Things you might not know

here are some terms and tips you might not know about.

--> what is a URL?
--> thumbnails
--> what is a blog button?
--> i want an image to be a link
--> opening links in a new window
--> how should i name my images?
--> what is bandwidth?
--> i need a photo gallery
.

What's a URL?  .

A URL is the location of a file on the web. This can be the location of a website, a page on a website, an image and more.

http://www.knitblog.com is the URL of this website.

http://www.knitblog.com/simple-help.htm is the URL for this page.

How do I get the URL for a page I like on a website?
Go to the page and look at the address bar in Internet Explorer (or other web browser program), you will see the URL for that page.

http://www.knitblog.com/images/needles.jpg
is the URL of the above image

How do I get the URL of an image?
Find an image on a website, right click on the image and choose "Properties". You will see a field named "Address: URL".
The text following it is the complete URL for the image.

You can create a link with the URL, go here to learn how.
.

What's a thumbnail?  .

A thumbnail is simply a smaller version of an image or photo

How do I make a thumbnail?
You'll need imaging/photo software on your computer to make the images smaller.  The typical size for a thumbnail is 100 pixels wide.

Can't I just get a little program that does this for me?
yes!  there are a variety of programs to choose from.  Go to cnet.com and search for thumbnails, or, here are a couple links:
1. Express Thumbnail Creator  <-- very easy to use
2. Easy Thumbnails  <-- free
.

What is a Blog Button?  .

A "blog button" is a small image that is coded to be a link to your blog.

How do I make a blog button?
You'll need imaging/photo software on your computer to make the images smaller.

The typical size for a blog button is about 120 pixels wide by 70 pixels high, or smaller.

You can save it as a .jpg or a .gif

Then What?
You will have to upload the image to your blog. If you use Photo Bucket you can upload it there and view the URL for the image. If you have Wordpress or MovableType, use the normal procedure for uploading images and view the URL for the image.

You have the option of just adding the little image to your blog, or you can code it to be a link.

How the heck do I code it to be a link?

1. Copy the URL for the image (button). It will look something like this:

2. Add the link to your sidebar. Use the URL of your image and type the code to make a link.
The link code should look something like this:

3. That's it! It's as easy as adding an image to your blog.
.

I want an image to be a link  .

You can add links to your site in a variety of ways.  Make an image a link, make text a link, and the next step is making the link open in a new window.

by the way: the code below that is <br> will make the next link appear right below the first link.

1. To add a simple text link:

2. To add an image or button as a link: .

NOTE:  in the above example the border="0" tag will remove any border from your image

3. To add buttons, spacing them farther apart vertically on the page, add two <br> tags

.

Opening Links in a new window  .

Add this code to the end of the link

So your link would look something like this

.

Naming images  .

The best way to name images is

what not to use:
1. don't use spaces (typed with your space bar), the file name becomes ugly like the one below

2. never use a slash!!  these files become corrupt and will not show up on your blog... and are almost impossible to delete

3. don't use quotes or apostophes.  many blog programs use PHP, and images named this way can get in the way of the software working properly

4. don't use capital letters.  sometimes an image named with a capital letter won't show up because there is another image on your blog with the same name in lowercase letters. so keep all images lowercase to avoid confusing your sofware  ;-)

.

What is bandwidth?  .

You go to a blog/website and see text and images.  Each time you view these, you are receiving a certain amount of information from the blog owners server.  The amount of information you receive is considered bandwidth or traffic.  Each month or year, the blog owner pays money for a specified amount of bandwidth.  So each time an image that "lives" on their server is viewed, they are paying for it to be seen.

For much more information, click here
.

I need a photo gallery  .

depending on which blog software you use, you can add a simple gallery to your blog.  some of them automatically create the gallery from a folder of images, and some programs require you to upload or copy images into the program.