Recent comments widget

For those who want to add a recent comment widget to their blog, then check out the easy way on Blogger buster here. Recent comment lists are a great way to easily check out any feedback you maybe receiving and also encourages your visitors to keep up with the latest.

I have added a recent comment list on the sidebar of Artproofer - I have kept the number of comments listed to four, so as to not muck up the resource list by hogging all the space.

Slide shows, images and Galleries

Slide shows and image galleries enhance the look of your blog and give you a chance to showcase some of your artwork. For example this is one from my Picasa online gallery. It was just a matter of copying some code that Picasa supplies and embedding the code into bloggers Edit Html section. This code can also be embedded into a Html element to be placed into a sidebar instead of a posting.

This is what the code looks like:

<embed type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf\" flashvars=\"host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&
feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2
Fdhoward61%2Falbumid%2F5169800757717844417%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3
Drss%26authkey%3DP0qthbKFRZs\" pluginspage=\"http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer\"
height=\"400\" width=\"600\"></embed>

And this is the sample slide show. It's 400 high by 600 wide as can been seen on the last line of code. One does not need to edit the code normally but just copy and paste it into blogger.



One thing I did edit was the colour of the background it was set to black. I changed it to white by changing the part in the code marked in red. The Html code for black is '000000' so I replaced it with white Html code 'ffffff'. There is a great free utility for supplying Html colour codes that I use, it's called Visual Colour Picker. It is a quick download and is very informative about all sorts of other colour codes as well. The screen colour picker component of this software is extremely helpful - I have used it many times.

Here is another slideshow from Flicker in combination with Pictobrowser. The code is embedded in a similar way but you must first create a Flicker gallery and then visit Pictobrowser to gain access to your code.





And finally, this is a Picasa link to an online gallery. By clicking on the picture you will be taken directly to a gallery of pictures.

Static Display

Picasa, Flicker and Pictobrowser are all free to use. There are other picture galleries and slideshows available on the Internet - I have listed a few others in the sidebar and a few others on this link.

Art Bloggers conference New York 2008

Here are some videos of the Art Bloggers conference in New York filmed by James Kalm.


PART ONE


PART TWO

Blogger training via Youtube

Blogger has created a Youtube help channel which has videos on setting up blogs and changing settings. Here is the video "How to create a Blog".




There are a few more videos on the channel and in the coming months they will be adding more.

Page counter

If you have a blog or a static web page up and running, how do you know if someone has visited your site unless you are informed verbally or by email? Fortunately the internet has many free services that allow you to monitor your website.

Below is a map of the world from 'StatCounter' of the visitors visiting my blog 'ArtSmelter'.


The 'StatCounter' service also has many other site statistics - here is another example. This shows a daily visitor breakdown.

I have a number in the top right hand corner of this site (The Artproofer) this is a counter - they can be made visible for all to see or invisible for privacy. ArtSmelter has a number in the top right hand corner as well - also I have given public access to the sites statistics. If visiting ArtSmelter click on the 'Click here for site statistics link'.

There are quite a few different counter services on the Internet - I have listed two on the side bar under blog services. Others can be found by visiting other peoples blogs or just typing something like 'web counter' into google.

Installation:

Typically, most services are installed in a similar fashion.

- Register and sign up to the service.

- Nominate your blog or website.

- Customise the service to your preferences.

- Copy the supplied HTML code.

- Paste the code into the appropriate place of you website or blog.

After setting up the service, you can sign back into your counter site whenever you like to check your statistics.

Blogger

Within Blogger choose 'Layout' tab, then 'Page elements' tab. Click on 'Add a page element' and choose the 'HTML/Java script'. This is where you paste your supplied HTML coding. This element can be moved to different areas of your page.

Googlepages

When page editing, there is a link at the bottom right hand corner labelled 'edit Html', paste your supplied HTML code there. Remember the code will be pasted wherever you last had you editing cursor.

Others

Just find out where you can paste HTML coding and try your luck.

Next posting will be about online galleries and adding a slide show of your artwork to your blog or website.

Static web page

Recently two artists contacted me about how to make a web page. They didn't really want to use a blog but preferred to have a well designed and static web page, that gave access to art works and CVs. The idea was to direct a gallery or interested party to the site via email or business card.

As an exercise I have begun to design two samples of the static webpage - one using Blogger and the other GooglePages. Both of these programs are free to use and advert free. Googlepages is an online static web page maker and hosting program. Blogger is for making blogs but with a little twisting can also be used like a static web page.

The sites I designed, both use a similar layout, with artist name at the top and a line of links to the respective sections of the site below - there is also have a link to my artist blog and the side bar has been set up to add news items. I am just in the process of deciding which one to use to complete the static website - they are just bare bones at the moment, but the functionality is there. The front pages are posted below - by clicking on the picture you will be taken to the actual sites.

This is the blogger one:


This is the Googlepages one:


I like the flexibility of the Blogger program environment but so far Googlepages functions like a static web page better - although is limited in templates and design/customising potential.

But, did I mention these services cost nothing, are advert free and can be edited and uploaded to from any internet connected computer - they are not tied to your terminal and are fully online and independent.

Just to show how good Googlepages can be though, here is a good example of another artist's Googlepages site, which can be found here. To begin a Googlepages or Bloggers web site then click on their links listed in the side bar.

I have found a series of videos on using blogger to create a static web page - also this blog video help site has over 100 help videos on using blogger - it can be found here.

On the next post I want to talk about site statistics.

Fitness for purpose

Blogs operate like most web pages/sites but add the extra element of being dynamic. By being able to write and post pictures, sounds and videos freely onto your page, allows dynamic interaction. The ability for others to respond via leaving comments, creates a social link between the blog author and the blog visitor.

The page design elements of Blogger are quite flexible. One can use the standard blog templates or edit the HTML coding to fully customise the page. By using the standard templates, one can alter the colours, fonts, position of the page elements add pictures, gadgets and widgets. Those who don't want to dabble with HTML coding still have much flexibility to design their own blog page/site.

It pays to check out the look and design of other artists and bloggers blog sites. By checking out the links on other artists blogs, it is easy to see a whole range of artists blog sites. Take note of the different elements that others have used to create their page. Listed on the sidebar of this blog under Artist's blogs and Art Blogs are a range of blogs that I visit on a regular basis. Each of these blogs demonstrate a different and varying range of page design and content and show the diversity possible with the blogger system.

It's important that the content and design of your blog match your intentions and purposes for the site. If you want a fun, friendly blog then dress your site in bright colours and even some music - check out 'Jafabrit's Art' site. If you want to present a serious toned art site then keep the design minimal and the colours low key - check out 'The Art Life'.

So what's important is to consider what you want to achieve with your blog and fit the design to that purpose. Experiment with the look and function of you page but be conservative on how many gadgets,widgets and elements you add to the page. Too much stuff confuses the visitor and also slows the speed you page loads to the screen.
Make it easy for your visitor to find the information they need and to easily navigate your site. Only add elements that serve the purpose of you site but also balance that with maintaining the visitors interest by not being too boring.

The links on the sidebar will be regularly added to and represent my web searching and are offered as a guide only. Ultimately the active web searcher will find much more resources on the web - some better and some worse. Due to the free and maverick nature of these resources it's up to the individual to experiment and delve a little deeper into the great unknowns of the blogging web.

Have Fun.