Posts Tagged ‘templates’

I finally got around to a makeover of the first blog template I ever designed which seems overdue after being in custom web design full time since 2004 and doing websites more as a hobby since the mid-1990′s.

The screenshot here (smaller than actual size) is from the newly designed Growin’ Up in Maine personal blog where I tell stories of “Childhood Memories of Small Town Maine Life During the 1950′s and 60′s”.

While at it, I moved the blog from free hosting on Google’s Blogspot.com to a custom domain. Buying the custom domain through Google for $10 includes free hosting, so the old blog has a new template and home on a TLD top level domain.

The future cost to keep it online is $10 a year.

Originally the plan was to use the blog as a test site for offering custom blog design services, and the intent was to learn template design from the experiment then trash the blog.

To my utter surprise people my age in the boomer generation just loved the stories that brought back memories of their childhood. Based on the popularity and positive feedback I decided to keep the blog going.

The top header in the Blogger template design uses original photographs I took this summer in Maine for a widescreen view of the place we referred to as Down Back for 3 generations in the 1900′s.

Additional photos and video footage were used to create a YouTube video that you may want to view showing that special place including the old swimming hole Down Back on the Sebec River in Derby, Maine.

At times I’ve gone months without writing new stories, but that’s about to change after this makeover of the first blog I ever designed. Watch the video. Check out the new look of the Growin’ Up in Maine template and blog.

Bookmark the site or subscribe to the rss feed to read future stories about what it was like living life in a small Maine town.

The cropped graphic as shown below is from a memorabilia newsletter html design launched within the last week and shows the top portion of the March 2011 edition of the Memorabilia News Bulletin for web design client Mainstream Memorabilia.

Each edition consists of 3 sections including an intro plus opt out info, discount price specials info, and an insider’s view of the memorabilia industry. 3 celebrity photos of autographed memorabilia are used and cropped to fit the format to decorate each section.

Links are included to their website pages for home, specials, contact, and their blog. Additional links across the bottom allow for changing preferences or unsubscribing per CAN-SPAM Act requirements.

For those in web design who work to the latest code standards, learning newsletter design may be a shock because you cannot use all the latest techniques of xhtml and css for a wow first impression. Literally, you must use code and basic html tags from 15 years ago including tables for layout.

This I learned the hard way in the testing phase of the news bulletin design for Mainstream Memorabilia.

The layout for an email newsletter template design must be simple and rigid. The reason you almost have to unlearn how you code is tables for layout and basic html code from 15 years ago will display properly in the widest range of email programs.

A 600 pixel wide standard newsletter layout works best, plus it gives a full view in most preview panes of the majority of email software programs.

For me, and after hit and miss climbing the learning curve, the evidence was in actual results during testing. After a few disasters the final design has the wow factor we wanted despite any code limitations, and the client is very pleased with the look and technical functions.

Mainstream Memorabilia is owned by memorabilia industry insiders with years of past experience in film and television production. They have the contacts for providing quality, selection, and value in celebrity autographed items, so visit their custom online store website that I just happened to design.

While there, you may want to sign up and subscribe to the memorabilia news bulletins, too!

The custom cms website for Corky my puppy was upgraded by adding a custom WordPress blog theme to match the main site. Recent work on the site includes the redesign as well as a series of custom video productions for the Life with Corky website and his story of a shelter dog in text, photos, and video.

Here’s the YouTube version of the latest episode entitled Corky Goes to Doggy Jail, and you may watch all the Corky puppy videos on YouTube, too.

The background music used as the Corky theme song was purchased with royalty free rights from the Music Bakery. All photos and graphics were created by me as part of the custom cms website design. Stories are told in the first person as dicated by Corky, narrated by me, and suitable for all ages. Don’t call the crazy house just yet.

The purpose of having a dog website is to promote adoption of shelter pets worldwide. You can follow Corky the shelter dog tweets on Twitter, also.

Graphic design is a very small part of my business, yet my trifold brochure design tutorial is very popular, and a reader recently emailed me for help with ideas for brochure template design inspiration.

For do-it-yourself brochure design, there are some online resources to consider for inspiration. If you use Microsoft Word they have a fairly good selection of standard templates for brochures with a choice of 65 different brochure templates created for various versions of Microsoft software products.

In addition to brochures, you may search for other graphic artwork ideas and templates for cards, mailers, stationery, newsletters, flyers, data sheets, and much more.

A new page for Blogger custom blog design pricing has been revised to include a custom WordPress blog design price. In addition, the price page lists a new service for converting a Blogger template and moving to WordPress. Here is an excerpt from the new blog design price page linked above:

For owners of Blogger format blogs interested in converting a Blogger template and moving to a WordPress template and theme, we can provide optional services. For existing blog designs in Blogger to export from their format and import into a custom WordPress theme, our technique will capture all blog posts.

Visit this blog converted from Blogger to WordPress to see a live example custom WordPress theme and matching main website.

The custom WordPress blog design price page includes the optional service to export from Blogger to WordPress with details on the process involved to maintain all posts, labels, archives, and search engine friendly (SEF) file names.

A second custom integrated blog design launched this week for author Ben Furman of Black Hawk Press. Mr. Furman is an independent publisher and writer, and former FBI Counterterrorism Chief who writes two genres of fiction. The audience for his mature content blog on counterterrorism is adults, and the latest blog features information about his fantasy adventure series for young adults.

Each custom integrated blog matches the pre-existing web design and each sidebar features a custom logo graphic as shown above to illustrate the theme of each blog. The original blog included posts on both themes, and the new blog separates content based on the target audience. Included in the custom integrated blogger template design is an audio player so visitors may listen to book excerpts, also.

The main site has more information on all books including reviews and links to purchase online.

A new custom blogger template launched earlier this week for the publisher and author blog of BlackHawkPress.com. The new integrated blog design color scheme and graphics match the pre-existing web design for a consistent look. Adding a custom integrated blog to any small business website enhances search engine optimization, or seo, and helps attract search engines.

Black Hawk Press is an independent publisher of counterterrorism novels by Ben Furman, publisher and author, as well as another genre with an adventure series of fantasy novels for young adults. Mr. Furman provides an inside look of worldwide intrigue and suspense based on real world experience aimed at adult readers. The childrens series of fantasy adventures offers excitement while providing positive messages for young readers.

The Black Hawk Press blog will feature posts with audio excerpts from their books, insider information about counterterrorism, and professional writing tips by Ben Furman. Follow this link to the custom integrated blog design for Black Hawk Press author Ben Furman to compare the look to their original web design.

The demo blog of custom Blogger designs is a revolving look at custom blog template work in progress, and the demonstration was revised again. Readers may visit the test blog used for customer review and approval to see the current design.

The blog custom template, xhtml, css, and custom graphics change for each client, and it may be interesting to view the rougher look prior to approval and formal launch. While the current custom Blogger theme may change depending on when you view this post, at the time it is a custom integrated blog template to match the main site of Black Hawk Press, a publisher and author in Charlotte, NC.

Visit the main site of this publisher of adult action adventure and children’s fantasy novels to view the layout, and then compare their site to the custom Blogger integrated template that I created.

Once approved and launched, the next custom blog template project may have replaced the demo for Black Hawk Press. In that case, follow the above link to their main site and then view their blog to see how closely both the site and integrated blog match.

The demo section of custom CMS web design and Blogger template services of the Small Business Resource Center was officially released today. View actual customer designs being prepared for review and approval in this web design and cms demo showroom of customer web design projects including custom Blogger templates.

The web design demo section for custom web design services displays client project work in progress and finished web designs. The CMS custom web designs may rotate, yet for now there are 2 finished websites, and a new demo cms design in work. The custom blog demo includes 3 posts that demonstrate adding an audio player, a video player, and other basic options.

The demo blog features an audio program with a podcast episode about adding Integrated Blogs for Small Business Websites, and the video is a tutorial showing advanced methods of creating web graphics. The blog post content will not change, but the look will. The color scheme and graphics of this demo Blogger blog template will change often to match new customer projects for approval prior to launch.

Visit the CMS Web Design and Blogger Template Demo home page to view web design and custom blog projects for launch in the near future, as well as finished designs.

A new custom integrated blog template design and site addition launched recently for Pacific Rent A Car, a car hire rental company in Cyprus. The new Blogger template for this international client matches their main website except for the addition of a new blog button in the top navigation. Here is a graphic of the matching blog top header and navigation buttons shown smaller than actual size:

The company manager made several comments about the completed car rental blog integration:

I am totally happy. Thank you for the great job. I worked with two different companies from India and they were not able to finish it. You are so professional. I am glad that I trusted you. Thank you very much.

Berkan Ocal, Manager, Pacific Rent A Car, Kyrenia Cyprus

The matching website integrated blog graphics and color scheme are nearly identical and passed tests for cross browser compatibility. While confirming my custom integrated blog design matched their main pages correctly in all major browsers, I reported that their main website only displays properly in IE.

Depending on when they correct their code, readers comparing my design of the Pacific Rent A Car blog and main site are reminded that I only created the custom integrated blog which was done in xhtml with css and displays well in all browsers. Their main site may not depending on your browser. The customer has contacted their original site designers to correct the cross browser compatibility.

A special thanks to Mr. Berkan Ocal for placing his order and confidence with me for a custom integrated blog. The trust of an international client more than 10,000 km (6600 miles) away for custom web design services is certainly appreciated.