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Add Some Bling with Images

By lisahuff on Oct 8, 2007 in Blogging How-To




You may have noticed several of your peers are adding images to posts and pages: some are creating graphics that complement a particular post or page, like Jay’s customized header for her blog or JM’s graphics to draw attention to his ideas.

Using images is a great way to add bling to your blog. Before I explain how to add an image, you should keep in mind some blogging best practices:

  • Be sure the picture/graphic complements the content; don’t fall into the trap of adding meaningless, random images that don’t relate to the content.
  • Don’t overdo it; a well-placed graphic can enhance your ideas, but too many graphics can clutter the page.
  • Don’t use pictures from the Internet with properly citing them. You MUST cite pictures as you would text. This means you should include a link to the original source of the picture, and include the source information of the picture in MLA format. The best way to do so–without cluttering your post, is to include a list of sources at the end of the post.

    You might want to try creating your own graphics. Simply use PowerPoint to create a graphic (that’s what JM used in the example above). Then, take a screenshot of it when you’re finished (hit the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard–in the upper rand-hand corner). Paste the screen shot on a new slide. Then, right-click on the image and save it.

    The easiest way to publish these images in your blog is to upload them to an online photo storage service. Check out PhotoBucket or Flickr ; both are free services. You simply create an account and start uploading your images. Once the image is online, you’ll be able to copy the URL of the picture (usually by right-clicking on the photo, scrolling down to “Properties” and then copying the address (URL).

    When creating a post or page in your blog, you simply hit the “img” tool (for image). It will pop up a box for you to paste the URL. It will add this complicated looking code to your post, which may look a bit like a foreign language, but when you publish your post, your image will appear.

    Try it out–see if you can add some bling to your next post. A picture truly is worth a thousand words. And, it’s fun!

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