Time for a change

I was recently prompted to look at this blog and see if I could 'streamline' it a little. There was a suggestion that side-bar text-links can become a problem because they are in every 'page' and they generate hundreds of 'spammy' looking links. I was reluctant to remove them at first, but I figured that this blog could probably do with a spring clean so why not remove all of the clutter from the sidebar.

My foray into the blogger template editor has resulted in a slight colour scheme change (grey to contrast better with the bright red), and a thorough 'weeding out' of the sidebar.

This is post no:1198 on Munny4Hunny, and marks yet another facelift, although only a very subtle one compared with ones I have been though in the past. The image included here is one of the first banners that I designed for this blog over five years ago. A lot of text has been typed since then, and a few dollars have been amassed too.. which makes the whole project that much more worthwhile.

New Blogger Templates

I finally took the plunge and have converted two more blogs to the new templates...
Three of my 'blogspot' hosted blogs are now using the new templates. I have taken the "if it ain't broken..." approach, and as 'munny4hunny' is the blog I do the most work on, I have left the design side of it alone..for now...

I have given a facelift to the following sites:

Beckham News - in time for the start of the new MLS season
The Credit Cruncher
Travel Blog

I have been inspired to put up some new posts too, so the whole exercise has worked out quite well. There is another blog that could do with some new content and a facelift too, but it is quite tricky to keep five blogs updated on anything other than a very sporadic basis.
I have found that the new templates are not always directly compatible, so some widgets may need to be rearranged, but on the whole the experience has been smooth and very effective. Making design changes is much easier and the scope of elements that can be incoporated into the design is considerably expanded.
There is still the danger that your blog may look very similar to someone elses, but with a bit of work, you can still exercise your own creative flair - and the combinations are certainly more varied than before. Thumbs up to blogger (still going to seriously explore WP one day though!)

Blogging pains

I got a bit of a shock the other day when one of my blogs suddenly stopped being displayed. I don't know what the problem was, but it seems that it's back up again now - but I took some drastic action and exported the whole thing into a new site....
I figured it would be possible to export the blog and sure enough there is an export function in the settings. It downloaded an XML file to my PC. I started a new blogger blog and uploaded the XML file - all my posts were live and intact. I copied over some of the sidebar content and activated one of those new blogger templates that have been around for a little while now.
I am VERY pleased with the way it turned out. In the settings, I simply entered the 'dot com' domain that I wanted this blog to use, and because the domain was already 'pointing' at the blogspot servers, it instantly identified the new site.
I have always been in the habit of hacking some of the template settings, and I have yet to see what changes I need to make in the HTML editor, but my overall first impression of the new blogger templates has been very pleasant. They are quick and easy to edit, apply themselves very quickly and give very pleasing results. If you want to see the facelifted blog, feel free to visit my 'reallytraveling' travel website.

The plan is coming together

I am so pleased with my new hosting package that I am planning all sorts of changes including a new Livewyre.NET button badge... Livewyre.NET is my main domain which all my projects will link back to. This badge will effectively be the trade-mark that appears on all my sites. My long-term plan is to move all the content onto a Wordpress platform - I don't plan to move my blogger blogs at all, but the option is always there...
I now have a comprehensive package for domain registration and webhosting which I believe is a world-beater in terms of pricing, and I will post about these separately over the next few days. In the meantime, I am clearing out some defunct affiliates and will be replacing them with affiliates for my hosting & registration services - the beauty of these affiliates is that I am confident that they genuinely offer great value - which to be fair, is not always the case with affiliates (especially the better-paying ones).
Major changes (including moving domains and hosting packages) always come with their fair share of problems and traumas and I will be also talking about how I have overcome the problems of uploading (via FTP) to a new host that requires Secure Shell encryption (SSH) when your copy of Dreamweaver doesn't use SSH...!

Content Management

There is no doubt that CMS (Content Management Systems) are the way to go especially where you are hosting a site for someone who has little technical internet know-how. Of all the CMS software out there, Wordpress is one of the very best - but setting a site up is where all the hard work comes in. My new hosting service should give me the option of setting up multiple sites in Wordpress format, I hope to work out how to get a WP site up and running and then get a domain to point at it. Once I have mastered that art, I might be tempted to move all my blogs to this format.
Having said that, although I believe WP is a better, more flexible system, the most important thing for a blog in my opinion is content. Combining content with an aesthetically pleasing layout is a great combo, but placing appearance over content is a non-starter.
I have also had a look at Joomla as an alternative to WP, and honestly can see very little difference between the two. The deciding factor for me is the fact that there are so many bloggers using WP, and so many plug-ins available, I reckon there is a better support structure for this platform.

New Blogger templates

Log into Blogger in Draft to get access to some exciting new customisable blogger templates, bringing blogger blogs out of the dark ages of design.
To be honest, this is a develpment that is long overdue, Wordpress have been ahead of the game in blog design for years, it's about time that Blogger made an attempt to catch up.
A word of caution though, make sure you save your existing template, especially if you have been tinkering with it (as I tend to with my blogs), as I assume defaut settings, such as 'no follow' will be re-set.

You can read more about the new designs and how to access them on the 'blogger in draft' blog, I look forward to seeing some of the effects of this new feature - I am sure I will be trying this out for myself on at least one blog.

Free Icons for your posts or website

One of the things that can make your website or blog stand apart from the crowd in terms of professional apearance is the images that you use. Visual impact is important for a website almost as important as the content itself.

One of my current favourite free resources is the 'DryIcons' website where you can download free sets of icons for use on your sites. The standard of artwork is very high, and they have a vast catalogue of free icons. All they ask for in return is a name-check and link on the pages that you use the icons on. A sitewide link covers you for all eventualities and is a small price to pay for such a fantastic free resource.

They have icons for all occasions, and they come in sets which allows you to give a uniform appearance to your site by having a common theme throughout the images. I have used quite a few if these images on this blog and certainly plan to use them for future projects.

Catching up with web 2.0

Do you remember the fuss about web 2.0? Was it just internet snobbery distinguishing between sites that were up to 'the mark' and those that weren't??

To an extent, I am sure that was true, ie. if you didn't have the right stuff on your site, then you were branded old hat. Now that the fuss has died down, what was it all about, and will there ever be a Web 3.0?
Of course the danger of coining the phrase Web 2.0 which had vague and varying definitions, was that someone would come up with 3.0 and 4.0 which would be equally unhelpful. In essence Web 2.0 was more about interactivity than any other single issue, and the introduction of social sites such as Myspace and Facebook have proved the point about interactivity being where the future of the web should be focused.
However, this does not mean that sites that do not have 'whizzy' embedded applications and scripts are not just as valid for gathering information and advertising services. Those sites that were relatively one-dimensional were made to feel that they did not belong to the internet, and that was where the snobbery came in.
The internet is nothing if not 'democratic' in the truest sense of the word, and there is room for all types of websites within the framework of the worldwide web. Despite the hype, Google does not care if your graphics are flat or if there are no moving images on your homepage, in fact SEO and perceived Web 2.0 aesthetic requirements could be actually diametrically opposed to each other in many cases. SEO is still basically about content and links - if you don't get those right, you may as well stay off the web altogether.

Desktop themes...

I have been tagged by Ellie over at ThePinkC, and this time I am required to show the world my desktop.....
Now, my desktop is not as seasonal as hers, but there IS a story behind it. A lady I know has a cat called 'Bub', and this cat is quite a character on his own. Some time ago she took in a stray who is a little scruffier, (but somewhat mentally more stable..) than Bub. He has earned himself the moniker 'Scrub', so there you have Bub and Scrub.... Now I was playing with my little girl's 'etch-a-sketch' toy around last Christmas and came up with this cat cartoon which I named Bub, then went on to make some adjustments to make a Bub and a corresponding (slightly scruffier) Scrub. I developed the characters on Macromedia Freehand, and there we have the desktop (I think I must have imported into Fireworks to add the colour and text).

The intention was to come up with some stories for Bub and Scrub, but I never got around to writing any more than the first few lines... Nonetheless, the cartoon remains on my desktop in case I get inspired. I have developed characters for both of them: Bub is the mean one, and Scrub is the happy-go-lucky naive one who usually ends up in trouble for Bub's misdemeanors. I think that Scrub probably triumphs at the end of every story...
So err... that's MY desktop, what about yours, here are the folks that I am tagging:

• Rachel
• Greg
• Garion
• HotDogMan

Website revamp

I have been aware for some time that I needed to do some sort of redesign of my website: Livewyre.NET. This has finally been completed and the whole site now has a totally different look. I used some Web 2.0 design principles with my own particular slant ie. choosing a black background rather than a white one. I have taken the risk of using 'png' files for the graphics, and this means that IE 6.0 users may not see them as intended (specifically the transparent features), but I take the view that if folks choose NOT to use the latest available browsers, it's really not something I can take account of. I am a staunch Firefox convert, so don't get me started on IE...
Please take a look and let me know what you think of the new design

Free mini-banners - part 3

So far three new Munny4Hunny mini-banners have been commissioned, take a look at these banners and let me know if you would like a free banner for your website or blog:



Along the path of production, a couple of alternatives were produced before settling on a final finished product. I will show you those too, just to give an idea of the processes that go into making the banners...



If you would like something similar custom-made just for you, then drop me a comment - see the original post for rules of engagement! See the follow-up post to find out how to implement the banner.

Related posts:

mini-banner update - part 4

Mini-banner exchange

I have spent far too much time lately playing with Adobe 'Fireworks' software and making small-scale banners for websites and blogs. These mini-banners are very popular in the world of social bookmarking for 3 main reasons:

1. Good publicity - a mini-banner offers more functionality that a mere text link


2. Publishers like them - bloggers and webmasters are happy to host them as they are neat, compact and generally quite appealing


3. They look good - it gives a positive impression about how you want your site or blog to be integrated into the internet community

The specifics are that they can be made up from .gif .png or .jpg files (no doubt other format will work, but these are the three types I have used) and in in general around 80-82 pixels long and 15-17 pixels high. I have used MSpaint (at the beginning) and fireworks (more recently) to ceate them, but you can use any graphics software that will allow you to manipulate the size, colour and text content.

I have recently completed six of these which I will paste here as examples:

I have the beginnings of an idea for a link exchange - If you host (any) two of the banners above on the sidebar of a blog or anywhere in a website - I will make a banner for you.....

So here are the rules: You must carry two of these banners complete with the hyperlink to their respective website - you can copy and paste the banner from here or link the 'src' code to their current 'home' on one of my sites.

Leave me a comment or send me an email and I will not only create a unique mini-banner for you (I'll even host it if you like), but I will paste the banner linked to your website in a update post on my blog. I retain the right to reject an application from a site that has questionable content... If you are not sure how to use HTML to insert these banners into your website, this will be addressed in my next posting....

I'm not promising artistic miracles since I am not at all talented in this area, however I will do my best, you can obviously dump it if you don't like my puny efforts...

Follow-up posts:

free mini-banners - part 2

free mini-banners - part 3

mini-banner update - part 4