As I said in my first post, I thought it would be good idea to go through some of the things I have learnt to get this blog up and running. Setting up a blog is the starting point for most of us and is a steep learning curve in itself, never mind trying to make money!

There are many different things to cover so I will break them down over a couple of posts. Hopefully that way you can get any information or tips you are looking for quicker. I will leave the getting a domain name, hosting, wordpress theme and uploading out of this for the moment. The chances are, like me, you have already done or are doing that. One of the biggest problems we face is information overload and I don’t want to add to it!

The things I have done to this blog that I found the hardest to do and find information on are:

• changing the header
• designing the header or outsourcing
• adding aweber to the blog

I have managed to do all the things on the list but how I did is by no means the right, only or best way to go about it, but what I found easiest. It’s not perfect but it will do for now until I learn more, and will hopefully point you in the right direction.

Anyway, I am going to break this down into different posts, so look below!

Mark

There are thousands of wordpress themes to choose from out there, I don’t now about you but it took me ages to find one I was happy with. I think the one I am using now is about the 7th I’ve tried! But whichever one you do settle for the chances are the header is not going to suit you or your blog.

You can read about creating a new header and a great piece of free software to do that in my post here.

Once you have got your header you now have to make it work with the theme you have chosen. I had nightmare trying to do this. I searched google and kept reading about making changes to php files. The fact that I didn’t know what a php file was, and I’m still not that sure, didn’t really help.

So after a few hours of frustration I decided there must be an easier way and would try to work it out for myself. I had an idea, tried it, and it worked! After getting back up from falling out of my chair in shock, I tried it in another theme and all good. I’m not sure if this will work will all themes but it’s worth giving a go.

Here’s how I did it:

The first idea I had was to attempt to change the header BEFORE uploading to my server. Once it’s up there, it seems you don’t have much choice but to get stuck into a php file. I have enough trouble with html. So…

1. Download your chosen theme, unzip it and find the ‘images’ folder.
2. Find the header image in this folder. Luckily and conveniently for us it is usually called just ‘header’ but it may not and is important you use the same name for your image.
3. Open the current header image or right click on it and make a note of the image size. We want to make our new header the same size. In all that php code it will have the header name and size, so rather than over complicating things, stick to the same. That way there is less to change.
4. Create your header or resize one you already have to the same size as the default header. Save it into your wordpress theme images folder by the same name as the existing header. You will be asked if you want to overwrite this, which you do.
5. Now upload the theme to your domain name and fingers crossed you should be good to go.
6. When you log in to the admin area of your blog, go to design then themes and preview the new theme. If the old header shows when you preview, don’t panic yet! As I said, I had about seven themes uploaded and when I previewed any of them, none of them showed my new header. As you can imagine I was gutted and assumed it hadn’t worked. It was not until I actually activated the theme that my header appeared. Woo hoo! Success.

Now I’m not positive that is going to work for all themes but it has for the ones I have tried.

Hope that helps!

Mark

I am starting to understand the benefit of outsourcing, it’s not something I have done yet, but know it is an essential part of being successful online. If you want a new header, that is probably the easiest and fastest way to go. It depends on you though, the time you have and what you do and don’t enjoy doing.

I quite like learning how to do things myself and the header you see on this blog was made by me

I’m no graphics designer but don’t mind saying I am pretty pleased with it and myself. I should point out this was not my first attempt! As I mentioned I had a lot of spare time due to my broken foot so the result above is after a couple of weeks learning. I should also mention that I have no design skills whatsoever, so if I can do it then so can you!

I did this header in Macromedia Fireworks 8. That’s not the latest version. I wasn’t about to spend $300 on a piece of software I wasn’t sure if I could even use just to find out. I had watched some videos on creating your own graphics and the guy gave a great tip. You don’t need to buy the latest version. Go on to eBay and pick up an older version, sure it won’t have the latest features but will be adequate for your needs. So that’s what I did and I got Fireworks 8 for £30 (around $50)!

It suprised me how quick you can create graphics with this software, just playing about with it will teach you enough to master the basics.

If you don’t fancy doing this there is an even easier way!

You have probably heard of Xsite Pro, if not it is a piece of software for creating websites and I highly recommend it, you can check it out here.

Anyway, the same team behind this have brought out a header creator software and the best bit is it’s FREE!!! Ah, the magic word!

There are two instructional videos explaining the functions included in the software as well as a help manual.

So what can you do with Xheader?

Well for a start you can create a website header from scratch using a blank template but the real value of Xheader is that is comes with 1000 professionally designed header graphic templates included. These are grouped into 44 categories so finding a template to suit your website will be no problem.

Once you have chosen a template you use the WYSIWYG image editor to personalise the look and feel of the header. You add text the same as you would in word and once on the header you can add effects with the push of a button. You can leave the text as it is or add the following effects: chisel, emboss, outline, outline fill, and glow.

You can then add shapes to the header such as circle and square with or without fill. If you choose a square with fill for example you can position this behind your text using the send to back button and then use the transparency feature to blend it into the header image giving a very professional looking effect.

Once you are happy with your new header you can save it as a JPG file and an editable XHF file.

Here is a quick summary of the Xheader features:

- Create headers from pre-supplied templates
- Create header designs from scratch if you prefer
- 1000 professionally designed header graphic templates
- 44 categories of header graphic templates
- WYSIWYG image editor
- Ability to add your own text
- Save your header designs as JPG files
- Optimize header design images when saving
- Create as many of your own header graphics as you like
- Add custom shapes and images
- Select and move layers in your header design
- Reorder layers (front-to-back) in the design
- Save header designs as (editable) XHF files
- Add/remove borders to your header design
- Resize the header to suit your web page design
- Preview your header graphic in your web browser
- Help manual included

It’s worth downloading and trying. It really is simple to use and I bet you will have a header you can be proud off in 30mins.  Visit xheader by clicking below:

xheader

Good luck!

Mark