New Domain, New Look

I have finally introduced my new Domain and Look for my blog. There is still some work to do, but I was anxious for the change.  You will be able to access the site either at the old URL: http://livingsingleinsmalltownamerica.blogspot.com/
or the new new one:   http://www.singleinsmalltownamerica.com/

Feel free to look around. I am especially excited about the new weekly posts, Single Saturday and Small Town Sunday. I hope that you will join in one one or both by linking your post/blog.

It's Almost Here

I am almost ready to release the new upgrade to my blog. For now I am going to stick with Blogger because I do not have the time to learn a whole new system with WordPress, however, I may be switching in the future when I have more time. 

I don't have it exactly like I want it, but it is a start.

I am also going to be introducing two new weekly posts: Single Saturday and Small Town Sunday. I am hoping that people will join in and write their own posts and link back to my blog so we can share our stories.

Time For A Change?

Now that I'm back to blogging full time, I'm really feeling the need or a change, an overhaul really, of my blog.  I'm considering a few things:

1. I am thinking of getting my own domain name instead of using blogspot.com
2. I really need to re-do the whole site. Blogger has made a lot of upgrades since I built my site.

Okay, so that is only two, but each one comes with its own variables...

1. Do I want to keep the same name as I have currently? Do I want to shorten it, but keep it similar? I wonder because I don't write exclusively about either being single or living in a small town. I get requests all the time to host or try out some singles website or product(s). I assume they haven't really read my blog if they are asking; they are just going on its name. Which makes me wonder if I need to find a real focus for my blog or is it okay that I just discuss things that happen in my life? Should I find some larger focus even if I decide to not limit the posts to a specific focus (did that make sense)? I really did put thought into the name of my blog before I started it, but I have found that there are a lot of things I want to discuss that aren't specific to people who are single or people living in a small town. I guess I could try to always throw in a little bit about either or both, but that seems forced.  I feel if I want to take this to the next level, it needs some sort of focus.


2.  I haven't done anything but cosmetic changes to my blog since I first built it. I had to teach myself how to edit the html and I worked really hard to get it like I wanted it, but that's just it...like I wanted it. Blogger now has more options. I've always wanted to have multiple pages on my blog and maybe even pull in my photoblog as an extension of this one. It is time to do that.  I am sure it is going to take me awhile to figure out how to do all that without losing some of the personalization I've made to my blog.  I also want to really come up with a good look for my blog. I'm creative, although not a professional graphic designer. I know how to use Photoshop and think I can come up with a reasonably good look for my blog. I already have some ideas. I am definitely going for a cleaner look. I'm looking forward to the challenge, but still a little overwhelmed right now.  I had thought about trying out WordPress, but after looking at the comparisons between it and Blogger, I am going to stick with Blogger...at least for now.


I would love your opinions on all of this.  What would you like to see?

Just Another Reason to Hate PC's

I had someone say that my font was difficult to read on my new background. I couldn't quite understand because it looked fine to me, but I changed the colors around a little, making them darker, etc. Now I know why I didn't see the problem...

Everything looks great and easy to read on my Mac, but when I checked it on a PC... Not awesome at all. Stupid PC's are still wrecking my world even though I don't own one.

The background is MUCH brighter (making the font harder to read) and the font looks so much different. It's like the difference between a fine point pen and a felt tip marker.

What's up with that? Stupid PC's.

A Spring Update

Another blog update!

I have been working on this for awhile and finally decided to unveil it today. I decided on a new look for spring. I hope that it is not too bright for you guys. I'm not really into "girly" colors, but still wanted something that reminded me of spring.

I am fairly happy with this background and layout. The only problem I have is that it has messed up my Label Cloud. It no longer looks like a cloud, it's just a list. I will try to take time soon to fix this. I intend to try to re-install the widget in hopes that that will fix the problem.

Let me know what you think. Do you like the new background and layout? Does it drive you nuts when I change things?

Blog Background Change

Hope you like the new background, etc. There are still a few things to fix (Feejit, Google widgets need a color change), but I have created a test blog in order to do those things without making my regular blog look weird while I'm working on it. I'm still not happy with where the background sits verses how my columns all seem to shift to the right... Not sure how to fix that, but I've been messing around in the editor, trying different things.

We'll see how long this color scheme lasts. I get bored easily. I never really did like the yellow one; I hope I'm happier with this one.

Let me know what you think of the change.

Done?

I'm not sure, but I think I've fixed the problems and I'm considering on being done now. Pretty sure none of you care, but as I am blogging about my life, this is what's going on now...my blog.

I still don't know that I like the background, but I'm okay with it for now. I changed it from the original yellow background, but it won't be permanent. I will probably be one of those that changes their blog background and colors fairly often, but hopefully not so much that it drives people nuts.

Bear With Me

So the third column change hasn't gone as planned. If anyone is viewing the blog on a small monitor (less than 1200px wide) the middle column doesn't show. I have found the solution, but it requires a new template. I'm okay with that, but it's going to mean customizing all over again. So that's going to be my weekend. Expect it to be up and running and looking good by Tuesday!

I'm going to work on it some tonight, and depending on how hard it is, it might be fairly ready by Sunday. We'll see.

Still Working On It

So I got the 3rd column set up. Man that took awhile; editing html is not my specialty and so it has been a lot of hit and miss. I have a site I go to for html tutorials (The Blog Doctor) and there was one on creating the 3rd column, but it wasn't set up exactly like I wanted, and so I had to play around with the html until I got it like I wanted it.

It's still not perfect though.

My main problem is that when I shrink the web page, I lose the middle column. Well, it's not really lost, but it goes to the bottom of the main column and most people would never notice it. This is bad because if a viewers monitor is small, they will not be able to view all the columns as they are supposed to be views.

Guess I still have some work to do.

Still Working On It

Well...I'm not sure how I like the new background. I think it may look a little too much like fall. The layout is still the same really. The colors never transfer exact from photoshop to the web, even when it is the same hex number. I'm sure it will continue to be in flux throughout the weekend. I'm also toying with the idea of 3 columns.

I enjoy playing around with the colors, etc, I just never can be sure of something until I see it on the site. Right now it is yellow, but before I started working on it I was thinking green. There's no telling what it will be by the time I'm done!

I'm Working On A New Layout

Okay guys. You are going to have to bear with me over the weekend. I am going to work on the layout of this blog. I am tired of the dusky blue background. I just threw that together real quick while I was testing out how to edit html. I am getting the winter doldrums and I'm wanting something a little brighter for my blog in order to help with the winter blues.

Because of that, the sight could be in the middle of this process when you stop by.

Another Modification

I was so proud of myself when I figured out how to set the opacity for my posting background; since I began putting pictures in my posts, I realized that I would have to put the opacity back up to 100%. I had noticed that my pictures were not as bright and crisp as they should have been. At first I wasn't sure what was causing this, but realized this morning that it was because they became part of the post and thus they also took on the reduced opacity of the background. I didn't realize that would happen. So now I have changed the transparency and the pictures are just as they should be.

Late Nights

It is almost two in the morning and right now I totally feel like staying up all night. It's not that I'm not sleepy, I am, but I have hit a point where I'm almost past the point of wanting to sleep. I am on a high of getting stuff accomplished. In this case it is of course this blog. I have even managed to create a favicon (I didn't even know that's what they were called, but it's the little icon that shows up next to the URL) for my blog and am exceedingly proud of myself. Now I feel like I can be done for the night. A

The problem is that I am now both exhausted and wired. This has been the problem all night. I would get to a stopping point while working on the blog, but be in the middle of an episode of Dr. Who (this is my new thing to watch using Netflix Instant Watch), then I would be done with the episode, but in the middle of trying to figure something out for the blog. It was a visious cycle. I managed to get through both at about the same time and now I guess I should just go to bed.

I have got to make myself get back on a schedule the next few nights. I have enjoyed my Christmas Vacation, but it is almost time to go back to the real world. In fact, tomorrow I will have to spend part of the day working on the second quarter syllabus for my class. Hopefully, I can wear myself out and go to bed at a relatively normal time tomorrow night, so by Sunday night I will be back on schedule for work the next morning!

Even More Success

Several hours later and I have made some more progress toward the blog that I want. I have managed to get my background set where it scrolls like I want it to and I also managed to get the post background like I wanted it (light blue with the opacity set so you can see the blog's background through it just a little).

My next project is to figure out how to change the font. I think I have the basic idea of how it works, but not sure of the specifics and what fonts Blogger's html code will accept. Also, I really need to change the heading of my blog. It is the one thing left that still screams of the original Blogger template. I am not sure what I want yet. I might just try to come up with a design using Photoshop, but I need to make sure that it doesn't become overwhelming with the designs already on the background.

I am sure that anyone who might be reading this blog and my last few posts is just thrilled with the constant posting of my learning curve. I apologize, but I just needed to share my excitement with the world. Also, I'm not sure that anyone is really reading any of this. It is a new blog...

A Modicum of Success

After spending hours surfing the web for information on personalizing a blog, I have had a small amount of success. I wasted most of my time trying to find and then use an easy design tool that doesn't require you to understand html. After managing to get a template I liked, Blogger would not accept the new html...something about a color not really being a color. Anyway, I scrubbed that (I didn't want all that advertising from the website I used to help me anyway) and went back to the basics. I have been reading through the Blogger tutorials (not very helpful for a newbie) and some step by step tutorials from The Blog Doctor. These are much more helpful, but there is so much on his website that I don't know where to start. I finally decided to just attempt to set a picture as the background for my blog.

This is where the small amount of success comes in. I did manage to get a background I created (love my Photoshop!) set as my blog's background. I am not at all sure that this is what I would want for blog on a permanent basis, but will do as a starter and practice run. My next task is to figure out how to set an opaque blue as my table so that you can read all the text and still see the background. Right now the flowers are invasive when it comes to reading the text. It was not intended to look quite like that. Number one, the image is actually much longer than it apears; I had wanted to be able to scroll down the image some, but Blogger seams to have cut off the bottom of the image. Also (or I guess this is Number two), when I made the background I fully intended to have a light blue (and slightly opaque) background for the blogs that would go over the blog's background. So, as I said, that is my new goal.

Well, it's back to the old grindstone!

Customizing My Blog

So my new goal is to customize this blog to look like what I want and not just use the standard template provided by Blogger. In the old days, this was much easier, but now you have to know html to a degree in which I am not fluent. I remember having to create my own website years ago for a college class, but this is much different. I want some of the ease of the Blogger layout options, but I want to customize my own background and heading. I'm afraid to start messing with the html just yet and am determined to teach myself exactly how to do this. I am on a mission. The internet is full of information and how to's for just this purpose, but finding the right site is proving to take longer than I had hoped. I just wish I could find a nice WYSIWYG tool so that I could just drag and drop boxex, pics and backgrounds where I want them without having to learn all the html speak. Some of the sites have too much info and some not enough. I am still looking though for that special 'how to' website for novices. I know I could use Pimp My Profile and get something 'okay' but it won't let me do as much as I would like. I may have to use if for the time being until I can learn the ins and outs of this whole thing. I wish I lived closer to a college campus that provided classes for stuff like this because I would love to take design classes for just such a thing. Oh well. I am sure with enough surfing and persistance I will be able to overcome this obstacle.