Wednesday 11 January 2012

Time for an Upgrade?

Before I start today's post I just want to mention that there are a few blogs out there that provide the following message when I try to access them:


No Profile Available, blah blah blah.

I'm not sure what the reason for this is. Do I blame Blogger for derping up or did someone change some privacy settings on their blog? Maybe I'm the derp in this situation because I'm doing something wrong. Either way, if you notice the lack of comments from me lately it's due to one of the above reasons.

Onto today's post.

So I've had this blog for almost half a year. I have a fairly decent following and I make enough from advertisements that I'm able to cash out cheques. And thus the next logical step would be to get my own domain.

And therein lies the problem.

Pretty much.

It just seems to me this is what all the successful and popular blogs are doing. Supposedly it boosts traffic so that's always nice. I mean who doesn't want more people coming to their blog?

But of course you kind of want your blog to look a bit more dressed up before you show more people.

Thus, I need to make my blog look nicer. Seriously, I've maintained the background of this thing from some default Blogger design since the beginning. Same with my header. I need something unique and interesting to look at.

Or sparkly.

So any ideas, suggestions, or guides would be great. Keep in mind the level of difficulty that these things. I am in no way a Photoshop wizard (my preferred method of manipulating images is MSPaint) but I am willing to learn.

See you on Saturday.

80 comments:

  1. You can replace the background pictures with ones you upload, so my suggestion on that would be to find a wallpaper that you really like and use that. Thus you can stick with the Blogger designs which I find to be quite handy.

    Apart from that, the only other thing I can suggest that might be helpful is finding an artistic friend and asking them to do a banner? Worked for me with getting Poke the Rock to design my one.

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  2. Maybe you can ask around your friends, if they know someone, who would do something like that for free.

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  3. Hmmm, I just posted something similar on my blog, but yours is much nicer. Touche. I'm having the exact same frustrations as you. and I have no idea how to BS my way out of it.

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  4. hmmm....I don't have any ideas. Sorry. I draw bad pictures on mine and call it a day.

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  5. Hmm whatever you think buddy, I'll still follow you whether you get an upgrade to a new domain or not. As for that problem it doesn't happen with my blog right? Because that's a worry if it does!

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  6. I am getting close to doing this as well.... so I hope you do a post on what it takes to make this change happen... cause Im with you... I need some tips.

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  7. That blue background is kinda bland. Step your background game up.

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  8. Feel exactly the same with my course :(

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  9. I say just fiddle around in Templete designer and see if there's anything you're happy with. That's bascially what I do when I feel my page is boring.

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  10. Yeah I also got some of those errors. Plus you have to remember with changing your domain name you lose all your PR with google and have to build it back up again. There are tons of free backgrounds out there to use, just find one you like. As far as the header goes, think of what you want and then if you can't do it there are ways of getting it done, fiverr being one of them.

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  11. It's happening to me also.

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  12. I am following you based entirely on the name of this blog. Rock on!

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  13. There are so many free templates out there that look professional. It doesn't really make sense to pay for one unless you find one that you really really like. Paying for background art can be worth it, however.

    I'm thinking about buying a domain as well, it really does seem to take things to the next level. Create a favicon first though!

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  14. Well I think the design looks okay, it's more organised than mine at least :) It looks professional as it is really.

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  15. This bug is really shit!

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  16. Learn yourself some gimp! Free, updated, lots of tutorials. A side note, I was considering opening up another blog where I offer my services, usually for free. You can contact me if you want in on that, since the whole idea of it was for blogs and things. You can also contact me for simple gimp help, if you plan on using it. I'm open!

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  17. I get that profile not available thing too sometimes! Don't know what its about!

    I'd help you with the blog thing but I think I'm more clueless then you!

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  18. I'd help you, DWei, since I'm a design wizard lol but sadly I've never have enough time.

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  19. Good luck with your re-design! I think you're more techy than I am, so I'm sure it will look great!

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  20. Profile not available?

    Google has found them to be in violation??

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  21. Along with secretproject will come a guide on how to make a Blogger template from scratch. Some html/css knowledge is required, though.
    Also, I've got my own domain too (yay, popular), and it's really nice and all, but are you just shooting for the domain or also some space to host stuff on?

    If you ever need help with anything, shoot me up via email. I wouldn't mind helping you out ;D

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. Just have one sidebar and a larger posting part?

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  24. This post is awesome, following you now regardless of how the blog looks.

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  25. One, it's really easy/cheap to get your own domain ($10 a year). Two, I hired a designer because I'm terrible at html...

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  26. I feel your pain, university is hard this second term :( Good luck on the re-designing front, I'm sure you'll find something cool! xxx

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  27. I've been having blogger problems as well, but they usually go away if I ignore them.

    As for what to do, I'm of no help there. After my first check I decided I didn't want to work too hard on anything. I wanted my blog to stay focused on random pictures and animal pictures that I take. The pictures are relaxed and easy, and so should the work I put into it.

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  28. Ummm talk about derpy, I'm not even sure if this is what a domain name is but I think my blog has one. I feel retarded even typing this out.

    For me, it just made it shorter and easier. Like a midget whore.

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  29. I want to have my own domain too. Maybe someday! :)

    I guess, I need to change my Blog name. Hehehe! Regarding the header, maybe you can ask help to your help who knows in Photoshop.

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  30. I don't know about getting your own domain. Sure, it looks nice, but most blogs I'm following now with custom domains tend to 404 a lot and I need to refresh a lot because of that.

    If you want a new layout, I recommend going to:
    http://www.premiumbloggertemplates.com/

    They have instructions on how to apply the new layout to your blog.

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  31. Definitely go with something sparkly :P

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  32. blog headers are pretty easy to make, even with mspaint. Not sure about the domain stuff though

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  33. lol, I dunno, I kinda like the layout of your blog. Nice and simple. Although a header of some sort probably would be nice.

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  34. I dunno, the way it is, it's rather simple and that is never too bad. Better than a page with terrible GIFs all over the place. The simpler things stay the easier it'll be to fix things when things go mess up :>

    Not sure about the Profile Not Found thing. Looks like Blogger updated the user thing so that could be it.

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  35. Well. Get a domain. Your blog is awesome.

    but..
    Get a header and perhaps a background aswell?

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  36. I use and prefer wordpress, the theme for selfsufficientish.com was a nice free theme our sitegeek tweaked to match the site colours. there are a few places that you can get free themplates for blogger/blogspot, try some, even if it is just for ideas.

    you can also buy the domain and point it to blogger page so you will not lose any traffic

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  37. same thing happened to me a few times, not sure why it doesnt show the profile. also for your background maybe just make some kind of fancy looking graphic yet keep it simple and see how others respond. Good Luck!

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  38. Having just started my blog on the 1st of Jan its nice to see someone that is where i want to be!

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  39. always blame blogger, its like the medic/monk/healer of any team. blame em first. always. also would like to hear about the results if u used that fail line lol

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  40. get some dropshadow rocking on this bitch. Yeah, web 2.0ify your bloggy existence.

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  41. I look forward to hearing what you learn.

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  42. That's happening to me.

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  43. Just step away from the sparkle

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  44. Buy your domain name separately, so if you hate your host, you can move your website and it has the same address. My brother did mine...used Wordpress to create it. The blogger blog is separate.

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  45. If you have the program Dreamweaver you can really build an awesome site. Make sure you get a domain name that isn't hard to remember. GoDaddy.com will let you know what domain names are available. Make sure you choose a reliably hosting service so your page is always up!

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  46. Lol convictus yea some people just dont know how to blog the right way

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  47. If you're trying to access them directly by the URL, they either got deleted or changed their URL. If you are accessing them through their profile, then they got deleted, most likely banned.

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  48. I think the design is good as it is; it's simple and easy to find things. But there are a lot of free templates out there--a Google search will lead to thousands of options.

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  49. Purchasing your own domain would be a wise step in the right direction.

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  50. I hired a web designer to help give my blog a facelift. I highly recommend it!

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  51. i congratulate you on all of your success! i'm still trying to figure out how i can make money on my blog...

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  52. Im been getting some other errors in blogger also but not this one.

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  53. I had that problem with my blog once. (I believe you mentioned it to me?). I sent a report to google and they fixed it because it was just google derping up.

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  54. don't be afraid to experiment with different layouts and color schemes :)
    HEMAN FTW!

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  55. I think a lot of the original blogger themes look all right. If you get your own domain, a big thing to do is get rid of the "Blogger" bar at the top.

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  56. just go looking for a new template for free download

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  57. Photoshop is pretty easy as long as you don't make the design too complicated.

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  58. you want to buy a domain?

    go with namecheap, just recently bought one and their great... they even have an on site chat in case you have any questions. (also: they oppose SOPA)

    just please: DO NOT USE GODADDY!

    just my 2 cents

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  59. simple and clean all the way. You dont want a busy background.. maybe rearrange the gadgets.

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  60. Forget MS Paint! Photoshop takes time, and practice! But it is totally worth it. I'm a photography enthusiast and have been using photoshop for 8 years, and I'm still learning new techniques each and every day :)

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  61. okay see you on Saturday take care

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  62. Take over the google website. Guaranteed traffic boost! =P

    Good luck with the domain stuff, I'm clueless with anything beyond basic porn and games.

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  63. I started and Blogger and when I got my domain I went to self-hosted wordpress. Best move ever. And there are so many themes that have a program that let,s you change to look without need technical knowledge.

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  64. Everything is bloggers fault. Never think otherwise.

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  65. Little bit lost on all this hehe, but i like He-Man :)) Cheers for the comment, we'll try and figure out a tatt for ya if you want one lol + following :)

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  66. A nice background and header is all you really need unless you want to get super fancy. I recommend getting the GIMP. It's free. http://www.gimp.org/

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  67. I started out with a WP template and after a year had one designed for me. At first I was with Name Cheap; however as I started to grow I had more and more problems with them. I recommend Host Gator.

    Also I'd heard that if you're on Blogger they can screw with you anytime they want. If that's true, I'd jump to WP.

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  68. Blogger and google seem to be updating all their products, so i blame them

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  69. do it, i'm pleased with the results

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  70. Blogger allows you to host on your own chosen domain if you so wish, and you can tweak your blog's look using the tools in blogger itself. I've never done it myself, but I read some blogs who have done that.

    As for the blogger profile not available thingy, it's actually because the user can set it such a way. I noticed profiles like that mainly belong to people who use gmail, but do not have a blog, hence making the need for a blogger account useless.

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  71. I too have no idea how to grab a domain, however there is something I learnt is that don't use GoDaddy apparently. ;P

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  72. u can opt for a clean look without too many stuff to click on the sides. i'm no wizard either :p

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  73. When upgrading you need to spend time re-testing custom functionality

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  74. Gratz on getting to the point of expanding to a domain name.

    As far as blogger derping out, I haven't any trouble or worries in a while. Guess it's just you, hope it comes out right.

    Gimp might help you out on making graphics for your header. They have a create>logo option under file that will set effects to the text you select. I like using it and tweaking the results to my liking.

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  75. I've always liked the original, simple blog designs, easy to navigate, doesn't slow down low end computers and such and just neat and tidy. But I have OCD so :P

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