Improvements to Sidebar – Wordpress Blog

Tip of the day: Before making any changes to sidebar or stylesheet. – Copy the code into a notepad file and save. This means that if things go awry, (and they can easily do) at least you have a back up and you can revert to the original. This is much easier than trying to alter code.

Whenever I make a successful improvement I save the new file before moving on. This will save a lot of wasted time.

Changes I made to sidebar:

1. Add RSS button.

It is crucial to encourage readers to sign upto RSS feeds. It is the easiest way to keep new readers.

• Sign up for Net Writing feed
• RSS Button Maker

2. Add Photo

I like the style of this wordpress theme, but it is dominanted by one colour which makes it a little austere / bland. A photo adds a little interest; the only suitable photo I can think of at the moment is one of myself. At least, it gives the blog more of a personal touch.

3. Recent Posts

I added this feature, because I found I liked to use it on other blogs; it saves scrolling down the blog and searching through archives. Rather than use a plugin I used some simple code:

Thanks to Erii for this code: eri’s wordpress blog

4. Moved Archives and Blogroll to bottom To be honest, these are not indispensable, at some time I may remove them completely.