Armchair BEA: Blogging on Blogging ~ Design
Today is the day of the Book Blogger Convention, so in conjunction with that event Armchair BEA will also put the focus on the “blog” portion of “book blog.”
I was going to write about design in WordPress but once I started writing I realized a few things….
First of all, there are a lot of good tutorials already available and I’m not one to reinvent the wheel. The point of my post is that you are not stuck using only the design features your template dictates. There is no perfect template. But with a few modification it can be twisted into shape. WordPress does not allow us to modify the CSS code of our theme unless we pay an annual fee but we can still make changes using HTML. I am more familiar with WordPress, but most of this also applies to Blogger.
You don’t need to be a programmer to do this. I am not an expert by any means. But you may have to leave the visual editor and move to the html tab. It’s a good learning experience and by playing around with it I have taught myself basic html. Really, it’s not that difficult. And the visual editor doesn’t always cooperate so it’s good to know a little about the html tab.
For example:
Would you like to remove that border from a picture you just posted? Or dislike the default border? In some themes it’s as easy as adding “border=0” to the string of html code. But my theme ignores the border code. I have to use a style code: style=”background: 0 0; border: 0;” Want to add a color border or change the color or width of your default border? Again that’s done with the style code: style=”background:0;border:solid 4px #9C7B10;” This one can be done in the visual editor but I did it in the html tab.
The first image is the default, the second has the border removed and on the third I replaced it with a complimentary color border. You can also make a dotted, dashed, doubled, grooved, ridged, inset or outset border. Not all themes react the same way. Sometimes takes a little experimenting.
If you want to learn more about HTML, w3schools has some great, free tutorials. One of my favorite places for picking up tips for WordPress is a blog called wordpress tips. They have excellent, easy to follow tutorials. They also explain how to embed flash and video, some of which WordPress does not allow unless you change it to gigya code.
Do you modify your template? Of just leave well-enough alone? Or have you found that perfect, well-behaved template that does everything right?
Under My Apple Tree 
Great post. There are a few tweaks I’d love to make to my template. I’m going to have to give this a go!
LikeLike
Thanks for the tips! Blog design is important to me, and sometimes I wish I were more adept at changing things just a bit.
LikeLike
Lovely post — and I appreciate those focusing on aesthetic and design. As a blog reader (and one who really enjoys getting to know bloggers), nothing will get me to pass on a blog faster than a bad design. (Yes, it’s a bit ‘judging a book by its cover’.)
Learning to manage the sidebars is something I’m learning — as I continue to blog and continue to find more widgets or participate in more tours/giveaways, etc. I find I’m adding and adding to my sidebar — so I think it’s good to remember the feel of that, as well — something I need to keep reminding myself every month!
LikeLike
I don’t do much modifying. I just don’t really have the patience. I may have to check out the wordpress tips link though. Thanks!
LikeLike
What a fabulous idea for a post! I’ve had fun playing around with my WordPress template, only in some minor ways. My most ‘significant’ accomplishments were
* creating the within-post jumps for my list-of-reviews page.
* figuring out how to make a “featured post” page in my main menu, and category pages
LikeLike
I’ve been planning on relocating to WordPress. Great article, gives me confidence that I’m making the right decision.
LikeLike