Blogging Tips and Tricks

I by no means figured any of this out myself. In fact I have to go hunt down this information every time I decide I want to change my blog. Since I can’t decide that it is really me yet, that is a lot. If it put them all here for you, it helps me too. Don’t have to go hunt them down next time. =) I will also share where I got the information to thank the great people that posted the tips.
As we all know Blogger doesn’t have very many font options. Can get a little boring. Here is a very helpful way to change that (click here). Kevin and Amanda also have some very cute fonts, like the ones in my post titles, but can be hard to install and only work on titles. They give a step by step tutorial on how to use their fonts as well.
Signatures. See how my post says ~Alicia at the bottom? I have seen many tutorials that tell you how to put it so that it shows in your post and you have to type above it. I had done it this way first so when trying to figure out how to do it again I couldn’t find how I originally did it. Luckily I found the code in the HTML code and changed the location of the signature. If you want a more personalized look to your signature, you can do it in Adobe Photoshop. The Cutest Blog on the Block (who also gave you the font earlier) tells you how to do that, and how to put the signature in your posts (where it is there when you are typing). I learned you can also go to MyLiveSignature to create your signature and get the code to post in the “Settings-Formatting” in the Post Template box. If I ever find the other directions again I will update this.
Blogger’s generic settings shows that all posts are Posted by Your Name. I hope you get the gist of what I just said. Look at the bottom of one of your posts. By the date and such. If you want that to be more personal there is a way to change it. Go to your Design. The big box where it says Blog Posts, click on Edit. From there you can make many changes. How the date prints even. Where is now says Posted by, change to say anything you want it to, like Lovingly brought to you by. Only thing you can’t change is your name. On my other blog I removed the date so that if I forget to post one day no will know I posted late (bad I know).
I am not going to brag about my grab buttons because I am not pleased with them. But go check out Manic Mother on how to make your very own. Make sure you have Paint or Photoshop and an account on Photobucket.
You might also want to know how I got that header or banner for my blog. Again, not something I am completely impressed with and wish I had way more time to get all of it “perfect”. Clover Lane has an impressive new banner every month. And she also share with you how to do it (here). If you want to make your own like that, you need to have Picasa 3. A free download.
There are tricks out there to change the color of your Blogger Nav Bar, but did you know you can also make it disappear? More like it is invisible because when you scroll up there it is still there when you hover the mouse over it. Shabby Blog Designs tells you how to make it disappear (here). Shabby Blog Designs has several other tutorials that are very helpful and cool, and (drumroll please) I found the how to create a signature that I was looking for. The one that posts your signature every time but doesn’t show it in your post. An HTML code solution.
There are also many more secrets at The Cutest Blog on the Block that you might want to try out for yourself.
BlogU has is a Blogger University that has tips and tricks and other places to find them as well.
I used Sneaky Momma Blog Designs for a lot of secrets as well. One thing to remember, however, is some of the tutorials out there are for the old Blogger layouts. Make sure you are following directions for the new Blogger layouts.


Sidenote: to center your banner. Go to Design. Template Designer. Add CSS and add #Header1 {width:750px;margin:0 auto}. Play around with the 750 to get it perfectly centered.


**Another place for some great tips: (click here)