Hosting Renewed!

Many thanks to Kathy for her very generous donation! I will be able to renew my hosting and domain name through the end of the year. So, don't change your backgrounds just yet or if you have, come grab your old one. They will be good through December!

~Dani

The Time Has Come to Say Goodbye!

If you have been keeping up with my blog, you've probably heard that I am quitting my blog. I have been contemplating this for months, maybe even a year, and finally have decided that I just don't have time for it. I love writing tutorials and helping people fix up their blogs, but it really sets me back in my family and personal life. I have posted my last tutorial and will no longer be posting designs or tutorials. Also, I will not be doing any more custom designs.

I have considered just leaving my blog as it is but there are a few problems with this. Without doing custom designs, I don't make any money on this blog. No big deal, except that this blog is not free for me. In order for me to offer background and design images for readers to put on their blogs, I have to store the images on the web. To do this costs money, about $10/month in addition to the yearly fee for my domain name (making my blog a .com instead of a .blogspot.com) and another fee to keep my personal info private through my hosting service. I have considered putting advertising on my blog, but I feel like if I am going to ask people to pay me for advertising then I should post regularly on my blog. Because I can't do that, I can't ask.


So, what does this mean for all of you? 

   1. My blog will stay on the web.
All of my tutorials will stay put. They may get outdated, but they will still be here as a resource. If I do not renew my domain name (blogdesignsbydani.com), then you will find my blog at http://blogdesignsbydani.blogspot.com.

   2. What about my backgrounds, headers and template? 
In order for me to make all of my designs accessible to you, I have had to upload them all to a web hosting service, as I mentioned above. I have renewed my hosting service through the beginning of June. So before that, nothing will change. I won't be posting any more designs, but all of my backgrounds, headers and templates will still be available for use through the beginning of June. Now, if enough of you are dying to still use my free designs and you are willing to donate to my blog, I can keep my hosting service. I pay 3 months at a time to get a good discount, so I would need 3 months worth (about $35 for 3 months of service). If that is not the case, then when the 3 months are up, all of my design images will be gone.

If people do donate, I will post updates on whether I have received enough to extend my hosting service as well as dates that the designs are still available.

If I end my hosting service, I will likely cancel my domain name when it expires in September. If that is the case, you will find my blog at http://blogdesignsbydani.blogspot.com. My designs will not be there but my tutorials will still be there.

Update: I received a generous donation to my blog allowing me to keep my hosting through the end of the year (2013). This means that my free designs (backgrounds, headers and templates) will be available through December of 2013. Thank you, thank you to a kind reader!

3. Open Comments
I have been moderating my comments because I really hate spam-like comments. Also, people are more careful about what they post when they know it will be moderated. I honestly haven't deleted any comments other than spam. (Not all spam is caught by Blogger.) But since I won't be reading comments regularly, I will not moderate comments in the future. This means that if someone posts a question and you know the answer, please answer it for me. Also, if anyone posts anything offensive or spam-like, please email me and I will delete it.

4. I will keep my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest Accounts
I will keep these social networking accounts and I may post now and then if I find interesting things on the web. I am often on Pinterest, so you can definitely find my pins there. :)



A few last words of advice

I am very sad to quit this blog, but when I finally made the decision, I felt so strongly that it was the right thing to do. I want to thank all of you for your support. I have learned so much from this blog in the last few years. Before I go, I would like to offer a few final tips for designing your own blog:

  1. Always back-up your template before making any changes to your blog, even little ones. You never know when you might delete a semi-colon or a bracket by mistake and now your entire blog is a mess. Here is my tutorial on How to Back-up Your Template.

  2. Keep a journal of all the changes you make. Sometimes it takes a while for you to notice that one of your blog modifications is causing a lot of problems. If you don't know what you did or where you found the tutorial, you are going to have a very hard time fixing it. So record specific tutorial links along with a description of the changes you made with it.

  3. Before you alter the HTML/CSS of your blog, try to learn as much as you can so that you know what you are doing. When you post random codes onto your blog and then try to fix them, you may find an even bigger mess than you started with. Learn the basics of HTML and CSS. Creative Bloq has a list of the Top 20 Online Training Resources for anyone interested in learning more about web design. I have used #1 and 10 from that list and recommend those for beginners.

  4.  Keep your blog simple. Too many busy designs distract readers and make it hard to find what they are looking for. Create simple, easy to find navigation and always include contact information. Your navigation can be through Blogger's pages where you can create vertical and horizontal navigation bars or you can create a Drop-Down Navigation Bar. And if nothing else, at least use good labels for your posts that can be accessed through your sidebar.

5. Read the comments section of tutorials. Often readers have the same questions when they do a tutorial and the answers to those questions are often found in the comment section. Also if you, as a reader, know the answer to a question in a comment, don't be afraid to respond. It is hard for a blogger to respond to every question posted. Help each other out, especially now that I won't be responding to comments on this blog in the future.

If you have any other words of advice that you think should be added to the list, post it in the comments section.


Resources
 I know that there are a lot of blogs that are very similar to mine and I want to create a list of links to help you with your blog. If you have any to add to the list, please do so in the comments.

The following blogs offer free or custom designs and/or tutorials. Check them out:

Smitten Blog Designs  Free and Custom templates, Blogger and Wordpress, as well as other free printables
Designer Blogs  Custom and Pre-Made Blog Designs, Blogger and Wordpress
Makin' Cute Blogs  Free Backgrounds and Tutorials
Leelou Blogs  Free and Custom Blog and Social Networking Designs
A Mommy's Blog Design Custom and Pre-Made Blog Designs, Blogger and Wordpress plus a few useful resources for blogging
Hot Bliggity Blog  Free and Custom Blog Designs
The Cutest Blog on the Block  Free and Custom Blog Designs, Blogger and Wordpress
Shabby Blogs  Free Backgrounds and other Extras, Custom Designs, Tutorials
Kevin and Amanda Very diverse blog including Blog Tutorials, Photoshop Tutorials, etc. (see her right side bar for tutorials)


These sites have links to a number of blog designers. I have not been to most of them, but feel free to check it out:
Custom Blog Designers
Simply Blog it Backgrounds (Designers listed in sidebar)
Mama of 3 Munchkins


Thank you all again for following and supporting my blog! I wish you all the best of luck with your blogs!

~Dani

Making a Drop-Down Navigation Bar

I have received several comments asking for a tutorial on how to make a drop-down navigation bar like you see on my blog. This will be my last tutorial on this blog!

Now, I have to be honest. I created this tutorial 2-3 years ago and I struggled with it for a long time, trying to get it right. As I went back, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I did in the first place and even ran into some of the same errors as I did the first time. For this navigation bar, I used HTML Dog for the main part of the tutorial and various other help forums to figure out some of the rest. While I can give good explanations for most of the tutorial, there are some parts that I don't completely understand. Also, I am not a professional web designer. Some of my modifications are probably not be the best practices for web design. But for a beginner, they get the job done.

If you don't know anything about HTML/CSS, this tutorial may be difficult for you. I have given some explanations and links that should get you through the tutorial, but if you need to make additional modifications, you may have trouble. Creative Bloq has a list of the Top 20 Online Training Resources for anyone interested in learning more about web design. I have used #1 and 10 from that list and recommend those for beginners.

For this tutorial, I created a new navigation bar, similar to the one on my blog. I am using the Blogger Simple template that was customized in my tutorial on How to Make Your Own Custom Blog Template. You can look at the actual navigation bar on my Practice Blog. Here is a preview:

Want the full tutorial? Keep reading!

Signing off soon, but first....

Hello everyone,

I have been contemplating for the LONGEST time what I should do with this blog. I have so little time for it and it is hard for me to spend all of my free time here. I haven't been posting very often but I think I may have to call it quits soon. I meant to post about this and tell everyone what that means in terms of all my free designs. I also wanted to give you a few last pointers on designing your blogs and offer links to other design blogs.

However, I have had a several requests for a tutorial on my drop-down navigation bar. I don't have a lot of time, so if this isn't something that a large audience will read, I may not post it. But, if I can get a lot of comments in favor of this tutorial, I will make this my last tutorial. And then I will offer my goodbyes and my last advice to help you with your blog.

I am so very sorry to have to quit this blog, but my family must come first.  :)

~Dani

7 Common Mistakes Link

While perusing Pinterest, I found the following article:

Seven Mistakes Even Nice-Looking Blogs Make

The mistakes aren't necessarily about visual designs as much as they are about how accessible your blog is to your readers. It's a good read. Go check it out!

How to Make Your Own Custom Blog Template

I have finally finished my tutorial on How to Create Your Own Custom Blog Template! (or at least customize the Simple Template with your own amazing design) This tutorial is based on the designs that I like to make where the header is placed above the body of the blog in such a way that it looks like it has been cut away from the background as shown below:

This tutorial is my most advanced tutorial in terms of both graphic design skills and HTML/CSS knowledge and is quite long. However, if you have had success with my previous tutorials, don't be afraid to give this one a try! 

An Update

I have gotten very behind on responding to comments but I wanted to let you know that I have responded to all those that posted questions, at least I hope I got them all! If I missed yours, please let me know. I have been very busy lately but I am working on a tutorial for How to Make Your Own Template. It's a long one but it should be good! Stay posted in the meantime!

Christmas Dream Template

By using this template, you agree to the terms of use.
Read here for instructions on how to add a template.

Click here for the HTML/CSS code

 This template includes:
  a wide 2-column layout
  a background
  a matching header
  a post icon (picture next to the post title)
  a post divider (picture in between each post)

You can add/change:

•   the Blog title and description shown on the header
•   the font colors
•   the font  Click here to learn how.  (This template allows you to alter the date, post title and sidebar titles with a different font for each one.)

   Don't forget to add my button to your sidebar. Here's the code:

<center><a href=http://www.blogdesignsbydani.com/><img src="http://bdbd.blogdesignsbydani.com/Dani Button.png"/></a></center>

Images copyright Katie Castillo
From her kit Heavenly Christmas

Photoshop Basic for Bloggers

When I was in high school, I took my first Graphic Design class. It was there that I was introduced to Photoshop and I fell in LOVE with it! Since then I have tried a lot of other design software and though many of them are good, they just don't compare in my eyes.

As bloggers, it is important to have great designs for your blog layout as well as for the images you post on your blog. Thus having software that can give you those great designs is so important! I know that Photoshop can be pricey (there is a really expensive version and a cheaper version). So if you are just starting out, there are a lot of decent options for graphic design software other than Photoshop and many of them free. But if you really want to move forward with your blog, I recommend starting with Photoshop Elements.

Now many of you may be intimidated by this program. If you have never used it before it really can be so confusing! But I have found a site that I wanted to share with everyone that offers Photoshop Basics for Bloggers. Suzie at The Accent Piece has put together 31 days days of Photoshop Basics for Bloggers. It is very basic, so if you are one of the many that are too scared to try it, check out her site!

The Accent Piece

How many of you use Photoshop?
What other software do you use?
What's your favorite?
What software do you prefer that I use in my tutorials?

My Memories Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to KAREN at Crafty Friends! 

You are the winner of a free copy of the My Memories Software Giveaway!

Please email me at blogdesignsbydani[at]gmail[dot]com to claim your prize!

Here is the random.org number generator that chose Karen:

Didn't win the giveaway? Don't worry, you can still purchase the software at a discounted price. If you use my discount code below, you can receive $10 off the retail price of $39.97. So you only pay $29.97. Also, you get $10 to use in their store to buy scrapbook kits, templates or anything you find there! 

Here's the code:

STMMMS20877

This code never expires and is posted in my sidebar. 

So head over to My Memories and get started with your first digital scrapbook!

(To see my review of the software, read my post HERE.) 

Thanks to everyone that entered the giveaway!