Oh man, I’ve been baaaad about posting here, I’m so sorry. So much has happened that I forget to post updates here once in a while. I just wanted to discuss a few last minute things on my mind before the year ends, things that might be helpful for you when designing or even upgrading your blog.
Do you notice anything different about this blog today? Yup, I’ve got a new custom font for my post titles. Neat, huh? I’ve been having a lot of fun with it on my own photography blog, working out the kinks and making sure it works on all platforms. It’s a flash-based font system (aka sIFR fonts), so as long as the browser viewing your blog supports flash, it WILL show up. On other browsers, say like on an iphone, that doesn’t support flash, it will default to a standard non-flash, web-safe font, so you’ll still be able to see the title, it just won’t be in the custom font you chose.
I will be offering this as a deluxe customization with an extensive list of fonts available. For now, it is only available for post and page titles, but not menu bar titles. Still need to work out the kinks there.
Just another way to spruce up your blog and make it even more custom than before. Woohoo!
(Click screenshot to view Blog)
I’ve been meaning to blog about this but I’m just finally having time to do so now. This is another “Ground Up” blog with very, very custom elements. Casia Fletcher of Purplenickel Photography had very specific criteria and guidelines of her design that made the project both challenging and thrilling to work on. The top navigations are not the standard menu bars you see in most photography blogs these days, including the buttons that lead back to the home page and her photography website. The footer includes navigation tools that were also very unique and includes a handy statistics table. When you get a chance, check it out! The photography happens to be easy on the eyes as well. 
Just another reminder, I am out of town until Oct. 3rd, but I will make every effort to obtain Internet access to work on pressing blog issues. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Just an update that I’m back to work, so I will be slowly replying to all of your e-mails this week. Please be patient. Thank you!
Aloha! I’m on vacation until Labor Day, so I won’t be working on any blogs for a while. Thank you for understanding!
I get asked many many times how multiple image transitions work for flash header slideshows. So I thought it would be a good idea to put together a tutorial to show you how it works.
First, you’ll have to choose the images you want for your flash header slideshow. In Photoshop, you will need to create a blank document, at the size you want your flash slideshow to be, then place each of the images on their own layers and lay them out whichever way you want. So in this example, boxes A, B, and C are on their own separate layers. Create separate jpeg banners (at the same dimension), turning layers on and off as necessary. Box A is visible through the entire slideshow, so it’s always on.
In banner #1, only Box A layer is on:
In banner #2, Box A and B layers are on:
In banner #3, Boxes A, B, and C are on:
This is the end result: (I added a blank banner to clear all the boxes at the end)
As a photographer, you can use your creative imagination to spice up your flash header. For examples of some really fun flash headers that use this technique, you can visit Pinkletoes Blog and Mariah Gale Blog.
Keep in mind that when you hire me to set up a flash header for your blog, it is up to you to create the banners to go into them. I will give you dimension guidelines and will ask you for ONE banner to set it up. After that, I will give you instructions on how to upload the rest of the banners.
Why don’t I design the banners for you? Well, the main reason is that I want to empower YOU to be able to change your flash slideshow whenever you want to, so you don’t have to hire me every single time to do so. If you’d like, you can also hire a graphic artist to help you design the banners, but it’s pretty easy to do it yourself. What I do on my end is to set up the flash plugin, code it into the header section, and make sure it works with all browsers.
Hopefully this tutorial is helpful to you! Please comment if you have any questions.
To show you how much blogging takes up my life, I am posting this blog from my iPhone! I downloaded the free Wordpress app and now I can blog wherever I go. How cool is that? I may actually do as much blogging as I do building blogs…maybe.
Just wanted to put these dates out there, in case anyone is looking for me.
August 1 thru 4: accessible by e-mail, limited internet
August 20-27: accessible by e-mail, no internet (woohoo Hawaii!)
Sept. 28. - Oct. 3rd: Very limited Internet and e-mail.
Feel free to e-mail me, I just don’t know how fast I’ll get back to you because I’ll be having too much fun. But wait, how can I get e-mail, but have no internet? I have an iPhone now, which has both e-mail and internet, but there’s no way I’m going to work on designing blogs on it. 
I know, I know, Wordpress 2.6 has been out for a couple weeks and you’re probably wondering if it’s worth it. Well, if you’re like some people who have had their blog hacked into recently, then upgrading to this latest version is definitely a must. Apparently the security patches are pretty extensive, as the developers are constantly trying to update the source code to deal with new hacking techniques. I haven’t had a chance to test the new version fully yet, but so far so good. I have still had to modify the source code in the wp-includes/media.php file to properly insert images at sizes larger than 500 pixels, but it’s a pretty easy fix. If you’d like to read more on the features of the new version, you can read it here.
Along with the new version comes updated services. If you turn to the Pricing and Sign-Up page, you’ll notice a few changes. I’ve added the “Ground-Up” custom blog package to the list, which includes 3 months free support and customizations, as well as having added the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin and a Statistics plugin to the basic installation package. All packages will have these plugins included with your new blog now! If you have a current blog and would like these plugins installed, they will be charged at the basic customizations price.
As the list of completed blogs grows (100+!!), I’ve needed to find help from an assistant, which I have in the way of Pam Biasotti. Not only is she a very good friend, she’s got mad skills in the customer service department from her networking days. If/when you sign up for one of the installed packages, she will be the first person to respond to your request. Because of this additional help, I have changed my payment policy to include a $45 up front payment for her technical services in installing your blog. The remainder will still be charged to you after customizations are complete.
All in all, I’m really excited about the changes and have really come to enjoy my “second” job since its fruition in the beginning of this year. Stay tuned for some awesome featured custom blogs that I’ve been working on!
This feature is available as a deluxe customization for $25.