Pimp Your Blog!

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tuning engine block - gold

Spring Has Sprung!

Have you been spring cleaning?  No, neither have I.  I keep meaning to, but I always find something else to do.  Well, I have been a little bit.  I've changed the wardrobe around from Winter to Summer.  And I swept out the workshop.  And I've done some potting of plants. But most importantly of all, I've been spring cleaning my blog.  When was the last time you lifted the bonnet on yours?  How's it looking?

Blogging Workshop

Good genea-buddy Pauleen and I will be delivering a blogging workshop together in the not too distant future.  It's a sequel to one I ran a couple of years ago for QFHS.  We're going to get into the nitty-gritty of how to set up a blog on Blogger and WordPress. Tell your friends if they've been thinking of setting one up but have been prevaricating.

Those of you who blog regularly will know that Blogger and Word Press have been improving their platforms.  This usually means pain for the rest of us old dogs who need to learn new tricks;) Thank goodness for genea-buddies like Carmel who keep us informed of the changes and walk us through how to fix stuff.

In the process of preparing for the workshops, I realised how untidy and messy my blog looked. So I've given it a bit of a spruce up.  What do you think? What else should I do to make it better?

Call to Action!

So here I am, calling you to check your blog.  

Look under the hood.  Does it need an oil change?  I mean, how's the layout looking?  Would you consider changing your theme? How are all those gadgets looking?  Are they still relevant?  Have you been meaning to change your Tabs/Pages so they are more logical in sequence? Are your contact details still correct? 

Why don't you set aside an hour or so this weekend to pimp your blog and make it look the fabulous blog you always knew it was.  Give it a haircut and a bit of a makeover.  What about some new hubcaps?  Turf the rubbish.  Do those things to it that you keep thinking, "Ooh that annoys me! I must fix that." Today's the day!!




And let me know how you go in the comments.  I can't wait to see what you've done.  It will be October before we know it. Eek!


Comments

Anne Young said…
I think the new clean look of your blog is fantastic - very easy to read :)
September 25, 2020 at 8:44 AM
Jenny said…
Looks great Alex. Calm, clean and modern so easy to read. One of the things I (mean to) do regularly is check for broken links on my blog. Such a simple thing that can be mighty annoying if not done, as broken links give readers the impression your blog is neglected if there are too many. Not that I think that about yours! :)
September 25, 2020 at 9:28 AM
Alex Daw said…
Dear Anne Thank you! You are so lovely and kind. In the process of tidying up, I found some comments including one of yours that I thought I had published ages ago. Just goes to show you can't rely on doing things from your mobile phone. Thank you for all your engagement. I really love having more than one brain working on family history. I have kept one of your comments about AC Keep as a demonstration of how to publish a comment for the class in a couple of weeks. I must get back to more transcribing of those letters.
September 25, 2020 at 9:28 AM
Alex Daw said…
Dear Jenny Thank you for your kind words. Yes indeed ! Broken links. Excellent point. I do think there are quite a few on my blog. It's on the To Do List. Thank you for the reminder.
September 25, 2020 at 9:36 AM
GeniAus said…
Love the new look - clean and green. Wondering if I dare dispose of my sidebar.
September 25, 2020 at 1:17 PM
Alex Daw said…
Dear Jill - regarding the side bar, may I suggest that whatever you remove e.g. Awards, you might want to save somewhere? I gaily deleted all mine but then thought, hang on I have no record of when I was admitted to the Pandora archive. I guess if I go through my blog posts I'll find out. But you might want to save images et al for posterity. Up to you.
September 25, 2020 at 7:31 PM
crgalvin said…
Like the new look but with old eyes find the pale green hyperlinks hard to read perhaps they could be a little darker. If you do want to modify them - under Theme>Customise>Advanced> then use the drop down next to Page Text to choose Links then ADD lets you choose a colour for the links. Good luck with the workshop, you and Pauleen will be an awesome combination.
September 29, 2020 at 11:36 AM
Alex Daw said…
Hello the lovely Carmel - Thank you for your excellent feedback. Yes, I completely agree pale green is not a great colour and I will change it - thanks to your excellent directions. I have finally figured out how to add captions to photos. Gee. That took a long time! I tell you! This old dog is a bit slow to learn new tricks but practice makes perfect :)
September 30, 2020 at 6:18 AM
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