Thursday 5 August 2010

Making A Clickable Button

Once upon a time there was a girl (girl! ha!) who could barely switch on a computer. Her kids wanted her to learn, her husband asked her to learn, her exasperated (but thoughtful) Californian sister-in-law even tried bribery: You know what? If I showed you how to send an email and google at least, then you could find stuff you liked and write me to send it to you. Tempting (she thought); but it took scrapbooking to get her surfing, in the end. Message boards, kit clubs, classes all opened up before her..


So, where am I going with this? I'm going to the next step, that's where. I'm actually trying to figure out how things work (I know, I know, I bet lots of you are already there; but please humour me, I'm feeling a bit good about it). I spent some time yesterday thinking about making a button for Pass the Book. I looked at a couple of tutorials; but I couldn't get them to work properly, so I played about and this - at last- is how I made a clickable button. Maybe there are better ways around (and I'd be interested to hear about them) but this works for me

* I chose my photo and in Picasa I cropped it to a rectangle and added text, then I uploaded it to Flickr
* Next Click on Share This and then on Grab HTML. There are 3 size options and I chose small. Copy the code.
* Then go into Blogger design and select add a gadget. Choose the HTML box and then into it copy the code exactly as you see it here


* Check that it works and add it to your layout
* The next step is to generate a box of code other bloggers can pick up and display on their own blog. To do that, select another HTML gadget and copy in the code exactly as you see it here


* Now if you place it under the button that should be it done

I'd love someone else to give this a try and see if it works for them. Oh, and I'm keeping the Pass the Book comments open until Monday 3rd in case you haven't had a chance to throw your name in. If you're not in, you can't win..

23 comments:

scrappyjacky said...

You are obviously a lot more computer savvy than me to manage this,Sian!!

Susanne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Susanne said...

Hi there. I posted it to my blog, it works fine. When I click on it on my blog it brings me back to your blog - just in general, not to a specific post. I don't know if you want to reference a specific post explaining Pass The Book or not. Hope that helps.

PS That's a great book to start with, I have it but haven't gotten all the way through it yet.

Abi said...

Looks like a fab book sian. Afraid I couldn't enter as I was on holiday but will wait till whoever wins it posts on their blog! The button is very cute btw! Abi xxx

Anonymous said...

I'm very impressed, Sian. I'll have to give this a try as well. Although I don't have a use for a personal button at the moment, I'd love to know how.

SarahLP said...

I'm impressed too! And will be trying out your instructions for sure.. will let you know how I get on.

JO SOWERBY said...

wow cool button, getting mine loaded to the old blog. ps i dont think ill ever be an expert photographer but thanx for the thought, ;-))
Jo xxx

JO SOWERBY said...

button on blog and happily sitting in sidebar
Jo xxxx

Amanda said...

Thanks for the button Sian. I've added it to my sidebar and very nice it looks too.

I have noticed that it takes me to your blog and not the book post hope that's what you wanted.

It's very satisfying when you work out how to do something new. I felt very pleased with myself when I worked out how to post a link when making a comment :)

Scrappi Sandi said...

Oooooh! Look at you!!! But isn't it gratifying to crack tech?!! When the penny finally drops!! My Eureka moment was when I made my two column blog template into three...HTML always looks like an alien language to me, but I really 'Got' it when followed the tutorial, so enjoy your moment!! I'm off to put the PTB button in my sidebar!!

alexa said...

Golly, I am admiring your energy and skill and persistence, Sian! I so need to learn all this stuff, but my eyes start glazing over and my brain hurts by about line four! However, I persisted to the end of your tutorial and will hopefully (gulp) give this a go... :)

Amy said...

The button is up and running at my place and I'm so impressed you figured this one out!
Not bad for a girl who thought she had no clue :-)

Carrie said...

Very cool! Thanks for the info how you figured it out! I'm like that too, when I get something in my mind I have to learn it and now! lol

Maria Ontiveros said...

Great design for the button, too!
Rinda

Carmen said...

Love the look of the button you've created Sian. I'm off on a weeks holiday tomorrow so will miss the start of your books journey but can't wait to see how this all works *g*

humel said...

Yay you - thanks for working it out, next time I need one I'll be able to rely on all your hard work rather than trying for myself! xx

Becky said...

Managed to put your button onto my blog! It's great, well done :)

Alana said...

Ohhh Sian you are almost a computer geek! I read the instructions as blah.blah,blah....blah. I still have some way to go to understanding technology.

Denise said...

Well done you for persevering - I'm very impressed and it looks great.- love that skull and crossbones x

debs14 said...

Well, having been away, I missed the opportunity to be in with a chance of getting my little crafty paws on the book (I just KNEW I ought to have popped into the internet room in the hotel!) but I have put your little button on my blog anyway as I am SO impressed at you designing it and making it available!

Lizzie said...

Yay for Sian! I bet you do feel pleased about this... I was so proud of myself when I cracked the problems with my new blog layout (html... something I learned years ago, which was pushed to the back of the mental filing cabinet when J. came along). We'll have you creating whole blog layouts soon... and did I see that you're going to make a seperate page for the Pass the Book project? So impressive for a "Heck-no, techno"!

Ifa said...

I am a little late but sorry, I had to laugh at all those html tags!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Just catching up over here, Sian. Congrats on mastering the task of a clickable button! I would have had no idea how to do it, so I appreciate how you have put the details in this post.

BTW, I added the button to my blog and it works just fine. :o)

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