More Blog Tips: Making & Using Tabs

So here we are each in our little corner of the Blogoverse. Of course, just like you, I'm trying to make my corner as good as I can. Like you, I am proud of many of my previous stories; posts I have laboured over and want you to read.

But you are new to my blog.
Or you were busy that week. And you missed my brilliant  must-read posts.

You might have missed the funny one about the Toddlers' Tricks to get Attention.

Or my great Fairy Party. My delicious Tiramisu.
So how am I going to make sure these great posts can be found and read by you?

I create Tabs. Pages with lists of posts you might like to reference.
A Tab for my Best Posts. A Tab for my Ideas and How To's. A Tab for my Parenting stuff.
You need to know how to make tree lanterns out of jam jars? You can find it on my Tab.

Say you're new. You land on my blog by some happy accident. You don't know who I am. You don't know where I live or why I talk funny. You don't know who the heck Scrag is (a Cat? A Frog? oh, a KID!). Dash and Miss Fab - how old are they? And who's the handsome stranger that crops up from time to time - is he the gardener? (my handsome lover toy boy Brit husband, that's who).

But how will you know if I don't have it somewhere you can easily find?

So I am here today to introduce you all to the wonders and joys of Tabs. Pages, as they are called in Blogger. They can revolutionise your blog and change your whole world!

Er, that may be going too far but they are kinda cool and very useful for helping your readers get to know you and find your earlier stories.

Sorry Wordpress-users. I have no technical tips for you, but you can still take the principles and apply them to Wordpress aye? My technical skills are Blogger all the way, my friends. Blogger gets a bad rap in some places, but personally I love Blogger.

I had a funny conversation the other week with two lovely Bloggers from Up North who shall remain nameless. They were lamenting the clumsiness of the Blogger Post Editor. My ears pricked up, because I think the new post editor is rather nifty, or at least a vast improvement on the old one.

So I chimed in, "You have selected the New Post Editor in your Settings haven't you?"
"Whaaaat? A New Post Editor? There's a new post editor?"
"Don't tell me you are still having to bring all your photos in at the top and drag them into position...?"
"YES!!!!" they shouted.
"Oh hunny! You need to select the New Post Editor! You won't know yourself!"
So they did. And they are much happier with Blogger now. The End.

So ask yourself: Have you selected the New Post Editor? (Find it in "Settings", then "Basic") If not, go and do it right now and then come back to me. I'll wait.

With Blogger, it's just knowing how to get the most out of it, so here we go...

How to Make and Use Tabs Effectively.

Go into the "Posting" window and click on "Edit Pages" - see where the arrow is pointing? It's been there all along.

Click on New Page. This will show up if you have no pages at all. Or "Create a Page" once you've got a few pages already.

Once you are in there it's just like creating a post. Except that it's a Page. So you should think about what kind of Pages you'd like to create.

Your Pages should help your readers find out more about you.

So an "About Me" page is essential for starters. Really. If I'm new to your blog I will look for an about me page right away, so your About Me page should reflect you. It should give your readers a sense of who you are and what's important to you; where you come from and what they can expect to find on your blog.

Write the way you talk. Your About Me page is the quickest way to connect new readers with you. Have a few "Defining" posts about yourself linked there too, so people can read the kind of things that make you tick.

I also love a Best Posts page of some kind. Showcase all the posts you've written that you are proudest of. the ones that got the biggest response; the ones that you poured your heart into. Those are worth being read again.

Next you need to ask yourself, what makes your blog unique? Are you a crafter? A Baker? A Party-thrower? An eco-mum?

Make a How to Page of some kind of where you can link your tips and how-to posts. Give it some kind of logical order so people can find what they are looking for.

Really the sky's the limit.
I have a "Depression & Me" page, and a "Life in New Zealand" page as well as all the rest. You can have up to ten pages. I hide my Christmas page and bring it out in November!

Figure out the flavour of your blog and promote yourself within it.

You can make it look pretty using Photoscape. Photoscape is a really simple photo-editing tool which I use all the time since I discovered it. Download it for free here. It rocks.

I've recently re-done all my pages using Photoscape photo layouts which has made them all look much nicer, I think.

I used a 4-photo vertical layout in "Page"; squeezed the dimensions and then added frames of various types.

What not to do with your pages:
Don't use the pages to display actual tips or recipes, so that a reader has to start at the top and scroll through lots of articles they're not interested to find something they want. Use Pages as a Clickable Index using hyperlinks. You know how to make those, right?
{In case you're a real blogging newbie, go to this post to find out how.}


Ordering Your Tabs/Pages
Decide on the most logical order for your tabs, from left to right.
Then go to "Design"..."Page Elements"...

Click on "Edit" on the Pages element, as shown.

You will land on the "Configure Pages List". To re-order your pages, simply drag and drop until you like what you see. Then "Save".

Simple as that.

Oh. And one last little trick which many of you already know, but for the sake of our new bloggy friends, I will mention...

LinkWithin. A wonderful tool which puts a selection of previous posts at the bottom of the page. They start off pretty random, but after a while it seems to select posts on a similar topic, which is very cool.

To get the LinkWithin Tool go here and follow the installation instructions. It's very simple. You'll love it! And the great news is that it can be used on WordPress and Typepad platforms as well. So I guess I was wrong about having nothing for you Wordpress Bloggers!

More Blog Tips...

• Bloggy DIY for Newbies and Wannabes
• Blog Tips & Tricks for a Delicious Blog
• Making Photo Collages & Using Photoscape

Phew. That was a long post, but hopefully helpful.

{Leave me a comment if you have other ideas for future Bloggy How-to posts}