93 Blogger Tip - Adding a Flash Slideshow Header

I'm really excited about the new "Blogger in Draft" features that Google have released.  If you are a Google blogger, you really should try them.  Simply go here:  http://draft.blogger.com.   There are two really cool features that I've begun to explore - Advanced Templates and CSS.

Hopefully you may have noticed that I now have this rad slideshow header.  Previously, the editing tools didn't allow you to insert HTML or javascript references into the header banner.  The best you could do was an image and a simple line of text.  That's why most blogger sites have the same vibe.  Along with that annoying blogger strip at the very very top.  That's my next project - getting rid of that thing somehow.

Once you're in draft.blogger.com, navigate to the template designer, pick your template and then move to Layout (as above).   You'll see that you now have a banner below the header (yay!).  You'll have to leave template designer to update that widget.  At the top of this screen is a menu item:  "Back to Blogger".  Use that and then go to Customize -> Layout.  There you will be able to add script to your banner.  It should look something like this:

Now you can edit each section.  If you are a SmugMug user like me, you would add script like the following (sorry for the small type):

and VOILA!   All I have to do is add images to a particular gallery and they get fed to the banner.

Peace,
Glen

PS - I've started a new site aimed at brides and wedding planners.  Let me know what you think of it.  http://glengoffin.blogspot.com

67 Yes, I'm Smugging

No, not "smuggling". Unless you consider it smuggling when I hide my ignorance, carry it across international borders and peddle it off as expertise. Hmmm ... good thing there are no dogs that can sniff that one out.

Wow, I have so much nonsense to share. Where do I start?

Let's start with Smugmug. As you all know, I'm no big fan of Flickr. It's great for some folks. It's just not for me. Mutual adoration fests and popularity contests are ... well ... just NOT my gig. I've posted on that before.

Soooo ... where to post my galleries?

I figure even babies are smart enough to crawl before they walk (though they don't do so well when chewing gum). And I can outrun a baby anyday. So my first step was to use Blogger for this twisted carnage I call a blog. It's easy, powerful and ... ummm ... free. Now, my second step is to use a turn-key gallery hosting service. One day (insert fantasy sequence and harp music here), I'll actually author everything myself and have a first-class site like Kathleen's (check it out for yourselves). Hopefully by then I'll also have a handful of decent pictures to show, too.

The two gallery hosting sites I see most often are PBase and Smugmug and, after rigorous investigation ... ok, I never even tried PBase ... I signed up for a year of SM mostly just based on how cool it looked.

A few of my initial reactions -

1. The commercial aspects (online selling) are important to me. Unfortunately, it seems pretty constrained so far at least at the "Power" level. I'm not sure but I think the way it works is that they sell prints and I get a small cut of the profits. At 19 cents a print ... hmmm ... I think I'll break even sometime next ... well ... never. Honestly, I think they capitalize on the fact that those who buy the most prints of a photograph are the photographer, his family and his friends. Smart ... but cheesy.

2. It's not immediately obvious but they fully support CSS customization. I'm looking forward to using that.

3. They (Smug) seem to be very sensitive to the copyrights of the creators. That is really important to me. A general respect for the work and talent of the photographers. There are mechanisms to disable various ways that internet thieves steal images. This, for me, is one if the key reasons for using a turn-key gallery hosting service since I'm still naive to all the different ways that works can be stolen ... but I know there are a lot of them.

These two images are from Old San Juan. There are sculptures sprinkled all throughout the old city. They are all whimsical and fun and have such a distinctive vibe. They've become iconic symbols of the city. This one is particularly fun. The glasses that someone placed on the bird are perfect!

Peace and joy,
Glen