learning new 'tricks'...

apart from working yesterday, i've been busy 'enhancing' my knowledge of all things blogger this weekend...

we've been talking about a parenting / kids blog at work for ages now and even exuberantly set about creating one (with many 'test runs' on different hosting services!) - but with one thing or another (people involved with the project leaving or going on extended leave, unfamiliarity with applications 'trialled' - some of us always wanted blogger!! - rfid tagging taking priority, etc. etc.) enthusiasm waned rapidly and input became half-hearted, so it never really 'got off the ground'!

but (hopefully) that's all about to change... we've finally decided to go with blogger because it wins hands down for its ease of use!!!!! well, according to Sailor Lily and me anyway - we're both very comfortable with blogger and enjoy 'playing' with it and as we're now the ones responsible for the initial design and content of the blog we're really happy with that decision!!!! did i mention 'free without ads'?? even better - especially if it turns out not to be utilised by its intended audience!!

i've learnt how to create navigation tabs (still working on multi-layered tabs - they're a bit more 'fiddly')... you have to work within the template css code to do this and it can be really frustrating trying to find where the new bits of code need to go!! thanks to bloggersentral - i checked out a lot of different websites for this information but their instructions were the 'easiest' to follow...

once that was done the tabs had to be 'styled' in the design template (static colour, hover colour etc.) and a html gadget added with specific 'navigation tab' code and then the individual page addresses had to be added to link to the right pages - that takes quite a while...

i also learnt how to 'trick' blogger so that we could have a static landing page - not usually a blog feature and really not necessary in a personal blog but definitely needed for the library blog so that newcomers get information about what the blog is rather than stumbling straight into the posts!

all this took time and effort - but it would have been so much harder trying to do it at work - concentration was imperative and constant interruptions just disrupt the thought processes!!!

with that said though, i have spent hours trawling through information on how to 'adapt' blogger for what we needed... no, i don't get paid to work at home (unfortunately!!) so i look on it as a personal learning 'odyssey' because the knowledge i've gained will help with my own blog - and hey, it's not like i go out a lot these days - i certainly can't afford it - being solo-with-animals and living in st kilda is very expensive - i'm surviving on a band 4 wage working 4 days a week (no - i don't want full time work - i'm 55 and have been in the workforce 40 years - cutting back my hours is something i dream of - and allie & shadow deserve more companionship and the opportunity to get in and out when they want / need to a tad more often!!!) - oh, there's also the fact there aren't many people i want to socialise with anyway - and apart from that, being vegan limits the options for 'wining and dining' - we're just not catered for in so many venues!!

anyway, i'm happy with what i've done with the blog and think it's looking good - it'll soon be 'open to the public' so i'll put a link when it's viewable... now all we have to do is get the children's services team enthused about - and posting to - it!!!

you could say i'm a tad blogged out now though - so i'm just going to leave you with some music - haven't done that for a while so here's an aussie band i really liked years ago - the baby animals 'fronted' by Suze DeMarchi - they formed in 1989 - split up in '96 - they reformed in '07 and released an acoustic cd of their hits called il grande silenzio in 2008 (a fact i've only just discovered after watching the video - so i'll have to see if i can get the album!!) enjoy... (i just checked chaos.com and they have it so i've ordered it - you can even check out the tracks to see if you like it - and it only cost $11 - an affordable price!!!)