Out with the Old and in with the New

Most of you have been using Blogger's new interface for a while now and are hopefully getting used to the great new features. There are tons of new features to help you customize your blog without having to touch the html/css. However, there was one feature that I really loved about the old interface. The Minima template. This was a basic template that was so easy to alter to add custom design elements to your blog. For a while, even if you were using the new interface, you could switch back to the old interface, add the Minima template to your blog, and then switch back. Unfortunately, Blogger has finally gotten rid of the old interface. The option to switch back is no longer available.

You may remember that my Free Backgrounds required the use of the Minima template. Don't worry, I have updated my instructions to help you add my Free Backgrounds using the newer Blogger templates. You can read these instructions here:

How to Add a Free Background

If you still want to use the Minima template, you can use either of my 2 modified versions. Below are links to a Wide 2-Column template and a 3-Column template. You can use the 3-Column background code for either of these templates.

Wide 2-Column Template

3-Column Template

With the new Blogger templates, you may want a few of these tutorials as well:

How to Center Your Header Image

and 

How to Center Your Header Text

Remember, to use any of my designs you must link back to my blog with my button in your sidebar (unless my "designs by dani" tag shows up on your Free Background). Here is a link to my button with instructions:

How to Add My Blog Button

Please let me know if you have any questions about my tutorials. 

Thanks for visiting my blog and using my designs!!

Dani

Updated Templates

Some of you may have noticed that my free templates have been acting weird. The Blogger navigation bar that you see at the top (with the links to write a new post or edit the design of your blog) suddenly jumped to the sidebar. Blogger may have changed a few settings causing the template to malfunction. Fortunately, I figured out how to fix it by just adding a few extra lines of code to the template. So, if you currently have one of my templates, please go back to my Free Templates, find the html code and copy/paste the template again. If you have forgotten how, please read through the instructions and ALWAYS backup your old template before adding a new one.

Free Templates

Thanks!

Dani 

Keep It Simple

I recently received an email from Longhornleads.com sharing with me a great article titled, 10 Reasons Your Site Needs to be Obvious for Users. I started this blog with the hopes of helping bloggers to create blogs that were more pleasing to the eye. Since then I have discovered many ways to make a blog really stand out and to make it easier for readers to find the information they are looking for. Read through Longhornleads' article to learn how to keep it simple and attract more readers to your blog. Then read through my Design Secrets to find the tutorials you need to help attract more readers.

Back Home

If you've been following my blog you'll know that I had back surgery in May. My recovery has taken much longer than I had expected. With a very active toddler to take care of, I decided it was best if I go stay with my parents for a while to get help until I could handle taking care of him on my own. So for the past 6 weeks I have been away from home and away from my computer (and Photoshop). I was able to post a few tutorials, but not my best ones. Now that I am home I will be able to post better tutorials and some template designs. I have a lot to get caught up on in my personal life since I have been gone for so long, but I will be sure to post again soon. Let me know if you have any requests. Also, if you have emailed me or commented and I have not responded, feel free to send me another email. I may have missed it.

Thanks,
Dani