Your Blog Questions Answered!

In response to my post last week- I am going to take the time to answer all the simple blog questions that don’t really need a tutorial to answer. The rest more complicated questions will be made into tutorials in the coming weeks.

Q: How can I resize sidebar buttons- to make them bigger or smaller?
A: Using the program GIMP (which is free to use) open your button image, by dragging it from your desktop into the editing window (or just go to ‘file’ and ‘open’ the image by selecting it in the browser). Once the image is uploaded go to ‘image’ and select ‘scale image’. Decrease or increase the numbers depending on whether you want to make it bigger or smaller- you can do that using pixels, inches etc.
Now save your resized button and you will be done!

Q: How do I make my blog writing area and sidebars wider?
A: It’s simpler than you think, go into your html and find your main column and sidebar(s) (they should be clearly labelled) and increase them to the width you’d like them. Once you have determined the size you want them- find out the amount you increased both of them by and add both numbers together. Now go to your outer wrapper and increase by the amount you just calculated- you may also need to widen your footer as well the same way (if you have one). Also if you have a main wrapper or sidebar wrapper- those also need to be increased by the same amount. What I am saying is increase the main column and main wrapper by the same amount (even if they are different values).
DISCLAIMER: all templates are coded differently and this technique may not work for all of them. really you need to play around with your column(s) width until you get the desired effect. I will NOT provide support for those who attempt this technique- it’s at your own risk.

Q: How do I add multiple post boxes to my main page? (take a look at mommy moment)
A: VERY EASY! Take advantage of the recent posts gadget- you can find this gadget by going to ‘add a gadget’ on your page elements page. On the right hand side you will see a list labelled Basic, features, most popular etc. Select ‘featured’ and then select the recent post gadget. Now drag and drop this Gadget right above your posts section in your page elements. Be sure to go in the gadget and change the preferences if you don’t like how it displays. If you don’t have space to move your recent posts gadgets above your posts, make space by follow the first 4 steps of this tutorial. To remove your full length posts (or reduce them) go into your settings to change posts displayed.

Q: How do I place sidebar buttons beside each other in my sidebar?
A: well first resize them so they are not wider combined than the width of your sidebar, not sure of the width of your sidebar look it up in your HTML. If the buttons together are narrower than your sidebar then they will automatically go beside eachother (as long as you do not center them)

Q: How do I put images beside each other in my main post?
A: I would even bother trying to position your images beside eachother- it’s an almost impossible feat. Just download Picasa (it’s free) and use their collage option and place your images beside eachother and save them together as one image and then upload them that way.

Q: How do you change/add fonts in the post titles & sidebar titles, not using just the few that Blogger has, but to something more custom?
A: I’ll share my secret (well not really a secret)- go to this tutorial and follow all the steps. I do not claim this as my trick Kevin and Amanda introduced it to me and I use it all the time! I love how much you can personalize your blog by adding in fancy font!

Q: How do I backup my blog posts and comments in case it’s lost?
A: VERY EASY! go to your settings and click export blog at the top of the page. This will place an xml file with the date in the name on your desktop. Once it’s completely downloaded be sure to save it to your computer in a place where you can easily access it. To import your blog go to the same settings page and click import and select the exported file to upload. and you will have your blog back- well the posts and comments anyway!

So if I have missed any of your questions that means it’s a question that requires more than a simple answer and will be in a tutorial in the coming weeks. Here is a list of my upcoming tutorials- in no particular order:

• Sidebar gadget dividers
• Making your own blog from scratch the easy way
• Making the most of gadgets and what each of them do
• How to market your blog and gain followers
• Integrating disqus comment system into your blog
• How to make your own favicon

 So which tutorial would you like to see first? I hope this answered your questions! If you have more questions feel free to add them into the comments and I will try to add them into my list of tutorials.

NOTE: I appreciate all your comments- HOWEVER I will not respond to questions asked in comments. If you need any help or assistance for your blog please email me at simplyfabblog{at}gmail{dot}com. Thank you!