it's the thought that counts

I haven't been posting on here very much, though I've been thinking about posting. Taking, editing and watermarking photos. Changing P&C's design again and again. Reading other blogs. And, I'll admit, being a little discouraged by the lack of you guys' lovely comments (it's been two months!).

But I was taught that one should look for a solution, not focus on the problem. So here's my solution. In the form of a question:

What do you--yes you, love--want to read? Do you want a post on writing? A DIY? A HTML tutorial? What's one of your favorite posts on here? Speak up, tell me. And I'm not fishing for comments.

I really would like to know.

xoxo | annika

linked toggle menus {requested by stacy n.}

Okay, so some of you have probably noticed that in my previous design, a couple 'accordions' in my toggle menu were links. This is the HTML for that effect:

<a href="LINK URL"><div id="wrapper">
        <div class="accordionButton">BUTTON NUMBER ONE NAME</div>
        <div class="accordionContent"><p align="center"> </p></div> </a>

 Just replace the words in all caps with the link and the title of the page you want to link to. Make sure to keep the quotation marks {" "s}, like so:

<a href="http://1234567890.blogspot.com/p/about"><div id="wrapper">
        <div class="accordionButton">About</div>
        <div class="accordionContent"><p align="center"> </p></div> </a>

This is tailored to the coding provided by Beauty Design Studios, but it might work with others. If there's text in the accordion you want to convert, just erase the text and proceed with the steps shown above. Happy coding!

glad to help,
annika

a change of scenery...

I'm not a huge fan of change. True change, that is. 

But lately, I've felt the need to switch things up a little. So far I've:

Changed my Google Chrome theme.

Rearranged my room. 

Branched out of the blogs I normally read to give a few new ones a chance. 

Worked on a new blog design that I might/might not use. {I won't probably put a new one up till sometime in June or even July, though. I'm really content with this one.}.

But throughout all this, I've noticed there's one thing this blog has never had.

A faq page.

Yep, that's right! You can ask me questions, but none pertaining to my real name, age, where I live or my personal beliefs or political alignments. Keep it to things like 'who are your favorite bloggers?' 'ninjas or pirates?' 'favorite font?' etc.

So with that... ask away!

Can't wait to answer your questions,

the authoress 

PS}  Keep it to two questions per person so things don't get out of hand, kay'?

Tutorial: Making a Mapped Header (Minima & Simple Templates)

EDIT 4/22/2012: I've discovered an easier way to install this for the Simple template and have updated it accordingly. 
Note: Please, please, please BACK UP YOUR CURRENT TEMPLATE before doing any of this. I am going to assume that your blog is already fairly customized and you are using the SIMPLE or MINIMA template.


Hiya!  Okay, I know mapped headers are all the rage in the blogsphere. So, I'm going to help you create a mapped header. You'll need:

1.  Blog header (if you already have one, open it in Pixlr and use a matching font to add the names of the pages you want to link to. Pixlr because it adds your own fonts)
2. Test blog (to test this all out on)

Before we start we'll need to do some HTML editing. Go to Template (Design for the old Blogger interface) and click the 'Edit HTML' button. Check the 'Expand Widget Templates' box, hit Ctrl/Command+F and search for this code:



Minima:

 <div id='header-wrapper'>
      <b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>
<b:widget id='Header1' locked='true' title='YOUR BLOG TITLE (Header)' type='Header'>
<b:includable id='main'>

Change 'True' to 'False', like so:

 <div id='header-wrapper'>
      <b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>
<b:widget id='Header1' locked='false' title='YOUR BLOG TITLE HERE (Header)' type='Header'>
<b:includable id='main'> 

Simple:

<b:widget id='Header1' locked='true' title='YOUR BLOG TITLE HERE (Header)' type='Header'>

Change 'True' to 'False', like we did for Minima:

<b:widget id='Header1' locked='false' title='YOUR BLOG TITLE HERE (Header)' type='Header'>

  

Trust me, that'll come in handy later. Now, upload your header to an image hosting service or a drafted blogger post (I prefer the latter) and grab the image's direct URL (this is important). Go to this site and copy the URL into the 'From a URL box'. Before you click the 'start mapping your image' button, open the blog pages that you want your image to link to in separate tabs. Now, click the button and wait for the counter to confirm that your image uploaded successfully. Now, follow the directions below to  map your image:

1. Click the 'Rectangle' button and size the box that appears to cover the title part of your header. Paste the URL of your blog under 'Link for this map'; don't bother with the Title/Alt box. Do this for the text for your pages too, making more boxes as needed and entering the appropriate URLs.
2. Uncheck the box that says 'Show Text Links'.
3. (Optional) If you don't want the site to add a (small) 2px by 2px backlink or it's in an inconvenient place (lower right hand corner), uncheck this.
4. When you're done, hit the 'Get Your Code' button. 

Okay, now to install your header:




Minima:

1. Since you changed your header gadget so it's moveable like the rest, go in and delete it. You'll be able to get it back at any time by finding the code we edited earlier and changing 'False' back to 'True'.
2. Switch back to the image-mapping site and copy the code from the HTML Code tab. Add a HTML/JavaScript gadget where your header was and paste the HTML code into the box. Save it.

Simple:

1. Go to your layout and delete your header gadget- don't worry, you can get it back using the same method I stated for Minima.
2.   Add an 'HTML/JavaScript' Gadget where the header gadget used to be. Paste the HTML code from the tab of the same name on the image mapping site into it and save. 

Yay! Now you have your very own mapped header. Any problems or questions? Tell me in a comment and I'll see what I can do!

Guess What ;)

I learned how to make a mapped header! See the About, Bloglove and Elsewhere text on my header? They  lead to pages! Check them out, and I think some of you might get a pleasant surprise on the Bloglove page. *wiggles eyebrows*

To Clear Up Some Things.

Hey, before I start, I'd like to say thanks for all the comments on my last post. I'm glad people who disagreed or agreed with me were polite about it. Thanks. And I know I worded a couple lines wrong, and I've fixed them since then. Thanks for the insight. Also, by haters I meant people who just refused to see what the other side thinks and who try to force their opinion on everyone. Not people who simply disagree. Again, thanks for the comments. I almost didn't post that, truthfully, but I decided to show where I stand. I won't be doing many more posts like that, maybe only once or twice a year, in fact.

A Post Where I Just Talk.

Hey, have any of your ever had that feeling? That in blogging, no matter how hard you try, there will always be someone better? Not nicer, prettier, funnier- just better? I mean, if you get a 100 followers, I guarantee somebody else has 1000, and somebody else has 5000.

Yeah. That feeling.

Nobody ever gets it all at once, I think. They just get it sometimes, in little amounts. Like, no matter how awesome your design is, someone has a better designer or is better at HTML. Or has longer, more thoughtful posts- that you can't help but love because they're just so darn thoughtful.

Yeah, well, I'm here to tell you something: don't bother trying to copy everyone. Because if you did, you'd be in one hot mess. Besides, what happens when someone is better than the person your trying to copy?

Dr. Seuss put it better than anybody:

 Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.

So, why try to be someone else? Who really deserves to have two of them upon this earth anyways? I mean, that wouldn't be fair to the other six billion, nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine peeps on the planet, now would it? You're you, and your blog should reflect that. Not Awesome McAwesomescreenname's.

So, I've decided something.

I usually stay away from touchy topics like politics on this blog. The only truly universal topic I've ever blatantly given my opinion on [here] is home/unschooling. But I've decided something: who cares if someone doesn't agree with me? It's my blog, the world and it's actions filtered through my lens.

 I used to be afraid to make enemies and upset people just because I didn't agree with them on a topic like whether or not the President is doing a good job - and I think he's doing great, with all the stones people hurl at him. There's nothing wrong with being polite, but I also think you're entitled to your opinion too- and no, that does not mean you can talk straight up trash about somebody. I mean about more national/universal things.

 As in: why do Christians consider Muslims their mortal enemy, again? They are not all terrorists, just like Christians are not all evangelicals. And don't start with the suppressing women thing, because while it may be very, very true, Christians do their fair share of it too. Enough with the stereotypes, people.

Or: why don't homosexuals deserve basic human rights? I thought the idea (of homosexuality) was a little surprising at first, but in the end, why is it our business? And as for abortion, what are you going to do if the fetus you save is gay? I don't condone abortion, but I don't think people should just straight up decide when it comes to someone else and their child's future.

*silence at Annika's jawdropping opinions*

I know some of you might not agree with this, and that's okay, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Because I like to think that for every hater in the world, there is a lover. And by that, I don't mean people who simply disagree with some of the stuff I said. Of course not, that wouldn't be reasonable.

<3

Write For One and Write For All

Okay, no matter where a writer goes, there will be someone who won't like their work or will think of every single reason to debunk it. From asking a question:

"Why would there be a [blank]?" 

To accusing you of something:

"You're messing up [blank]!"

 It seems like it would be the most fun to just laugh in the person's face and ignore them, but sometimes it's not that easy. Truthfully, you can't care what anyone thinks. You won't get anywhere if you're trying to please everyone. And if in some magical way you do, then there is a 000.1 percent chance you're happy. If you are, well then, great! Most likely, you aren't, though. Which is bad.You should write for yourself. Not your friends. Not your English teacher. Not whoever else. You.  

But who cares? If they do have a problem with your writing, have them be the villain and then have the hero(es) in your newest novel take. Them. Down.  

Ahem. Kidding...

But writing is meant to ask a question: What if a girl/boy/man/woman/animal etc. decided to [insert action] and another girl/boy/man/woman/animal etc. did [blank] in retaliation to [blank] and then [blank] happened leading all up to [blank]?

As for when when people say you're 'breaking the rules'- what rules? Each writer has his own rules, because different things work for different people!  If you told ten writers to write the same novel, each would go about it differently. One would outline, one would wing it. Another would do a little each day for a month, another would stay up all night for a week writing.  

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why there are no true rules to writing.  Outside of formatting, spelling, grammar etc. that is ;)

Writing: An Indecisive Art

Writing is hard. This may sound whiny to the average person, but it really isn't. They clearly aren't taking into account the planning, thinking, and then the stressing when you swear you hit 'Ctrl + S'  before logging off. 

And then there's that day when every insecurity and put down you've ever told to stuff it that your inner editor's said comes back tenfold:

Are you kidding? You call that writing?

Seriously?

Oh, God. And you say you want to be a bestseller...

*insert character name* is a complete waste of time. A dog could tell you that.   

You and your idea of a good romance makes me sick. 

Just kill *insert character name* already... 

And the list goes on. Of course, these eventually do go away. You know, when you read back over that brilliant scene and just start crying buckets or going into hysterics over your own work.

But somehow, you get past all this. Bravo. But then you have another question as you stare at your painfully blank document:

Uh, so like, what do I write?

Yep. Even if you have about a billion notes on a story, how the heck are you supposed to just sit down an put the words to paper... er, word document? Well, to illustrate just how hard that is, I'm going to describe a common writing day:

You sit down on the sofa/chair/bed and pull out your laptop/typewriter/pen. "I think I'm gonna write a bit," you say, opening your document/typewriter/notebook. Proudly, you see the *insert number* words you've written. 

This is gonna be a piece of cake! you think. You write for about 30 minutes, then start procrastinating. In this order, you check:

{Computer Writers}

***

Email

Favorite Websites 

Blogger

Forum

RP 

Twitter, Facebook etc. (optional) 

{Pen&Paper, Typewriters}

***

Mailbox

Library

Book 

Newsletter 

And then you go back to your document and decide to give your character weird. hair for no apparent reason besides the fact you saw a totally awesome photo on Pinterest.

And in the end... you don't even remember what you set out to do. Besides google pics of cute kittens. But then, however many months/years(/lives?! O_O) later, as you hold your finished manuscript in your hands, you think:

It was all worth it. 

                 

Less is More When It Comes to Blog Designs

Hey, see that adorable little list of blogs on my sidebar and the marquee? No, wait. The blogroll loves to pull a disappearing act and erase all my links. So it's just the marquee now. But I think I'll list the main reasons why I choose read these blogs:  

• 
  
• They're funny
• They make me think
• I can relate to the author 
• It's interesting in general
• I have something in common with the author
• It has an awesome design

And the list goes on. But, I think I need to elaborate on the last one, as while the others depend on the person and their writing skills, that could be remedied . 'Awesome Design'  does not mean some kind of neon colored nightmare template with tons of curly, eye watering fonts with just about every gadget imaginable and ads galore.

No.

Awesome Design, in my book, equals simple, easy to read, neat, presentable, and compact. The things that impress me when it comes to blog's design may be a drop down accordion menu, a well made header or even a neat image that changes to another one when you hover your mouse instead of a header.

Have you ever had that disappointment when you come across a blog with a neat design, but one week later you find it on some free blog templates site? That is one of the worst feelings. Ever.

Okay, not really; I was just joking. Still, it is kind of a let down. But you almost can't blame people. Most blogs with a custom, really nice design almost always use Minima. It's a great template, but it's almost impossible to do more than some amateur changes without a good amount of knowledge about HTML and/or CSS. Preferably HTML, since, unlike with the new templates, HTML does more on an everyday basis when it comes to the old ones.  To help you out, I have a few resources and tutorials:

• Getting Your Blog Ready For Designing
• How to Create a Drop-Down/Accordion/Toggle Menu
• Create a Dropdown Menu For Your Labels
• w3schools.com's HTML Tutorials
• w3schools.com's CSS Tutorials
• 'Grab My Button' Code Generator 
• Custom Mouseover Image Generator
• Practice Your HTML Here
• Fotoflexer (Online Image Editor)
• How To Center Your Header
• Make a Disappearing Navigation Bar!

Also, here is the code for making a button/content/text marquee:

Paste as many button codes as you want to in there! Just erase the capitalized text. Also, make sure to check that it works using the 'Practice Your HTML Here' link above before pasting it into an HTML gadget.

If you are using the new blogger dashboard, do this to achieve Minima: 

1. Go to your Dashboard

2. Click onYour Blog

3.Click on the Wrench in the upper right-hand corner. This will take you to the old Blogger interface

4.Go to Edit HTML

5. Scroll to bottom and click Old Template

6. Choose Minima and click Save. Click the 'Try Updated Blogger Interface' link at the top of the page. 

Have fun!

No Matter What

 Sometimes, people want to chance things about themselves. On a bad hair day, you may wish it was straighter or thinner. On days when math is feeling too hard, you wish you'd never ever have to do it. On days when you just want to cry or something made you upset, you never want to see them/it again.

But wait.

What about the things you'd never change about yourself, no matter what? 

I know that I solemnly swear to:

Never, ever, stop writing. Even if I have to make the ink by melting my own hair and writing on leaves. 

Never, ever, stop being Queen of Imaginationa, where all are welcome. 

Never, ever, stop laughing.

Never, ever, stop believing there is a hero in all of us waiting to fly. 

Never, ever, stop being my geeky, epic self. 

Never, ever, stop being happy. If you make me upset, yeah, I'll cry a bit if it's really bad, but who cares? 

Now, what do you solemnly swear to never change?

P.S.  I am so sorry I never got spotlight author out this week. Even though I have tons of authors I love, I'm not sure which to do. Sigh. Well, we'll try again next week...