Da Blogmother

TypePad Layouts: Fluid Width Column

Here's how to set a "fluid" width column in the TypePad blogging platform as mentioned here

Sign in to your TypePad Pro account.

Click the Weblogs tab.

From the list of your blogs (you can have multiple blogs with a TypePad Pro account), select the blog you want to work on, and click Design.

At the Design screen, click Change Layout.

For this example, I'm choosing 3 Columns Right, under the list of Classic layouts, click Save Changes.

Clicking Save Changes takes you back to the Design screen.  Now click Change Theme.

On the Theme screen, the radio buttom beside Pre-defined theme is checked by default.  Click the radio button beside Custom theme to change it.

This takes you to the Customize Your Theme screen.  This is an easy-to-use wizard that allows you to construct your own TypePad theme.  Click General Page Settings.

The Template Builder wizard will pop up.  At Main Content Column, Left column,  choose "Fluid" from the drop down list of column widths.  Note you can also change background colors, borders, border colors, and link colors with this wizard.

When finished, scroll to the bottom of the wizard pop up window, and click Save Changes.

Clicking Save Changes in the pop-up wizard will return you to the Customize Your Theme screen.  Scroll to the bottom, click Save Changes.

Click Save Changes in the Customize Your Theme screen will return you to the Design screen.  Scroll to the bottom, click Republish Weblog.

TIP:  Since TypePad Pro allows you to have multiple blogs, don't make design experiments on your live working business blog.  Create a new, different test blog.  Play with all the theme design features on the test blog. 

Once you're happy with the test blog's theme, you can just apply that finished theme to your original blog.  If you decide you don't like the new theme after all, you can switch back to your original theme.

Think of changing themes the same way you would like of changing a jacket.  It's not a big deal.  :-)

And What Were They Filming?

For anyone who wondered just what was being filmed last week on the corner of Avenue 56 and North Figueroa

It was a new TV series for TNT ....

More here

http://www.turnerinfo.com/newsitem.aspx?P=TNT&CID01=6ae1a382-b047-458b-8f12-8c3278b9e85b

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117980871.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

The Figueroa Street Business District could become a "Living Backlot" ®   Read Robert Mendel's proposal.  Mendel proposes that creating a an organized, film-friendly corridor along North Figueroa would stimulate tourism to the area, create business for the local shop owners, and begin generating funds necessary to restore the building facades along the corridor.

TypePad Classic Layouts

TypePad Pro offers five Classic Layouts with their pro level blogging platform

Why do you care?  Because if you plan to customize the appearance of your blog using the "Custom CSS" feature, you need to know the proper name of each layout in order to apply styling to it.....

So, with that in mind, there are the layout names in the same order as pictured above:

.layout-two-column-left

.layout-two-column-right

.layout-three-column

.layout-three-column-right

.layout-one-column

How would you put this to use?  Let's say you are using the 3 Column Right layout, with a fluid width main content  column.  That widens the entire blog so it takes up the full width of the window.  But let's say you'd like a just little bit of padding on each side.

You would enter this line in the Custom CSS editor

.layout-three-column-right #container  {padding: 2px 99px 25px 99px;}

If you were using the Two Column Right layout, you would revise that line to read

.layout-two-column-right #container  {padding: 2px 99px 25px 99px;}

The padding amounts are applied Top - Right - Bottom - Left ... So I am specifying 2 pixels of padding at the top; 99 pixels of padding at the right side; 25 pixels of padding at the bottom; and 99 pixels of padding at the left side.

TypePad: How To Display Author Bylines

A comment was left on one of my TypePad how-to posts with this question:

We would like to be able to differentiate between my posts and hers, but currently, typepad doesn't display any "posted by..." byline at the bottom of the page.

Here's where to set the Author Byline with a TypePad Pro account.

After signing in, click the Weblogs tab

In the list of your blogs, find the blog you want to work with, and click the configure link

Click the Design tab

Under the Post Footer section, click configure

A pop up dialogue box will appear.  Check Posted and Author (and any other items you want), then click Save Changes at the bottom of the box

That will return you to the Content Selection page, click Save Changes at the botton of the page.

Next you are returned to the Design tab page, click Republish Weblog at the bottom of the page.

Proceed with publishing.... that should do the trick.

If you want to use an icon/avatar for each author, you will need to switch to Advanced Templates, and manually insert a few lines of code.  If you want to do that, let me know.