Life Digital

When customizing your Blogger template, you’ll find it useful to have a set of “tools” to hand: reference documents, image resources, and useful applications which will make the process easier to manage.

In this article, I’ll explain the main groups of resources which I find useful as a Blogger template designer, with links to free tools and resources that you can use in your own design projects.

Image by Boolean Split

Create a test blog!

Using a test blog allows you to customize (or create) a Blogger template and see it working as it would in your main blog without any of your changes affecting usability for visitors.

Blogger makes it easy for us to set-up and use a test blog for developing new blogs and themes:

• We can create up to 100 blogs for free and manage these from a single Google account


• We are able to download our existing template, and upload this to a test blog with ease. The same applies when uploading the completed design back to our main blog.


• Using the new “import” tool, we can import posts from our existing blog into the test blog, allowing us to see how customizations will affect the overall design of the blog and current posts.


• By applying settings, we can make our blog private, or make it difficult for the public to access it by preventing search engines from indexing the content and hiding it from the blogs displayed in our Blogger profiles.

For the most part, setting up a test blog is self-explanatory, but if you would like more information regarding possible settings and effective set-up a Blogger test blog, you may like to read this detailed article on Blogger Buster.

Set up image hosting with Picasa

If you plan to use images in your Blogger template design (IE: for backgrounds, icons, visual appeal), you will need to arrange external hosting for these images.

While Blogger hosts images which you upload for your posts, as header banners and in image widgets, Blogger does not supply hosting for images you use in your non-standard templates.

A little known tip is to make use of your free Picasa Web Albums account to store images for your template design.

As you already have a Google account (all Blogger users now sign in using Google accounts), you can simply visit Picasa Web Albums to activate this service if you have not already done so. You will also notice that all of the images you have uploaded for your blog are stored and organized in these albums.

You should have 1GB of storage in total for your Picasa Web Albums account, which generally is more than enough for all your template requirements. It is possible to pay for increased storage if required. As far as I can tell, there are no limitations on bandwidth. So if your blog does happen to hit Digg’s home page, you’re assured that your images will still appear as hoped!

Uploading images to Picasa is pretty simple, simply follow the screen prompts to get your images uploaded to the Google servers. Make sure the folders you create for your template images are publically accessible, otherqise you will be unable to link to these images in your template.

It can be a little more tricky to locate the URLs for your images, so here is a little tip.

Once you have uploaded your images, view each one in your albums individually. You will notice a magnifying glass to enlarge images in the upper right-hand side of the page. Enlarge each image, then right click on the image. One of th eoptions of your right-click menu should be to “Save Background As…” or “View Background Image” (depending on your browser). In either case, you can use this function to copy the URL of your image to your clipboard, and save for later use.

For smaller images, it may be possible to simply right-click and copy the URL of the image. For larger images (typically above 500px wide), you will need to save the “background” image location as explained above.

Color Schemes

When designing new templates, I find it useful to work from a color scheme for backgrounds, fonts and choice of images.

Image by My Aim Is True

Here are some color scheme resources which I personally recommend you try:

• Color Lovers (includes tools for creating tiled backgrounds using color schemes)


• Well Styled Color Scheme Generator (particularly useful for finding complementary/contrasting colors)


• Color Spire (Allows you to see your schemes in action on a live site)

You may also want to check out this post by Antonio Lupetti for more color scheme resources.

Free Image Resources

Very few blog designs are constructed using color alone. Most designs include images of some form: either as backgrounds, headings, icons or other visual appeal.

Image by Moriza

Here are some excellent resources of free images which you can use in your designs. Some may have restrictions for use or distribution, so be sure to check licenses before use!

Background images

Resources for tiled background images and large textures:

• Repeat XY



• Squidfingers Patterns


• BG Patterns (generates background images and allows you to preview in action)


• Free BG (Background patterns for Photoshop)


• Brusheezy (patterns and brushes for photoshop)


• 30 Free fading background images (via BittBox)



• Where to find textures and background images (Via Smashing Magazine)

Icon Sets

Here are my favorite resources for free icons (though there are literally hundreds more if you perform a Google search!):

• Iconlet (I use this icon search engine all the time!)


• Icons from Brushes Download



• 10 Beautiful icon sets for designers and developers (via Woork)


• 40 Beautiful icon sets from Deviant Art (via Noupe)

Free Images and Photography

Here is a list of stock photography and image sites. Do check any restrictions and licensing for these images as many require attribution or have limitations for use:

• Stock Exchng


• Every Stock Photo (a search engine for free images. Highly recommended!)



• Deviant Art (Free photos, vectors, icons and almost every style of image imaginable. Most are free for use on CC license).


• Free Stock Photos (A neat collection)


• Flickr Creative Commons Search

Image editing

If you are using images in your Blogger template, chances are you’ll need to use an image editing application at some point.

Photoshop is an excellent and fully featured tool, so if you already have this installed on your computer, you’re set for enhancing, resizing and optimizing your images for your design. However, if you do not already have a good image editor installed on your computer, purchasing one could prove to be an expensive venture.

Here are some free image editors and online resources you could use instead:

• GiMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program, almost as fully featured as Photoshop and well documented).


• Paint.NET


• Photobie (Free Download, easy for beginners to use)


• SnipShot (edit images online)



• Web Resizer (Crop, edit and optimize for the web)

Inspiration

Browsing through designs and templates built by other bloggers is a great way to understand the possibilities of template design, and gain inspiration for your own Blogger template.

Here are some excellent sites and resources which you could browse to seek inspiration for your blog color scheme, layout, and overall visual design:

• Blogger Showcase (A gallery of Blogger powered designs)


• 54 Inspiring and original Blogger designs (via Blogger Buster)



• Now more than ever: 50 more excellent blog designs (via Smashing Magazine)


• 70 Fresh and modern Blogger templates (via Mashable)


• Design Shack (gallery and web design inspiration)


• CSS Vault (Beautiful gallery of CSS based designs)

Where do we go from here?

In my future posts here on the dh7eworkshop.blogspot.com, I’ll take you through a step by step process of creating a themed template for Blogger. Each article will cover one aspect of the design in great detail: from choosing and designing the perfect layout, to adding color/background images, navigation and much more.

Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference and check out some of the useful resources posted here as we will be using these throughout the series of tutorials!

Adopting blogging as a profession or say professional blogging is still a very fresh concept in most part of the world. After years of my blogging experience, I have gradually realized the value of blogging which can give you both knowledge and enough money to make a living out of it. Literally there is no core difference in blogging or problogging so one needs to get out of the hangover for the word “Professional” associated with problogging.

Now consider a case when you want to go to the office or some other public place. What will you do? Obviously you will get ready, wear clean clothes, shoes etc. But why? The only reason is just to look professional and presentable. Same way, if blogging is done in a presentable way can bring a lot of difference to you. So in this article let me share with you some productivity tips which will help you do quality and professional blogging.

1. Develop Strong Niche

Avoid being “Jack of All Trades, Masters of None”. As only Master excels, not the Jack. So develop a strong knowledge in the area of your own interest. People tend to get influenced by things around them easily and start chasing them. So they end up following neither their own interest nor others. So give your interest enough time so that you have gain enough knowledge to pour in to your blog posts for the readers of your blog.

2. Use dedicated time

Once you develop a strong foundation in the subject of your choice, now comes time to ring the bell of blogging. Take up a dedicated time of the day (away from any distraction) and just write in. Here is the tip, consider yourself a reader than a writer. Think what would you like to read on that particular topic (that you are currently writing on). With this dual psychological trick, you use both, left as well as right brain to bring maximum productivity in your work.

3. Be Clear

Avoid crossroads or misleading information. Write less but be clear on what you want to say. There is literally no point in writing big but useless or unclear posts. Another disadvantage of being unclear is that you lose a reader who could have recommended your blog further.

So the third tip is, be crystal clear in your thought and post to create interest in user.

4. Automate Your Work with Technology

Using right softwares, you can increase your productivity by many times. A simple example of using Windows Live Writer (WLW), a desktop blogging tool available for free. It has built-in dictionary which will avoid your wastage of time in reviewing your posts for spelling errors. Also, it has blog post option where in you can synchronize WLW with your blogging by scheduling a your posts. Set time and date your post will automatically show up in the blog. Similarly using good softwares (like WLW or ScribbleFire) can help you get maximum results in minimum time.

5. Blogging Software (Platform)

Use your own domain with Wordpress or Blogger platform as these are two best softwares for professional blogging. Wordpress is even more preferable for fast SEO (Search Engine Optimization). As making money is a part of your pro-blogging carrier, Google AdSense is the best program for both, novice and experienced writers.

Later when you become famous, you can also go for direct advertising and make good living out of pro-blogging. Both Wordpress(self-hosted) and Blogger make it very easy to add Google AdSense or any other type of advertising on your blog.

6. Record Your Ideas

Recording your idea is the most effective solution to mind-map your ideas. If you do not have habit to write for longer periods, this one is the best for you. Just record your audio ideas so that later in the day or week you can listen them to write a good post. This forward and backward chaining of thoughts will increase you productivity on a very high scale as none of your ideas are lost away.

Another advantage of this technique is that you will also gain experience in audio recording. So once you get comfortable in recording your own voice, you can save lots of time by avoiding writing blog post altogether and consider making an audio post each day. Yep, I am talking about audio podcasting, which can help you gain good exposure. Same way this technique will enhance your skills to start video posting on self made videos. This way, you can save a lot of time in writing and hence increase your productivity and worth.

7. Mind Mapping Techniques

The new and good way of mind mapping is already been discussed in point 6 of audio recording your voice. Another good mind mapping technique is writing or jotting your ideas down. This old school technique is very effective and your friend in traveling times. Whenever you are on a trip always keep a notepad with you. Just jot down any ideas you get on your niche. Another great way is use commercial softwares like Novamind. It is one the best softwares for mind mapping.

If you follow this, you will see a lot of difference in your productivity when you will sit in front of your PC/Laptop next time. You only have to write about ideas you jotted, without any pressure of making in depth analysis. Also such habits can be a good time-pass in long boring journeys.

8. Use Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a very useful way to keep in touch of what’s going around the world. You don’t have to waste your time going to search engines and find something. Just add a Google alert for your favorite topic and Google will automatically email you about the latest information on that topic.

Print What You Like is an online web page editor that enables you to modify websites inside the browser without requiring any software or add-ons.

Printer friendly version of Digital Inspiration

For instance, it will take less than five clicks to create a print version of this site to make sure that no images, advertising banners and sidebars show up on paper. See demo:

Printwhatyoulike.com works like a shooting gun for web pages – you select an element with your mouse, press the del key and that disappears forever.

The tools also lets you change the size and type of fonts used in web pages. You may expand the width of sections so that they occupy the full page and you therefore save some paper.

Now if you publish a website, it is highly recommend that you create a separate print.css for your visitors but in case you come across sites that aren’t printer friendly, Print What You Like will definitely prove useful.

Stanford University, one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions from California, United States, is now offering a series of 10 free online computer science (CS) and electrical engineering (EE) courses to students and even educators worldwide who are keen to improve themselves and learn more. This free CS and EE courses cover introduction to computer science, introduction to artificial intelligence and robotics, etc. These free courses are offered by Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE) and learners who join the programs will have access to handouts, assignments, tutorials, video lectures, assessments and transcripts online. However, these online students are not eligible to receive Stanford credits, unlike Stanford enrolled students. While they can communicate online with other SEE students, they have no direct communication either with Stanford’s professors or academic staff.

Why has Stanford chosen to make courses available for free? Stanford University spokesperson explained that the university and the School of Engineering want to live up to its mission of enabling technology transfer to reach a wide public. Research and teaching via SEE is one of the best approaches to achieve this mission. Users who are interested on this free courses offered by the prestigious university can read the detailed FAQ here. The course outlines are as follow:
• Introduction to Computer Science:
o Programming Methodology — CS106A
o Programming Abstractions — CS106B
o Programming Paradigms — CS107
• Artificial Intelligence:
o Introduction to Robotics — CS223A
o Natural Language Processing — CS224N
o Machine Learning — CS229
• Linear Systems and Optimization:
o The Fourier Transform and its Applications — EE261
o Introduction to Linear Dynamical Systems — EE263
o Convex Optimization I — EE364A
o Convex Optimization II — EE364B

Get more information from Stanford Engineering Everywhere.

Still remember the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player that can instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix? The global force and technology leader in home appliances, consumer electronics and mobile communications, LG Electronics has officially announced that the BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player will be available next month at national retailers including Best Buy and Circuit City for about $400.

“At LG we considered what, when and how consumers want to watch movies and television episodes. The result is the ultimate convergence of home theater entertainment and functionality,” said Allan Jason, vice president of sales and marketing for Digital Media/New Products Division at LG Electronics USA. “With intelligent features and access to an ever-growing library of movie and television titles, the BD300 is the next step in a truly personalized entertainment experience.”

According to LG, “The BD300 enables movie enthusiasts to take advantage of advanced technologies such as BD Live which offers a wide variety of content, such as movie scene extras, new previews and the ability to read synopses and rate movies. Also included is BonusView, which provides picture-in-picture access to Blu-ray disc special features, allowing consumers to toggle between their favorite movie scenes and bonus features on the disc.”

Adeona is an open source internet-based laptop tracking system that is free to use. It's available for Linux, OSX, and Windows XP/Vista. After installation, Adeona will submit at random intervals, anonymously encrypted updates on the computer's location to servers on the Internet, specifically to OpenDHT, a free storage service. The information is kept on the servers for one week. If your laptop becomes lost or stolen, you can use the retrieval tool to access information about where your laptop was last used: the external IP address, internal IP address, and nearby routers. If your laptop is a Mac, you can also download isightcapture to grab a picture of the thief. Adeona is designed to protect against common criminals who may not have much technological knowledge, and does not have any protections against events such as disk wipes. The open source nature of Adeona's system means that there's ample opportunity to improve upon the release or add extensions. Here's one user who really likes what he sees.

PCB layout copies the successful MA78GM-S2H. There have been added borders around connectors (only in FireWire and COM, there is just not enough room for borders around multiple USB ports). The interface name is printed right on the bottom of the connector, which shows how the company cares for its users. What concerns layout problems, we can mention only the PCI Express x1 port, which can accommodate only a short card (no longer than the slot itself), because the heat sink on the Northbridge is too close to this slot.

The heat sink is apparently enlarged for overclocking, which in this case is possible for the graphics core (wide range) and for video memory. Besides, you can raise voltage for both components. Like in top products!

Here is a 128-MB memory chip from Elpida (DDR3-1333). However, the default BIOS value is 533 MHz (DDR3-1066), while the nominal frequency (for the chip) is available in the overclocked mode. The memory is covered by the Northbridge heat sink, but it does not touch it, so it channels its heat to the PCB. It does not grow very hot in the nominal mode, but overclockers should take care that the memory chip touches the heat sink.

The voltage regulator for the CPU is significantly reinforced compared to the one in MA78GM-S2H. It has five channels, each one containing three field-effect transistors (quite expensive at that, Low RDS(on)), which is a rare feature in compact motherboards. This circuit uses 8 x 820 uF and 3 x 470 uF solid-state capacitors. Besides, packaged ferrite-core coils installed on this motherboard do not generate noises, so the motherboard is quiet under load.

On the face of it, such equipage looks too good for a motherboard of this class. On the other hand, why should the microATX format symbolize only budget (read "weak") motherboards? Compact PC cases are in vogue now, so not all of them are bought for weak configurations. This motherboard can supply enough power for processors with TDP=125 W, and it copes well with overclocking. However, it goes without saying that you shouldn't consider it as a competitor to special motherboards for overclockers with 8-phase (or better) voltage regulators, radiators with heat pipes, and other well-known signs.

The motherboard has a complete set of video outputs, including VGA, DVI-D, and HDMI. However, simultaneously you can use only any of the digital and an analog VGA output (you can choose an active combination in BIOS). As some users have problems with the HDMI connection, audio streams in particular, we decided to add a standard test for motherboards with HDMI outputs -- 1360x768 video (popular resolution among HD Ready TV sets) and audio playback (a WAV file in stereo PCM format, 24 bit, 192 kHz). We installed the following drivers for the chipset -- Catalyst 8.6 (video) and ATI HDMI Audio R1.97 (audio). Get the latest version of the latter directly from Realtek. Sony Bravia KDL-32P3000 was used as a receiver.

We had no problems with setting this resolution in solo mode as well as in the extended desktop mode, the image was scaled to the natural resolution of the panel.

There were no problems with audio transmission either. Even at such a high bit rate, although PCM stereo audio is usually played back at 44.1 kHz, or audio is transmitted in the form of ready multichannel audio tracks encoded into Dolby Digital format, which does not require high bandwidth.

By the way, if you want to use HDMI only to transmit audio in movies, and employ analog (and S/PDIF) outputs of the main audio codec for the rest, choose Realtek HD Audio as the default device in Windows and then select HDA HDMI Out as the playback device only in your video player (unfortunately, not all players can do that).

After the release of Windows Internet Explorer Beta 1 (IE 8 Beta 1) which targeted web designers and developers on March 25, 2008, Microsoft now moves a step further to the release of its IE8 final version by releasing its IE 8 Beta 2. Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is available for download for various Windows OS such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Vista 32 bit edition, Windows Vista 64 bit edition, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. Besides that, this new version also supports Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), and German languages.While pending for the IE8 final version, users who want to try the IE8 Beta 2 can download the trial version of the browser via the link here.
As highlighted in IEBlog, the latest IE8 Beta 2 emphasizes and focuses on three main themes: everyday browsing, safety and platform. Based on studies and researches conducted on net users’ browsing habit, IE8 intends to incorporate more user friendly features and improves the safety and security measures. Services and features that have been added to IE8 such as accelerators, InPrivate Browsing, web slices, search suggestions and SmartScreen Filter have enhanced and improved users’ browsing experience tremendously. Read the release note of IE8 Beta 2 from IEBlog.

And you are not just limited to web search, the same trick can also generate RSS feeds for Yahoo! Image and Video search results.

The images and video clips are available as media enclosures in the RSS feed so you can directly download them locally via any pod-catcher or your news reader itself.

RSS Feeds for Yahoo! Search Results

To create Yahoo! feeds, just enter a search keyword or phrase and hit Submit.

Search Term:

If you are interested in the technical details, here are the different feed addresses for Yahoo!. Just replace keyword with your own search term before subscribing to any feed.

Web Search: http://search.yahooapis.com/WebSearchService/rss/webSearch.xml?appid=yahoosearchwebrss&query=keyword
Image Search: http://search.yahooapis.com/ImageSearchService/rss/imageSearch.xml?appid=yahoosearchimagerss&query=keyword
Vide Search: http://search.yahooapis.com/VideoSearchService/rss/videoSearch.xml?appid=ysearchblog&format=mpeg&query=keyword

SEO folks will also find these feeds useful for tracking new web pages that may creep up in Yahoo! search results for keywords of their clients or even for checking penalties.