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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 2:34pm | IP Logged
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I am so far behind on this thread... 
I hope I'll be able to find it when I decide to play catch-up on all these neat things. 
What I'm trying to figure out now is how to change the top banner. Right now my new look has fruits and vegetables at the top. My blog isn't about food so I'd like to change it.
I'd appreciate Meredith or Lissa or Michele telling me how...step by step. I already have the art I want to use.
Yea, I know typepad has the instruction somewheres, but, for some small reason, I understand the instructions by all of you so much better than theirs. 
Thank you. Merci. and all other acts of homage. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 5:06pm | IP Logged
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Cay, with that template you can only customize it if you have the Pro level account. If you do, I can walk you through it. (Or Meredith, you could cc the instructions I gave you—if they make sense! I guess they made *some* sense because you sure did a beautiful job!)
If you don't have the pro level, you can upload your own banner to the design-your-own templates but not the pre-designed ones. But if you want to go that route, it's easy to get your own banner up.
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Lissa
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 5:18pm | IP Logged
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Lissa wrote:
Cay, with that template you can only customize it if you have the Pro level account. If you do, I can walk you through it. (Or Meredith, you could cc the instructions I gave you—if they make sense! I guess they made *some* sense because you sure did a beautiful job!)
If you don't have the pro level, you can upload your own banner to the design-your-own templates but not the pre-designed ones. But if you want to go that route, it's easy to get your own banner up. |
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Send them to me please! I have figured out how to use the custom templates but not customize the pre-designed ones. I do have the pro-level.
Thanks!
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
http://michelequigley.com
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 6:36pm | IP Logged
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Michele, I'll look for that email, or Meredith can forward her copy. The nutshell version is that you have to customize the CSS (another version of code like HTML but more advanced). I am only just learning my way around CSS and I probably make tons of rookie mistakes. For example, I still haven't figured out which bit of code to tweak to make Elizabeth's banner not have that little strip of duplicated photo at the top. (Sorry, E—I"m still working on it!) I keep coming close but there's some nuance I'm missing.
Anyway, here's what you do. Click the design tab, then "Create New" design. What I like to do is work in the "manage your designs" screen so that I can fiddle w/ a template without it showing up on my blog until I'm ready to switch over.
So create a new template. Then open another window and go here: http://www.typepad.com/.shared/themes/lilia/theme-stevenson. css
—except where it says "stevenson" at the end, insert the name of the template you're using. This will show you all the CSS for your template.
Find the bit that applies to the part you want to change and copy it. In Typepad, to "Manage Your Designs" and click & hold on the name of the template you just created. Click "CSS."
Now you're at a screen where you can insert CSS. Paste in the code you copied from the template CSS page. Then you make whatever alterations you want, and your changes will override the original code.
For example, here's some CSS from the Stevenson template:
Quote:
body
{
font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;
font-size: 12px;
}
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This bit of code sets the font style and size for the page. Let's say you want the text to be bigger: just change the 12px to 14px. Click preview and you'll see how it looks. If you like it, save the change. You still haven't changed your actual blog—not until you click "Apply This Design" on the Manage Your Designs screen. (And then you have to republish.)
Changing the banner can be tricky, depending on what size it is and what the original template looks like. For example, with Elizabeth's template I had to figure out how to get rid of a little airplane cartoon in one corner. If you need help tweaking a particular template, let me know & I can send you the code I used (if I've tweaked in a similar way). I'm just figuring all this out by trial and error...I'm sure there are lots of places online to learn CSS but I've been having fun just winging it, LOL!
Seriously, does any of the above make sense, or is it all gibberish??? 
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Lissa
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 7:32pm | IP Logged
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Lissa wrote:
. For example, I still haven't figured out which bit of code to tweak to make Elizabeth's banner not have that little strip of duplicated photo at the top. (Sorry, E—I"m still working on it!) I keep coming close but there's some nuance I'm missing.
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Lissa,
Mary Beth pointed out that you have a strip on your banner too. And since, you're still great with child and have nothing to do, I'm sure you'll get it all figured out .
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 7:48pm | IP Logged
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Lissa wrote:
| Seriously, does any of the above make sense, or is it all gibberish??? |
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It does! I knew it was a matter of changing the css as I have already done that with my current background (let me know if you want the code for that, it's pretty easy) since I am using a custom setting but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to edit things in the pre-designed templates.
I'm new to css too and I'm SURE I make lots of mistakes but that's how I learn best. I learned quite a bit on Blogger by messing with the code there but the hard part for me has been transferring what I know to Typepad because their setup is different.
Quote:
| I still haven't figured out which bit of code to tweak to make Elizabeth's banner not have that little strip of duplicated photo at the top. (Sorry, E—I"m still working on it!) I keep coming close but there's some nuance I'm missing. |
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I wondered if that was on purpose or not. Actually I think it looks cool - like it's a design element. But it would bug me too because I would want to know what the issue was. I actually had to manipulate my own banner to get it to center correctly on my page so I can relate ...and I really want to know what I am missing there as well.
Thanks a bunch! I'm off to play with templates. 
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
http://michelequigley.com
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
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MicheleQ wrote:
| I wondered if that was on purpose or not. Actually I think it looks cool - like it's a design element. But it would bug me too because I would want to know what the issue was. |
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I actually have the same issue on my own banner, but it didn't bug me enough to try to fix it because I too think it looks like a design element, framing the picture. But when you're doing it for someone else, you start to obsess about getting it perfect, you know? I do think Elizabeth's banner looks cool as is, and I am totally in love with that photo. It was such fun to find a template to fit it. I LOVE that template... I'd always ignored the travel template before because of the airplane, but by the time Elizabeth asked for my help, I'd figured out how to get rid of the corner icons. And sans airplane, it really does work beautifully for Elizabeth's blog, doesn't it? Such a peaceful color scheme.
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Lissa
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Lissa
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Elizabeth wrote:
Lissa,
Mary Beth pointed out that you have a strip on your banner too. And since, you're still great with child and have nothing to do, I'm sure you'll get it all figured out .
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LOL--I saw Michele's post before this one. Yup, Mary Beth is right! I was just too lazy to try to fix it for myself!
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Lissa
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 9:02pm | IP Logged
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Lissa wrote:
| I'd always ignored the travel template before because of the airplane, but by the time Elizabeth asked for my help, I'd figured out how to get rid of the corner icons. |
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That's the issue I'm having with my blog. Springtime got the best of me. I was so tired of Lenten purple that I began playing around with other templates before Lent was over.
When I pulled the template up that I have now, I didn't notice the fruits and veggies...until I noticed the utensils on the side of my posts.
I can live with it...and I've received so many good vives from friends that I think it's keepable, for a while anyway. But I would so love to change the banner.
Andd I found just the one I need. Ripped off from a painting Karen E. had on her blog actually.
Now...the girls are bathed, house is quiet, I'm going to go experiment.
Thanks for the help, ladies.
I'll give a hollar if need be. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 9:04pm | IP Logged
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Lissa wrote:
I actually have the same issue on my own banner, but it didn't bug me enough to try to fix it because I too think it looks like a design element, framing the picture. |
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If I can get the banner inserted in the right place, I'll be so elated this will be the least of my worries.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 09 2006 at 3:57am | IP Logged
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| [QUOTE=Lissa]Springtime got the best of me. I was so tired of Lenten purple that I began playing around with other templates before Lent was over. |
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Cay, I just came from your site ... it's gorgeous! Love the banner *and* the yellow ~ I've been trying to figure out how to sneak some into my blog because it's my favorite color, but I can never seem to get it to come out right.
Nice job!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
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lapazfarm
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Cay, your banner is awesome! I love the picture!
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Meredith
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| Posted: April 09 2006 at 10:13am | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
Lissa,
Mary Beth pointed out that you have a strip on your banner too. And since, you're still great with child and have nothing to do, I'm sure you'll get it all figured out .
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Well, I'm late on this thread and I'll be checking out Cay's site in a minute, but I managed to tweak my banners (ala Lissa style) with playing with the pixels on my banner photo. I'll cut and paste the one I inserted into my "poetry" blog and you can try it in your "copied template" in your files section to see if you can get it to work, then you'll need to try it with your own banner photo. It has something to do with the repeat thing, and the banner pixel size, I think
I know we're all just muddling around here, isn't it FUN!!
UPDATE: Cay I love your banner, but it's not the cooking one anymore is it??? The yellow is delicious and your banner is so lovely!! Sorry I came in late here and couldn't help more.
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Meredith
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 5:44am | IP Logged
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Cay, I love that art for the banner! Nice job!
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 5:40pm | IP Logged
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Well, I'm lousing everything up.
I finally went Pro (let's hope that doesn't stand for professional ), and tried getting my title into my banner but still can't figure it out. And getting the banner onto the lovely Gourmet sidebars that I love is totally out of the question. 
I went and found the old thread on messing with the banners and my 40 yo brain just couldn't perculate the info. 
So I don't dare attempt this...yet.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Mary G
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 5:43pm | IP Logged
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Cay -- maybe you were on "holiday" too long. Let is sit for a day or two from your wild week and then try again....
btw, I love the pictures of the week and the final one with the present from the big brother! -- doesn't it bring tears to your eyes when the big ones do things like that for the little ones????
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 5:45pm | IP Logged
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Cay, let me know if I can help with the banner... (And welcome back!)
Louise, Theresa, and Marihalo Jen--just wanted to let you know your sites are still in the webring queue waiting for your code to be inserted. No hurry, just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you!
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 6:07pm | IP Logged
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Mary G wrote:
| Cay -- maybe you were on "holiday" too long. |
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That's a much nicer excuse than old age.
Thank you, Mary.
I really love Rebecca's new look at Gypsy Caravan and Babylove. I'm tempted to PM her for help (so as not to exhaust the new momma enjoying her babymoon at the moment ) or if Lissa or Meredith could please send me a copy of the instructions for setting a perferred banner on a pre-existing template and attaching the blog title inside the banner. Lissa mentioned it on another blog thread.
Seems such a simple thing but I can't figure out that CSS. I'm telling you...I need hardcore, minute-by-minute instructions. Otherwise, I'll be sitting here all week trying to figure it out and that is not good use of my time.  My dh would probably make me cancel my subscription then.
As it is, I spent all lunch hour until 2 PM trying to figure it out. I finally breaked to go clean up the girls' room and vacuum the house. Spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to hang a corner netting to put the rabid collection of stuffed animals and finally had to go get Corey to come drill holes and do it for me. Kayleigh is cooking supper right now but we have company coming so no more time to research.
See! I'm helpless. 
I'd rather be writing and reading then messing with details. Am I lazy or what!? Well, yes, getting old perhaps; but Mary has shown me there are better excuses to blame it on.
I'm taking the easy road: Rebecca, Meredith, Lissa, HELP!!!
Pitiful! Pathetic! I know.  I'm embarrassed but not enough to not ask. To think I kept a blog all of 2005 at blogspot. You'd think I would know what I'm doing.
I know the banner is OT here but the old thread wouldn't let me post under it.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 6:12pm | IP Logged
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Lissa wrote:
Cay, let me know if I can help with the banner... (And welcome back!)
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Lissa,
I was writing my long-winded reply and missed this.
I really hate to take anymore of your time away from your new baby and your family.
You're so sweet and have given so much of yourself already.
If you have the step-by-step instructions, I'd be so appreciative of you sending them to me.
Thank you!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 6:22pm | IP Logged
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| Seems such a simple thing but I can't figure out that CSS. I'm telling you...I need hardcore, minute-by-minute instructions. |
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Oh this makes me very nervous. If someone is sending Cay CSS instructions would they mind sending some my way too? 
I just switched to Pro as well, imagining all the banner tweaking I could do on my blogs. I'd really like to play with them a bit (maybe some of you caught the peek-a-boo photo and now-it's-there-now-it's-not template changes I've made over the past few days. )
Cay, you're not alone!
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Blog Q&A: customizing banners with CSS
