Adding a Shout Box and Pictures to your Blog

[an amateur manual]

Have you created a blog? You might find that bloging is not that fun because it is just static and also boring because it is only text-based. Don’t worry mate! You can make it dynamic now. Add a tag-board or what some people refer to as a shout box. Yes, a shout box, because you can really shout if you want. Simply, with the tag-board, visitors can leave their massages to you or to other visitors. Hm… it’s cool huh?! Yeah, it is definitely! You can also make it colourful with pictures you love. You can post your fiancé’s photo (or maybe you kids [?]) easily. How to do those cool things? That is what this article is all about!

Adding a Tag-Board
There are plenty of free tag-board provider in the internet. Two of the most famous are http://www.tag-board.com/ and http://www.creationcenter.com/. I’d prefer suggesting you the second one :). Follow the steps:

1. Go to http://www.creationcenter.com/
2. Follow the link Click here to join for FREE! At the bottom of the page



3. Fill the form and click register
   
4. Decide what feature you want to take. Actually you’ve just registered for 4 features at once: Guestbook, shout box, message board, and tell a friend manager. For example, you can chose shout box (the one that I have here, in my blog).
5. Follow the link Click here to and copy and paste the ‘ShoutBox / Tag Board’ HTML code to get the HTML code of the feature you want



6. Chose the style you want. I’d prefer the vertical style. How about you?



7. Copy the HTML code provided in the box. You can keep the code by saving in into a text file. Just simply open any text editor (notepad, wordpad, Ms Word, or whatever you like) and paste the code there. At this stage you lready have the HTML code of a shout box you need for your blog (or website).
8. Go to your blog and login
9. Look at the template
10. Simply add the code you’ve obtained above into your template. Where to put it? Of course it depends on the template you’ve chosen. If your template is just like mine, simply paste tho code somewhere in the sidebar section. Still confused and don’t know what to do? You better contact me personally and you’re gonna be charged extremely expensive for an HTML private lesson. Do not laugh mate, IT IS SERIOUS!!!
11. Once you’ve done, don’t forget to save you changes to get it taking effect.
12. Hmm… seems your visitors and you can start shouting now! 🙂

Adding Pictures
Adding a picture to your blog is actually showing a picture that is already placed “somewhere” in the internet so people can see it in your blog. To be more specific, imagine that there is a picture of your favourite singer, Kylie Minoque, placed at http://www.wepsite.net/haegar/K/Kylie%20Minogue%2009.jpg.
Without doing anything to the picture, you can make it appears in your blog. Just create a new post and write:
<img src = “http://www.wepsite.net/haegar/K/Kylie%20Minogue%2009.jpg&#8221;>
Once you’ve published your post, you will be able to see Kylie’s sexy picture in you blog. (I am sorry for the sexy example. If you do mind, please select another url you like for your own exercise)

I know, your problem is the photos you’d like to show in you blog are not yet online. In other words, the photos you desire to be appeared in your blog are still in your hard disk. (or even still in a hardcopy format and hiding inside your album on you table? Come on mate, you gotta be kidding! Scan them first, make them digital). Btw, I assume that you’ve already had digital photos. Stop bugging me with all your technology-illiterate things!

This will tell you how to make your photos online and appear in your blog. Just follow the instructions bellow:

1. Download a picture publisher. I recommend http://www.hello.com/. Just click download and you will be expected to make a username and everything. Simply, just follow the easy steps provided there.
2. Install the software you’ve just downloaded into you PC
3. Open Hello to start the picture publishing



4. Click send pictures and use explorer
5. Pick photo you want to publish, chose BloggerBot and click send



6. Type caption (any text you like to briefly describe the photo you’re gonna publish for you photo
7. Click Publish (see at the bottom right of the window). In a few second, your photo will be appeared in your blog as a post. Yes mate, that easy! Your photo is online now.

Once you have your photo online, you can show it anywhere in the internet and you can modify the size and the position. You have to learn a bit HTML programming. Don’t want to force yourself? Don’t worry, just be satisfied with the ‘default’ appearance and go sleeping he.he..he… Thank you for reading this amateur manual. Have a good day, mate!