Creating a Blog | A Step-by-step Guide (Part 8)

How to edit the elements of your blog and add new elements (including banners, ads and links):

ACCESS: You can access the editing section either from the Dashboard, by clicking "Layout" next to your blog's name, or from your blog itself, by clicking on "Customise" in the top-right hand corner and you should be automatically directed to the "Layout" tab.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: The page that you see allows you to move around, edit and add elements to your page. (You can also change the colours of your blog or pick a new template from the sub-tabs under layout.) Depending on your particular blog template, you can click on the "add a page element" link on the side bar of your blog, at the bottom, in the header or directly beneath your posts. You can always move around any elements you have already created, by clicking on it, holding down the mouse-button and dragging it to where you wish to position it. Whenever you change something on this page, always remember to hit the orange "Save" button before you look at your blog to save your changes.

ADDING A PAGE ELEMENT: Click on the link "Add a page element". A new window should appear called "Choose new element", with several choices of elements to add.
Here is a brief explanation of each of them:

• Slideshow - allows you to display a slideshow of your photos that are saved somewhere on the internet like Picasa or Flickr.
• Poll - lets you create a poll for visitors to answer.
• List - allows you to display a list of anything at all. You have the option to include a link with the items on the list but it is not required. Links will open in a new window by default.
• Linked list - also creates a list but this time every item must have a URL link and links open in the same window as the blog when clicked on.
• Picture - you can add a picture to your blog from the computer or internet. It will be displayed on every page of your blog unlike pictures added in a post which are only shown with that post.
• AdSense - this is the easy button from which you can automatically add google adsense ads to your blog.
• Text - lets you add some text to your blog that gets displayed on every page of your blog (as people navigate around your site).
• HTML/Javascript - this is where you can add HTML code to display buttons, Bidvertiser ads, and banners on your blog.
• Feed - to show RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds on your blog, such as news releases, videos, and more. You just need to place the feed URL address and it will automatically be displayed on your blog.
• Labels - shows the labels with which you have tagged any your posts. (You can add labels to posts as you are creating them by typing in the label in the box at the bottom of the post editor next to "Labels for this post:")
• Newsreel - to display google news headlines.
• Video Bar - allows you to post videos from the internet onto your blog.
• Logo - add a Blogger.com logo.
• Profile - show your personal profile.
• Blog Archive - to display your posts' archives (if they are not already there).
• Page Header - display the page header (if not already there).

To edit any elements already on your blog, just press the "edit" link in the corner of that element.