This is something that I get asked a lot about from my clients so I’ve created a really quick tutorial for anyone who wants to add an image into their Wordpress sidebar. This tutorial gits ‘er done without using an FTP program and without having any knowledge of HTML.

The sound quality is fairly poopy but I promise the next video will be better.

Add an Image to Your Wordpress Sidebar

If you have any questions, please leave a comment!

I decided on this graphic and just added “Tweet This” to the sign using Fireworks:

There are lots of free Twitter graphics kicking around the web or you can create your own. Either way, you’ll need one for this tutorial so I’m assuming you’re going to do that right now or you already have one.

This requires you to be registered with bit.ly which is a URL shortening service much like TinyURL. I like bit.ly because of their link tracking features and many people are now switching from TinyURL to bit.ly. If you want to use this code to track your ReTweets, you’ll need to go ahead and register with them.

You’ll need access to your server so an FTP program is recommended. If you don’t have one, you can download one for free. I’ve got a quick post about installing an FTP program here.

Once you have access to your server, you’ll need to edit your header.php file. This is in your themes folder which is located in the wp-content folder.

In your FTP program, right click the header.php file and click “Edit”. Search for the tag </head>.

Copy the code below and paste it right above that </head> tag.

<?php if ( is_single() ) { ?>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://bit.ly/javascript-api.js?version=latest&login=LOGIN&apiKey=KEY"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://s.bit.ly/TweetAndTrack.js?v=1.01"></script>
<?php } ?>

Where it says LOGIN and KEY in the code above, you need to enter your own bit.ly login and API key so that you can track your links. This is important, so don’t forget.

Make sure you save your header.php file and close it. Now right click the single.php file and edit that.

Look for the part that says “php the_content”. If you need to, paste the entire file into a text editor and use the Find command to locate it.

Right under that line, paste the following code:

<a href="#" onclick="return TweetAndTrack.open(this, '<?php echo get_permalink();?>');"><span style="display:none;">RT @cassiegermsheid: "<?php the_title();?>"</span><img src="/twitter.png"></a>

Change “@cassiegermsheid” in the code above to your own Twitter name so that any ReTweets will show in your Twitter timeline.

You’ll also need to save the Twitter graphic you want to use to your root folder. You can simply drag it in there using your FTP program. Your root folder is the folder your blog was installed in.

The code above assumes your Twitter graphic will be named “twitter.png”. If it isn’t, be sure to change it in the code to match your graphic name.

Save the single.php file and close it.

Now it’s time to visit your blog and admire your work.

With this code, your Tweet This graphic will show on individual posts. If you want it to show on the main page as well, you’ll need to add this code to the header.php file. Just put it under the last code you entered, right above the </head> tag.

<?php if ( is_home() ) { ?>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://bit.ly/javascript-api.js?version=latest&login=LOGIN&apiKey=KEY"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://s.bit.ly/TweetAndTrack.js?v=1.01"></script>
<?php } ?>

You’ll also need to add the same code you pasted in the single.php file to the index.php file. Look for the part that says “php the_content” again and paste it right underneath.

Now your Tweet This graphic will show on individual posts and the main page.

If there are any questions or you need help, please leave a comment.

Thanks to labnol.org for the code.

When you find something you’d like in your own theme, it’s time to get your hands a tad dirty. Here’s how to replace the existing RSS icon in your theme with a new one:

Download the free RSS icon to your computer and unzip it.

Open your FTP program and navigate to your theme folder which is in the “wp-content” folder. (If you have trouble with this part, let me know in the comments.)

In your stylesheet, locate the bit of CSS for RSS. Each stylesheet is a bit different, but if you use the Find feature (hit Ctrl+F) and search for “rss” you should find it no problem. I’m using the Copyblogger theme by Chris Pearson on this particular blog so I’ll be using that code for my examples.

Here was my original code with the boring orange RSS icon:

#rss { width: 20em; height: 70px; margin: 0 0 1.0em 0; background: url('images/rss.gif') 50% 0 no-repeat; text-align: center; }

#rss a { display: block; width: 48px; height: 48px; margin: 0 auto; }

Here is what I changed it to:

#rss { width: 20em; height: 128px; margin: 0 0 1.0em 0; background: url('custom/rss.gif') 50% 0 no-repeat; text-align: center; }

#rss a { display: block; width: 128px; height: 128px; margin: 0 auto; }

You’ll need to know the width and height of your new RSS icon to put in the new values. My new RSS icon was 128×128 so I changed the height of 70px to 128 to make sure there was enough space.

This pushed down my sidebar a bit so if you’re not willing to have changes like this, choose a new RSS icon that is the same size as the existing one, or resize it in an image editing program.

You’ll also need to rename your new RSS icon and replace the old RSS icon with the new one. I did this by dragging it into my images folder via my FTP program and rewriting over the old one.

My particular theme uses a custom stylesheet and custom images folder (any new images or graphics I put in my theme all go into the custom folder) so I had to rename the ‘images/rss.gif’ part to ‘custom/rss.gift’.

Now my new RSS icon is displaying perfectly, but I want to add a little something extra. In Fireworks (you can use GIMP for a free alternative image editing program) I copied the RSS icon and made the copy a different color. I named it “rss_hover.gif” and dragged it into my custom folder. Then I added this bit of css into my custom stylesheet:

#rss a:hover { background: url('custom/rss_hover.gif'); }

Now when you hover over the RSS icon, it changes color.

And there you have it. A fairly simple change that makes a pretty big difference. If there are any CSS masters out there who have an easier way, I’d love to hear it!

Today I thought I’d take the opportunity to show you a few examples of some blog headers that really caught my eye. Hopefully they’ll provide a bit of inspiration for you.

1. The Mom Crowd

2. Blog Design Blog

3. Geeks Are Sexy

4. Friday Traffic Report

5. Karen Cheng’s Snippets of Life

6. Making It Lovely

7. Mark’s Daily Apple

This is actually the old header. He JUST launched a new design and I’m personally liking the old one better. Anyhoo, next.

8. Men With Pens

9. Mighty Girl

10. The Adventures of SuperWife

11. Define Me Clothing

They don’t have to be award-winning designs but it should tie in well to the rest of your theme.

More Wordpress goodness to come, so stay tuned!

Create Your Own Header

I use Macromedia Fireworks to create all my graphics, but if you don’t have that or Photoshop, GIMP does the job well enough considering it’s completely free.

A header can consist of a simple word or sentence – the name of your blog and your tagline perhaps – or it can show a beautiful, eye-catching piece of photography.

There are lots of ideas to incorporate a really groovy header into your blog to make it unique. Google “inspirational blog headers” and start brainstorming some ideas.

Add Your Signature To Your Posts – Get Personal

Adding a graphic of your signature (which can be digitally created) is one way to add your own personal touch to your blog. Having a signature at the end of each post is similar to adding your photo in that it lets your visitors get to know you a bit better because you’re not just hiding behind the anonymity the internet can provide.

Showing a bit of your personality helps your visitors connect better with you. Your signature can be part of your brand. You could even add your signature to your blog header.

Change the Font, Background, and Colors

Making a few small changes like the color of your sidebar titles or the type of font you use can make a big difference in the overall look of your blog. These changes are fairly easy to implement as well. I’ll be getting into that a bit more in the coming days and weeks.

You may want to take a plain white background and change it to a vibrant blue. You could also add a photo as your background to really make your blog pop.

When making these changes, it’s important that they don’t take over your blog. Colors that are too bright, too many colors, too many types of font, etc. can distract your visitors and may even hurt their eyes. Reading neon pink text on a black background is not a good time people.

Find or Create a Groovy RSS Icon

There are tons of free RSS icons out there that you can download and add to your blog. I’m not a big fan of those boring orange squares so I usually like to change things up a bit and whip out some kickass RSS logos that really stand out.

If one of your goals with you blog is to increase your RSS subscribers, having an eye-catching RSS icon is one way to do that. You could also create your own RSS icon and make it completely unique.

Change Sidebar Titles to Images or Graphics

If your blog theme is pretty bare of graphics, one way to spruce it up is to replace your sidebar titles with an image. You can create a subtle image that appears under the existing text, or you can create a separate image for each widget. I prefer the first option since it’s mucho easier.

This requires a bit of messing around with CSS but I’m going to go over that in a future post as well. If you’re not good at creating graphics, there are lots of free stock images to choose from.

So there you have it – 5 ways to make your generic blog theme kick ass. If you have no clue how to do any of this stuff, no worries. I’ll be posting about each one in detail so make sure you’re signed up for my RSS feed.

(Is “uncustomized” even a word?)

I have to say that I’m a firm believer in the fact that NOBODY should have a blog that isn’t at least a teeny tiny bit customized these days.

Sure you can install Wordpress, throw up a free theme and start publishing in under an hour. But that’s like farting on your blog and having a bunch of people come to visit and smell catch you redhanded with a stinky blog. Blogging with a bareass blog can be just as embarrassing.

There are so many ways you can add your own unique touch to your new blog that there’s really no excuse. Leaving up the default theme should be a sin. Shame on you if you’re a sinner!

Now, I’ve had the opportunity to play around with the Thesis theme that everyone and their dog has been talking about and was most thoroughly impressed. This is a premium theme, meaning you have to purchase it.

However, it’s a ridonculously great price for the slick features that come with it, and it’s super simple to navigate around the options. Not only that, but Levar freaking Burton uses that theme! Who wouldn’t want a Wordpress theme that Geordi La Forge rocks out to?

Using the Thesis theme is one great way to have a blog that allows you to make it unique without spending a boatload of money.

Another option for you is to keep your eye out in the coming days/weeks because I’m going to be posting about a few things you can do on your own to make your blog stand out. These are things that I can do, so there’s no reason why anyone else can’t do it too. There are days when I put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard. Seriously. So anyhoo, make sure to sign up for my RSS feed so you don’t miss out on some cool Wordpress tutorials.

I’ve got domains coming out the wazoo and blogs that need to be set up but I simply don’t have the time.

You might have a killer idea for a blog but you have no idea where to begin.

In these cases where time or knowledge is lacking, your best option is to outsource. Find someone else to do it for you. Luckily I know where you can get it done for cheap.

Turn that blog idea into a reality and have Johnny set up your new blog for you for only $39. You’ll get a brand new, shiny Wordpress blog with the essential plugins and a theme you choose. (I charge almost twice this amount for my clients.)

Keep in mind that this is for NEW blogs, not existing blogs that need to be transferred. You’ll also need to purchase a domain name and hosting through GoDaddy. Trust me when I say it’s worth it! Free hosting is never the way to go, especially if you want to profit from your blog.

P.S. – Transferring a blog from Blogger to Wordpress is not on Johnny’s menu, but it is on mine. Contact me if you want to get the hell out of Blogger-ville and start your new home with cozy Wordpress.

Almost any Wordpress blogger has a list of their favorite plugins. I certainly do. Once upon a time, I used to download and install them one at a time. Now, I keep them all in a folder on my computer and install them all at once whenever I need them.

Each time I download a new plugin, I unzip it on my desktop and move the PHP file or the plugin folder into my Wordpress folder in My Documents. You can keep them wherever the heck you want, just make sure they’re all in one folder and easy to access.

Now when you install a new Wordpress blog, just open up your FTP program, navigate to your plugins folder on your server, click and drag all your plugins into your plugins folder and BLAM-O! Sit back and relax while they transfer. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Once they’re all uploaded to your server, head to your plugins page in your Wordpress dashboard and activate them all using the “Bulk Actions” feature. Wordpress 2.7 versions and up also come with the handy “Automatically Upgrade” option which is a huge time saver as well.

If you have a finickity theme and your blog implodes after adding all your plugins, you’ll have to deactivate them and then activate them one at a time to figure out which plugin is messing with your stuff. Hopefully this doesn’t happen as this can be a serious pain in the ass. Most of the time though, this works perfectly.

Happy Wordpressing!

HOWEVER, what they may not think about in the beginning is that they have no control over their domain. Their domain (http://myblog.blogspot.com) is owned by Google, not them. If you’re blogging for profit, this can mean bad things.

It’s story time.

Three years ago when I was pregnant with my second baby, I had three blogs hosted with Blogger. Two of them were doing really well and made me a decent amount of spending money each month. In the last two months of my pregnancy, I got sick. I was hospitalized for two months until I had my baby. When I finally got to go home again, the first thing I did was log on to my computer only to find that all three of my blogs had been deleted.

I had only been blogging for a year so I didn’t know much about it. I still don’t know exactly what happened, but I suspect that they had been hacked and Google subsequently marked them as spam blogs and promptly deleted them. All my content, my hard work, my income streams – it all vanished and there was nothing I could do about it.

Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off!

I had to start everything again from scratch. Thank you Google.

After that, I vowed never to host with Blogger or any free hosting service again. I wanted control over my domains. I bit the bullet and whipped out $10 smackaroos and bought a domain name. Then I whipped out another $5 and paid my first month of hosting fees with ASmallOrange.com. I’ve never looked back.

(UPDATE: I have looked back. As the servers at ASmallOrange got older and more people were hosting websites on them (shared servers) they started having a lot of downtime. I shopped around and decided to choose MediaTemple for my new host. I’m extremely happy with them. Their customer service is excellent and I haven’t noticed any down time since hosting with them.)

So, there you have one mighty good reason NOT to leave your blog in the hands of a free hosting service.

Another mighty good reason is that people typically view self-hosted blogs with a lot more credibility than free domains. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I know a lot of great Blogspot blogs, but if your target audience is even a little bit web savvy, they can spot the difference between a free domain and a self-hosted one. If you’re blogging for more than just personal reasons then you should seriously consider buying your own domain.

Here’s another story about Blogger which I hope will solidify my point.

A client of mine recently wanted her blog transferred from a free domain at Blogger to a self-hosted Wordpress blog. The transfer itself is fairly painless providing you know the code to have each post redirect to the new self-hosted post.

What is extremely poopy however is that Google doesn’t allow a 301 redirect. Therefor, when you have your old blog transferred to a new domain, you’re going to lose any PageRank you’ve built up. You’ll keep all your traffic, but you’ll be starting from scratch when it comes to rank. This can be a huge deal for someone who has spent a lot of time building backlinks to their blog.

If you REALLY wanted to, you could go around to each website that links to you and politely ask them if they’d pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top change their links to the new domain. But who the hell wants to do that? What if there are hundreds or thousands of links out there? It’s just not possible!

You can bypass all that trouble by starting out with your own domain right off the bat. If you’ve already established a good blog with lots of great content, it’s never too late to transfer. In fact, it’s better to do it sooner rather than later. You’ll just have to take a hit and lose a bit of PageRank.

Your search engine traffic may drop, but it’s great incentive to build those backlinks back up. Plus you’ll feel great knowing you have control over your domain and your content. There’s nothing better than that feeling of security when it comes to your blog.

One more story!

After my own blogspot blogs were deleted, I rushed to the forums to see if there was anything I could do to salvage them. That’s when I read all the horror stories of people losing their own blogs. If they didn’t lose their blog, a lot of times they would have entire posts disappear with no explanation. Other people were locked out and couldn’t even access their blog’s dashboard.

I have a friend who is having issues with Blogger almost daily. She’s desperate to have her blog transferred to a self-hosted Wordpress blog.

It’s important to look as far down the road as you can and visualize where you want your blog to be in the future. If you want to continue to maintain it, improve it, expand it – then you need to look at buying your own domain for it. You’ll be kicking yourself later if you don’t.

It’s business time

I’m on a crusade to get free hosted blogs transferred to more reliable, secure, self-hosted domains. If you need help with this, I’m your chick. I offer services ranging from basic graphic design and customizing Wordpress themes to setting up a Wordpress install and transferring Blogger blogs to self-hosted Wordpress domains. If you contact me with your needs, I’ll get back to you with a free quote.

If you have a self-hosted Wordpress blog, chances are you already have an FTP program. Chances are you’ve also had to change permission settings for your files too, but just in case you haven’t, here’s a short explanation.

After you’ve logged into your FTP program, navigate to the file you want to edit. Your theme files will be in wp-content > themes > theme folder. If I wanted to make my footer.php file editable, I just right-click on it, select properties,

and change the “Value” to “777″.

Any other time, those files should always be set to “644″. Folders are always “755″. This prevents anyone from changing those files – and that would be a bad thing!

NOW, before you go and do that – I have a better way of editing files. I don’t EVER use the theme editor in Wordpress. I just log into my FTP program, locate the file I want to change, right-click, and select “Edit”.

I always use Notepad to edit text files, but if you don’t, your file will open up in whatever your default program is set to.

Once the file is open, I change what I need to, select File > Save, then close it. In my particular FTP program, it will ask me if I want to overwrite the file or not. I select “Yes” and continue on my merry way. Just to be sure, you’ll want to refresh your blog’s page in your browser to make sure whatever changes you made are correct.

Why should you do it this way and not through Wordpress?

It’s less work for one thing. More importantly, there’s no chance that you might forget to change the permissions of your file back to “644″ which would leave your blog much more vulnerable to hackers. There’s also no chance of screwing up the permissions of your files so bad that you break your blog.

I remember when a dear friend (we’ll call her Stacy since I don’t want her to be mad at me for using her real name in case she’s reading!) changed the permissions of her files to update her files and ended up screwing things up so bad that her blog disappeared. We both had a few heart attacks until I figured out what had happened, but I explained to her that editing files directly through her FTP program would ensure that that didn’t happen again.

I’m a total geek but I’m no Einstein so there could be a much easier and more efficient way of doing things. However, I do know that my way of editing Wordpress files is much safer than editing directly through the Wordpress theme editor.