Thursday, May 19, 2011

How I Created My First Blog Button with Blogger (the Easy Way)

Though I have been posting online for two plus years now, many aspects of blogging I have yet to learn. My main purposes remain the same as when I started blogging: to share ideas that are compatible with simplicity, personal growth, and contentment.  Meanwhile, I remain intrigued with how the blogosphere operates--partly because it is akin to learning a new language and culture.

Though I'm reluctant to make a button for this blog, I did want to learn how create buttons to share about events here. My graphic design skills are minimal at this point. But perhaps some of you are in the same boat.   In the points below, I walk through how I made my first blog button as a novice blogger.
1.  Information Gathering
First, I did a search for how to make a blog button.  And I discovered that I would need a graphic for the button.  Since I have no idea how to design a logo from scratch, I needed a photo.

2.  Photo Selection
I went to my Blogger account and opened my Picasa album.  I could have uploaded a new photo to my collection, but I wanted to keep things simple on my first attempt.  I found a photo in my Picasa web album that I had uploaded for a blog post back in 2009.  Here's the photo I picked:

    3.  Editing
    Next, I needed to edit the photo to make it smaller.  So I clicked on the "edit" button and a program called "picnik" opened up.  I cropped and resized my photo until it was about 150 x200 pixels.

    4.  Adding Text
    Then I clicked on the "create" tab to add text.  Here's what resulted:


       4.  Finding the Photo Link
      I clicked on the edited picture to find the link to the photo and copied that link.  I would need the link to insert into my button code in the next step.
       
      5.  Inserting my Information & Adding my Button to the Blog

      Finally, I used the code in a helpful how-to post at A Heart for Home to finish my button.  I inserted the appropriate photo link and titles where indicated, and Voila!  I had a button, which I added as a gadget in my sidebar.

        Should you want to join our challenge and grab my first button, it is not too late.  I am still working on the book challenge with my kids.  Once we finish, I shall have to devise our next event--and make another button!  

        Do you have any tips about making blog buttons and/or graphics?



        4 comments:

        Anonymous said...

        Great job on your button! And I will check out your book challenge. We own tons {like well over 100} children books. But, usually, because we've read them all too many times, we stick with library books. I check out about 10-20 at a time and then read those. And, even given the chance, my girls would have me read them each day, several times a day! :)

        Alicia said...

        Bravo! Making a button for my blog was one of those tasks I tackled early on, with much guidance from other blogger's posts. However, I always forget how to make the text box underneath...always have to look that up again!

        Katie said...

        Impressive. I have always wondered where all those icons come from. I love the photo and would also like to check out the challenge. I love reading but haven't been doing it much lately. I haven't been inspired by anything lately. Perhaps I'll hear about something through the challenge!

        Unknown said...

        Thank you for this tutorial--I've starred it in my google reader and plan to use it. I'm so bad about getting around to trying out all these fancy blog things. I just post and call it a day, but I really would like to make more effort to do some of these things.