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Using the WordPress blogroll/link system to display website badges and buttons in your sidebar

May 19, 2008 By Daisy 4 Comments

Question of the day: How can I display linked images for other websites and blogs in my sidebar?

Answer: With the Links/Blogroll system already built into WordPress along with a Sidebar Widget! Here’s How:

I’ve seen this question asked many times. Most WordPress users assume that the blogroll/link widget using the integrated links system in WordPress will only display text links so many people use text widgets to paste HTML code for simple image links to other websites. Here is an alternative to the text widget method.

  1. You will need to have a url that points to the image that will be displayed in your sidebar for the image link. Most bloggers prefer that you host these images yourself. You can use the image hosting of your choice so long as the image is accessible via a regular URL. You will just need to know the full URL to the location of the image file.
  2. Next you will add the link to WordPress. From the WordPress 2.5 dashboard you can go to the “Write” tab and then choose the “Link” sub-tab.
  3. Complete the basic link information
    • Name - This is the text that will display if an image is not present for the link
    • Web Address – This is the URL that will be loaded when your link image is clicked.
    • Description – This is designed to give more information about the link. It is not as widely used as the Name but if you plan to create a good links page at any point I suggest including this information.
    • Category – This is important if you want your sidebar widget list to separate different types of links into categoriesAdd Link Basic Options
    • Advanced Options
      • Target - This is where you set whether you would like the link to open in a new window or the same window.
      • Link Relationship – This is an area that I have not explored but I plan to write a future post about the information set here can be used.
        Add Link Advanced Settings
      • Advanced – This is where you set up the image information!
        • Image Address – Enter the full address to the image, which you should have from Step 1
        • RSS Address – Link some of the other option this is not used as widely but entering this gives you future access to this info
        • Notes – You can add notes to yourself here. Want to be able to remember why this link was worth adding, enter the reason here.
        • Rating – Another option that can be used in certain situations, does not display in the standard links widget
          Add Link Advanced Options Cont.
  4. Go to the Design Tab then to the Widgets sub-tab to add the Widget to your sidebar. Click the “Add” Link on the Links Widget on the left side of the screen, Drag the widget to the spot you would like the widget to be on your site and click save.
    Completed Link Widget with Image Link

This is the most basic application of this solution. The Link widget included with WordPress does not allow any modification in terms of which link categories display, which pieces of information to display, or to change the sort order of the links.

Some more flexible Link Widget options:

Filed Under: WordPress Tagged With: blogger, bloggers, image link, sidebar, text widget, text widgets, widgets

Getting Back on Track by Splitting Things Up

May 1, 2008 By Daisy Leave a Comment

How many blogs would a weblog blog if a weblog could blog blogs?This blog was intended to be, primarily, my professional showcase. A place where I could display examples of freelance work that I do and also explore some new ideas as they arose. Last week, though, I suddenly found myself extremely interested and excited about something totally unrelated to customizing WordPress installations or creating Microsoft Office templates. My son started blogging. This started me on a quest to see what others had to say about the idea of kids under 13 years of age having their own blogs. While I have heard from a handful of parents with young bloggers, my searchesm so far, have come up a little on the weak side. There are a few blog posts here and there. Many of them were written 3-4 years ago. The blogosphere has changed and grown in that time. Clearly this is an area that is not as saturated with blog content as some of the other subject areas that I’m interested in. Instead of being yet another blog reporting on every little move WordPress makes I could really have something valuable to contribute that isn’t being hammered to death.

So, I have a new plan. I want to write about kids and blogging. I think that this subject has enough potential that it should have it’s own space. I want to create a site rich, community focused, site with resources for parents that either already have a young blogger or are interested in learning about the benefits and challenges of having a child blogger. This site will, hopefully, feature lots of guest writers, and be packed full of tips and suggestions on all types of issues related to kids publishing their work in a public format. This site, initially, will be focused on the parents. I’d love to have things to offer the kids directly and I think the site could easily develop into a resource for both kids and parents. Parent involvement, however, is really what I want to emphasize in the beginning.

Look for some announcements and possibly a poll or two related to the creation of a new site dedicated to kids and blogging. I have a domain name in mind and I am planning to contact a designer to help with the theming of the new site. My instinct is to throw something together tonight and have it live by morning. I’m going to try, however, to slow down and give things a bit more thought and planning. I’m very open to feedback and would welcome any comments or suggestions on this subject.

Creative Commons License photo credit: dullhunk

Filed Under: Blogging for Kids Tagged With: blog, blogger, bloggers, blogging, blogosphere, child, kid, kids, parent involvement, parents, planning, resources for parents

Kids and Blogging: A Call for Parents to Respond!

April 30, 2008 By Daisy 3 Comments

PC is my best friendAt the end of one full week of blogging with my son I am seeing some things that work, some things that don’t, and a lot of things that will develop as time goes on. I started writing a Top 10 type blog post and then stopped myself. After all, I have a grand total of one week of experience observing how my son approaches blogging. So instead of claiming to have advice to offer others I would rather gather information from others that are doing this!

With that said, I would like to start gathering stories and experiences from other parents with young bloggers. Here are some things I’d be interested in hearing.

  1. At what age did your child begin blogging?
  2. Was starting a blog his/her idea or did you suggest it?
  3. How involved were you in the beginning
  4. How involved are you now.
  5. How often does your child post?
  6. What types of things does your child write about?
  7. Is the blog public or private?
  8. What blogging platform is the blog using?
  9. Do you have any advice regarding kids and blogging that would be useful for other parents that are considering it for their own children?
  10. If you are comfortable, leave the URL of your child’s blog. I would love to share it with my son.

Alternatively, if your child does not have a blog tell me about how you think blogging would (or would not) be a good thing for kids to be involved in.

You can leave a comment on this post or use the contact link at the top of the page. I hope to get a lot of responses! I think the information gathered here will be very useful as I plan to spend a lot of time writing about this subject over the next several months (and hopefully beyond!)

Creative Commons License photo credit: iwannt

Filed Under: Blogging for Kids Tagged With: blog, bloggers, blogging, child, experience, experiences, kids, parents