Changing the blog background

Christmas approaches so quickly and because of this, and some frustration, I thought that a makeover of my blog was overdue. So I tried. I am not completely happy with the current looks, but at least it has something christmassy. I'll try out more, so don't be surprised if all is a mess for a long while. The first things I could change successfully, were backgrounds.

Finding pictures

When I looked for a Christmas-look for my blog, I googled for 'free vintage Christmas  blog background'. Later on I also tried this with 'free blog templates'. The results were awesome. Of course, there are always those which are not for free, but the vintage pictures alone are definitely worth looking at, as there are many absolutely cute and beautiful ones. 

Backgrounds

As far as I know, there are two different ways of installing a new background to your blog. One is uploading a complete picture. This is a background picture from 'the cutest blog on the block', but you can use any kind of picture that you have. I have tried something like that in early summer and I think that the picture I wanted to upload as a background was too big as a file. The Blogger help says something about 300(k or kb? don't remember and don't know them) as a limit, and if the picture is too big, you get a message.

To upload your own background go to the menu where you can write new posts, have an overview, statistics, etc.  .

Go to templates

there you find a button called 'Customize' and this opens another menu, the 'Blogger Template Designer'

Go to background, once there, you can press into your current background picture, which should be on display.

This opens a new window, full of alternative backgrounds, and on top, you can upload your own window, similar to how you do it if you imbed a picture in your blog entry.

The second way is a copy and paste of the html-code. ... Sounds impressive, doesn't it? I have no idea what that is, but the instructions from the 'the cutest blog on the block' homepage are easy enough for me, a complete computer dummie, so you can do this much better, and probably already have.

I copied and pasted their instruction about installing a new background. Here, you just have to copy and paste the html and put it into your blog as a new gadget.

Blogger Install

Directions:

1. Log onto your blog.
2. Click on your 'Design' tab or 'Layout' tab.
3. Click 'Add a Gadget'.
4. Click on the (+) sign next to 'HTML/JavaScript'.
5. Paste the entire code in that space.
6. Click 'Save' and you now have a new HOT blog!

This is the html-code to the Love and literature background:



http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthecutestblogontheblock.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F06%2FLove-In-Literature-2C-free-blog-background-layout-template-vintage-valentine-1000x500.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthecutestblogontheblock.com%2Fbackgrounds%2Flove-literature&h=500&w=1000&tbnid=c6KpsecKzCvwMM%3A&zoom=1&docid=Yg642jllIMfCdM&ei=t2yIVIZZy8s9y-6BqAs&tbm=isch&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=2605&page=1&start=0&ndsp=36&ved=0CG0QrQMwFw




I had the problem that the header would not fit, the details for that one are in the advanced section.

Some blinky and button fun?

You can look for buttons and blinkies for a blog too. I did not find out much about it yet, but I thought it would be nice to know that these things exist. I have tried this one, it is for free from
'the shabby blog' site

The html-code is installed the same way you install a new background via 'Add a Gadget'


<a border="0" href="http://www.shabbyblogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.shabbyblogs.com/storage/old/ShabbyBlogsAwesomeButton.jpg"/></a>

Concerning templates:

 Be careful! The original Blogger templates might be pretty basic, but I found them the only ones which were easy to handle. I had uploaded a complete Christmas template from elsewhere, but could not change the structure of it the way I wanted. Well, and first of all, I had to find out how to get back into those sections which only the blog-owner has access to. This template was not really usable for me. That's why I currently only have a Christmas background and a slightly different Christmas header.

 If you look for blogger templates, again, there are gazillions of them for free, and there are pages where you can see a demo of them, so that you can decide if you want to download it or not.

One criteria for me was the number of columns, because I liked it with three columns in my blog. Therefore I ignored all with less than three, but that's just a matter of personal preference. 

I'd always try to see a demo now, and look out for the buttons that let you get into your blog-owner sections. But that may just be due to my ignorance in computer and software stuff.


As far as I could see there is much more that you can change, if you dare to. If I figure out more, I'll write it down as well. It might take time, though, because I am really slow with these things and still afraid that my blog will disappear because of pushing some wrong button. Therefore, it's one step at a time for me, nevertheless I hope this is maybe helpful for you.