Search

Sponser

Thursday, 6 December 2012

Costomizing FC2 Blog Templates

FC2 has a wide range of pre-designed official and user templates available. Users are able to select their favorite design from a simple lineup and apply it to their blog whenever they like. However, sometimes users may want to tweak their blog or even completely redo it all together. This can be done simply by editing the template HTML and/or CSS. So what are these two files?

HTML refers to the content on your page. 
CSS refers to the the design of the content on your page.

*PLEASE NOTE: FC2 does not support any questions about template editing.
**This manual uses the "Sample" template as a base.
***Login > Templates > Add FC2 Template > Template Name [Sample]


How to Edit Templates

Click the Template button after logging in and then select the Template name you want to edit. Finally, click the Update button to save any changes.


Changing Font Size

The font size on your blog can be easily changed by editing the stylesheet (CSS).
Let's first change the font size of a main header (H1 tag).
Let's say that the following HTML is in your Blog Template.
<h1>Blog Title</h1>
This means that the words "Blog Title" will be in a Header (H1 class).
The CSS will define exactly what the HTML tags do. Inside the CSS, there will be something like the following.
h1 {
font-size : 120%;
}
This tells the H1 tag in the HTML what to do.
By editing this CSS data, the H1 tag will behave differently. By changing the 120% to something else all the H1 tags will change font-size.
h1 {
font-size : 120%180%;
}
Now any content in your HTML surrounded by <h1></h1> tags will no longer be 120% size, but instead 180%.


Value + Unit

When editing the CSS, you will need to enter a positive value and a unit.
Supported units are px, em, ex, in, cm, mm, pt & pc.

px = Pixels
em = Font Size
ex = Font Sized (Based on Vertical Height *Rarely Used)
in = Inches (*Not recommended)
cm = Centimeters (*Not recommended)
mm = Millimeters (*Not recommended)
pt = Points (*Not recommended)
pc = Pica (*Not recommended)

Using %

A percentage of the font size.

Keywords

xx-small | x-small | small | medium | large | x-large | xx-large
You can also use these 7 keywords in your CSS.

Comparative Keywords

smaller | larger
Using this element causes the font size to grow or shrink by 1 size.



Changing Font Color

One can change the font color of text simply by adjusting the color property.
In the following example we will look at changing the color of the entire body of text.

HTML
<html>
    <head>
        <meta>
        <title></title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>This is the Title</h1>
        <p>This is the text in a paragraph.</p>
    </body>
</html>

CSS
body {
color : #000000;
}
By simply changing the "#000000" (which represents black) value, you can change the color of the text for everything within the <body>~~</body> tags.

If you want to change the color (or adjust a similar property) of just the title (<h1>~~</h1>) or the paragraphs (<p>~~</p>), for example, you can also similarly designate them in the CSS.


Basic Selectors

Selectors are the parts of CSS which select the parts of the HTML to adjust.

Elements
Basic Element Selector
An element is the simplest way to select an area of HTML.
The following CSS will edit the "h1" (Title) area of your blog.
h1 { ... }


*(Asterisk)
Universal Selector
Attaching an asterisk makes the element universal. It is in effect a wild-card, and will affect anything that could potentially be entered in it's place.
The following are two examples.
*.MyClass { ... }

*#IDName { ... }

Element Name#IDName

ID Selector
This is used to select certain elements with certain ID's.
For example, you could change the font color of particular paragraphs by giving each paragraph an ID. An ID can only be used once per page.
Example HTML:
    <body>
        <p id="first">This is the first paragraph.</p>
        <p id="second">This is the second paragraph.</p>
        <p id="third">This is the third paragraph.</p>
    </body>
Then each paragraph can be given a different color by selecting it with the CSS in the following fashion.
Example CSS:
p#first { ... }
p#second { ... }
p#third { ... }


Element Name.ClassName
Class Selector
Classes are similar to IDs except classes can be used on multiple elements.

Example HTML:
    <body>
        <p class="one">This is the first paragraph.</p>
        <p class="two">This is the second paragraph.</p>
        <p class="two">This is the third paragraph.</p>
    </body>
Then each paragraph can be given a different color by selecting it with the CSS in the following fashion.
Example CSS:
p.one { ... }
p.two { ... }


Now, let's apply this to an FC2 Blog. 
Please note: The areas in bold are simply there for reference purposes.
<div class="section" id="a<%topentry_no>">
    <h2 class="entry-header"><a href="<%topentry_link>" title="<%topentry_title> permanent URI"><%topentry_title></a></h2>
    <div class="entry-body">
        <%topentry_body>
        <!--more_link-->
        <p class="entry-more"><a href="<%topentry_link>" title="Continue reading <%topentry_title>">Continue Reading ≫</a></p>
        <!--/more_link-->
        <!--more-->
        <%topentry_more>
        <!--/more-->
    </div>
    <ul class="entry-footer">
        <li class="date">| <%topentry_year>-<%topentry_month>-<%topentry_day> | </li>
        <li class="category"><a href="<%topentry_category_link>" title="Category <%topentry_category> List."><%topentry_category></a> | </li>
        <li class="com">
            <!--allow_comment-->
            <a href="<%topentry_link>#comment-top" title="<%topentry_title> comments ">Comment: <%topentry_comment_num></a>
            <!--/allow_comment-->
            <!--deny_comment-->-<!--/deny_comment--> | 
        </li>
        <li class="trk">
            <!--allow_tb-->
            <a href="<%topentry_link>#trackback-top" title="<%topentry_title> Trackbacks">Trackback: <%topentry_tb_num></a>
            <!--/allow_tb-->
            <!--deny_tb-->-<!--/deny_tb--> |
        </li>
    </ul>
</div>

One can change the properties of several areas by selecting them with CSS.
For example, you can change the properties of the H2 header (and only the H2 header with a class of "entry-header") by finding it and editing it in the CSS.
h2.entry-header {
color : #f00;
}


Similarly one could change the font within the <div class="entry-body">~~</div>.
div.entry-body {
color : #000;
}

Changing the Background Color

One can similarly change the background color by using a different property. The background color property in CSS is "background-color".
For instance you could change the Body's background color with the following CSS.
body {
background-color : #fff;
}

Similarly the Header (H1) can be designated.
h1 {
background-color : #fff;
}

Setting up Background Images

Background images can also be set. Setting a background image may require that you also set other properties such as whether or not the image repeats, its positionand how it is attached to your page.
body {
background-image : url("http://.....image.png"); 
background-repeat : repeat; 
background-position : left top; 
background-attachment : fixed; 
}


We will now go into more detail about these properties.

background-repeat
repeat
Setting the background-repeat property to "repeat" makes it repeat.

repeat-x
The background image will repeat in the horizontal x axis.

repeat-y
The background image will repeat in the vertical y axis.

no-repeat
The background image not repeat.

background-position
The background position is defined by two values. The first value gives the position on the x-axis (horizontal), and the second value gives the position on the y-axis (vertical).
body {
background-position : left top; 
}

    *The first value defines the x-axis position (horizontal). The second value defines the y-axis position (vertical).

Numerical Value + Unit
A number and unit can be defined. For example, "30px".

Numerical Value + %
A number and a percentage can also be used. For example "30%" will move the position by 30% of the area.

left | center | right
top | center | bottom
This can also be used to define the image position.

background-attachment
fixed
The image will not move even if you scroll the page.

scroll
The image will move as you move around the page.

Changing the Background Color

One can similarly change the background color by using a different property. The background color property in CSS is "background-color".
For instance you could change the Body's background color with the following CSS.
body {
background-color : #fff;
}

Similarly the Header (H1) can be designated.
h1 {
background-color : #fff;
}

Setting up Background Images

Background images can also be set. Setting a background image may require that you also set other properties such as whether or not the image repeats, its positionand how it is attached to your page.
body {
background-image : url("http://.....image.png"); 
background-repeat : repeat; 
background-position : left top; 
background-attachment : fixed; 
}


We will now go into more detail about these properties.

background-repeat
repeat
Setting the background-repeat property to "repeat" makes it repeat.

repeat-x
The background image will repeat in the horizontal x axis.

repeat-y
The background image will repeat in the vertical y axis.

no-repeat
The background image not repeat.

background-position
The background position is defined by two values. The first value gives the position on the x-axis (horizontal), and the second value gives the position on the y-axis (vertical).
body {
background-position : left top; 
}

    *The first value defines the x-axis position (horizontal). The second value defines the y-axis position (vertical).

Numerical Value + Unit
A number and unit can be defined. For example, "30px".

Numerical Value + %
A number and a percentage can also be used. For example "30%" will move the position by 30% of the area.

left | center | right
top | center | bottom
This can also be used to define the image position.

background-attachment
fixed
The image will not move even if you scroll the page.

scroll
The image will move as you move around the page.

Editing the Link Color

The link color can be similarly changed. There are four elements that can be designated, link, visited, hover and active, which should be written in the CSS in that order.
link→visited→hover→active

a:link
This element is used to designate the properties of links that you have not interacted with.


a:visited
This element is used to designate the properties of links that you have visited.


a:hover
This element is used to designate the properties of links that you have your mouse hover over.

a:active
This element is used to designate the properties of links that are currently activated.
/* Designating the font color for the entire page */

a:link {
color : #f60;
}
a:visited {
color : #00f;
}
a:hover {
color : #f00; 
}
a:active {
color : #f00; 
}

/* Designating the color for a specific class of link. */

a.MyClass:link {
color : #f60; 
}
a.MyClass:visited {
color : #00f; 
}
a.MyClass:hover {
color : #f00; 
}
a.MyClass:active {
color : #f00; 
}

/* Designating the color of links within a designated class. */

.MyClass a:link {
color : #f60; 
}
.MyClass a:visited {
color : #00f; 
}
.MyClass a:hover {
color : #f00;
}
.MyClass a:active {
color : #f00; 
}

Putting Borders on Images - The Basics

Images that are used in your blog entries will be included automatically within the <div class="entry-body"> element. This means that you can change the properties of images in your blog entry simply by editing the CSS as such;
div.entry-body img {
border : 2px solid #000; 
}
This will change the image in the following way.

Putting Borders on Images - The Basics


Images that are used in your blog entries will be included automatically within the <div class="entry-body"> element. This means that you can change the properties of images in your blog entry simply by editing the CSS as such;
div.entry-body img {
border : 2px solid #000; 
}
This will change the image in the following way.

Putting Borders on Images - Advanced

Similarly, you can create other more advanced styles for images.
div.entry-body img {
padding : 5px; 
background-color : #fff; 
border : 1px solid #000; 
}
Also, you could surround your image in another elemet such as <p> & <span>.
<p><span><img src="IMAGE URL" width="IMAGE WIDTH" height="IMAGE HEIGHT" alt="IMAGE TEXT TO DISPLAY WHEN MOUSED OVER"></span></p>
This can then be altered with the following CSS;
p span img {
padding : 5px; 
background-color : #fff; 
border : 1px solid #000; 
}
This will change the image in the following way.

Site Centering

Centering a site refers to making your site remain on center even when your blog is viewed on another resolution. This manual will explain the most typical method. Please note, depending on the template, some may already be centered. 

The most typical way to center the content of your blog would be to automatically set your container's margin to "auto".
div#container {
width : 740px; 
margin-left : auto; 
margin-right : auto; 
}

<body>
    <div id="container">
        
    </div>
</body>

Please note that older browsers and Windows' Internet Explorer in compatible mode, may not center your blog. To get around this you can use a bug in Internet Explorer. This can be done with the text-align property.
body {
text-align : center; 
}
div#container {
width : 740px; 
margin-left : auto; 
margin-right : auto; 
text-align : left; 
}
By doing this, your blog should appear centered even in older unsupported browsers.

Creating 2 Column Layouts

Here we will show how to create a simple 2 columned layout. 

The stylesheet (CSS) is as below;
body {
text-align : center; 
}
div#container {
width : 740px; 
margin-left : auto; 
margin-right : auto; 
text-align : left; 
}
div#primary-column {
float : left; 
width : 500px; 
}
div#secondary-column {
float : right; 
width : 200px; 
}
div#siteinfo-legal {
clear : both; 
}
The HTML will be as below.

Incompatibility with Older Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 4.0 to 5.5, and 6.0 in compatible mode. The reason for this is that the "width" and "height" properties include the padding and margins as well, while more recent browsers can.

Creating 3 Column Layouts

This is rather similar to creating 2-column layouts.
The following is a simple description.

The following is the CSS;
body {
text-align : center; 
}
div#container {
width : 740px; 
margin-left : auto; 
margin-right : auto; 
text-align : left; 
}
div#wrapper {
float : left; 
width : 540px; 
}
div#primary-column {
float : right; 
width : 340px; 
}
div#secondary-column {
float : left; 
width : 200px; 
}
div#extra-column {
float : right; 
width : 200px; 
}
div#siteinfo-legal {
clear : both; 
}

The following is the HTML;
<body>
    <div id="container">
        <div id="branding">Header Content</div>
        <div id="wrapper">
            <div id="primary-column">Article Content etc</div>
            <div id="secondary-column">Menu Content etc</div>
        </div>
        <div id="extra-column">Extra Content etc.</div>
        <div id="siteinfo-legal">Footer Content etc.</div>
    </div>
</body>

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

FC2 Blog Templates

About Templates

When you first create your blog, you are given the chance to select a template. This can be changed. 

What are Templates?

Templates are also known as "skins".
Templates are composed of both HTML and CSS code.
These codes help determine the look of your blog; the size and color of fonts, background images, column widths etc.
By changing templates the look and style of your blog will change, but the actual content will remain as it is. Please note however that some plugins may be incompatible with certain templates.

FC2 Templates

FC2 Templates refer to (unsurprisingly) templates created by FC2.

Setting a Template

You can download a template from the Templates page.
Click on the "Download" button next to the template you wish to use on your blog.

Registering a User Template

You can register your own creation from the Templates page. 

Changing Templates

Changing Templates which you have downloaded is very easy.
Simply click on the "Templates" area on the left and follow the following steps.

Editing Templates

Templates can be edited from the "Templates" area on the left-hand side of the Blog Management Page. There is an area for editing the HTML and the CSS.

To put it very simply;
HTML is the content of your blog.
CSS is the layout of your blog.

FC2 does in no way support any HTML or CSS editing. These tools are here for more advanced users. We suggest you make a copy of your FC2 Blog before attempting to edit the HTML or CSS.

More information about these programming languages can be found online.

FC2 Blog Settings

Blog settings can be changed from the "Settings" button.


User Info Settings

Contact e-mail(FC2ID)
This is the e-mail attached to your FC2ID.

Blog Name
The blog title. (This corresponds to the value %blog_name )


Blog introduction
A quick introduction relating to the blog. Tags are invalid. ( %introduction )

Display name
Your name as it appears on the profile. ( %author_name )

Genre
The genre of the blog. This can be changed at any point (except for Adult and Affiliate blogs). This will reflect on FC2'sBlog Portal page.

Time zone
The time zone.

E-mail notification
Do you wish to be notified by e-mail about 

Notification e-mail address
The email address for notifications

Approval/Denial URL
Automatically display a URL for approval or denial in the notification e-mail.

Mail form (FC2 plugin)
Use a captcha for the mail form (plugin)

Access Settings / Privacy Mode

What is a Blog's Private Mode?

Blogs can be setup with a password so that they cannot be viewed by others. Only people with passwords are able to enter and view the blog. This can be convenient for small private groups or other similar bloggers.

Settings can be set from the "Access Settings" area. Once a password has been entered by a visitor once, their web browser should remember that in their cookies, and not require further logins.

Setting a Password on a Blog Entry

You can set a password for single blog entries from the bottom of the Write Entry page. 

Please note that multiple passwords cannot be set for different blog entries.

Category Settings

Blog Entries are divided by category.

Category Settings

Under the "Manage" area of the left-hand side of the Blog Management Page there is a button called "Categories".

From here you can add or edit categories.

Editing Categories

From this area you can edit categories.
You can change their names and order.

Please make sure to click the "Revise" button to make any changes.

Sub-Categories

By checking the Sub-Category checks you can turn categories into sub-categories.
This conveniently places all the entries from the sub-categories under the umbrella of its head category.

For instance if you had a Sports category you could put all your Baseball Entries into the "Baseball" sub-category and all the Volleyball Entries into a Volleyball Category. Both of these categories when clicked, would display their respective entries but if their head category, the "Sports" category is clicked, both Baseball and Volleyball entries (and any other entries directly entered under the "Sports" category) will display.

Monday, 3 December 2012

Text Editing Tools - FC2 Blog

SSSJF9D3M3D2

Text Editing Tools

At the top of the text editor there are a line of buttons to make your blog even better.

Using Editing Tools
You can use these basic tools in the following way.
1. Select text (by dragging) and then click the tool you wish to use.

2.Enter in the corresponding html tags around the areas you wish to change.


Editing Tools in Details
<span style=”color:#3366FF”>CHANGE THE COLOR</span>

<span style=”font-size : large”>LARGE, MEDIUM & SMALL TEXT </span><strong>BOLD TEXT</strong>
<i>Italic Text</i><s>Striked out Text</s><u>Underlined</u><hr size=”1”> (Create a line)

<blockquote><p>
Quoted Text
</p></blockquote><a href=”URL” target=”_blank”> Text Link </a>

Link to a Google search result for that WORD. Pressing these buttons will show a < or > without interfering with HTML tags.These buttons don't actually edit text. They expand and shrink the text editoy

 
Clicking this button will open up the file upload area. From here you can upload files (such as images) from your computer and then you can attach them to your blog.

 
This is the Amazon button. Using this button you can easily place links to products on your site.

 
Click this button to draw a picture.

 
Upload videos from FC2 Video

This button opens up the WYSIWYG text editor. WYSIWYG text editors are sometimes easier to use than HTML tags to easily create interesting text.

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Edit FC2 Blog Entry

Viewing Past Entries

To view past entries, simply click on the "Past Entries" button on the left-hand side-bar.

Past Entry List

You can use the Past Entry List to find previously written entries.

Number of Posts to Display
Select from the dropdown bar how many posts you want to display in the list.

Search Conditions
Select from the dropdown bars the conditions of your search.

Search by Keyword
Enter a keyword from the entry you are looking for.

Viewing Entries
Click on the entry on the list to view the entry on your blog.

Applying Changes to Multiple Posts

You can change the status or category of multiple posts simultaneously.

Click the "Apply" button to make the changes.

FC2 Blog Entry Settings

Entry Settings

Here we provide you with an explanation concerning some settings you can use when posting or editing your entries such as user tag, post date settings and comment/trackback acceptance. 

*The setting page is located below an editing page.

Entering User Tags

Users tag refers to a keyword or phrase in a blog entry. This also marks the entry when you search later. Up to 10 user tags can be set for each entry, so they can categorize your entries in detail. Tag words don't have to be the ones used in entry text. Once you enable link conversion, letters included in entry text or a title will be automatically linked.

- Put a space in between each tag. Up to 10 tags can be set for each entry.
- Click on a predicted word and then it will be entered in a input space or excluded from there. Ten tags you have used before will be shown.

Changing Entry Date

Save by current time
An entry will be automatically posted when written. Once it is saved, the save time will be recorded. Even if you re-edit it, the recorded time won't change. In order to re-save your entry by current time, choose [Post when saved].

Choose [Post when saved] if you want to ...
- show an entry you wrote a few days before by current time.
- update registration time as current one after you correct past entries.

Specify the Time and Date

*Select [Scheduled] and enter the time
Past entries can be edited anytime and post time can be changed manually. All blog entries are shown by post time, so if you want to arrange them by different order, you need to set the dates manually. 

Other Entry Settings

Unfinished entries can be saved. And also you can save unnecessary past entries. Do not delete them right away.

Post Type
If you select [Public] when saving an entry, it will be shown on your blog.
If you select [Draft], it will be saved on the user management page instead of being shown on your blog. Post time will be recorded when you save your entry as a draft. In order to change the time to the current one, please select [Post when saved].

Scheduled Post
Use the scheduled post to post and finish showing an entry at certain specified time. If you use this function, your entry will be shown as scheduled. Select [Limited] to change entry status from public to draft at specified time.

Step to Scheduled a post

Use the scheduled post to post and finish showing an entry at certain specified time. If you use this function, your entry will be shown as scheduled. Select [Limited] to change entry status from public to draft at specified time.

Restrictions and Password Settings


No Restrictions
Even if you set your entry as "Limited", it will be shown publicly if [None] is selected.

Open to Blog Friends Only
Select friends you want to show your entry to and set a password.

Detailed Entry Settings


*Setting form is located at the bottom of editing page.

Automatic Paragraphing/HTML only
Choose between HTML only and automatic paragraphing for blog entry text. When automatic paragraphing is enabled, line break marks will be placed at turnback positions. You may not want these line break marks sometimes. For example when you paste adSense code, select [HTML only].

Comment/Trackback Acceptance
Select whether you welcome comments or trackbacks for each of your entry.

Update Notification
If you leave a check the [FC2 Listing] box, your entry will be shown in the latest entry list on the blog portal page (blog.fc2.com) when posted.

Notifying Twitter

You can notify Twitter of your blog update.

First, you need a Twitter account setting. Please refer to the [Link to Twitter] for setting steps.

Notify Twitter of Blog Update
Select [Enable], then your blog update will be notified on Twitter when you post an entry.

Message Form
You can edit your tweets here.
*<%title> <%url> is entered as default.

Saturday, 1 December 2012

FC2 Blog New Entry

Writing New Blog Entries

Writing a New Entry
Blog content is called an "Entry". You can enter in text like a journal, or even images (such as pictures or photos). The entry time for each entry is automatically registered, and posted onto your blog.

You can click on the "Write a New Entry" to ceate a new blog entry.

Once you have reached this page you can freely write your blog entry as you wish.

Write a New Entry


Adding Postscripts

The postscript function works exactly like writing a normal blog entry. You can add text, images or files exactly as you would a normal blog entry. 

When you create a postscript, a link to the full blog appears. Clicking on this link will cause the blog to appear as a full new page.

Saving Entry

Once you have created your blog as you wish you can save it.

Once you save your entry a link, directing you to your new entry, and a button directing you to continue editing will appear. You can always return to edit the blog entries when you want to.

Checking your new entry

Once you have saved an entry (and published it) it should (by default) appear at the top of your blog. You can check your blog by clicking the "My Blog" button.

Recommeded Links