(Doesn't) Work For Me Wednesday: Extreme Makeover - Blog Edition

I started this blog when my sister moved to South Korea as another way to keep her in the loop and to give her a chuckle every now and then.  I really didn't have any expectations.

I've been surprised at the number of folks who drop in. The southern girl in me feels like I should offer you a cup of coffee!

For me, it's just a fun way to stay in touch.  However, that doesn't mean that I don't want my blog to be aesthetically pleasing.  I have to look at it, too!

I feel a bit like a mother criticizing her child saying this but...here it is, my blog could use a little something. Sparkle. Razzmatazz. 

This isn't about the content.  Any issues there we can leave for another cry for help. 

No, my immediate problem is in the sidebars.  Something about it's just not working for me.  I want color. Glamour. Pizazz. I want a blog that makes me look like I know what I'm doing. (I can dream, can't I?)

I need your input.

Please, don't spare my feelings.  Give it to me straight.  Here's the thing, though.  When you criticize something, you have to give me a suggestion on how to fix it. Speak slowly and in English, please, because I am a computer moron. (My son is nodding as he reads over my shoulder. I'll deal with you later, bucko.) Here's the other thing.  Any changes have to be FREE. Cheap is one of my favorite adjectives.

No criticism?  Really, you are way too kind.  Then give me your best blogging tip.  Something you learned the hard way.  I'm new to this blogging gig and can use all the help I can get.

Obviously. Just look at my sidebars.

Oh, yeah. Head on over and check out Rocks In My Dryer. Her sidebars rock. Get it? ROCK. Are you laughing over there in Korea?  This is good stuff.

Comments

[Kacie]

Hi! I'm trying to jazz up my blog, too. It's a little over a week old, but I'm already sick of it.

I think for your blog, there's too much white space. Perhaps if your sidebars had a different color (Doesn't have to be anything crazy or hard on the eyes)...

Or, maybe consolidate your sidebar and make it one instead of two. Try contrasting colors on the sidebar as well. For example, blue is the other dominant color (other than white). Maybe try using some orange, since that's opposite on the color wheel.

Mess around with it and have fun!

[Nap Warden]

Here is what I can do for you. I can whip up a header graphic. I don't know anything about typepad, so you will have to load it. Email me if you are interested. (check out mine, I designed it) Good luck!

[Demeter]

I got my current design at FinalSense.com It was SO, so, so easy to replace my standard Blogger template with their template. I didn't even have to download anything! I just copied and pasted the code right there on their screen. (Make sure to make a back-up of your current template, of course.) A few things got scrambled and even deleted, but a few minutes fixed everything right. And they have some really neat designs!

[Aussie Kim]

Any way of putting the pictures of blogs where you have the links in the sidebars? Of course I have no idea how to do this, but just thought I'd chuck my 2 (Australian) cents worth in.

[Robin Meaney]

If you're willing to pay some moola, Jules (everydaymommy.net) has a design business and she does some great stuff. I love what she did for me.

I don't think it's bad though. I like clean and simple.

[infinitygoods.com]

I think you're trying to change your "theme".
You can get themes with 2, 1 or no sidebars. I've even seen one with 4 very narrow columns though I thought it was too busy. Some themes have custom headers where you upload your own photo/illustration. You can change the color, background, typesize, just about everything. There are lots of free themes available on the internet. There are also some for sale, both ready-made and custom where you tell the designer exactly what you want. I don't use typepad so I don't now how they work, but at WordPress you just go to the theme page and with a click you preview the themes you are interested in. Another click and your theme is magically changed for you. There is no need to cut and paste code or know HTML. I would think most blog platforms would have something at least similar to what WordPress does.
Great question by the way. I have something similar on my WFMW where I asked how to increase traffic on a blog or website as I am also new. You might want to come by and take a look at the comments and of course leave one of your own. :-)
And I love your world clock -- nice!

[Georgia Mom]

My rule of thumb is, keep it simple. I find it hard to read a blog, if it's super busy. Give your reader enough information to keep them interested, but not so much that it's overwhelming. I think you have cute title and I like the kitty picture, so cute, but your blog is pretty busy. A 2 column format, might work better. If you really want to get fancy, find blogs you like the look of and research who created them. Sometimes you have to pay for those really cute blogs, but it may be worth it if you really like their work. Other than that, just keep blogging and have fun!!!

[Lady Why]

My 17 year old daughter designed our blog and she is a whiz at computer creativity! (that gene must have skipped a generation) I'll send her on over to answer this in a bit. She is far more knowledgeable about this sort of thing than I am!

[Becky]

I have a typepad blog also. It is somewhat different to change around than blogger or even wordpress. I often make my own headers but just recently picked out one of the ready made templates that typepad offers and am enjoying the change.

With typepad you need to experiment with the sidebars and whatnot. You can add colors and change the fonts and sizes of the fonts. Even the width of the columns.

If you have the ability to have more than one blog, I suggest creating a test blog and experiment away. One tip for adding a banner that centers correctly. It should be 30 pixels less than the total width of all your columns. For example if you have a 500px main column and two columns of 150 pixels - that is a total of 800 pixels. Your banner would need to be 770 pixels to center correctly. Hope that isn't too confusing!

[SAHMmy Says]

I'll be checking back for more tips--I went with a blah Blogger template (I don't wanna spend any money either!) and it's just plain ugly! Glad you thought to ask :)

[Drama Mama]

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/banner/
Check out this site to make a simple banner. Save image to your computer, then pull up in Blogger.

[Aussie Kim]

http://www.boyslife.org/home/2401/put-boyslifeorg-on-your-website/

This will enable you to link to the Boy's Life website - with a photo link. I think. Anyhow, it's free!

[Lindsey]

Have you considered changing your blogging platform? I know that WordPress seems to be much better about giving you flexibility with sidebars (I can almost always tell when a blog uses TypePad simply by how standardized the sidebars are).

The best way to go with WordPress is to host it yourself, but you can always get a free one at WordPress.com and then pick a theme! And, due to the magic of WordPress, it's easy to transfer in all your TypePad posts into your new blog! Let me know if you want any help (I have been using WordPress for years, and I LOVE it)!

Thanks for posting!

[Louise]

My only comment would be to make the default text size a little bit bigger. All you young gals writing blogs don't have to squint at the screen like us old fogies.

But, if you're lucky, you'll be my age (44) someday and hope the whippersnappers will use large fonts!

[Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife]

Wish I could help you! I will definitely be checking out the above suggestions! I'm not tired of my blog...yet. It is still too new to me, but I'm sure the day is coming!

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife
http://xboxwife.blogspot.com/

[lifeasamama]

if you check out my blog, i tried to make my sidebars more interesting by having color behind some of the stuff there. i'm using a template in blogger, though... you could always just play with text size, fonts, and font colors. i'm all about having headings stand out.