2009 September | WebsByAmy.com

Archive for September, 2009

Embed a YouTube Video in Your WordPress blog

One of the awesome things about WordPress is the ability to drop code in to a post or page without needing any special ‘plugins’. Just remember to drop it in in HTML or CODE view (depending upon your WordPress version).

And I realized after I made the video that I spelled YouTube wrong (I typed it as two words, LOL!). So, trust me on the method (if not my spelling)!

I will be featuring more videos in the coming week(s) on most asked questions… so send me your questions!

Archiving Constant Contact Newsletters on the Web

You can make a save a copy of your Constant Contact newsletter to the web (without paying Constant Contact!). If you are hosting with me, you have web space that you can upload a copy to and this tutorial below will show you how to create a newsletter ‘page’ and link to it from an article.

However, you can also use this idea to create an ‘archive’ of your newsletters by creating a “Newsletter” page and providing links to your latest newsletter(s) for your customers who cannot receive email.

You can use this trick to upload a newsletter to any free space you have on the web (if you aren’t with my hosting) that you can then link to.

Red arrow points to the Upload Media button With any WordPress site, use the ‘upload media’ button from a post or page to import the ‘Newsletter.html’ (the name for my example file in the video) to the web and then just copy the link to where it was uploaded to the server.

I am sure you must be able to do that with Typepad or Blogger, I’m just not familiar with how.

StampinFun.ca is now a blog

Where have I been? I’ve been busy!

I designed this site for Tamye Dunbar with matching buttons (and a matching downline password protected site) just last week. This was a design that was conceived entirely in Photoshop, while I was looking to take a header ‘out of the box’ of the usual rectangle banner.

I designed the site layout in Photoshop CS3 and rendered it to pieces (header and background) that I brought back together in a custom coded WordPress theme. So, while it doesn’t look ‘out of the box,’ the header actually is a large rectangle that I lined up with the background to appear to be one big piece. This site is so ‘brand new’ she has not really begun blogging yet!

This replaced the HMTL website that I designed for her several years ago… it is easier to keep in touch with both your customers and downline in the format of articles that come to their inbox! As part of my ‘full service’ site design, I set up her pages which include an ‘Events’ page (which in this case redirects to her DBWS calendar), a recruiting page (again, links back to sign up online), a Specials page and a ‘spam and robot free’ Contact Form.

I added all the promotional ‘widgets’ and since she is a full service customer, I will be maintaining her specials page and sidebar. She has all the usual lineup of plugins for SEO, a Feedburner feed and a ‘souped up’ post and page editor that will easily import photos and documents for faster posting. I know that using Stampin’ Up’s My Digital Studio (MDS) is getting more popular by the day and gals want to have their blogs reflect their own unique banner and background.

Contact me regarding a custom theme (2 or 3 column) with your designed banner and background… are you an MDS superwoman… you’ll be surprised to see how fast I can get you online with a privately hosted WordPress blog with your banner! Read more about that here.

A WordPress ‘Website’ for Chad Faris

Chad Faris has a WordPress ‘website’ with blog! And, in case you missed the memo, WordPress isn’t just for ‘blogs’ it is a complete ‘content management system.’

Chad’s ‘home’ page has a ‘side’ navigation panel that features descriptions with links well as simple (traditional) top navigation bar. There are also three ‘featured’ areas at the bottom that direct you to other pages on his site.

This layout combines to give a ‘website’ look and feel BUT is configured for an RSS feed for the pages and the posts.

For the ‘look,’ I created a montage of photos to highlight his areas of expertise and ‘socialized’ him with links to his social media sites. His Twitter feed (or latest Twitter post) is streamed through the main page as well. Michelle Laycock worked her magic on a logo banner (plus business cards, etc.) for him, using his site’s ‘colors’ (black and hunter green).

He still isn’t using his blog yet… but the blog ‘page’ is purely an option that can be turned on or off easily. Since his site is more ‘page’ driven, I have configured PAGES in his RSS feed (hmmm… can your Typepad do that? I think not… .

As is standard these days, I have included a ‘sitemaps.org compatible’ sitemap of his blog (which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO) and submitted it to his Google ‘Webmaster Tools’ account for statistic monitoring.

That and the All-In-1 SEO plugin, he’s ready for the world!

Shannon Bruce has a new blog!

I’ve decided to share (show off) sites that I have recently finished that are exclusively my work.

Shannon Bruce is a is a Professional Certified Life Coach, Speaker and Certified Personality Trainer… and now has her own WordPress blog!

She has branded herself at www.ShannonBruce.com and I’ve integrated links to her social media, newsletter opt in, and her website.

I created an ‘out of the box’ banner with warm fall colors and leaves that are something of a ‘trademark’ for her.

Go visit Shannon and get some uplifting insight. Good luck Shannon!

Adding a Photo To Your WordPress Sidebar

This is entirely overdue, but I have finally created a tutorial about how you would get a photo and/or a link (or a linked photo) into your WordPress sidebar using a ‘text’ widget.

You can view this tutorial here as made from screenshots of actually uploading a photo and using html image tags to make it appear.

As a re-cap to the video, the hyperlinking tag is:
<a href="URL">link text</a>

Image tags:
<img src="URL" />

Remember the URL is the address of the destination (or the photo) on the web. For example www.websbyamy.com is the URL (or address) of my site.