Help

Hey, guys!!!

So, if you're a new blogger, you probably don't know a lot about things. I created this page so that you can learn more. I still don't know lots of things, so if there's something that you noticed I don't have, I'd love it if you'd comment with tips!!!

Comments--there's lots of things with comments.

You can put up moderation on comments, make it so people don't have to do the "are you a robot test?", have both, or take off all. You can decide what's the best for you!!

How to enable comment moderation--go to the Settings page on your blog's designing dashboard. "Settings" will be the page at the bottom. Click it. There will be several choices. Choose "posts and comments". Go to where it says Comments and it'll say "comment moderation". Click always.

To have people who don't have gmail or yahoo accounts be able to comment, stay on that same page. Above the comment moderation will be "who can comment?" Click Anyone. Then people can choose to post. They will still be made to do "are you a robot?" check and the comment moderation.

Posts--you can make as many posts on your home page as you want. Just go to Settings, click Posts and Comments, and change the amount of posts (it'll say "7". That's how many appear normally. Erase that and put in the number that you want to show).

Basic--Click Settings. Click Basic. On it, you can change your blog name, your blog address, invite authors and/or admins, and edit who can you read your blog--anybody, or only invited readers. I'd suggest, though, when adding admins, if you're younger (or any age), I'd suggest only making people who you actually know in person admins. (that way the other people can't steal your email address, which they would be able to see if they went on the Settings page.)

Other on the Settings--feel free to look around on the Settings options! I haven't really changed anything else, but it's always fun to play around!!

Templates--OK, so when I first got a blog, I didn't know anything about customization. I mean like ANYTHING. If you got to your page Template, it'll show your template as it appears on your blog and on Mobile Phone. Underneath what looks like on your blog, it says "Customize". There you can change colors, fonts, backgrounds, and lots of other cool things!!! Feel free to play around with that. Also, if you scroll down the page on Template, you'll see a variety of different template styles. Don't be shy to go around and try things out to find your taste and style!!!!

Also, there are lots of sites for free templates. All of them might not be safe, as in there might be a bug with them and other problems. I know a safe one that is called The Cutest Blog on the Block, which I love using. I'd recommend that if you want to try a free template site, try that one first. They have some really, really awesome templates!!!!

Layout--so what's this? If you click the page, you might feel kind of intimidated. I felt like that when I first clicked on it ("what's this? Will everything go kablooie if I click it?!"). Just relax. The white boxes represent things on your blog. Click "add gadget" to add a gadget in that area of your blog. If you click add gadget, you'll be faced with a list of some really awesome gadgets!! Some really fun and easy gadgets are: polls, pictures, text, labels (I would suggest definitely doing this one), followers (almost essential--add right away, if possible), people-on-your-blog count, and other things. I would definitely recommend adding gadgets to your blog!!!!

Real quick--what're labels? Everything else is pretty simple. Labels are things that you create when you write a blog post. If you put them on the side of your blog, and a person remembers a label on it, but doesn't remember the name, they can click the linked label and it'll show all of the posts with that label. VERY HELPFUL.

Stats--stats are a very good thing to check. They show you what are your most popular posts, from what countries people have been on your blog, and which of your pages are the most popular!!! You don't have to check this every day, but sometimes it's kind of nice to see who's been on your blog (example: Somebody from Sri Lanka has been on my blog!! AWESOME!! Thanks to whoever you are).

Comments--if you don't have comment moderation on your blogs, which will show you right when you get to your dashboard if you have a comment awaiting your moderation, then you would definitely want to check your comments to see what little drops of love people have left on your blog!!!!

Pages--here you can make pages. Write a little about yourself, put your stories or poems on, put your pictures on, put lists of your favorite things, or anything that you can think of!! It's just something to have fun with. :) Isn't it all? ;D

Posts--it's sometimes helpful to go to your posts. Picture this with me..... You're just about to write something on your blog. You just got this really good idea, and are halfway through. But Mom's calling you and telling you that it's tell to leave to the library. You click off the page sadly, thinking that you've lost your post for forever. Don't sweat! It will have been saved as a draft in posts. So, you see, sometimes you're going to be going on there. ;)

Overview--this is where you're going to go and see how the pageviews have dipped on your blog. It's also an overview of all the other pages--if you have any comments to moderate, how many posts you have, how many comments have been published, etc. etc.

Writing a post--there are several different places to click where it'll take you to write a post. You can do it off your dashboard by clicking the orange button with the pencil on it; you can do it while you're on your blog, at the top by where it'll say design or sign out. You can also do it when you're on your blog's designing place. It'll be another orange button with the words "new post". Click that and you'll be popped up on a white page with a list of things above.

OK, so when I first started, I had NO IDEA how people were getting all of these cool fonts. Then I realized that they did it by clicking default font. Though it'll look like Times New Roman while you write it, when it appears on your blog it'll be the beautiful font that you picked out when you customized it!

To set labels on your posts, look to the right side of your posting page. There're be the words "labels". Click that. As your progress and make more labels, you can choose the same ones over and over.

Headers--these are the awesome pictures with words that are at the top, announcing the name of your blog!! You can make them in lots of different ways. Example: take a picture, and if you position it right, just use the words that come with it normally. Or you can make it on your computer (ex. Paint for PC computers and PhotoStudio for Macs)(I also heard somebody said they used PicMonkey to add text). To insert a header, go to your layout. It'll have your title (like mine's Storyteller of Weston County). Click the little blue word edit. It'll pop up. It'll have your blog title and description (which is optional. To add description, also pop this up and write the words there). It'll say Image. From your computer or URL (that's blog address). Do whichever you want. Then you have some options--Behind Title and Description, Instead of Title and Description, Have Description placed after the image, and shrink to fit. I'd almost always tell you to quickly click shrink to fit, so that it fits. Then click whichever of the options you want.

A really good site to make a header on is PicMonkey. I highly recommend using this site. At this time, all of the fonts etc. are free. It's lots of fun!! :) Feel free to play around with all of that. Also, if you don't want to have to make your own header and such, talk to me and I will make one for you. :)

Favicon--this is the little picture that appears before a web address. (Mine is some books.)  To set your Favicon, go to layout. In the top left hand corner there'll be the gadget Favicon. Click the blue edit word. Then you have to go through the laborious process of trying to find a perfectly square picture (it can get frustrating, but hang in there!! It's so hard to find square photos, that I've just kept my original favicon. Since it is hard, I'd suggest you pick a good Favicon that you'll be happy with for eternity!!). :) Special note: on PicMonkey, you can make any picture a square, so actually you can change it as much as you want!! :) You would go to "resize", I believe, and use "square". ;)

Navbar--go to layout. In the top right hand corner there'll be something that says Navbar. Click. Then it will show different Navbars. What are navbars? On the top of every blog (Unless somebody has clicked it off) it will have a little strip. In the top right hand corner, when you're on other people's blogs, there's your email address, dashboard button, and sign out button. That's your navbar! You can change it to different colors and things. Lots of fun!!

Also, I have a code that will make your navbar disappear and then reappear when you hover over it. (credit to Hannah)(for some other great HTML codes from Hannah, click here)

Go to gadgets. Click the "add HTML" and put in this code:

<!-- DROPDOWN NAVBAR -->
<!-- stylesheet for FF2, Op9, IE7 (strict mode) -->
<style type="text/css">
#navbar {
display:inline;
width:100%;
position:absolute;
background-color:transparent;
top:-30px;
left:0px;
height:60px;
z-index:999999;
}
#navbar:hover{
top:0px;
height:30px;
}
</style>
<!-- stylesheet for IE6 and lower -->
<!-- (not supporting element:hover) -->
<!-- first, unhide the navbar through css -->
<!-- second, hide the navbar and mimic -->
<!-- the effect with javascript, if available -->
<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<style type="text/css">
#navbar {
height:30px;
top:0px;
}
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
var navbar = document.getElementById('navbar');
if(navbar){
navbar.onmouseover = function(){
navbar.style.top = '0px';
navbar.style.height = '30px';
}
navbar.onmouseout = function(){
navbar.style.top = '-30px';
navbar.style.height = '60px';
}
if (navbar.captureEvents){
navbar.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEOVER);
navbar.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEOUT);
}
navbar.onmouseout();
}
</script>
<![endif]-->
<!-- end dropdown navbar -->


I know it's a long code, but it works!! :)

Some posting extras--go to layout. Click the blue edit button on the gadget posts. You'll be faced with a little popup that gives you lots of cool options!! It'll say Configure Blog Posts. You're in the right place!! Here you can change lots of things, such as changing (ex.) Posted by Storyteller to A Letter Written by Storyteller (which is what I have), changing the words "labels" to things like "marks", and making reactions on your post. Feel free to go and check things out!! Also, you can take things off so that your footer of your post looks less crowded.

Labels--why on earth are labels good?? Say somebody wants to get to a certain post. They remember maybe one of the labels, or the theme, but they don't remember the name. (example: sometimes I do names like ;akjlsd;flaksd;klfd and so it's like how on earth am I supposed to find that?? If I remembered the label... ta-dah! =D) If you have your labels gadget up, they can find the word, click it, and then all of the posts with that label will pop up.

Buttons--buttons are pictures or words that you have on your blog for people to pull off and to put on their blog with a link back to your blog, so that others can come on your blog, too. It's lots of fun!! :) Sometimes people (I have in the past) just put up a picture which you can pull off. Or you can use this simple code and have it look more professional:

<center><a href="http://YOUR WEB ADDRESS" target="_blank" title="BLOG TITLE"><img alt="BLOG TITLE" src="http://IMAGE WEB ADDRESS"><a></center> <p></p><center><textarea id="code-source" rows="3" cols="19" name="code-source"><center><a href="http://YOUR WEB ADDRESS"><img border="0" src="http://IMAGE WEB ADDRESS"></a></center></textarea>

You would insert that is an HTML code (under your gadgets) and basically follow the directions. See how it says "image URL"? That's your image's web address. Of course, it has to HAVE a web address. The way I've found out how to do it is either put it on the side of your blog as a picture or put it in a post as a picture, and then do a search for your blog, but just simply (like storytellerofwestoncounty.blogspot.com instead of http://storytellerofwestoncounty.blogspot.com/). Then you go to images, and usually you'll have some images from your blog. (If you're pretty new, this probably won't be the case.)(Also, if you do need help with that, I can usually find things with my blog address, so if you can't find it using yours, talk to me and give me your button so that I can post it on my blog and you can use it. :))

Actually, ignore all of that gobbly gook about the "look up this" thingy. Here's how you get your picture for this or any other kind of HTML code:
1. Log onto your dashboard.
2. Create post. (DON'T PUBLISH.)
3. Load on the pictures that you created onto the post.
4. Click save. (NOT PUBLISH.)
5. Go to "add image".
6. Click "from this blog". (left side)
7. At the top will be a link for Picasa Web Albums. Click on it.
8. Go to your blog/album on there that you are saving the pictures on.
9. Click on the picture(s).
10. They'll come up big. Right click, and click "copy image address".
11. Paste them somewhere on your computer, like a Word Doc, mail, or sticky notes.
12. Click on the link. It'll take you to the picture.
13. Copy the URL.
14. You've got it!! :)

A really helpful tip:

If you want more followers, and you go to a lot of other blogs and leave comments, people are more likely to follow you if you follow them back. Such as this example: Jocelyn has a blog. She has some followers. She goes on their profiles and surfs through all of the blogs that they follow, leaving a comment on each one. But she doesn't follow. Is she more likely to get more followers because of this? She will get some followers, but it'll seem more like a mutual friendship if you follow each other.

Hope this page helps you guys!!! Later!!!!

~Anna