Create Blog in iweb:
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1.Start one of two ways: If you already have your Mac Blog or Mac Blog created & want to customize it with Shabby Miss Jenn Designs, go to number 3 below. If you are just starting your Mac Blog, click on the “+” sign on the bottom left corner in iweb or click on “theme” at the bottom left. I chose the one called “white”. (Color can later be changed) or watch iweb tutorials.
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2.Choose Blog. (The Blog can contain everything the other pages include or the other pages can be added later). For now, only work on building the blog page.
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3.Now it is time to customize the blog. You should see the page added on the left. Click on the one called blog. You can right click and click on rename and give it the name you want it to have. I call mine “home page”, but Mac calls it “summary”. Under “Blog”, will appear “entries” & “archive”...you will use those to add entries and look at your archive. For now, just work on the “Summary” or “Blog” so you can customize it.
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4.Look at the first posting and click on it so that a text box forms around it. Using the handles, decrease the size of the box and make the space the size you want your blog posts to be. Now you can move this box anywhere on your blog page. This is now where your posts will show up when you publish each time.
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5.When you clicked on the blog post space, a pop up Summary box should have popped up and it will let you set up how you want your photo and blog post to appear. For placement, I like the choice on the bottom and for proportion, I like the choice of original (so my photo appears the way it was taken. Any combination can be chosen & it is up to you.
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6.Next, look at the top portion of the blog page and you will see a title, a photo, text, & RSS feed. Delete the title & photo (you can add a “Banner” from a SMJ pack that you added a title or a photo to). The text you can either choose to keep or delete and use the SMJ “journal mat” she gives in her kit to have your journaling on it. Move the RSS feed over the left or right. Anyone who wants to know when you update your blog can subscribe to this.
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7.Now, you are ready to use the Inspector tool on the bottom right.
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8.Click on inspector and start with options across the top of the inspector. Start with the first one on the left which is site and then move to the second one which is Page & Layout. Site contains your site name, contact email, & how much space you have. There is an option for a username/password if you choose.
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9.In Layout, this is what sets the blog look. The height, width, and header sizes can all be set. Then the page background and browser backgrounds can be selected. Click on image fill for this and choose a SMJ background from a Blog Pack for your browser background. For page background, I like to choose a color that goes well with SMJ’s blog pack background. (When you buy SMJ’s blog packs, she has done all the work of sizing your blog elements for you...meaning so they don’t take forever to load when someone visits your blog). For Page Size, you need to play with these settings and see what you like. These settings are what gives you ability to size it the way you want (depending on how big you want your header where your banner goes or if you want two or three column blog layout).
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10.Photos & Slideshow are next. If you are going to want photos and slideshow, you can stop here and set that up. This works with iphoto.
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11.Go to RSS next and select number of blog posts desired to show and how much of the post you want visible when blog is viewed. Choose if comments are desired.
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12.Go to Text and choose the layout for the text (left/right, center or expanded) & color you want your posts in. You can also alter your spacing here.
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13.After Text is Picture. Picture is nice because it lets you customize your columns by choosing the color of your column, the fill line, shadow, and opacity.
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14.To create a column, click on the Text Box on the bottom left and move it where you want it. (For example to the left). Now, click on shapes next to Text Box on the bottom and choose the shape you want. I like the rounded corner shape. Now stretch this box the size you want for you column. (This is where you will add some of SMJ’s tab buttons from the Blog Pack with your links). Next, click on the column you created and it will show handles. Go to your inspector and click under fill and choose color fill & click on the color box that appears below it. You can now choose what color you want your column to be. I like to add a color that will closely match SMJ’s Blog Pack I am working with. Once you have done that, you can choose your stroke. I like the line stroke. You can choose the line, the color, and how big you want it. This will outline your column. You can adjust the shadow and opacity as desired. If you do not want color, you have the option of a few other choices for filling your column.
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15.After creating your first column, you can create a column for your blog posts the same way. Remember, once you have created your columns, you may need to right click and choose move to back or front depending. If you want a three column blog, make a left column, adjust your blog post area for the center, and leave enough space for a right column....and you will have a three column blog. You may need to look back at #9 and set your width for this.
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16.You are now ready to start adding your links to your columns. The easiest way to do this is to add the SMJ tab buttons for your categories. Under each tab button, I like to add a text box and add my links for that category in the box. For each link added, highlight the link and click on the arrow in your inspector and click “enable as hyperlink” and type in the URL. I like to click open link in new window. Tip: if you will go to the site you are going to link and copy it, when you highlight your link and click “enable as a hyperlink”, it will automatically put the URL in for you. The nice thing, is you can give something your own name different from the URL and by linking, it will take you to the correct site. By each category having it’s own text box, you can move the categories as you choose and make the column look the way you want it to look.
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17.Next, add your photo frame to your columns...even more than one. You can add the journal mat here or under the banner. Just move everything where you want it.
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18.Remember to add a SMJ blinkie to your site if you are using the SMJ blog pack so Shabby Miss Jenn can be given the proper credit she deserves for her hard efforts in creating her kits & elements. If you are using any stock photos, or anyone else’s elements, it is good to give each person credit. I try to do this under a category I call “Credits”.
