Own It . . . !!

There are millions of bloggers, using various blogger engines, which means there are millions of templates in use. And your template of choice is going to end up being similar to many thousands of others.

So what's so terrible about that? Absolutely nothing!

The templates have been crafted with love and care and enthusiasm, and have been made available to all blog users - FREE of charge. But you can make it your own - "Own It!" - by changing only a few parameters. The colour combination for one thing; the banner header for another.

Any change you undertake will make your template UNIQUE. The base template will remain the same as the thousands of other, similar templates, but it will have your personal touch stamped all over it. Which will tell your visitors that you care. Not just about the content, but how you wish to serve up the dish!

What you have to say on your Blog, the most important part, is still your own unique footprint on the web. Don't ignore the fact that the container in which you display it is also within your remit for change.

David McMahon posted a series of three pictures of the sunset on his shortest day of the year on his authorblog a few days ago. Apart from the phenomenom that Oz was experiencing their shortest day whilst the rest of us in the northern hemisphere were 'clebrating' the longest day, the pictures were of the usual high quality one expects from the man. I marvelled at the images he had captured and then a blindingly obvious thought struck me. Those pictures, untouched, matched the overall colour scheme of his 'Rounders 3' template. I wondered how one of those might look if it could be used as a banner for his site.

Long story, short. I fiddled around in Photoshop and came up with something I thought might appeal to him. I was still hesitant, but after a bit of encouragement from my 'better-half', Maria, I forwarded the idea to David. In true McMahon fashion (and I won't repeat the Aussie expletives from his email) he was delighted and enthusiastic and said he'd incorporate the idea as soon as he could find the time (Wendy in hospital, Blogger awards, deadlines to meet at work . . . and the rest!).

So I offered to do it, and he accepted. Don't misunderstand. This doesn't happen all the time, and to repeat a quaint Aussie expression that David uses frequently, ". . . neither of us paints the other guy's fence!" It is just something one bloke does for the other without any expectation of a reciprocal act. Mind you, I am ahead of the game, considering the amount of original stuff he pushes my way for publication on my main website Anglo-Indian Portal.

The change to David's banner header seems to have been generally accepted as a good move. And now I have a comment from YesBut encouraging me to "bring it on!"

How can I refuse?

Standby for the next post . . .