Links

Last week, when I did my post on Favicons, I realized what I should teach this week.

How to put a link in comment boxes.

NOTE: If you don't have a blog or website, go ahead and skip this post.

We've all seen this inside comment boxes, a URL you can't click on.

Today, I'm going to show you 2 different ways to leave a link inside a comment box. To do so, I first have to explain some HTML code to you. Don't leave the page, it isn't that scary.

HTML is like a file system and inside the file there are separators. Each one has to be closed. For instance:
<a> is the opening and </a> is the close. The dash means closed. Remember that. Now, on to the links:

This is a simple link, if you want the URL to appear as the link inside the comment box put this:

<a>www.makinglifeabliss.blogspot.com</a>

It will appear as: www.makinglifeabliss.blogspot.com

We have also seen this: a  long messy URL we can't click on:

To shorten the URL, and to make it possible for people to click it, you would want to put this:

<a href="http://makinglifeabliss.blogspot.com/2011/04/creating-your-own-favicon.html"> Make your own favicon! </a>

It will appear as: Make your own favicon!

***Important things to remember: the quotation marks and the closing tag.***

This is a comment I just left on a page. Notice how the making life a Bliss is a link:

 This is done the same way as the link above:
<a href="http://makinglifeabliss.blogspot.com"> making life a Bliss</a>

The words you type in between the opening of the file and the closing of the file will be what appears as the link inside the comment box.

Give it a try in the comment box below and leave me a link to your blog!
(Don't want to look silly and post the code wrong? Hit the preview button first and make sure it looks right)

Good luck!

A special thanks to: Maria from Agape Love Designs and Stephanie from Luxe Boulevard. Hopefully you don't mind that I used your comments as examples.

Creating your own Favicon!

Tuesday Tip: How to create your own favicon.

Have you ever wanted to create a favicon for your blog? You know, this little guy:

 It is actually really easy to do! You can add one to your personal, craft, or business blog.

Step 1: Design your favicon in your favorite editing program. It should be 32x32px. Save it as a jpg or png file.

 *this is mine

Step 2: Upload your picture to photobucket, or post it somewhere on your blog (either in a post or on a hidden page, just make sure to click Original Size when uploading the image) *UPDATE: flickr uploads do not work.
Step 2a: After uploading your image, copy the http:// address. If you've uploaded it to your blog, click the image to go to the direct link (Just like mine is inserted above. When you click on it, it takes you to the direct link of the image.)
Step 3: Next, go to the design section of blogger, open up your EDIT HTLM
Step 4: Scroll down until you see <title>your title</title>
Step 5: Underneath that, insert this:

<link href='http://insert your source here' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/png'> </link>

Example: <link href='http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d173/krisedde/BLOGS/favicon.png' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/png'> </link>

*note, if your image is saved as a jpg, change the part that says type='image/png' to type='image/jpg'

Step 6: Save

Tada! You have a favicon! That was easy, wasn't it?

This is my icon for our personal blog. See:

Let me know if you have any questions.
Come back next Tuesday for more Web Blogging Tips!

*this method does not work for Internet Explorer. IE has a lot of malfunctions when it comes to viewing code. I suggest using firefox or chrome.