The Blogger Tutor

How to Upload a Facebook Timeline Cover

2012-02-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

First you have to have Timeline. If Facebook hasn't changed you over yet, you can go to www.facebook.com/about/timeline to get it. Click the green Get Timeline link and follow directions.

To upload a cover click on Add a Cover and pull down to your selection. You can choose from photos you already have uploaded or Upload Photo.

You will probably get the following message which makes you verify that you have the rights to use this cover/photo, etc.

A window will pop up that lets you browse/select the image you want. Once you select this image it will give you the option to (1) Drag to Reposition Cover. Click (2) Save Changes.

Your cover is now in place. You can hover on that lower right corner of your cover and the Change Cover link will appear which allows you to make changes.

How to Change Back to the Old Blogger Interface

2012-01-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

Does the newest interface of the Blogger Dashboard have you confused? It's really simple to change back to the older one.

1. At your Blogger dashboard click on the little gear icon over to the right below your name.
2. Pull down and click on Old Blogger Interface.

How easy was that? Now your Dashboard is back to this! I myself use this interface.

How to Post a Button Code on your Sidebar

2012-01-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

An online friend just asked me how to post a button code I sent her. Here is a quick tutorial!

1. Get the button code you want to post.

You do this by clicking within the text box, select all (either control A or click left on your mouse while you drag across the entire code), copy (either control C or pull down to copy under edit up on the browser bar)

2. Go to your Blogger Dashboard and click Add a Gadget (gadget is the same as a widget!), then scroll down on the window that appears and click the + next to the HTML/JavaScript.

This window appears and put in your title and paste the code (control V pull down to paste under edit up on the browser bar) in the areas shown below.

Click Save and the button will appear.

You can put more than one button code into the same html/java gadget. It will probably look better if you combine them all in one widget.

How to Add your Link to an InLinkz Linky Link-Up

2011-10-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

Want to participate in an InLinkz Link-Up (linky)? These Link-Ups are used for memes, giveaways, contests and other sharing. Participation just takes a few steps.

1. Click on the title of the blog post you want linked. Your page will refresh and the URL (direct web link) to that post will come up.
2. Highlight & copy that direct URL.

3. Click on the InLinkz Add your link button.

4. Fill out the entry fields that appear by pasting in the direct URL, the name you want to appear (doesn't have to be the name of the post) and your email address, then click Next Step ! (If it's a text only Link-Up then you are done at this point)

5. The next page will appear with images from your post/blog. When that has loaded click Select for the photo you want to appear in the InLinkz Link-Up. Now the page where you entered appears and your link has been added. The InLinkz processing image will appear. It should disappear when you refresh after a minute or two.

Of all the Link-Up sites out there I highly recommend InLinkz. Their text only Link-Ups (linkies) are free, but the use of thumbnail is a minimal cost of $1.99/month or $10.99/6 months or $19.99/year. You can get a free month of the thumbnail Link-Up if you post on Twitter about InLinkz. Starting a collection for an Link-Up at InLinkz is fairly straight-forward and there are all kinds of parameters & moderation you can put on your linky collection. Check out InLinkz today!

Check out this article on how to host a successful blog meme!

How to Vote with InLinkz Linky

2011-10-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Voting in an InLinkz Linky collection is easy.

1. Scroll down to the bottom to see if the voting is open and how many votes you get.
2. Each thumbnail link should have a *vote link under it.

3. Any links you submitted should have a Can't vote own message.

4. Click the *vote for the link you want to vote for.

5. Page will refresh and the one you voted for will have an Already vote this message below it.
6. The number or remaining votes will be listed at the bottom of the list. If enabled the number of votes each link has received will show after you've used all your votes.

Please note: This only works for InLinkz Linkies that have had voting enabled. Voting is registered per IP. You do not have to participate in an linky to be able to vote. Friends & family from other locations will be able to vote, but not others within your house/IP. More information can be found on the InLinkz blog. You can sign up for your own InLinkz account here.

Custom Domain Name for your Blogger Blog

2011-09-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

I've had a few people ask if it's easy to get a domain name for their blog. If you go through Blogger it's VERY easy. Domain names through Blogger are $10/year. Yes, you can save a few bucks by going through GoDaddy or another registrar, but then you have to link the domain name to the blog yourself. I charge $20 to link the domain name, so what are you saving if you go with a registrar that is a few buck cheaper? Yes, there are tutorials out there to show you how to link it yourself but if that seems complicated then consider going through Blogger.

To purchase a domain name through Blogger go to the Publishing Tab under Settings at your Blogger Dashboard and click on the Custom Domain link I have pointed out below.

The following page will come up and you type in the domain name you want in the box, pick the extension, and then check availability.

Then you just follow the rest of the directions. People will be able to use the domain name or the blogspot address to access the blog.

Upload your own Favicon at Blogger

2011-07-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

Blogger just released a new feature at Dashboard that allows you to upload your own Favicon. The image must be square and under 100kb. By square they mean the outside edge of the file must be square. It's OK to have an image with a light or invisible background.

To add your own favicon click the edit link at the favicon gadget/widget at your blogger dashboard.

The favicon window will open up and you click browse to select the image you want and then click save. You will get an error message if it's too big or the wrong shape.

The favicon will now show in the favicon widget.

And will now be visible on your browser. (Please note: Favicons have issues with showing up when you use IE for your browser!)

What is a Blogger Page?

2011-07-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

Many clients have asked me about Blogger pages and how they can use them on their blog. I will explain what they are and how to create them in this post.

Blogger pages let you to publish/post static/fixed information on stand-alone pages linked from your blog. For example, you can use pages to create an About page that discusses the evolution of your blog and information about you, or a Contact Me page that provides your personal contact information such as your email and phone number as well as your social media contacts such as Facebook and Twitter. Blogger pages is not recommended for information that changes frequently such as current giveaways or dates of events.

You create a Blogger page similar to how you write a blog post. From your Blogger Dashboard click the Posting tab, then Edit Pages tab, then click New Page. You will publish it just as you publish a post. Blogger allows 10 stand alone pages per blog. Once your page is published, you can link to it from the new Pages widget. The Pages widget lets you add links to your pages as tabs at the top of your blog, or as links in your blog's sidebar. (Note: existing third party templates and special template designs I create may not support pages as tabs, but pages can still be added as links in your blog's sidebar) I prefer to not show the pages widget and instead link the pages manually in most of my designs. You have to click NO GADGET when you go to publish/edit your pages if you want to manually link them.

The rest of this information is for people who want the Pages Widget/Gadget to show.
In the Pages widget, you can decide which pages will have links, and in what order they will appear. You can also choose whether or not you want links automatically created for pages when you create them by checking or unchecking the box to the left of Add New Pages by Default.You can get the direct URL to your Blogger page by clicking View on that particular page at the Edit Pages screen.

Help! Something is missing or not working!

2011-07-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes get contacted by a client because their Followers aren't showing or they can't upload an image. They usually say something like, "Everything was OK after you installed my design but all of a sudden my Followers are missing. HELP!"

I tell them that it is probably a temporary issue with Blogger. I find that as sudden as a problem like this starts, it will get fixed just as quickly. These issues aren't necessarily an issue with everyone's blog, but if you are having issues then most likely thousands of others are too. Just be patient and it will get fixed.

There are a few places you can check to see if Blogger is having issues. First is their Known Issues blog. This blog covers bugs and missing features in the new version of Blogger that affect a significant number of users. If you need more info on a particular issue, or would like to report a new one, please take a look at the Blogger Help Group. Please search before you post, as your issue may have already been reported.

For information about the state of the service and upcoming outages, see the Status blog.

Font Choices at Blogger

2011-07-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

One of the recent upgrades with Blogger is the expansion of available fonts to customize your blog with. There used to be a choice of 7 and how there are a bunch with the addition of Web Fonts. Here are some easy instructions for updating your blog!

First~ Go to your Blogger Dashboard and click on the Template Designer link.Go down and click Advanced. Do not mess with the area I have shaded or any of the other settings!
Click on the part you want to change (here I have clicked on Sidebar Title Font) and then scroll down in the font box to the right to find the font you want. Click Apply to Blog over to the right and then go take a look to see if you like the font. You can adjust the size of the font below that scroll box.
So your sidebar can go from one of the basic 7 fonts to something different like this~Please note! Not all web fonts options will look good. It could have to do with the font itself or your template. So use some trial and error to find what you like. If you have a custom template or use a freebie professional template or similar, you might not have the option to change your fonts!

Change the color of the Blogger Navigation Bar.

2010-10-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can change the color of the Blogger navigation bar that automatically appears at the top of your blog? I am actually annoyed when I see a nice blog design and the nav bar at the top is the default Blogger blue.At this point there are 6 different color choices which are easy to change. You can either click on Design up on the right side of the Blogger navbar OR at your dashboard click on Design to be taken to the layout of your blog. When you click on the edit button for the Navbar that I have pointed out below. This brings up the Configuration window. Just select the color you want and click save.I chose the Transparent Light and now my dog's blog looks like this~Some people add coding to hide this navbar, but a lot of people use it to sign in and out of blogger so it's nice to have it match the design.

How do I post an image and have it linked to a webpage?

2010-06-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

I am often asked, How do I post an image and have it linked to a webpage?

It's not hard at all. Use this code~

Just replace the website/blog URL with the website URL (address) and the direct image link here with the direct image code.

An example of this would be the button for this blog~

Which would look like this when displayed~

I have pointed out the direct code at Photobucket below.If you want your image centered?

Add this before the codeand this after the code

Which would have the coding looking like this~With the image looking like this~

Blogger Sidebar Widget - Gadget Tutorial

2010-03-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

The most common questions I get from clients have to do with adding widgets (blogger calls them gadgets) to the sidebar of their blog. I created a video tutorial of this a year and a half ago and it's had nearly 11,000 views on You Tube. I rambled on and on in that video and blogger had made several updates since then, so it's time for a newer tutorial. I thought I'd do a written tutorial with screen shots this time around. (I've wondered why people continue to view that video, but I realize it is because there are very few tutorials about the blogger sidebar basics out there!) Here you go~

How do I add a widget - gadget to my blogger sidebar?
Please note that I will use widget or gadget throughout this
tutorial, but they refer to the same thing!

First you need to go to your blogger dashboard and click on layout. The default is the page element view, but if you are not there click on Page Elements (A). Add a new widget click Add a Gadget (B).A new window will open that shows some of the available widget options. There are many useful ones here such as Followers, Search this Blog, Pictures, etc, but the most common is HTML/JavaScript (C). Don't worry you don't need knowledge of HTML or Java for this. In most cases it's a copy & paste thing.When you click on the + (or even the gadget type title) the gadget window will open up. Type in your title and then put your text or code into the box. I like images centered on my sidebar so I put the center code shown below (this is the word center in between <>) in front of codes I post (if there is no center code added already!) For this tutorial I am posting a link to a rainbow signature graphic from photobucket. When all your code is entered, click SAVE.The Page Elements window is the only one to be showing now. If you look at the top of my right sidebar you will see my new widget listed (D). Click view blog and the new widget shows (E)!Now lets say you want the widget you just added to be further down your sidebar. You can move widgets around by dragging the widget box to where you want. I want my new gadget below the button, so I dragged it below (E) and then clicked SAVE (G). You can see the new position of the rainbow graphic below (H).If you have 2 sidebars, you can drag between sidebars. Here I am moving the rainbow graphic across to the left sidebar (I) and then clicked SAVE (J). New position of the rainbow graphic is shown below (K).You can also post a widget without a title. Here I am posting an I Voted graphic. Click SAVE and view the graphic below.Finally, you can edit widget that have already been posted by clicking the Edit link (L), which will bring the widget window up which you can make changes to (then click SAVE) or even click REMOVE (on the left) to remove the widget entirely.Those are the basics and should give you enough info to post and edit widgets on your sidebar.

Help! My Sidebar is down at the bottom now!

2010-03-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

This has probably occurred because you added a wide image, code you added is incomplete, or had some kind of error in what you posted. If you get a warning that there is an error when you post, don't ignore the error. If you do, your blog will most likely mess up. If you've posted something you copy & pasted from elsewhere (even from a text document) there could be extra code or even missing code which will affect your template. What you need to do is remove the post, widget, or whatever it is you posted or added to your blog before it started acting up. Usually this fixes the problem.

Quick Edit Posts

2010-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen a little pencil at the end of a post on some blogs? Wondered what it is for? It's the post quick editing tool. Just click on it and the post comes up to edit. You must be logged into your own account for to use it. Don't worry...others can't click it and edit your posts.

If you don't have the pencil showing but want it...here is what you do. Click on layout.1- Click edit on the Blog Posts box

2- Configure blog posts window comes up and make sure Show Quick Editing is checked, and then click SAVE.

OK...WHY would you want the quick editing to show? Are you a person that has to go back and fix a mistake or change a post? This is much quicker than going to the posting tab at dashboard, and then clicking edit posts, then looking through the list to find the post you want. Save yourself some time!!

Quick Edit Sidebar Gadgets

2010-02-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

You can do quick edits on your sidebar by clicking on the little tools icon next to that gadget/widget. Those tools are only visible to you when you are logged into your blogger account.When you click on the tools, the window for that gadget/widget opens and allows you to edit or remove. Just click save and your changes are automatically updated!

Backing Up Your Template

2010-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

I've had a few people ask me what they can do to make sure they don't lose their awesome blog design. It's a great idea to back up your blog template. Here are the steps.
1- At blogger dashboard click on Layout.
2- Then click on Edit HTML
X- Make sure you don't Pick New Template. If you do, and then actually pick a new template the design that you have will disappear!

Then the following page will come up.
1- Click on Download Full Template and download the template. It will be named something like template-282235459.xml. You can rename it, but don't alter the extension. I like to rename mine something like CDBtemplate-21509.xml
X- Don't mess with the code at all!

Backing Up Posts

2010-01-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here is how you back up your blogger posts.

1- Click on Settings
2- Click Export blog
3- DO NOT DELETE YOUR BLOG!!!!!!

This will back up all posts you have, not just today's posts. Obviously you'd want to back them up from time to time to make sure you get current posts.

OK...how easy was that? You can also import blog posts (which you might want to do if you start a new blog and want to move posts over.) The Blogger Buzz has a more in depth post about exporting/importing posts. Check it out here.

Blogger Navigation Sign-In Bar

2010-01-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

What is that bar that appears at the very top of your blog? That is the Blogger Navigation/Sign-In Bar. Many Bloggers remove it, but it is helpful for novice bloggers.
1- Click on the B and you will be taken to your dashboard
2- Search for content on a blog. This is fav part. Let's say you remember a chicken soup recipe on a certain blog but you don't want to go scrolling through all the post to find it. Type chicken soup and click search blog. All posts on that blog that contain the words chicken soup will appear. So just type your keyword(s) in that box and then click on search blog (3) .
X- Flag Blog...don't accidently click this one. I've never flagged a blog and I would only do so if I read through what blogger deems should be flagged first.
4- Click to create a new post
5- Clicking customize brings you to layout at dasboard
6- Sign In/Sign Out

Updated: Two options have been added since I first posted this.

Follow- Click this to become a follower of this blog
Share- Give you social media sharing options