Revamping your blog's appearance

Those of you who follow this blog will notice it has a new look. After spending the last couple of days converting it from a two-column format to three columns, and creating a banner for it, I have renewed respect for individuals with specialized coding knowledge. I know just enough HTML to be dangerous (mostly to myself!), so this conversion was not easy for me.

Many of you have already customized your Blogger templates, but I'm certain there are many out there who are novices just like me, waiting to make the "jump" for fear you will forever ruin your blog's appearance, and have to start over again. While I am no expert, I'm going to describe some steps I took and some resources I used to help me customize the design of my blog. If I can do it, you can, too!

1. Get acquainted with your template. Most Blogger users take advantage of one of the 16 style sheets, or templates, that are available when they start their blog. This is a good starting point. All templates allow you to click and drag your "Page Elements" to new locations. You can also add and subtract widgets (Web gadgets such as counters, quote-a-day posts, temperature converters, lists of useful links, and much more) using "Page Elements." By selecting "Fonts and Colors," you can modify your typeface, change the color of hyperlinks and your background, and more. The "Edit HTML" tab represents the guts of your template. Never make changes to it without a backup in place! From this tab I learned that the Scribe template I am using was designed by Todd Dominey back in 2004. If you don't like the template you are using, you can switch to a different one using the "Pick New Template" tab; you can even preview your blog's potentially new appearance first. "Monetize" allows you to earn income from ads placed on your site. To get to all of these options, visit your blog's Dashboard, and select Layout.


2. Make a backup copy of your template. Before you make any changes to your template, save a backup on your computer. This way, if you make changes that don't work, you can always go back to a previous version of the template.


3. Consult an expert. No, I don't mean you should pull out your pocketbook and plunk down a chunk of change to hire someone to modify your blog (although it's nice if you have that option; I don't). But I do think it's helpful to consult resources that enable you to build on the template you have, instead of reinventing the proverbial wheel. To help me convert the two-column Scribe template into three columns, I found the Tips for New Bloggers blog tremendously helpful. In the right side bar are multiple lists of the most commonly-requested modifications made to blogs. From the left side bar I learned that only 5% of Blogger users select the Scribe template, while 38% of users prefer the Minima template, likely because the latter is easier to modify. Still, the blog addressed most of my questions. Thanks to Liv of The Filigree Garden, who designs beautiful Web sites in her spare time, I also was able to tweak the list styles in my template. Liv referred me to HTML Dog, which bills itself as "The Best Practice Guide to XHTML and CSS." I found the information on this site to be straightforward and easy to follow.


4. Give your blog a facelift. When I converted my blog to three columns, it become apparent that my two-column, text-only banner needed to be replaced and given a facelift. An easy way to design your own banner is to upload a photo to the photo-sharing site called Flickr, where you can take advantage of its image editing software to customize a banner. I used Picnik to crop an existing photo, add text and borders, and size the banner to fit my blog. Yes, you can use any image-editing software you prefer, but I found Piknik to be intuitively easy to use, powerful and fast. Just make sure that the image you use is one that you own.

The above four steps don't really reflect the hours that went into customizing the appearance of this blog, but they certainly represent how I got started. Next on my agenda is going through the tutorials on HTML Dog. Hopefully the next revision of this blog's appearance won't take quite as long the next time!

© 2009 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.

I've been tagged!

This morning I was "tagged" by Myfanwy, a Welsh friend whose two shops, Sassa Lynne and Paper Patches, you'll find in the handmade goods marketplace at Etsy.com. Being tagged means you're charged with revealing six facts about yourself that most people don't know, and then tagging six other people who need to do the same thing. In that spirit, here are six tidbits about myself that you may be interested to know.

1. Although both of my parents were born in Germany, and I speak the language fluently, I learned the language in school, not from my parents. When my parents became naturalized American citizens, they insisted that we speak English at home. The exceptions were when they wanted to keep secrets from the children, and of course that's all the incentive we kids needed to learn German! Long before my parents realized it, we understood what they were saying.


2. My interest in foreign languages, in general, is what led me to meet my husband. My long-term plan was to become a United Nations translater by using the U.S. Army's excellent language schools as a stepping stone. As a result, I enrolled in the Army R.O.T.C. program at the University of Wisconsin my freshman year. Subsequently, I got involved in the tri-military exhibition rifle drill team, which is where I met John, who was in the Navy R.O.T.C. program. I left the Army program after a semester (not really a good match for me), while John was eventually commissioned as a Naval weapons officer. We married 5-1/2 years after we met. And that original desire to become a translater? Well, for many years I taught German in my community to elementary talented and gifted students. Today one of those students is a homeschooled high school student who meets with me weekly for continuing German instruction.


3. I'm a late-blooming poet. I published my first poem at the age of 45, after swearing that I could not write verse. Never say never!


4. Sitting on my bookshelves is an English-Norwegian dictionary. If I could choose anywhere in the world to travel, I'd love to visit Norway. The history, the geography, the diverse cultures (the Saami in the north, for example), the art and music, history and mythology--everything fascinates me.
   


5. I never had time during any of my formal schooling to take art classes. Perhaps that is why I make up for it as an adult, continually seeking ways to express myself with my hands. On my list of "things to learn" is the art of making the lucet cord. The lucet is a horn-shaped braiding tool that is believed to date back to the Viking and medieval periods of history. The cord that is produced with this tool is flat, flexible and very strong. Once upon a time it was used for lacing, making drawstrings for bags, hanging things from belts, and also for making decorative edging. Sailors used lucet cord for ropes at one time. Around the end of the 19th century, lucet cord was replaced by commercially-produced cording.


6. I wrote my first book when I was 12 years old. The book, Divided Planet, was well into its 20th chapter when I stopped writing it. I don't remember why I stopped, or even where all those handwritten pages are, but I do remember the passion that inspired it. How wonderful to not be inhibited by the Hidden Critic that accompanies any writing I do today!

So, there you have it! To read Myfanwy's post in which she responds to being tagged, visit her blog here.

© 2008 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.

Where are the life-long learners?

“If the smart, fun, passionate, life-long learners weren't at university, then where on earth were they?” writes jo_jo in “How I Found My Purpose: Chapter 5.” (http://www.overexcitable.blogspot.com/).

We always hope to find those life-long learners in the academic environment, but sometimes encounter arrogance and pretense instead. There’s the woman who will tell anyone who listens that she has a Ph.D., which means she’s an Authority in Her Field to whom we must pay heed, yet she is closed to new ideas, or to others’ way of thinking. Then there’s the entrepreneurial shop owner who dropped out of undergrad school but is learning about marketing the old-fashioned way: by doing it. I don’t mean to denigrate school over work experience, or elevate one type of learning over another. Goodness knows I have both. But I think life-long learning is all about attitude.

Let’s think about people we know who represent the best practices in life-long learning.

• An 82-year-old man practices his trumpet for an hour a day. He used to be a high school band teacher, but these days he fills his days with visits to the senior citizen center, where he learns new skills such as how to turn on a computer, compose an e-mail message, and surf the Internet. He and his wife have been judging youth essay contests for years, encouraging young people to examine their beliefs by writing about them cogently and creatively.

• A mother whose family lives out in the country homeschools her children, despite the fact that she never earned a college degree. Her children play the piano with passion and persistence, encouraged by her support. When she’s not feeding her chickens or milking the cows, she’s planning a lesson. The children march along a path, collecting leaves for a science journal, act out an adventure from a story the family has read, or reenact a Victorian tea.

• Decades ago, a tool and die maker immigrated to this country, returning to the high school classroom so he could learn to speak English. He took courses in electricity and small motor repair, eventually opening up his own equipment rental and repair business. He volunteered to teach faith classes to middle schoolers, reading classes to adults, and tutored his own children in math. Retired, he is now learning everything he can about computers and photography.

• She is the mother of a gifted daughter, probably gifted herself, but she never calls attention to herself. She has a teaching degree, but has never taught in a standard classroom. Instead, she has mentored young people, developing a popular after-school technology program, and has coached a creative problem-solving team. She works for no one and everyone, providing computer consultation services, for which she is entirely self-educated.

Life-long learners are open to change, but beyond that can adapt to changing circumstances. They seek out answers aggressively, but most importantly, they generate their own questions, and locate their own sources. They manipulate the answers they receive into words they publish, businesses or products they produce, or into lessons they generate for others. They are passionate about learning, but require no degree, pedigree or certification to justify the acquisition of knowledge.

Where do we find life-long learners? In the supermarket aisle, the stitchery shop, the kitchen, the factory . . . and even the university! It’s all about attitude.

© 2006 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.