Are you new to blogging or just wanting to add a few new features to your existing sidebar?
After sharing my new blog a few days ago, I received a few questions via email or
Instagram about the design and some of it's features. I thought I'd try to help and answer most of those here with
a Mini Blogging Series.
I'll post a few "how to's" a week with some of the most popular blog add ons. How fun!
I, in
no way, claim to be a html or blogging expert, but I have had my share of experience with other blogs I have managed and feel pretty confident that I can make my "way around" most html tasks.
I have learned that some can be pretty complicated, so I
ALWAYS make a back up copy of my blog template in case things "go South" and I need to restore it. This is kind of one of those things that you really need to concentrate on while first learning. You might want to hide your cell phone & lock up the kiddos until you get the hang of it!
The definition of HTML is HyperText Markup Language.
HyperText is the method by which you move
around on the web — by clicking on special text called hyperlinks which
bring you to the next page. The fact that it ishyper just means it
is not linear — i.e. you can go to any place on the Internet whenever you want
by clicking on links — there is no set order to do things in.
Markup is what HTML tags do to
the text inside them. They mark it as a certain type of text (italicized text,
for example).
HTML is a Language, as it has code-words and
syntax like any other language.
Now that we all know what it stands for, enough with the boring stuff......who wants to add some fun features to your blog sidebar?
Blog Series #1: Social Media Links
I really love the social media links at the upper right hand side of my blog. Its a great way for a reader to be able to connect to all of your social media channels in one convenient place. I purposely set these at the top of the page because they are one of the first things you look at when the page opens......smart cookie I am:)
When you first open your Blogger blog dashboard , you should see something like this. Click on the "Layout" tab. Then click "Add a Gadget".
You will want to scroll through the gadget menu until you see the "HTML/Java Script" choice. Click on that hot stuff.....you're now rocking HTML!
Once you click on "HTML/Java Script", this box will appear. It is HERE that you will input the social media html codes that I provide below. (I
know I spelled the word "then" wrong....sorry friends.....I have fast, sticky fingers!)
Copy and paste these html codes directly into the box above. Yes, all of them in the same box. Click "save"
<div align="center">
<a href="URL TO YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE GOES
HERE" title="Facebook" target="_blank"><i
class="icon-facebook"></i></a>
<a href="URL TO YOUR TWITTER PAGE GOES
HERE" title="Twitter" target="_blank"><i
class="icon-twitter"></i></a>
<a href="URL TO YOUR PINTEREST PAGE
GOES HERE" title="Pinterest"
target="_blank"><span class="social"><i
class="icon-pinterest"></i></span></a>
<a href="URL TO YOUR INSTAGRAM PROFILE
GOES HERE/" title="Instagram" target="_blank"><i
class="icon-instagram"></i></a>
<a href="mailto:YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS GOES
HERE" title="Email Me" target="_blank"><span
class="social"><i
class="icon-email"></i></span></a>
<a href="YOUR URL TO YOUR ETSY SHOP
GOES HERE
" title="Etsy"
target="_blank"><span
class="etsy">E</span></a>
</div>
Here is what your html social media codes should look like once you replace my information with yours. Make sure you copy and paste the code exactly as it is above. If for some reason you think you may have accidentally deleted a character, it's just best to scratch what you copied, and start again.
Each quotation sign, parenthesis and < sign means SOMETHING to the code working correctly.
After you have added the codes to the box and clicked save, you will now need to click "save arrangement" in the orange box shown above.
You should now see your new titled gadget on the right hand side of your layout screen. You can click on it's box and drag into any order on the sidebar! Easey Peasey, right?
Next up?
Blog Series #2: Adding Instagram Photos to Your Sidebar
