skip the rest of this entry and tune in next week. If you're one of the rest of us, read on…
Finding a Pre-Made Blog Template
The easiest way to get a custom-looking blog is to snag a template from another website. There are a lot of people who will offer to make you a designer blog template for the right price, but there are so many great free options for Blogger templates that I wouldn't even consider paying for someone to make one for me. All you have to do is google "free blogger templates" and you'll get all sorts of sites.
Here are some of my favorites (and also tried-and-true-won't-give-you- a-virus sites):
BTemplates
Final Sense
Blogger Buster 101
Browse around for a while and you'll notice that there are a ton of options out there for bloggers. You can find a blog template for almost any subject and brides should be able to find a template that matches their wedding colors if that's what they're going for. It's true that you have the option to change the fonts and colors on the Blogger dashboard, but that option doesn't always work with pre-made templates and I've found it's just easier to find one that I like (or as close to what I want as possible) without dreaming about all of the things that I want to change about it.
I want to point out that you'll also have the option to have blogs that are one, two, or three columns, which is something you want to think about. If you want to have a lot of links and things on the sides, you might want to think about multiple columns. If you just want to blog right down the page, without worrying about stuff on the side, you're fine sticking to one or two columns.
Once you've found a template you like (be sure to check out their samples!), you need to get the code for it and save it to your computer. Find the link that says "download this template" and make sure that you tell it to download to a place where you can find it in a minute, like your desktop. It will either download the file directly or it will download a zip file that you will need to unzip (clicking on it should give you that option) before you continue. What you want to end up with is a file that ends in ".xml" Put the ".xml" file itself on your desktop or somewhere so that you can find it.
Putting the template on your blog
Log in to Blogger Dashboard and find the blog you want to use the template on. Click on "Layout" and then "Edit HTML". There should be a screen with a lot of code on it and above it there should be a field with a button that says "upload a template from a file on your hard
drive". Browse for the ".xml" file and upload the template. It will probably check with you to make sure that you don't mind deleting your existing widgets if you have any...just click ok unless you had something on your sidebar that you'll just die without. The template will then be uploaded and your blog should look just like the one you saw in the sample. Easy, right? If you don't love the blog now as much as you thought you were going to, just keep browsing, downloading, and uploading until you find one that suits you.
Going a Step Further
Ok, I admit it. I do know a little bit more about customizing templates than I've told you so far. As you can see from the heading of this blog, I've figured out how to customize things to a pretty
specific degree. Unfortunately for you (and for me and for all concerned), I can't tell you how to do that sort of stuff. Why not? Well, because I don't know. All I do when I want to customize things is go into the HTML code box under Layout and mess around. I change something and then click "Preview" to see what I did. Every now and then I'll accidentally save a change I've made that was a bad change and I have no idea how to fix it. If you're feeling adventurous and you want to play around with the HTML code, I recommend playing around with a blank blog and then copying the HTML code over to your "real" blog once you have it how you want it.
Adding Page Elements
If you want to change the elements on the side of the blog, use the the "Page Elements" link under "Layout" in your blogger dashboard. Blogger comes with a lot of great widgets (things to put on the side of your blog) but you can also search the internet for other widgets, such as maps, animations, and countdowns. Just copy the HTML code for the widget and then choose the "HTML/Java Code" option under the Blogger page elements menu.
Some Things to Consider
But What if I Like the Original Blogger Template I Picked?
A lot of those default Blogger templates are great, if you ask me. If you've got one and you want to keep it, there are still a couple of things that you can do. One is to change the page elements to customize the items on your sidebar. Another thing is to get rid of that blue bar at the top of the Blogger templates. Just that little change is enough to make your blog look much more professional.
...and last but not least...
Should I Put Advertisements on My Blog?
What could be easier? Just pop a couple of advertisements up on the blog and let the money roll in, right? The hard truth about making money off of blog advertising is that
I hope that this has been helpful to you! To get a better idea of what I'm talking about with layouts and widgets and clutter (oh my!), check out the changes to this website and my newest blog at www.beingcarly.com. I'm still working on setting it up, so you can see the different things that I'm experimenting with. You can also see how I set up multiple blogs and linked them together. Of course, most of the blog is empty because I haven't had time to fill it up, but we can talk about that more next week...
Blogger Buster 101
Browse around for a while and you'll notice that there are a ton of options out there for bloggers. You can find a blog template for almost any subject and brides should be able to find a template that matches their wedding colors if that's what they're going for. It's true that you have the option to change the fonts and colors on the Blogger dashboard, but that option doesn't always work with pre-made templates and I've found it's just easier to find one that I like (or as close to what I want as possible) without dreaming about all of the things that I want to change about it.
I want to point out that you'll also have the option to have blogs that are one, two, or three columns, which is something you want to think about. If you want to have a lot of links and things on the sides, you might want to think about multiple columns. If you just want to blog right down the page, without worrying about stuff on the side, you're fine sticking to one or two columns.
Once you've found a template you like (be sure to check out their samples!), you need to get the code for it and save it to your computer. Find the link that says "download this template" and make sure that you tell it to download to a place where you can find it in a minute, like your desktop. It will either download the file directly or it will download a zip file that you will need to unzip (clicking on it should give you that option) before you continue. What you want to end up with is a file that ends in ".xml" Put the ".xml" file itself on your desktop or somewhere so that you can find it.
Putting the template on your blog
Log in to Blogger Dashboard and find the blog you want to use the template on. Click on "Layout" and then "Edit HTML". There should be a screen with a lot of code on it and above it there should be a field with a button that says "upload a template from a file on your hard
drive". Browse for the ".xml" file and upload the template. It will probably check with you to make sure that you don't mind deleting your existing widgets if you have any...just click ok unless you had something on your sidebar that you'll just die without. The template will then be uploaded and your blog should look just like the one you saw in the sample. Easy, right? If you don't love the blog now as much as you thought you were going to, just keep browsing, downloading, and uploading until you find one that suits you.
Going a Step Further
Ok, I admit it. I do know a little bit more about customizing templates than I've told you so far. As you can see from the heading of this blog, I've figured out how to customize things to a pretty
specific degree. Unfortunately for you (and for me and for all concerned), I can't tell you how to do that sort of stuff. Why not? Well, because I don't know. All I do when I want to customize things is go into the HTML code box under Layout and mess around. I change something and then click "Preview" to see what I did. Every now and then I'll accidentally save a change I've made that was a bad change and I have no idea how to fix it. If you're feeling adventurous and you want to play around with the HTML code, I recommend playing around with a blank blog and then copying the HTML code over to your "real" blog once you have it how you want it.
Adding Page Elements
If you want to change the elements on the side of the blog, use the the "Page Elements" link under "Layout" in your blogger dashboard. Blogger comes with a lot of great widgets (things to put on the side of your blog) but you can also search the internet for other widgets, such as maps, animations, and countdowns. Just copy the HTML code for the widget and then choose the "HTML/Java Code" option under the Blogger page elements menu.
Some Things to Consider
- There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Always take into consideration that your blog needs to be easy to read if you want people to read it. Crowding it with lots of widgets or choosing a busy background full of flashing colors may turn some readers away.
- You might want to read up on the psychology of color before you choose a template for your blog. Color has a big impact on how your message is communicated to your readers.
But What if I Like the Original Blogger Template I Picked?
A lot of those default Blogger templates are great, if you ask me. If you've got one and you want to keep it, there are still a couple of things that you can do. One is to change the page elements to customize the items on your sidebar. Another thing is to get rid of that blue bar at the top of the Blogger templates. Just that little change is enough to make your blog look much more professional.
...and last but not least...
Should I Put Advertisements on My Blog?
What could be easier? Just pop a couple of advertisements up on the blog and let the money roll in, right? The hard truth about making money off of blog advertising is that
- it isn't easy
- it isn't much, and
- it's the fastest way to alienate readers.
I hope that this has been helpful to you! To get a better idea of what I'm talking about with layouts and widgets and clutter (oh my!), check out the changes to this website and my newest blog at www.beingcarly.com. I'm still working on setting it up, so you can see the different things that I'm experimenting with. You can also see how I set up multiple blogs and linked them together. Of course, most of the blog is empty because I haven't had time to fill it up, but we can talk about that more next week...
Stay Tuned for Part Three: Writing Posts That People Will Want to Read
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