Topic Talk #5: Pimp My Blog Continued....

DISCLAIMER: Ok, so before I share today's tips, I will first mention that in know way is "pimp" in my normal, everyday vocabulary. I am an elementary school teacher for heavens sake. I thought it would be a funny title (a play off of "Pimp My Ride" on MTV... if that show has even survived this long...). This comment referred back to one person who previously made a comment about how they will not use my advice since I put "Pimp" in the title.... come on... seriously?! :)

Alright, now back to those of us who would like helpful tips today :).


So, I must share with you some an awesome blogging site that allows you to have a fun background like you currently see on my blog as you are reading this. There are no sign-ups, no password, no catches.

I was in the Etsy Forums posting my blog links and updates when I clicked on the blog of Etsian poshpretties, (who by the way, has a really fun shop as well). As I was looking at their latest post, I noticed that they had such a nice background (and yet, was still using blogger/blogspot). I saw a small box in the upper, left hand corner, which led me to one of the best sites I have recently found for bloggers.

The Cutest Blog on the Block

Now just because the site has a cute name, do not think that it is automatically for females and those who like cutesy things. There are some great links, tips, and best of all, GREAT BACKGROUNDS! They even have banners that match your background!

For those 2-column bloggers, there are a TON of options. I started looking and trying them out, but then noticed.... OH NO! This does not fit the 3-column layout that I have secretly encoded into my HTML (which BTW, I know very little about HTML, which means YOU can do this too! CLICK HERE FOR THE 3-COLUMN LAYOUT). 

I then looked at the right hand side. At the very top, it had a button for 3-column layouts. We are now in business...

All you have to do is choose which one you want, copy/paste the HTML, then click "add a new gadget-HTML" on your blogger layout page. I assume this works for other blogs as well. In under 5 minutes, I was able to harmlessly try about 5 different backgrounds until I found one that fit in with my blog style and look. No mistakes, no accidentally deleting something important from your HTML code- ZIP problems.

So cool.... please try it yourself and see how easy it is!

For those of you just joining in on my blog, I have several blog links that are very useful to both new and experienced bloggers on the left-hand side of my blog. Also check out my previous "Topic Talks" here!

***Like what you see? Check out the new Blogger gadget, "Followers," which lets others become a follower of your blog and catch up on your latest postings. Become a follower of Art2theextreme on the left side of my blog!

Topic Talk #4: PIMP MY BLOG... Extreme Style...

The more and more I research blogs and look at other blogs, the more and more I find. 

In an older post called "Useful Links to Help Bloggers," I had talked about a wonderful site called Blog Buster. This is the site that provided step-by-step instructions on how to change your layout to the 3 column format (which I adore). 

Today, I discovered some new things on this site that are fun to add, ways to save space, and make your blog more attractive (or more to your personal style rather than the same old, same old blog template). 

COLORED BACKGROUND WITH ROUNDED CORNERS

For the frequent visitors, you can see I have changed my blog to put a colored background with rounded corners for my middle section (You can chose any colors and even put colors in the background of the side bars. I have yet to decide if I like the light blue (do you?), but I thought it was fun. I just hope it does not make my blog look cheesy.

Want a colored background with rounded colors?  VISIT HERE

LABEL DROP DOWN MENU

I had not had a labels widget on my blog since I have way to many labels (tags for posts). I did want to try the labels drop down menu and give it a whirl. Check on the right side of my blog to see what it looks like (under my "Blog Archive" section). This saves a ton of space for those who do include labels and is an easy way to search subjects on a blog.

Want your own drop down menu for your labels? VISIT HERE

MYBLOGLOG COMMENT AVATARS TO YOUR COMMENT SECTION

I signed up for MyBlogLog today. I am not too sure what this really does, but I will be in touch again about this. Many bloggers are signed up for it though. Anyways, if you have one (or even if you dont) this special feature will put BlogLog avatars with comments when a visitor to your blog comments on a post. Mine all have question marks for now, but I am going to see if this works. 

Want avatars for those who comment to show up in your comments page? VISIT HERE

GET RID OF "NOFOLLOWS" 

The three top search engines, Google, Yahoo, and MSN prevent you from becoming indexed in their searches most of the time because of this tag embedded in your blog "rel='nofollow'." This is used in HTML coding to reduce spam when indexing these sites. The bad part for you is that you are a "legit" site, but these codes automatically prevent you from being indexed into these sites. Yes, when we "Google" ourselves, they come up, but you could have EVEN MORE!

I could only find two of the three places where this code is embedded. Maybe you will have better luck, but 2 out of 3 still help.

Want the NOFOLLOW taken off of your HTML? VISIT HERE

NAVIGATION BLOG BUTTONS

I found a way to put text buttons on the blog. They are supposed to be light blue with white lettering, but I have not perfected it yet. It can be seen at the top of my blog on the upper right hand side. This is experimental for me...

Want your own link buttons for easy navigation? VISIT HERE

SNAPSHOT

I have not decided if this is useful or annoying (Please kindly give me your opinion). Snapshop lets you view the webpage of an active link in a small "snapshot". It makes your site more interactive and does not affect the blog loading time. Please try it out on my site and let me know what you think.

Want your own Snap Shop widget on your blog? VISIT HERE

Well... I have been on the computer for way too long... Try these out and let me know what you think! I hope it helps you "Pimp out your blog" as some might say. Check back for more tips soon!

*Links and information provided by www.blogbuster.com under the "Tutorials" link.

*Image provided by etsy user spidercamp.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification