Photo Stack Effect Using Only CSS3

There's a lot of buzz around the web about Google plus! I'm sure many, including me, are fascinated about circles! Well, did you find time to check out the other sections - albums on Google+? If not, try it now! You'll find a cool transition effect on hovering your mouse over the albums! Inspired by this, I googled about the same & found a solution to get it work on Blogger. Take a look at the demo here.

PHOTO STACK EFFECT - LIVE DEMO (LOOK AT THE SIDEBAR ON DEMO BLOG)

The main advantage with the above hack is that it works purely with CSS3. No Javascript nor Jquery - only CSS! However, there is one main disadvantage working with pure CSS3 - browser compatibility issues! The above hack works only on browsers that support CSS3! I'll try to get the same effect working on all browsers, with a gradual transition rather than the abrupt change, using Jquery in the upcoming weeks! Anyway, let's get started with this tutorial now...

1. Navigate to "Design>>Edit HTML" and make a backup of your template by clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top of the page. Once the back up is over, search for the following piece of code.

]]></b:skin>

2. Download the following text document - CSS FOR PHOTO STACK EFFECT and paste the code present in it just above the line mentioned step 1. 

3. Save your template. To realize the stack effect, declare image tags with class="photo1", class="photo2" and class="image3" respectively. Then, wrap them with an anchor tag using class="album". That's it! Difficult to understand?  Then, paste the following code anywhere on your template to realize the final effect.

<a class='album' href='#'>
<img class='photo1' src='IMAGE URL'/>
<img class='photo2' src='IMAGE URL'/>
<img class='photo3' src='IMAGE URL'/>
</a>

Note: Replace IMAGE URL highlighted in blue with your image URLs to realize the stack effect on your blog. If you wish to extend the same effect for more than 3 photos, then ping me via gtalk or leave a comment, I'll help out to achieve the same!

4. Save your template and view the same on a browser that supports CSS3 - possibly using FF3+!

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to post articles that are pretty unique on blogger. I would like to receive your opinion about the same. I hope you enjoy the articles on my blog including the one above! Please share your views about the same via comments:) Check out the other interesting tutorials on CSS here - CSS Tricks

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Adaptable View On Blogger - Introduction

It sounds pretty interesting rather strange to hear adaptable view. Isn't it? Well, adaptable view is basically an user interface pattern that allows people to change the visual appearance of the content/design on your blog. This offers more flexibility and control to the user over your content/design. A very good example to illustrate this effect could be on your delicious bookmarks.

Just navigate to the following link - Recent Bookmarks. Notice the three tabs/links that say "Low | Medium | High" once you hit the display options. Each one shall show you a different view: single, compact or full. So, how do I achieve a similar effect on blogger? Pretty simple, provided you have some knowledge about CSS and Jquery! Adaptable view can be used to change background colors, switch layouts, increase or decrease font size, darken or lighten the post area - as you see on Sohantaka's blog when you toggle the article view, etc...

In this article, I'll illustrate the above effect using two views: single-column and two-column view. Users can switch their views between single-column and two-column dynamically. I don't want to take too much of your time on explaining the same further. So, take a look at the live demo and let's get started...

ILLUSTRATING BASICS ABOUT ADAPTABLE VIEW ON BLOGGER - LIVE DEMO

1. Navigate to "Design>>Edit HTML" and make a backup of your template by clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top of the page. Once the back up is over, search for the following piece of code.

]]></b:skin>

2. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned step 1.

#commands { margin-top:50px;}
#list { width:580px; margin:0px; padding:0px;}
#list li { list-style:none; display:block; width:560px; background-color:#D7D3E0; padding:5px; margin:5px;}
#list li span { font-size:1.2em; margin-right:10px; font-weight:bold;}
#list.compact li { float:left; width:270px;}

3. Next, search for the following piece of code.

</head>

4. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned in step 3. Save your template.

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#fullswitch").click(function() {
$("#list").removeClass("compact");
});
$("#compactswitch").click(function() {
$("#list").addClass("compact");
});
});
</script>

Note: You need not paste the first line (highlighted in orange) in the above coding if you already have the jquery file running on your blog.

5. Now, insert the following tags anywhere in your template - may be within the post editor or on  the sidebar or below the content wrapper. Replace CONTENT HERE with your content.

<div id="commands">
Click on icons to change view:
<a href="#commands" id="fullswitch">
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2y4pzJuYcjs/TjJ5jYMHtTI/AAAAAAAABac/YRmIswHipxE/s800/switch_full.png"/>
</a>
<a href="#commands" id="compactswitch">
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WKPq4xPCASU/TjJ5jIrsdMI/AAAAAAAABaY/juaHG4yFUj8/s800/switch_compact.png"/>
</a>
</div>
<ul id="list">
<li> CONTENT HERE </li>
<li> CONTENT HERE </li>
<li> CONTENT HERE </li>
<li> CONTENT HERE </li>
</ul>

6. That's it! Save your template just in case you made use of the code on your template else, publish the post  with the codes mentioned in step 5 and you're done!

I would like to provide the reference script (used within the post editor to illustrate adaptable view on  the demo blog) for those who find it difficult to work out step 5 in the above tutorial. Download the reference script here - REFERENCE.

The above effect was tested to work fine on all major browsers - IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari. I'll illustrate the same (adaptable view) with more examples in the upcoming articles on my blog. Subscribe to my blog so that you don't miss any article that might interest you like the one above:) Share your opinions via comments! You may read more about the tutorials on jquery here - Jquery.

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Simple Slide Effect On Blogger Using Jquery

I've got another interesting tutorial using jQuery - four in a row. However, it's very important to note that all these effects are possible with the inclusion of one single jQuery file on your template which means no additional time to load your site. In this article, I'll teach you another simple slide effect or in other words, an up/down slide panel effect using jQuery. Take a look at the demo below...

SLIDE PANEL EFFECT ON BLOGGER USING JQUERY - LIVE DEMO

Interesting? Well, I have implemented the hack within the article on the demo blog whereas you can implement the same anywhere on your blogger template. Few examples include adding it to the sidebar with facebook like box, adding the hack to wrap the featured section, add the effect below your articles to show the share icons/author info widget, etc... So, let's get started.

1. Navigate to "Design>>Edit HTML" and make a backup of your template by clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top of the page. Once the back up is over, search for the following piece of code.

]]></b:skin>

2. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned step 1.

#panel {
background: #D3D3D3;
height: 190px;
color:#000;
display: none;
margin-top:15px;
}
.slide-panel {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border-top: solid 0px #422410;
background: url(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D9jcONOXd-Y/Ti-2VLRfmII/AAAAAAAABYU/NaQTyuOAnpo/s144/orange-slide.png) no-repeat center top;
}
.btn-slide {
background: url(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t8bcqIqAylk/Ti-2VtdLOAI/AAAAAAAABYg/VvElRnH_e4Y/s800/white-arrow.gif) no-repeat right -50px;
text-align: center;
width: 144px;
height: 31px;
padding: 8px 10px 0 0;
margin: 0 auto;
display: block;
font: bold 120%/100% Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
color: #fff;
text-decoration: none;
}
.active {
background-position: right 12px;
}

Note: You may replace the color code highlighted in blue to change the background of the panel. Similarly, the text color by varying the code highlighted in green. To change the height of the panel, vary the code highlighted in orange. You can also change the color of the slide button by varying the URL highlighted in pink. We have provided six different buttons below. Pick one from the slot that interests you!

3. Next, search for the following piece of code.

</head>

4. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned in step 3. Save your template.

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>

$(document).ready(function(){

$(".btn-slide").click(function(){

$("#panel").slideToggle("slow");

$(this).toggleClass("active"); return false;

});

});

</script>

Note: You need not paste the first line (highlighted in orange) in the above coding if you already have the jquery file running on your blog.
5. Now, insert the following tags anywhere in your template - may be within the post editor (or) on your template. Replace YOUR CONTENT HERE with any content you want - it can be a script or an image or a link, anything under the earth... lol....

<div id="panel">
YOUR CONTENT HERE
</div>
<div class="slide-panel">
<a href="#" class="btn-slide">Slide Panel</a>
</div>

6. That's it! Save your template just in case you made use of the code on your template else, publish the post  with codes mentioned in step 5 and you're done!

The above slide panel effect was tested to work on all major browsers - IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera. We are happy to inform our readers that some of my design articles have started to appear on the famous design site - Design News. I hope we'll be able to provide such quality articles in the future as well! Share your opinions via comments!

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Simple Disappearing Effect Using Jquery

We can tweak our blogs run on blogger/blogspot with simple jQuery scripts to make it more unique and attractive. One such attractive effect is the disappearing effect. In this article, I'll explain a simple disappearing effect that you can apply to any widget on your blog. So, let's get started. Just click on the link below to see a live demo of the hack.

SIMPLE DISAPPEARING EFFECT - LIVE DEMO

Interesting, is it? Let's see how it works! Before I start off, I would like to inform you that this tutorial is just an example to illustrate the disappearing effect. You may apply the same to any widget on your blog provided the code is wrapped with a div tag that calls the class 'pane'.

1. Navigate to "Design>>Edit HTML" and make a backup of your template by clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top of the page. Once the back up is over, search for the following piece of code.

]]></b:skin>

2. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned step 1.

.pane { margin:0; padding:0; }
.pane .delete { position: absolute; padding-left:560px; cursor: pointer;}

Note: You may change the padding as per your wish.

3. Next, search for the following piece of code.

</head>

4. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned in step 3. Save your template.

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>
$(document).ready(function(){$(".pane .delete").click(function(){$(this).parents(".pane").animate({ opacity: 'hide' }, "slow");});
});
</script>

Note: You need not paste the first line (highlighted in orange) in the above coding if you already have the jquery file running on your blog. I suggest you to use the Google hosted jQuery files as mentioned in the coding above for better loading time.

5. Now, just insert the tag class="pane" with any div tag on your blog. Next, include a tag say class="delete" with your image or anchor tags and save your template. To better understand what I blabbered in the last line, take a look at the following example (the code which I used on the post editor to show you the live demo).

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="pane" style="border: 1px solid rgb(9, 68, 136); padding: 5px;">
<img class="delete" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPBNBvzaABI/TiKdofaU0qI/AAAAAAAABUc/_msXzLYi-Ls/s1600/btn-delete.gif"/>
<h3>Sample Heading</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is just a sample post to check out the disappearing effect on blogger. If you like this effect, then read the tutorial on www.newbloggingtipz.com! We've more interesting tutorials out there! So, go check out the site right now!!!!</div>
</div>

Note: You may use the above coding in your post editor and realize the same effect on your blog, as well. To change the border color, change the color codes (highlighted in green). Change the heading (highlighted in blue) and content part (highlighted in pink) as you want! I guess the other customizations are pretty self-explanatory. So, give it a shot & I bet you'll like it!

I used the disappearing effect for the subscription box on my demo blog. Where do you intend to use this on your blog? Let us know via comments! Let's see the creativity in you:)

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Want to Start a Blog About Marketing?

With the current economic downturn, marketing is increasingly important. Whether you’re a mom selling crafts and crocheted hats, or a start-up company looking to increase your brand recognition, effective (or ineffective) marketing can make or break you. Unless you have a marketing degree, however, this can be a confusing process.

Not everyone can afford to hire a marketing firm to promote their business; this is where blogs and how-to articles come in handy. The Internet provides easy access to thousands of articles and blogs intended to educate and enlighten readers, and is a veritable font of information. If you are a writer interested in marketing, here are a few suggestions for writing posts that will draw readers to your site and keep them there:

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT

Don’t waste your time or that of your readers by writing about a topic that you are clueless about. If you are exploring new territory, take a few minutes to research, so that you can speak with a voice of authority. Your readers will assume that your information is valid and will likely follow your recommendations, so be sure to do it right the first time.

HAVE A GOAL BEFORE YOUR START AN ARTICLE

Unless you are a seasoned marketing guru and author, it is unlikely that you will be able to sit down and start writing off the cuff. Jot down the topic you would like to explore, a few important key points, and then start writing. This will give your article a more polished feel, and you will be able to be more concise, which is always good when writing a blog.

KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

If you are writing about deals for dads, or money-making ideas for teens, make sure you are clear about your audience. A trick that writers are taught is to imagine someone reading their work. Imagine every detail, including clothing, hairstyle, facial expression, etc. Then, tailor your writing for that particular individual. This gives your writing a more personal feel, and will appeal to whom it should, thus guaranteeing loyal readers.

STAY UP-TO-DATE

Marketing strategies are constantly evolving, based upon the needs of consumers, advances in technology, changes in the economy, and other factors. Subscribe to newsletters, read recent articles and blogs, and be aware of changes that may affect the advice you are dispensing. Make sure that your writing always reflects current trends and ideas.

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE

Once you have your blog up and running and are writing quality content, spread the word and draw readers to your site. This can be done through the use of social media, word-of-mouth, creative advertising, or other methods. Since you are writing about marketing, there’s no reason not to use some of the tools you are writing about, in order to gain readers and popularity.

The Internet has made authors out of unlikely people. The quiet kid in the corner now has an outlet for his ideas, without ever having to say a word; the know-it-all now has a platform from which to educate the masses. Everyone has strong opinions on at least one topic (if not more), and blogging enables people to gain an appreciative audience for their expertise. Why not make this work for you?

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Blogging Should Be Fun

Alright, maybe blogging isn’t what you would do if someone handed you $500 and said go have fun for the day, but if it’s what you’re doing to make money or helping you make money it should be enjoyable. Work is work, but it’s a large part of life so you should be able to focus on the positives of what you do here in the blogosphere!

WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU ENJOY

Hopefully you are writing about what you know and enjoy. Doing so makes it easy to type and share your knowledge and experience with others. It’s enjoyable to publicly share your information on the web, to see the article you’ve published and that is something to be proud of.

YOU ARE HELPING PEOPLE

Hundreds, thousands or millions of people may be checking out the article you’ve written and because of that are learning a new skill, gaining motivation or being entertained by what you have to say. It’s fun to know that you are hopefully having a positive influence on someone else’s life! People all over the Internet are seeking out content for various reasons so when you sit down to blog know what sort of an impact you might make!

YOU HAVE A FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE

Hey, I sit here writing this article later in the evening because during the day I was out doing something fun during the day. If you’re a blogger, appreciate the fact that you have a relatively flexible schedule and can feel free to work when your brain is ready to be productive. Most people in this world are set to work on a set schedule and while those known hours aren’t so bad, I love knowing that I can put in my hours when it fits into my schedule.

WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT

The beauty of blogging is that you can write about what you want. It’s amazing to have a voice, and typically those around you can only hear that voice. Having that flexibility and ability to share whatever it is that comes to your mind is an absolutely phenomenal feeling and when you blog you should cherish that freedom.

COMMENTS/SOCIAL MEDIA

The beauty of the comments area under your article is that now you are talking back and forth with the people who really enjoy what you say. Writing the article is one thing and knowing the article had page views is cool, but when people speak up and talk about what you’re saying that’s when the fun begins. Get into your comments and have great discussions with your peers around the globe. Hop on your facebook and twitter pages and dive in to what it is that you talk about and it will be a more rewarding experience that you enjoy.

So, what's your opinion about blogging? Share it via comments below!!! 

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