Home : Blogs : Jason Todd : Compelling Media + Design

Who Spilled the Paint?

Change was in the air this weekend around the ActiveRain playground, and it had nothing to do with the hamsters going on strike.

If you subscribe to Brad Carroll, you may have done a double-take when you went to his blog this weekend. Or at least checked the URL to make sure you hadn't left ActiveRain. Brad found a way to give his blog a totally unique look, made some modifications, and then shared it with the community.

Fast forward a day from discovery, and Brad had turned this process automatic - check out The Active Rain Custom Blog Generator

The ActiveRain community moves fast, and the look and feel of the site and member blogs is changing before our eyes. Here are some of the early adopters:

custom blogs

What do you think of these new developments? Will you be changing the color scheme of your AR personal space?

From the comments so far, this seems to be a popular idea. What's your take?

UPDATE - Here's links to all the blogs featured above:

Brad Carroll - The Original... & Missy Caulk
Doug Newby & Nicole Nicolay
Bobby Carroll & Leesa Finley
Marti Garaughty & Lane Bailey
Kim Carpenter & Susan Milner
Julie Neerings & Don Rider
Teri Ellis & Cyndee Haydon

UPDATE 2 - See more custom designs in Who Spilled the Paint Too?

--------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Jason Todd on 04/07/2008 09:48 AM

Comments (29)

activerain, blogs, custom blogs, activeraincustomizer

Post is included in group: Technology
Post is included in group: It's all about them (ThemThem)
Post is included in group: Dedicated Bloggers
Post is included in group: Almost Anything Goes
Post is included in group: Active Rain Newbies

29 Comments on Who Spilled the Paint?

APR

2008

Wow- I guess I need to be making some upgrades to my page. Thanks for sharing this with us. I am excited that there is a simple way of making the changes. I am glad that you posted the link to the page.

Best,

Scott

Jason, it's a neat idea and I've seen some of these changes. Not sure if I'm going to adopt these changes myself, but who knows?

Scott - it was fun to watch all the customizations happening in real time - I'm sure there are already a lot more, or the ones pictured above have even changed. Let me know if you roll out your own design

Brian - let me know if you do - I think as word spreads about this ability it's going to get interesting around here. Thanks for stopping by -

Jason, nice roundup of the new blog changes. Thx for including mine as well. I hope the AR folks will approve and let us keep the bling. It looks so much nicer than the generic AR blogs. Later...

Thanks Marti - I'll probably add the hyperlinks to all those featured later today. This could easily turn into an ongoing series.

I actually had two samples from you to choose from - you were updating while I was grabbing screen shots :)

Thanks Jason, I saved the custom page builder link. I did this type of thing with my myspace. It was fun. I wonder if you could use a myspace background by adding HTML? I guess I will have to experiment!

Jason - When are we going to see your new skin? I'm having so much fun looking at all these.

Hi Maureen - I'll get mine in the second round up :)

I like what you did with Rockland Home Staging - very nice

Jason, I was wondering where all of these colorful pages were coming from? They look great. I have to come over and check you out!

That looks totally sweet!

Wow! i'm going to try this. Not sure how it gets on my site from the Custom Blog Builder though... will play with it and see!

This is taking me away from the Kansas/Memphis game - and there's only a 1 point difference!!!!

Jason~I love the changes and the availability to customize our blogs more for our own personality. Now for figuring out how to add the banner at the top. Brad has provided such easy instructions too. Thank you so much for including my blog here and have a fabulous week.

APR

2008

Audrey - There is a lot more color around AR lately :)

Nyles - loved your video, I guess we're both crossing our fingers right now!

Gina - what a game! But I see you got in on the action http://activerain.com/blogs/ginakaylandis

Julie - My pleasure, but I see the image is already outdated, I'll get your screen again for round two!

This looks simplified to the point that I could do it, as soon as I have an extra minute.

I agree Bob - Brad Carroll did an amazing job and even better that he shared this with everyone.

I just posted a second round up of new designs:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/460139/Who-Spilled-the-Paint

OH - OH More homework for Virginia! I did notice a couple spiffy looking blogs yesterday, thanks, Jason.

Hi Virginia - I'm picturing a golf course banner...

APR

2008

Aloha Jason,

Thanks for the post, I had a lot of fun redesigning my blog page. I especially love seeing everyone else's shinning creativity. Here's my BLOG.

Peace,

Aloha from Halifax Kimo ,

Thanks for subscribing - I'm going to dig into your blog and read more. Love the Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole tune - it sent me to read more about him and his story - it's amazing what can be happening in other parts of the world, and years later it has an affect on you somehow. Thanks for stopping by, see you around AR.

Oh yeah! Once I could sit down for a bit and focus on the header and background, I was hooked. This was much easier than I expected. I love seeing all the color and variations in everybody's blog. I love the new header (I think it's new-right?) Looks great!

APR

2008

Julie, I think you were one of the pioneers in this customization festival! Good job, you saw the follow up, right? You got the special mention.

'Love your screen shots! 'Makes it easy to see what everyone else has done. It took longer than I would have liked to figure out the small nuances (like correct photo sizes), but I learned to use picnik with Jeff Turner's help and finally succeeded in creating something consistent with my outside blog site, yet different.

I'd love to make changes like this as well, but haven't taken the time to figure it out. I'm hoping that I can do it because technologically it looks crazy to me!

Hi Lindsey - not sure if you saw this recent development...

http://activerain.com/blogsview/463206/ActiveRain-gives-the-Green

Brad made it even easier for evryone to have fun! Thanks for stopping by - Jason

These are incredible! I will be making some changes soon!

Jason~Thank you again and I really appreciate all your support here. See, this is what I love about this fabulous place. People like you.

APR

2008

Reading blogs has become even more exciting now - you never know what the enxt one will look like! I have to say that all of them I have seen are very tasteful and eyecatching!

Hi Leesa - you were one of the originals! Quite a movement has begun, and it's been less than a week! Great job on being one of the first to begin the momentum -

Julie - I really appreciate the kind words. I've learned so much from others members - it's my pleasure to feature some of the great work above

Kelly - Good luck with your Mothers Day Walk in support of Breast Cancer Research on May 11 in Tulsa.

AR Members: Read more about the Tulsa Y-Me Walk to Empower and support Kelly in her walk with words of encouragement, or better yet - donate to Breast Cancer Research in your local area

Thanks for the post. I will bookmark this and try it some day. I will change the colors.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?