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Customized ActiveRain Blogs for Free – No HTML or CSS Knowledge Required.

I recently discovered a way to customize an ActiveRain blog. I then shared the idea on ActiveRain and even wrote a tutorial on how you can do it. The problem was that it required "coding" skills and had a potential problem with a few pages on ActiveRain. So I went back to the drawing board and figured out a way to easily create a customized Active Rain blog without any CSS/HTML knowledge and without interfering with AR's "Blog Roll" pages.

The Active Rain Custom Blog Generator

I realize that for most of you, your job is to know about Real Estate, not Web Design. With that in mind, I created the Active Rain Custom Blog Generator. It requires no knowledge of CSS or HTML, you simply answer a few questions, and it does all the hard work for you!

No More HTML Editing

Another problem with the old approach was that you had to manually add HTML code to every post that you wrote! With this new system, you simply add one line of code to your sidebar, and every post you have ever written will have your customized style!

It Plays Nice with Active Rain's Blog Roll

When Bob from ActiveRain saw my fist blog post about customizing the Active Rain blog, he pointed out that there are certain areas of ActiveRain that shows multiple posts from different people. Under the old approach, if multiple people customized their blog, then it could "break" those pages. The new approach addresses this and plays nicely with these pages. This is because with the new approach, you don’t add anything to individual blog posts. I felt bad that ActiveRain would have to change their system in order to accommodate my old approach, so I am glad that the new one fixes this. AR doesn’t have to change a thing to their code.

I am still waiting on the official "okay" from AR on this but given their feedback so far, they seem to want to work out a way to keep this feature available to the AR Community. Once again, kudos to AR for being so open minded and forward thinking!

The Active Rain Custom Blog Generator is located here. Feel free to play around with it and let me know what you think. This is just the "beta" version. I hope to add more features and flexibility in the near future. If you want to stay updated of enhancements to the Custom Blog Generator, just click here to subscribe to my ActiveRain blog.

By the way, the design that you see on my ActiveRain blog was created using the Generator. I didn't write any CSS or HTML to achieve this look.

Disclaimer: This is not a feature from ActiveRain, I do not work for AR (unless they want to hire me) :-) and I am sure ActiveRain will not provide Technical Support for this. So proceed at your own risk. I am not responsible for anything that you do to your ActiveRain blog.

Thanks,
Brad

Posted by Brad Carroll - Real Estate Web Designer on 04/06/2008 05:25 PM

Comments (139)

real estate web design, real estate blog design, activerain customizer

Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Blogging & SEO
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139 Comments on Customized ActiveRain Blogs for Free – No HTML or CSS Knowledge Required.

APR

2008

Brad, it's very slick. I wish I could preview it before making the change. I like the prism background on your first attempt. Put that into one of my posts and voila! Thanks for sharing

Wow - pretty easy! Much easier than the other - I hope we can keep this! Thanks

Hi Colleen: Thanks for the feedback. A preview feature is a good suggestion. I thought about putting the background in, but wanted to keep it flexible enough so each person can have their own design. I plan on adding another option to set a background. I will keep you updated.

Thanks Brad! I look forward to checking it out--it looks VERY nice and I'm ready for a new look!

Wow Brad- That is awesome..what a nifty little tool! Is AR ok with this now..?

Colleen: I just added the ability to set your own background image!

Laura, I emailed them but have yet to hear back. I think their main issue was the compatibility problem with the Blog Roll pages. That is now fixed with this new approach.

Debe, give it a try and let me know your feedback.

Brad, how kewl this is......I'm going for it so hopefully it will be given the green light by the "guys." I love the idea of not having to work around the html, losing it, etc. I already subscribe to you, thus, I saw your post. ;-)

Brad,

This sounds great! I feel as though I have really struggled being a techno wizard, when in fact I am just wanting to do Real Estate to the best of my ability. Thanks for your help and technology!

Hi Sara, That was my motivation for building the Custom Blog Generator. Now, you don't have to worry about being a techno wizard. :-)

Brad,

Very innovative. Thanks for the amazing tool. It took me about two minutes total to customize my ActiveRain blog.

Great job Brad! I will be updating the link on MTO now. MMMM...I think we may need a guest post on MTO from you!!! Let me know if you are interested.

Brad, your brain is enormous! LOL What an awesome feature. It took me a while to realize I was not on a private blog. Fantastic.

This sounds super, I will try it tonight Thanks again for sharing.

Brad, look at my page, need more explanation on the photo, how do we do that?

HOLY SMOKES - thanks so much for this. Off to try it out.

Is there a way to revert back to default if you don't like it anymore?

Brad, this is very very cool.... Chris Griffith just tweeted this and I had to come check it out for myself. This is a great way to distinguish your self from all of the other blogs on here. With more than 80,000 members there really isn't much that separates us on first impression looks. I like this idea.

Brad:Take a look at my AR Blog and let me know what you think. See, your old man does know a thing or two about design!

Brad - how generous of you to spend time on this and then offer it to Active Rain members - even with the "rewrite". Thank you.

Dad: Okay, I have to hand it to you. Nice work. I went in and added a background for you. Let me know what you think. http://activerain.com/blogs/realestatemarketing

Very cool Brad! I plan on checking out the your Custom Blog Generator this week. I can see this being a big hit with AR members.

NikNik, Count me in. I will message you and get the details.

Chris: HAHA Thanks. Yeah, I think this may spark people's interest. Now, you don't have to go outside of AR to brand yourself. This makes AR a true blogging platform.

Missy:You first have to create a graphic and then put the location to that file in the Generator. If you want, just email me your AR username and password and I will put the graphic in there for you.

Karen: Yes, if you don't like the new look, just go back to the Generator or just remove the code from your sidebar and everything will default back. So feel free to try it out. Nothing is permanent.

Stephen: You raise a good point. As AR grows, it's important that you can still set yourself a part. Like i said. I think this really takes AR to a whole new level. Most people get their start on AR, and then leave so they can have their own branded blog. This may make people stick around a little more.

Brad~Thank you for sharing your amazing brain with us. I have the color added, but still trying to figure out how to add the picture and background. Working on it! Thank you again.

Yo Brad - Thanks for the "Background Bling"! Now that will really rock the Crystal Coast!

Brad - this is really amazing - thanks for sharing. You may have created a new cottage industry for AR skins. Cheers

Julie: :-) You're Welcome. In order to add a header and background image. You must first make sure the file is uploaded. You can use Flickr or various other places. Once you have the graphic uploaded, you simply paste the "path" (http://www.domain.com/graphic.jpg) in the Generator. Hope this helps!

Brad: I'm glad I subscribed to your blog a long time ago, otherwise, I probably would have missed this post! You are a genius and I can't wait to try this.

Very nice Brad I'll have to check it out.

Wow how cool is this.......It looks so professional.........obviously considering you are the professional! Howgenerous to share that with us........and hopeful A/R goes for it!

Bobby: No problem. Thanks for helping me get the word out.

Jason: Yeah. Many people jumped on the My Space Skins bandwagon. We shall see. The only problem is, it's so easy to do via the Generator, you really wouldn't have to hire anyone to do anything for you - well, other than a custom header and background graphic.

Jan: I'm probably more geek than genius. :-) But thanks for the compliment.

Liz: Let's hope so! Hopefully, the more support we can drum up for it, the better the chances of AR giving the green light!

Thanks Brad.....I am working off the original. Is there a way I can have it have my title?

Hi Pam. I would ask that you not use the original approach as it conflicts with Active Rain's Blog Roll page. The new way is much easier. If you have a header image, you can simply paste in the path to that image in the Generator.

Wonderful! Thanks for the info sharing. You are cutting edge!

Brad, this is great. A nice feature would be to see the color scheme before we move the code. Great. I love your contribution. AJ

Thanks. I did mine, now that I see what part shows on the back ground I may use another photo.

Thanks. I just took advantage of the widget. I think I'll have to do a little tunig to make it look better, but I'm pretty happy with it..

Good job.

Brad, I can see the time to do this is not when I'm tired but I'm bookmarking for tomorrow.

AJ: A few others have mentioned this. Let's see if AR gives the official okay on these customized blogs. If they do, I will add the "preview" feature to the Generator. Thanks for the feedback!

Susan: Yeah, you may have to play around with it until you get the graphic just right. Be sure your header graphic is 950px wide. It looks like it may be a little too narrow.

Lane: Looks great! Nice job!

Marchel: I know the feeling. Let me know if you have trouble with it tomorrow.

Brad~ Thanks for all the valuable information. I have been searching for this type of information.

Brad, thank you for this! Since it's a work in progress, I may give you a couple days to tweak it. Very nice, and nice of you to offer your beta version without charge.

Brad.....I am struggling with the new version. Can you give me the colors that match the original one you posted? Also I do not know how to put the image in and personalize the header. Could use your help please. Also, I donot have photo shop

When I first opened the page, I was like, what in the world? Where have I been redirected to?

Pam: I will send you the new code snippet tomorrow. I will match up the colors from my original design.

Jeremy: Yeah, this takes AR to a whole new level.

APR

2008

Okay, I couldn't resist, so I tried to click on the link - and it didn't work for me. I'm going to assume that's because you're working on the other end, at the moment, and try again tomorrow. Thanks again!

Hi Margaret, Can you be more specific about what didn't seem to work? I just checked it and everything appears to be working correctly. Thanks, Brad. Try going directly to http://www.dakno.com/blogbuilder.php

Hi Brad, thx for stopping by and for the feedback, much appreciated. That being said... What an awesome script/contribution, you da man! Geeks rule, code is poetry, yada yada yada...

marti... (proud to be a geek!)

Brad, I notice that on a listing that I have on my blog, that somehow it eliminates most of the dollar amount. Any ideas on how I can fix that? I need also to add photos above.....if I have them on my computer, how would I do that?

Brad - Very cool. I did play with it. I'll be cruising the rest of your stuff later. Thanks!

Brad -Is there a way to do this permanently to the entire blog or does it have to be post by post??? Thanks and I love it!!

Brad this is great now I am going to have to work on getting a nice design.

Brad,

Seems like an excellent tool and one that will be welcomed. BTW, I saw the website work you just completed for Charter I. Impressive!

Brad, I really like the new look...Thanks for sharing.

Brad....thanks. For the life of me I have not been able to figure out how to put an image in the left corner. Any ideas?

Brad, yeah I know. None of the photo software I have will make it that long. iI is only 800 pixels in length. I don't have photoshop or anything.

If ActiveRain gives the official "green light" we will be adding an uploader feature. This way you can simply upload your image directly from your computer. This should make adding graphics to your blog much easier.

hey brad.... i used this feature and it looks great when I access my blog from www.activerain.com/carps but when I go from a group to one of my posts the header graphic is missing.... just wondering why and if I did something wrong... you must be swamped with questions..sorry! You have a good thing going here

Looks like you got the o.k. pretty quickly Brad. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get over there and do it later this week. Thank you!

You da' man Brad. YOU DA' MAN. So simple a real estate broker can do it.

http://activerain.com/blogs/douggarner

I want to get the chance to do some graphics, but I put this together in a about 20 minutes.

Good job

Brad, thanks so much for the useful tool. This is great! One question - I had tried to download the template in order to upload a Header image / Background image. But, do we need Adobe Photoshop in order to upload the graphics? Are there any free programs we can use in order to obtain images that meet the spec you described? BIG THANKS!

Brad - I used it this morning and received a compliment. Referred him back to your site...thanks!

Brad,

This is outstanding, I can't thank you enough. Where should I put a link for you.

Hi Dorene - Bobby here (Brad's father). You might want to take a look at the email I sent you about how to make your blog look like your website. Good luck and have fun!

Hi Brad - This is fantastic. Thanks for being generous enough to take the time to do this. I love the sleek look of your blog, and can only hope that mine winds up looking half as good. Thanks again.

This is really fun. DO I assume its OK with AR to use?

One question if you have time- I used to, in the html section, set a table with a background of "beige"- why? just to make it look different. Since I put your code in the sidebar the beige shows up as a thin border around the post with the mainpart of the post white. I'm assuming your script is overwriting my bg color? Is there a way I can still use a different bg color in a post?

Hmmm...I tried it....but can't get the header image to work. I am using the full path....I think. ...Guess I'll need to play with it some more!

Brad (Bobby) Thanks! I used it and I think it's fantastic...

Brad - just when I figured out the code you went and made it easier. I will have to test out the new method. Thanks for your generosity.

BTW - If I were a rain god you would be my 1# draft pick. :)

This is really great. I learn something new every time I read your blog.

Brad - I DID IT!!! It couldn't be easier and it is so nice not to have to put in the code every time you write a blog. THANKS!!!!

I am still having trouble with the header... this is what I have http://www.kimcarp.com/photos/kim_carpenter/images/282498/original.aspx but it is not working in the code.... Does this look right? I know I am missing something .... I usually can follow directions pretty well..:) Sorry...

Me again - I've just spent that last hour checking out everyone's skins. They are all fantastic!

I tried it once but the colour affected some of my blogs the same as Leslie above

Brad what great information. I look forward to playing around with it while I am stuck in Illinois visiting family.

Brad, thanks for this information! I already changed the background, still confused on how to add the header. Love the look! Thank you.

Firstly, I have to say that every link I've clicked on has let to some pretty hot looking blogs! Congrats to Brad for sharing. This is the ultimate paying it forward. Let me tell you, it was difficult to be in a rom full of wordpress/typepad people and hopefully this will make us look more credible!

Of course, I do have a quick q. Will my blog become skinnier and then my photos go out of wack, or is it the same width as before?

Brad, is anyone else having an issue with the code making them have to scroll to see the entire blog page?

I had that issue. So, I ditched it for tonight...Also, chose a photo and it repeated itself like a little checkerboard.

I noticed this when I commented on one of your earlier posts, and thought it looked great!

APR

2008

Hi Everyone. I don't have time to answer your questions tonight but I will address them tomorrow. By the way, I talked to the Top Dogs at AR and they are fine with this approach. In fact, I am working with them to refine this and make it even easier to customize your blog. We will be rolling some new features out in the next couple of days.

Very cool, thanks Brad! You are so helpful in attempting to make me look "cool" on active rain! Thanks for your great post!

I have bookmarked this for future use. .Sounds cool. Thank you for sharing.

Yikes I might not be liked but...if it slows down the system, I say forget about it. sorry. Maybe it doesn't slow down the system, but I do wonder.

I have nothing to add :^)

Just marked this blog so I didn't lose it.

Good, when I saw Brad's look I knew it was fine and I like them !!

Brad - I did a blog yesterday that got tons of comments on how I got the cool blog skin so that got me to thinking... Since the program that you created is a widget can you put a little button on the sidebar saying Want your own blog skin or custom blog click here and it would send the person to your site? All the other sidebar widgets have this feature. I think it would drive a ton of traffic to your site and it would be great for the bloggers using it since they could just direct people to the sidebar link.

I can't wait to see the new features.

Brad - Twitter has gotten the word out on this. very cool. I'll be trying this later today. Thanks for letting us know about it. Hope it does't crash my page. lol Bob H

Brad... this is rockin' good stuff. The old approach was excruciatingly painful and with a full array of CSS code, slowed down the system to a crawl. Looking forward to trying your approach. :)

Brad- Wow! this is very cool. Now we can all spent a ton of time tweaking our pages to get them just the way we want... then changing them again and again and again! I think this is fantastic for everyone!

THANK YOU!!!

Best,

Scott

I had to bookmark this too. I can't wait to see what else comes out. I'll be here waiting!

Hi Brad,

I did this last night, and like some others above, my page is a lot wider now, and you have to scroll right to see whole page. I even took the left side off,and same thing, thing I took it all off and it was still too wide. So, I put it back up until, your comments on this. I agree there is also a lag time for page to load. I'm not complaining, believe me, this is fantastic that you would first take the time to do it and secondly, share with everyone. I hope you get tons of business and proper kudos for all your work! You a truly a guru in my book!

Cindy

Is it possible to make the header image a .swf file?

Hi Guys. I thought that I would give a quick update and try to answer some questions. I am actually working on building a separate site for the generator. The generator will have a few upgrades such as an uploader (you no longer have to worry about "full paths") as well as a preview so you don't have to put in the code just to see what your blog will look like. But allow me to address a few questions now..

Will this make my site load slow?
Only if you have graphics that are large in file size. The code only adds a few lines of "style" into your blog, so it shouldn't slow down the load time. Not nearly as much as all the widgets that some of you have in your side bar :) hehe

Why Is My Blog Narrow
With the new design, the blog now has a "fixed width" If you include elements that are wider than the content area (about 670px) then it will create a horizontal scroll. If you don't want the scroll, make sure all your elements are less than 670px wide).

My Background image is like a checkerboard! Why?
We have set the background image to "tile". This is so people can place repeating background images. Perhaps in a later version, we will give you the option of choosing if you want the background to repeat or not.

How do I upload a header image?
This feature will soon be available. Stay tuned!

The Theme effects other parts of my blog post! Why?
This is due to a limitation in the AR code. I have asked AR to tweak their code so I can adjust only the sidebar. They are going to do this but it will not happen until their programmer returns next week.

My Question isn't answered, where do i get Tech Support?
I am going to try to do the best I can to answer questions. This was simply a "pet project" that ended up attracting more attention than I planned. Because this is not yet an "official" feature of AR, I do not think they will offer support for this.

Brad: Mine's just not displaying correctly. My banner is exactly the pixel that was specified. I'm not sure why. I am leaving mine on just for you to look at. I appreciate this feature. It sure makes each of us look different. Thanks a million!

I will be patiently waiting. I am so glad you did this. I just wanted to say thanks for sharing!!!

This is BRILLIANT!!! I am looking forward to test run this ;D

Thanks,

Cindy

Your awesome... So glad I bumped into you on the Rain among the thousands. Thanks again.

CHRISTINA WILLIAMS - REALTOR LIFE group

Just amazing what can be done with a little hard work. Again, Brad, awesome job, it amazes me you were able to figure out how to dramatically alter a website in this manner. Makes me a little concerned about security for my blog!!

Brad, awesome idea sorry we snowballed it a little quicker than expected! I have not been able to figure out making the header picture into full path. I will wait for that since you mentioned that you will have an update soon that might correct it. Thanks again, really cool!!

Brad, this is really a great post. How long did it take you to figure this out?

APR

2008

I found a bug!

Brad - I think I broke the internet

* sigh * ..... I am not able to figure out the re sizing for the photo and the template for it won't download.... Oh well, may be in a few days!

Brad, YOU are a GENIUS for coming up with this!

It looks soooooooo cooooooooool! : ) I love what everyone is doing!

Brad, since your the geek guru, do you think you could incorporate one of those POLICE PROFILE programs that alters, ages, adds and removes weight from a person's picture. I sure would like to polish all this off with a "Internet Extreme Makeover" on my picture. LOL

Seriously though, I'm going to look at this seriously...it's looks TERIFFIC!!

Wow Brad, that is neat stuff especially no CSS or HTML code required! I will take a look at the generator you have linked in your post. I have noticed a lot of blog pages being customized this week and didn't know how it was being done, I missed this post! Thanks, this is very cool!!

Great stuff...NOW all I have to do is find a nice graphic to go with the header......

THANKS, man....and THANK YOU AR for letting us do this!!

=-)

This is awesome! I just did it, and it was super easy!

Thank you so much for your input. I changed it again, and it looks even better now!!!!! Thank you for the link to my logo. I didn't know how to do that.

Carlie - Just a thought....To really make it pop, try using all the same variables except use a navy blue on the background to make it standout! Your choice!

Thanks for sharing this.... I find that 950 x 125 wasn't filling the whole header though. Then I tried 1000 and it's still not wide enough. Later for that.

Brad, I've got some bling now!!! Thanks so much!!!

Yeah! It worked for me today!!! Thanks so much! This is just another aspect that makes us unique here in the rain. You did a great job!

Brad~I just wanted to stop in to tell you Thank YOU for providing this for us. I sat down yesterday with some focus and completed my background and header. It was easier than I thought it would be. I just need full focus or it was going nowhere. I commend you on this. I love have a fresh look on my blog. Enjoy your night!

APR

2008

Brad: Thank you and I will try this. If anyone can find a way to make it NOT work, it is me. 8-)

Brad, I need help please. :) I tried emailing you through the Questions box on the AR Blog Generator site, but got a "Database Error". Anyway, I've resized my header to the required size and uploaded it to several different sites (Flickr, Photobucket, and one other that slips my mind), and the image isn't showing up at all on AR. Am I not doing something right?

Thanks so much for doing this for everyone! It's a great tool!

Brad......thanks for the update. for the life of me I still am unable to add a header. is it because I do not have photo shop.

O.K. I'm customized.

Love it. Thanks.

APR

2008

This is so cool! Hope I'm not too dense to use it! Thank you!

Kim Dillon, Creative Eye Home Staging

APR

2008

Brad - When I get home to my computer I am going to try it, wish me luck and thank you!

This is very exciting. The beauty of Active Rain is the way it is continually growing and improving.

APR

2008

Hi Brad! What an awesome idea. I just have one question though. I've created my header and saved it to a draft blog on AR to get my URL (just like Jeff instructed in his tutorial). The URL for my header starts with "/image" and goes on from there. I tried adding "//http:" in front of it but I'm not having any luck. What exactly do I have to type in front of what comes up as my URL? I tried a few different variations but it doesn't seem to work. If you have a minute to let me know I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Charlene, You no longer have to worry about uploading an image with the new version. Visit ActiveRainCustomizer.com

Thanks Brad!

APR

2008

Brad,

I am excited to check this out! I was excited when I saw the Talk2tanya.com website on your featured agent sights:) Hope things are going well.

JUN

2008

OK - as great and easy as this is I feel really dumb. Why is hy header image not showing up on my blog? it seems to be sized right. I don't know what is wrong PLEASE HELP!! Thanks.

JUL

Ok! I am just so happy to have color and my logo! Thanks for this easy stepwise process.

SEP

thanks for the ideas and list of sites

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