How to: Add a Signature

Recently a customer asked me to add a signature to their blog and so I realized this was something I needed to learn to do. It was surprisingly easy and so below are the simple steps to add a signature to your blog posts.
{Before we begin: You will need a signature in image format - preferably a png with a clear background so any colors or backgrounds will show through. You can either create an image using a graphics program like Gimp or Photoshop or you can purchase a signature image like those for sale in etsy shop. This image will also need to hosted on a website, I use Photobucket as I find them to be reliable and trustworthy.}
Begin by logging into your blog and navigate to the "Settings" tab...
Next click on "Formatting"...
Scroll down to the "Post Template" box...Then copy the code below and paste it into the box...
<p> <image class="centered" alt="post signature" src="SIGNATURE URL"></image></p>
The box should now look like this...
Then replace the words "SIGNATURE URL" with the address of where your own signature image is stored. I'll insert mine in the example below...
To finish, click the orange "Save Settings" button...
You'll see a yellow-orange confirmation that your changes have been saved...

Now we'll go over to view the new signature, just click on "Posting"...
The New Post screen opens and there you can see your new signature inserted...Simply click to the left of the signature image to begin typing your blog post and voila ! You've added a signature to your blog posts - Congratulations!

Enjoy!

How to: Link Your Blog Posts to Your Twitter Feed

I can't claim to be an expert on twitter, honestly I find it mostly confusing, but I do have a nifty tool to share for adding your blog posts to your twitter feed. It's especially nice for those of us who don't post on twitter very often because it helps to keep up an appearance of more regular postings on twitter. Having an active twitter feed only helps with increasing a better business following on twitter which can be quite beneficial. And so in this tutorial we will work together using twitter feed to link your blog and twitter account together.

{Special Note: Before we begin you will need to have a twitter profile, a blog and a blog feed set up. If you do not have a blog feed set up yet, simply visit my step-by-step tutorial by clicking here.}

To begin, we will visit http://twitterfeed.com...

Here we will type in our information which can be either your personal name or a business name. Once the information is filled in click the "Create Account" button...

In the next screen we will need to type in a name and the address of our blog feed...

To retrieve you blog feed simply sign into your blog and navigate to the "Design"section (used to be "Layout" tab) and click on the "Settings" tab...

Next click on "Site Feed"...

There you will find your site feed address which you can highlight and right click to copy...

Which you can scroll over to highlight and right click to copy....

Now we will return to twitter feed where we will paste in the feed url and click "Continue to Step 2"...

With your blog feed set up you will now see an list of available sites you can authorize to receive your blog feed. Here we will set up your twitter to accept your blog feed so begin by clicking on "Twitter"...

On the next screen we will click the large blue button to allow twitter feed to link to our twitter account...

And in the next window we'll click "Allow"...

Once completed you will now see your twitter information appear under Active Services...

When you're finished looking over this page you can click "All Done"...

You're now finished and can click the "Go to Dashboard" button for an overview of your feed and services....

Congratulations! You've now set up your blog to feed into your twitter profile. You can return to twitter feed at any time to set up other features such as Facebook. Don't worry if your latest blog posting doesn't show up twitter immediately as the twitter feed checks updates about every hour so it will show up soon.

Enjoy!

How to: Add Google Analytics to Your Blog

This tutorial will cover how to add Google Analytics to your blog. Google Analytics is a powerful tracking tool which provides a wealth of information about traffic to your website, blog, or shop. Personally I use it on all of my blogs, my website, and even my etsy shops. It's a huge asset in letting me know what traffic is coming to my sites, where they're from, and what they do on my sites. The information collected is invaluable and with small businesses can even be used to help receive grants or funding.

For today, we'll go through how to add this useful tool to your own blog. So let's begin...

I chose to go to Google Analytics by clicking the link on the Feedburner page but I'm sure you could find it by searching for it in Google...
This takes us to the main sign up page for Google Analytics where we'll click the "Sign Up" button...
On the next page we will fill in our blog address, exactly as it appears on the main page of our blog...
Next we'll fill in the name we wish to use for the account...
And then you'll change the country if necessary and the time zone to your location...
Then click the "Continue" button...

On the next page you'll fill in your name and the country you live in again, then click "Continue"...
On the next page is the user agreement...
Special Note:} I know these are a dime-a-dozen on the internet but I do like to look them over, especially if it's a company I'm not that familiar with.

We'll click the check box and then click "Create New Account"...
On the next page you'll see a gray second with alot of code in it...

You will be copying this code and pasting it into a gadget on your blog so the first thing you'll need to do is highlight the code by dragging your mouse over it and then right clicking on the code and selecting "Copy"...

Now, return to your blog and click on "Customize" on the top right side....

Navigate to the "Design" (used to be "Layout") tab and click "Add a Gadget"...
In the pop-up window select "HTML/JavaScript" by either clicking on the title or the blue plus symbol...
In the next screen paste the code you copied into the blank area, then click "Save"...


You will now see the new "HTML/Javascript" gadget box...

I like to keep this box at the bottom of my sidebar to ensure I don't accidentally tamper with it so we'll move the box down by clicking and dragging it...
Be sure to click the orange "Save" button after moving your sidebar gadgets around as this will save the new positions. You can verify the changes have been saved when you see the orange/yellow confirmation message in the middle of the screen...
Now you're ready to return to Google Analytics. Return to the page you were on and click "Save and Finish"...
On the next page we'll see the list layout of the websites or blogs you have under this Google Analytics account...
Notice the small warning symbol next to view report. This is present because Google Analytics hasn't confirmed the code has been placed on your blog yet. There are some changes and additions we can make while we wait for your blog to be confirmed so let's take care of those...

The next thing we'll do is click on the blue "Edit"....

This takes up to a screen which shows a more detailed view of your information...
We'll begin by working in the top section where we can change some of the information so click on "Edit"...
A drop down section will open where we can fill in missing information...
Fill in as much of the information as you can, the "Default page" in this case will be the same as your blog address...
The next section covers E-commerce information and Site Search. If you were accepting PayPal payments on your blog then you would want to set up the E-commerce section so you could track that portion of your blog but in this example we will not be making any changes to these two sections...

Now click the "Save Changes" button...

Next we will set up a Filter. This filter will come in handy when tracking visitors to your blog. We will be inserting your IP address so that Google Analytics knows to ignore your computer each time you visit your blog. That way you'll have a realistic view of the visitors you recieve.

Special Note:} If you use more than one computer to visit your blog then you will need to input the IP address for each computer since in most cases each computer has it's own IP address. The process is simple though and once you learn how to do one you will be able to do it again quite easily.

To begin we will click on "Add Filter"...

On the next screen you'll click on the drop down window next to "traffic from the domains"...

Then select "traffic from the IP addresses"...

Next you'll see an area open up with several boxes. This is where we will be typing in your IP address...

We will now be visiting a website to find out your computer's IP address. Click on this link to visit the website: http://whatismyipaddress.com/

Upon entering the site you will see your personal IP information and your location. The number is show in two locations. Simply write down this number exactly as it appears...

Now return to Google Analytics, give this filter a name like home computer or June's home computer and then type in the number of our IP address...
Then click "Save Change"...
You will now see the filter listed in on the next page. Each time you add another filter this will be added to the existing list...
To return to the main page listing click on "Analytic Settings" at the top left...

Upon returning to the main page you should now have a green check next to view report...

You can click "View report" to get a feel for your new report however the data is always a day behind so there won't be any information to view until the following day. You statistical data will continue to increase as time goes on because there will be more information collected from your blog. You can return to this page as often as you like to view statistical information on your blog and other sites can be added at anytime.

Enjoy!