Sunday, July 24, 2011

Blog Overhaul

I do many things here at The Everyday Adventurer. Most of them involve bringing you my experiences with nature. But there are also many more things I do behind the scenes that I'm proud of. One of my most recent projects has been updating The Everyday Adventurer.

You may not be able to see the changes I've made, but that's because all of the changes were beneath the surface. I originally created the look of The Everyday Adventurer a few years ago on top of the old blogger template system. This look was inspired by a Wordpress theme called Soulvision. You may have seen similar blogs out there. You may also notice that they're not exactly the same as mine. Those others are a template those people downloaded. I created and modified mine myself.

But in recent months I've decided that it was time to update my blog to the new Blogger system of doing things. The new Blogger with its Template Designer gives us tools that make it easier to modify our blog templates. On the old system I had to go in and edit the template of the blog. That is a very dangerous thing for most users. You can completely destroy your blog doing that.

On top of all that, when you modify your blog this way, it breaks many of the other easy Blogger features. Editing the template means that you are now stuck having to edit the template again and again even for simple additions that Blogger makes, like the Location feature I recently added. I had to add that in the template. Normal bloggers would only have to check a simple box and okay it. But there is a way out of these problems.

There is the new Template Designer. The picture above shows the Add CSS section of the Advanced section of the Template Designer. Instead of editing the blog template, you can go here to add simple CSS code to modify your blog. The Template Designer shows you your changes as you make them, and if you mess up too bad you can simply delete the CSS code that you already typed.

CSS code can be very powerful when you learn a little bit. I have designed all three of my websites, and I did it just like I'm describing here. I used simple CSS code and Bloggers other easy options to manipulate one of Bloggers new templates, and I turned it into The Everyday Adventurer.

Now I can modify the easy things as easily as anyone else. And my knowledge of CSS code gives me more power to change bigger things. This is all without having to ever edit the original template of the blog. The Everyday Adventurer now sits on top of Blogger's Awesome Inc. template. Anyone who's ever tried that one knows they are very different.

So try some experimentation of your own. You may be able to make something that you never dreamed of. Like I said, all three of my blogs are designed by me. Rat Tales is probably the closest to the original Blogger template, but it still looks very different. That one took very little work, so you can do it too. You should never again have to rely on anyone else for a cool blog design.

I know this was a very different post than my usual nature stuff. It's just another interest of mine, and I wanted to show it off. I hope some of you liked reading it. If any of you would like to read more things like this, maybe some tips to help you learn some of these things that I did, just give me some encouragement in the comments section. See ya next time with some good nature stuff.



13 comments:

  1. I've always been reluctant to make major changes to my blog. I'm a bit clueless when it comes to all the technical stuff so i try and stick to the basics :)

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  2. @Ann
    That's what's so good about the Template designer. It's made so that you can never mess anything up. And some of the things on there are simple enough for anyone. Most of the time it's just a matter of pushing a few buttons.

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  3. I like to play around with my templates to make them look different from others too. I know a little about HTML, but I haven't try adding the CSS yet. Interesting post, Ratty!

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  4. I made my blog using the blogger template. Don't know which one it is, but I am quite happy with it. I suppose I could do better, but am being a wimp about changing it. Having said that, I do like to receive helpful tips.

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  5. I keep it simple a nd change when in the mood.Some elaborate ones take forever to load.

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  6. I'm constantly tweaking the HTML of my websites... The only problem I have is different CMS interact with the HTML in different ways. I'm just updating one at the moment actually :-)

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  7. I have always admired the look of your blogs....especially Nature Center Magazine. I use the Awesome Template for my blog because of the many designs/colors you can choose from.

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  8. I remember when you created this template- it's still very nice. I haven't tried the CSS thing yet.

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  9. You have made me thinking of changing my template, if I have time.

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  10. Thank you all for your encouraging and interesting comments. I think I need to push myself away from blog editing now because I am getting tired, so I think I'll spend tomorrow visiting all of you.

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  11. Good for you, Ratty. I may try doing some different things but not right now, while I have so much on my plate. You have a bit of a high tech mind, I think!

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  12. I'm about to break out of the Blogger templates and use my own. I think you did a great job!

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  13. The light of God warms our heart and guides our way. Hi there!!!! Visiting today Have a wonderful Monday!!!


    I love to change my blog template every now and then.

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