Most people that found blogs have great plans – they want to write interesting content (that makes them money for their effort) and they want to be THE site that people come to for their information.
Most people don't consider what they want their site to look like though. Whether this is a deliberate oversight or if they just don't know what to do with their theme, it’s probably one of the biggest 'beginner' mistakes that anyone can make.
Blogger comes with lots of pre-installed themes – or you can add your own CSS to it, to give it your 'unique' look. Its important to at least personalise any theme you choose be it on Wordpress(self hosted) or Blogger – its not possible on hosted versions of Wordpress, or at least, not as easily. There are customisable options on Wordpress.com but they cost money and they
are still aren't as flexible as you can have on your own site, so aren't as customisable as you really need to present a professional image for yourself and your blog.
There are many themes that you can choose from – and it can kind of be like decorating your first house – lots of fun, but very wearing!
Wordpress:
http://themes.wordpress.com
http://www.wpthemesfree.com/
http://www.wpthemespot.com/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/02/09/83-beautiful-wordpressthemes-you-probably-havent-seen/ (this might take a while to load, but its
well worth it)
All of the above sites allow you to use their themes for free, though its well worth checking the licences – some are completely open – others are restricted simply to personal use.
You can also buy templates from professional designers – or look around and see who other people are using. It’s a fair bet that your colleagues or favourite blogs will have designers to recommend highly.
Blogger
Unsurprisingly most Blogger template sites are actually hosted ON Blogger, so you've got a vast array of free blog themes.
http://www.isnaini.com/2005/09/04/blogger-templates-no-60-profesionalthemes/
http://blogger-themes.blogspot.com/
http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com/ - the final site also contains a lot of wonderful tips outside the scope of this guide, about how to add more features, such as web albums (including Picasa) and forms.
Themes are easiest described as the thing that 'skins' your site to look different – more than that though, your theme controls ALL of the appearance of your blog – it’s not just the wall paper on the walls, but the walls themselves in some cases.
Most people don't consider what they want their site to look like though. Whether this is a deliberate oversight or if they just don't know what to do with their theme, it’s probably one of the biggest 'beginner' mistakes that anyone can make.
Blogger comes with lots of pre-installed themes – or you can add your own CSS to it, to give it your 'unique' look. Its important to at least personalise any theme you choose be it on Wordpress(self hosted) or Blogger – its not possible on hosted versions of Wordpress, or at least, not as easily. There are customisable options on Wordpress.com but they cost money and they
are still aren't as flexible as you can have on your own site, so aren't as customisable as you really need to present a professional image for yourself and your blog.
There are many themes that you can choose from – and it can kind of be like decorating your first house – lots of fun, but very wearing!
Wordpress:
http://themes.wordpress.com
http://www.wpthemesfree.com/
http://www.wpthemespot.com/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/02/09/83-beautiful-wordpressthemes-you-probably-havent-seen/ (this might take a while to load, but its
well worth it)
All of the above sites allow you to use their themes for free, though its well worth checking the licences – some are completely open – others are restricted simply to personal use.
You can also buy templates from professional designers – or look around and see who other people are using. It’s a fair bet that your colleagues or favourite blogs will have designers to recommend highly.
Blogger
Unsurprisingly most Blogger template sites are actually hosted ON Blogger, so you've got a vast array of free blog themes.
http://www.isnaini.com/2005/09/04/blogger-templates-no-60-profesionalthemes/
http://blogger-themes.blogspot.com/
http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com/ - the final site also contains a lot of wonderful tips outside the scope of this guide, about how to add more features, such as web albums (including Picasa) and forms.
Themes are easiest described as the thing that 'skins' your site to look different – more than that though, your theme controls ALL of the appearance of your blog – it’s not just the wall paper on the walls, but the walls themselves in some cases.
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