Design

Altering SiteBuilder Template Designs

Trying to change one of the built-in Homestead design templates can be very frustrating at times. Because there are many parts assembled together for the web page design to be complete, if you try to expand things you will end up with a broken apart look. If you want to change a particular layout, sometimes it’s going to take an intermediate level of website design skill to change the style of the template .

In order to start changing the design, the first thing to do is unlock the elements so they can be moved from their secure position. Left click on the part that you want to move and then uncheck the box in the lower section of the properties editor that says “lock.” You must be using the main SiteBuilder not SiteBuilder Light to unlock the elements.

Many of the parts that comprise the template are images that can be cloned using the “Clone” icon. So, if you must make a page longer perhaps you can duplicate some of the parts that comprise the design to customize the page. It’s going to be a time consuming process. read Altering Site Builder Template Designs

How to Optimize Images Without Them Getting Blurred

If you have tried to use the built-in SiteBuilder  “Optimize Image” icon for reducing the file size of a photograph, it probably got blurred, looks fogy or cloudy. Optimizing photos so they are not murky can be done with a different editor. It’s a bit of a pain to have to do this off of the Homestead SiteBuilder program, but this is what you will have to do to make the pictures look clear and not hazy.

Learning how to work with another program can be frustrating, challenging and fun at the same time, especially if you are hooked on learning website design. Please don’t faint at the suggestion. The editing software I am going to suggest is free and easy to work with.

Altering an Image to Load on Your Site Quicker by Changing the Dpi or Ppi

A digital photo is measured using dots per inch or DPI. Another term that you may see is PPI which stands for pixels per inch.

The recommended dots or pixels per inch for web design are 72dpi. If you are uploading a large size photo, like 600 wide x 400 high, you will need to reduce the pixels per inch to smaller than 72ppi in order for it to load quickly. read How to Optimize Homestead Website Images

Using Gimp for Editing Photos and Making Logos

The Gimp free software download for editing photos, creating logos and banners is my first choice for making image changes while designing my Homestead SiteBuilder pages. I’ve been told that the program’s running a very close second to the all favorite editor, Photo Shop. The biggest difference between the two programs, designed to alter pictures, is the price. From what I understand Adobe’s program costs hundreds of dollars.

The freeware company provides excellent tutorials which demonstrate how to use many of the features within the program. Youtube enthusiasts have developed video tutorials showing how to work inside of the program as well. This makes learning how to use the software even easier than following the developers tutorials at times. read Editing Photos and Making Logos

How to Add Blog Feed to SiteBuilder Page

Homestead Blog Feed URL Location

Blogging is popular these days. Here is how to add a RSS  blog feed to your Homestead Site Builder. It is actually the same technique as demonstrated in the video I created for adding an RSS to your page. The only drawback to implementing the platform into your website design is that only the content gets displayed. There’s no connection with the header or comment applications from your blog feed.

• Tip: As a word of caution, if you are adding someone else’s blog rss feed to your Homestead page and there are links inside of the display box, when a visitor to your Sitebuilder page clicks on the link it will take them off of your website

read How to Add a Blog to Homestead Website

Choosing Keywords for Your Website

Keyword Selection

The process you use for choosing keywords for your Homestead Sitebuilder pages will either make you or break you. What is the best method for finding phrases to use on your website that will bring visitors to your pages? Have you heard of the term “long tail” yet? What is Adwords? How can I use the system to find particular terms that people use when searching for things related to my online niche? I will answer these questions in the following paragraphs.

First we must recognize that Google is the king of all the search engines. If we are going to succeed at selecting terms that have a good chance of bringing traffic to our business or hobby website, we should look to the king.

Notice in the illustration at the top left of the page. When a term is typed into the search box there is a drop down menu with keyword phrases in it. These terms are arranged by popularity for search terms that are related to the keywords you typed into the main area. In Choosing Keywords for Your Website