Today I am going to show you how to change your blog's color scheme and the layout. First of all, log in to your Blogger account and get to the Dashboard page. Click on your blog's title. On the left-hand side, click on Template. (the same place we were yesterday)
Color Scheme:
Next, click on the orange Customize button. Finally click on the Background link on the left-hand side. You should see this screen below:
To change all of the colors on your blog at one time, just click on one of the color themes above. You can still use a customized background, but this will just change all of the text colors easily.
If you want to have a little more control over what colors your links and text are, you can follow the directions below to customize your blog colors even more.
Click on the Advanced link at the bottom of the gray section on the left-hand side.
You should see this screen below:
I've highlighted the area where you will click to make your different color and text selections for your blog. Simply click on each link (Page Text, Backgrounds, Links, Blog Title, etc). When you've clicked on one of those links, the two sections to the right that say Font and Text Color are where you will choose the colors for that specific area on your blog. Whenever you choose a new color, it will show up in the preview below. Choose colors that are easy to read and will show up well on your blog. If you don't like the color you've chosen, you can always go back and change it later. When you are finished choosing colors, click "Apply to Blog."
Layout:
Get back to your Dashboard screen by clicking "Back to Blogger" at the top of the screen. Click on the Layout link on the left-hand side.
The Layout...explained:
If you've chosen the same layout as me (as described in the previous post) then this is what your Layout will look like. In the above screenshot, I've highlighted the different main areas of your blog. Highlighted in green is where your Blog Title is. Highlighted in red is where your Blog Posts will show up. And finally highlighted in yellow is where your links and buttons will show up in your Sidebar.
You can click and drag any of the boxes to rearrange the parts of your blog. You will mostly use this for your Sidebar content on the right.
To remove an element on your page, click the edit button. A box will pop up, and you will click "Remove." I don't personally like the Blog Archive section, so I always remove it.
To add an element to your page, like a button, link list, calendar, etc, click the Add a Gadget link right above where you want to add it. For example, if I wanted to add a list of my favorite blogs on my sidebar, I would click Add a Gadget right above the sidebar. See the screenshot below:
Scroll down to find what you want to add. In this instance, we are adding a Link List. Click on the plus sign (highlighted in green below).
Next, the Link list box will pop up.
Type whatever you want in the Title section. If you want the links to show up in the order you've typed them, leave the Sorting at "Don't Sort." You may choose to have them sorted Alphabetically if you choose. You may add as may sites as you want. For each site you add, you will type in the New Site URL and then Type a Name for the site (whatever name you want it to show up as on your blog). When you've typed those two things in, click "Add Link." It will add the link below. I've added 3 links (highlighted in yellow). In this pop-up box, you can use the little arrows next to the "Edit Delete" box to move the link up or down in the list order. When you are finished, click the orange "Save" button.
Now it will show up on your sidebar.
If you want to add more elements to your page, just follow the same directions as above. When you are finished, click the orange "Save Arrangement" button at the top right of the screen. I do this after each element I add.
If you want to see how it looks on your blog, click on the "View Blog" button at the top left of the page.
Yea!!! You've made it this far... I'm so proud of you! Only a few more things to do until your blog is good to go! :)
Tomorrow I will be sharing Part 4 {Creating Pages}.
May the sun shine on your conquest this day,
