Transmutation Sciences

Visual Style

There are a few simple steps you need to take before you can start adding your first posts and pages. You’ll want to choose your “theme” or visual style of your blog. Don’t worry … you can always change it in the future.

Once you select the “Desgin” menu item your new sub-menu will include options for “Themes” “Widgets” “Extras” “Custom Header Image” and “Edit CSS”.

THEMES

Your “Current Theme” is displayed above a section displaying 15 theme options. As of May 2008 there are 75 themes available for you to choose from.

How to Choose a Theme

There are some basic concepts to think of in choosing your theme. If your blog is an extension of your current website you’ll want to select a template that resembles your current site as closely as possible – What color is your current site? Is your site 1 column? 2 column? or even 3 column? What does your logo look like? And where is it placed on your current site?

If you are building a personal blog (or using your blog as your company’s site) you have free reign; however, you’ll want to ask yourself similar questions.

Consider … a one column theme will likely have your menu at the top with the sidebar at the bottom with your content sandwiched between. A two column theme will likely have the menu at the top and two columns side-by-side, one of which will have your sidebar and the other your content; you often get to chose whether you r want the sidebar on the left or the right. A 3 column theme will have one column for content and two columns acting as sidebars; some with a sidebar to either side, sandwiching the content and others with both sidebars to the left or the right.

Once you’ve selected a theme and installed it, you have a few more options to work on.

Widgets

Widgets are nifty little functions that are easily added to the sidebar(s).

On the right side, select the sidebar you wish to add widgets – the drop down menu displays “Sidebar 1″ and “Sidebar 2″ when you’ve selected a theme with 3 columns. Otherwise, this dropdown shows only the one available sidebar.

Next, select your widgets on the left column by clicking the “Add” link.

When you click “Add” the widget will appear on the right.

When you’ve added the widgets you like; you may change their position on the sidebar by simply dragging and dropping them!

Managing Widgets

Sometimes the widgets have options of their own that you may change by clicking on the “edit” link on the widget. For example, you can change the heading on the “Pages” widget to display “Inside…” instead.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Be certain to click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the list after you’ve completed your changes, otherwise the sidebar will not get updated and the changes will be lost once you navigate away from the page.

Custom Header Image

Many themes allow you to implement a custom header image. This great function allows you to create (or have created for you) an image that incorporates you company logo or your picture or simply any image that you prefer over the supplied one.

In this tab you will be informed of the required image size and format. Once you have the image ready on your computer, click “Browse” and find your image. Then click the “Upload” button and your new image is installed in the header.

Edit CSS

Many themes allow editing the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) from within the admin panel. CSS controls the overall look and feel of your site in font usage (color and size), hyperlink actions and colors, and sometimes even background colors.

Understanding CSS takes some skill. We recommend you take Fenixwork’s follow-up course on CSS.

Managing your “General Settings”
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