For Beginners: Learn HTML from Your Favourite Blogs

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I’ve been blogging for almost a year, and occasionally I have difficulties.  Homeschool Blogger support is excellent, but I want to learn as much as possible myself.  Well, eons ago (OK, maybe not quite that long, but that’s how it feels) I reviewed a DVD for kids on how to make web pages and it had one bit of information that I love to use:  

If you want to find out how someone got a certain effect on a blog or website, go to the top of the  screen where it says ‘view.’  Then click on ‘source’ and you’ve got the HTML code for that page. 

I think that is so cool!  Obviously, you can do the same thing on your own blog, to see how your own template works.

Of course, you can also access the template directly.  If you do so, step number one is to make a copy of your template, just in case you do something terrible to it and lose everything.  It’s probably good to have the blog backed up, too.

Once everything is safely backed up, you can experiment with effects you like from other blogs.  Of course, many blogs have copyrights on their designs, but you can still learn helpful HTML tricks by seeing what a particular line of code does.

Now, to all you experienced and knowledgeable folks out there this may not seem like a big deal, but for me it is hugely important.  Last year at this time all I knew about blogs was that they were something my husband got the news from. (Yup.  Hmmm!)  Now, when I have a few spare moments, I learn a few new HTML tricks.  I’ve come a long way, partly due to clicking on ‘view’ and then ‘source’!

To me this is fun.  And it’s helpful.  And it’s free.  And I’ll be thrilled if this tip can help another newbie along.  Happy template tinkering! 

If you have another tip that blogging newbies absolutely shouldn’t miss, please leave a comment.

For more tips, visit Tightwad Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday.