karlyns.com

As if I don’t have enough sites to manage already… I spend some time at Google’s free blogging platform – Blogger – and work on new ideas for content. Basically, more things that interest me, like great educational sites and then freebies and sweepstakes online. It’s possibly a bit egocentric of me, but I figure if it interests me, if probably interests others as well.

This one is the first blogger sites I set up and it’s all about amazing educational finds online.. from sites to free offers. I teach tech, so we use a lot of these resources and I never cease to be amazed at the plethora of wonderful free educational tools and services available on the wide world web. I found this wonderful blogger theme (see January’s “Best Blogger Themes and How-to“) and thought it perfect for the type of blog I wanted to do. I have many categories that help to organize the various posts.. from assorted grades, subjects to homeschooling and freebies. I also occasionally share a lesson or two that I’ve personally taught in class and saw great results with. Check out great-edu-sites.blogspot.coms

So, this is a newer one I call “Enter to win!” I like sweepstakes and enter to win contests. I mostly like to win, but you can’t win if you don’t enter. I find it handy to have a place to go for a fresh supply of contest sites to enter. There are many out there, but sometimes you have to become a member and log in for access or sift through miles of content to find the actual sweeps. I wanted to put something together that was easy to find and do, quickly, without any other gobblygook to slow things down. So, I found this blogger theme that was perfect for the type of entry listing format I had in mind. All the newer contest go directly to the top and basically everything new displays right there on the front page. No need to search. I can’t cover ALL the contests out there, but I do try to post some quality ones along with some personal favorites. Check out nter2win.blogspot.com

Blogger is the perfect platform for the beginner. As you can see, it’s still fun for the not-so-beginners too. Blogger sites are easy to set up. You can have your site and content ideas up and online in 15 minutes and there are tons of themes to choose from too. I have a total of 6 blogger blogs. You can see the list of them on my blogger profile. Two were featured above and below are thumbnails of a few more, but they offer less content or simply pull the rss feed from one of my larger domains. But maybe you’d like to take a look at them anyways.

Thanks for reading and checking them out. I love feedback, so feel free to let me know what you think. Blogger.com is the free blogging service referred to here and what I used to create these simple blog style sites. Haven’t started blogging yet? Why not give it a try?

Google’s Blogger site has been popular for some time now. In a matter of minutes, you can get a new blog of your choice up and running with ease! A beginner? No problem. You don’t need any previous design or html knowledge at all, and i’m not exaggerating at all, when I say, just a few clicks and you’ve got a website!

Blogger gives you a nice selection of themes to choose from, to get your new site going. But, it’s the same selection that thousands of other people are choosing from that very moment as well. It’s nice to get in on a bit more variety, right? Right! So, here are some of my favorite free blogger themes (or skins as they are sometimes referred) sites. Once you’ve found one you want to try out, scroll down here for a simple “how-to” so you can try it out.

eBlogTemplates:
This site requires a quick registration, but then you have access to their free blogger download links. These are some of the best, quality templates I’ve found. They offer wordpress templates as well.

FinalSense: I like final sense because the blogger themes are easy to browse with the categories they set up, like “2-column”, “3-column”, “Animals”, “Country/City” and many more. The “Demo” link is a little slow because it shuffles through an ad first, but by just clicking on the image you like, then the title of the theme below it, you are good to go! This site provides you with an XML code, instead of a file download. For “how-to” on this code, see directions below.

InstantShift: One of my favorites sites, of course they have a post capturing the top blogger themes of 2009! 120 of them to be exact!

Directions on How to install new templates: (don’t worry, it’s easy!)

If you are working with an XML File:
• First, unpack (unzip) the XML file you just downloaded
• Log into blogger
• Click on “Layout”
• Click on “Edit HTML”
• Click “Download Full Template” in case you need to retrieve it later. It’s your backup
• Click on “Choose File”
• Locate your new theme file and “open”
• Click on “Upload”
• Save

If you are working with an XML Code:
• Select (Ctrl+a) all code and Copy (Ctrl+c)
• Log into blogger
• Click on “Layout”
• Click on “Edit HTML”
• Click “Download Full Template” in case you need to retrieve it later. It’s your backup
• In big box of Code, right-click and “Select All” (or Ctrl+a) and Paste (Ctrl+v)
• Save

The last step is to, of course, enjoy!

Here is a collection of some of the greatest desktop designs to help ring in the new year – 2010! HERE.

Jazz up your computer with a cool new MMX Holiday Design. I chose this great black design with bright 2010 sparklies below..
Click the thumbnail.

I was just viewing Matt’s video about the latest (greatest) Wordpress 2.9 upgrades. It’s wonderful! Well, yes, Matt’s video is very nice, but it’s the newest Wordpress upgrade that really takes the cake. I had to share it with you, because, if you’re like me, you want to keep your software and it’s plugins updated. [...]