A Flower Does Not Think About Competing With The Flower Next To It, It Just Blooms.

a flower does not think about competing with the flower next to it, it just blooms.

Tags

bujo

How To Make Tumblr Themes: Part I

Introduction

What we will cover in this tutorial:

HTML review (bare minimum you need to make a basic theme)

CSS review (bare minimum you need to make a basic theme)

Meta Tags

Other <Head> codes

Documents and websites we will consult regularly in this tutorial (keep these open in a tab):

W3Schools HTML

W3Schools CSS

Tumblr Theme document

HTML Review

Before making a theme, you should know that HTML consists of tags (keywords surrounded by angular brackets like <html>) and that they come in pairs (opening and closing like <html> and </html>).

You should also already know basic HTML elements such as links, headings, paragraphs, lists, formatting and images. If not, please learn it at the website I provided.

The most common way to group and position things in a website layout is to use div layers or tables. In this basic theme tutorial, I will cover div layers first since it is easiest to understand.

Here is a coding for text that is NOT inside a div layer:

[click for larger view]

Here is a coding for text that is inside a div layer:

[click for larger view]

Also notice that I used CSS to dictate the width and background of the div layer. That is how CSS and HTMl is connected; you can use CSS to demand HTML elements to look and be positioned a certain way. So in order to make columns in tumblr themes, you use CSS to position and “decorate” the div layer which will wrap your columns (ie: posts, sidebar etc).

CSS Review

In relation to what we’ve discussed above, CSS commands HTML elements. So you need to be very familiar with CSS. CSS is the codes between the <style type=“text/css”> and </style> tags (as can be seen in the previous image). In this tutorial, I will use the following terminology:

Now, div layers can either be id-ed or class-ed. The id selector is generally used for a single unique element while the class selector is used for a group of elements. While there is that difference, I discovered it doesn’t matter. You can use id selectors for multiple/repeated layers.

[click for larger view]

In the above, the selector for id is preceded by a “#” (outlined in pink) and the selector for the class is preceded by a “.” (outline in blue). Now, you can use basic CSS properties to specify the position, dimension and style of the layer.

You will need to know 90% of the properties described on this site; particularly background, color, fonts, links, text, margin, padding, z-index, position, display, dimensions and borders. Since it is too much for me to cover them all, please review/learn them before proceeding.

Getting started

Now we’ve gone over the idea of how HTML and CSS will be needed, we can apply it to tumblr themes. So, we start with our basic HTML tags for any basic webpage:

<title></title> is where you specify the title of the blog which will show up on the browser tabs. Looking at the basic variables section of the custom tumblr theme document, you can see {Title} and {block:PostTitle}{PostTitle}{/block:PostTitle}.

{Title} is a “variable” which corresponds to the blog title (which you customize in the customization page). For example, my theme blog title is “ettudis”…

{block:PostTitle}{PostTitle}{/block:PostTitle} corresponds to the title of the post (of the individual posts). The “blocks”, {block:PostTitle} and {/block:PostTitle}, renders so that the post title shows up only when there is a post title (in other words, when you go to the individual post page. For example, the title of my “terms of use” post…

Generally, it is set up so the it’s the {title} followed by a dash, then {block:PostTitle}{PostTitle}{/block:PostTitle}. So, it will look something like this:

<title>{Title} - {block:PostTitle}{PostTitle}{/block:PostTitle}</title>

We also can add in favicons. To make the favicon the same as the blogger’s userpic/profile icon, we can just link to {Favicon}, like so:

Meta Tags

The meta tags in tumblr themes are what allows the bloggers to customize the themes colours, upload images, select options, add links etc, as described in the appearance options. Then, you can line up the meta tags to the HTML or CSS.

For colours, it will look something like this:

[click for larger view]

As you can see, the colours in the meta tags can correspond to the HTML or CSS. So the default colours (indicated in the meta tags, ie: #FFFFFF, #000000 etc) are what the colours are if the blogger reset to defaults. If the blogger decides to customize to his/her own colours, the colour he/she chooses will correspond and fill into the HTML or CSS in the live preview.

For custom fonts, it will look similar to:

[click for larger view]

Similar to colours, the meta tags correspond to CSS (or HTML). However, tumblr only provides a few custom fonts (ex: arial, georgia, impact, courier new, helvetica, tahoma, trebuchet ms, times new roman etc) that are selected via a drop-down menu on the customization page.

Now booleans are rather important in tumblr themes. These meta tags allow the bloggers to select an option.

[click for larger view]

In this, the option is whether or not “if infinite scrolling” should be on the blog. The meta content is “1” if there is infinite scrolling as default. If infinite scrolling is not default, it meta content should be “0”.

Outlined in orange, {block:ifinfinitescrolling} and {/block:ifinfinitescrolling} wraps around the HTML (or CSS) that will be activated if the blogger decides to select the infinite scrolling option. If not, then the HTML (or CSS) in {block:ifnotinfinitescrolling} and {/block:ifnotinfinitescrolling} will be activated.

Booleans can apply to anything, such as whether or not to show tags on index page, size of post, number of columns, show side image ~ whatever your imagination allows you!

On this note, this sort-of gives you the idea of how tumblr codes work. The “blocks” act as activators for a certain code that it contains. Remember they always come in pairs as well, an open and closed one.

In the above example, you can see that there are the blocks, {block:Pagination} and {/block:Pagination}. This means that the codes inside these blocks will only show if there are actual pages; so in an individual post page, the pages will not show up.

Another meta tags are text. You can allow bloggers to enter their custom text into a theme. You can do a lot with text, you can also use it as an input for CSS hex numbers, dimensions (they would enter pixels), labels etc etc.

In this particular example, I’ve used custom text as a way for bloggers to enter links. The blocks (in pink), as I’ve explained previously, act as activators for when the bloggers do enter a URL in the “link 1” meta tag (outlined in blue).

Tumblr also allows bloggers to upload images. So bloggers can upload their own background or other images they want (that you specify) into their theme.

[click for larger view]

Shown here, you can see that the meta tag for the background image dictates the CSS body selector (outlined in orange). In the content, you can insert an image (“http://static.tumblr.com/…”) as a default image.

As for the sidebar image meta tag, it uploads the image into the HTML. Blocks (shown in pink) can also be used in case the blogger does not want to upload an image (or if an image is not uploaded, an alternate coding can be shown).

Other <head> codes

You can also insert a {CustomCSS} block at the bottom of the theme’s CSS style block (before </style>) so that bloggers can insert their own CSS if they want to.

There is also a meta tag that is involved in search engines.

{block:Description}<meta name="description" content="{MetaDescription}" />{/block:Description}

This allows the description of the blog to show up if the blog is searched on the a search engine (such as google).

And that’s all I have to say about meta tags which is crucial if you plan to make themes for the public use.

Key Points

To clarify and emphasize, the terms, “variable” and “blocks” are what makes up the tumblr theme. Variables are used to insert dynamic data. As we’ve seen in previous example, {Title} is a variable and so are {Image:Sidebar}, {Color:Background}, {Text:Link 1} and so forth. They come in singles, meaning, you do not need to close them.

Blocks are used to render (activate) a block of HTML, CSS, or a set of data. As we’ve seen in previous examples, {block:Title} and {/block:Title} are blocks, and so are {block:ifinfinitescrolling} and {/block:ifinfinitescrolling}, {block:iflink1} and {/block:iflink1}, and {block:ifnotsidebarimage} and {/block:ifnotsidebarimage}. These come in pairs, meaning, you do need to close them similar as to you would close a HTML tag.

The meta tags allow users to customize the theme without editing the HTML/CSS themselves. They only have to customize via the Appearance section on the customization page. We’ve covered all the meta tags that tumblr has: colours, fonts, booleans, text and images. Every meta tag can correspond to a HTML/CSS component. So using HTML and CSS, you can specify the look of a certain variable and meta tags can give customization options for the HTML and CSS.

The End

I think I’ve covered all the basic ideas of what tumblr themes need in order to work. Though this tutorial was more of introduction on just the fundamental foundations of what we’re going to build, next tutorial will get into constructing the tumblr theme using variables, blocks, CSS and HTML.

I hope I was clear, concise and thorough in my explanations. If I missed anything or if something wasn’t clear, please let me know as all of this sort-of comes to me naturally now so I wouldn’t know if I was being abstruse or convoluted.

Tags

coding

6K notes View Post

catarthic

6 years ago

you know that feeling when you’re out in nature at 5 or 6am and everything’s still quiet and the air still smells like night time and it’s fresh so you shiver a bit but then slowly the first rays of sun peak over the edge of the earth and everything is bathed in foggy, golden light and you just stand there watching the earth awaken.. if that’s not soothing idk what is

Tags

aesthetic

314K notes View Post

catarthic

6 years ago

What's the kinkiest thing you are into?

feeling wanted

Tags

meme mood

202K notes View Post

catarthic

6 years ago

Ten years of Marvel Studios

Tags

marvel

13K notes View Post

catarthic

6 years ago

How to be good at interviews:

I’m having next Wednesday my first professional interview (eeeeek) so I decided to share the research I’m doing. I googled all of this and chose the information I found most important, and organized it. I truly hope it’s helpful for someone out there :)

PLAN AND PRACTICE:

always do your homework: learn about the organization, its ideas and story

don’t necessarily memorize responses, but try to have a planned general strategy for answering common interview questions

practice in front of the mirror

be ready to briefly describe related experience

compare your qualifications to what the organization wants from you

COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

“What’s your biggest weakness?” Think of a genuine issue you have as well as ways you have managed to work with/around it.

“What’s your biggest strengths?” Stand out from the crowd and don’t be afraid to speak about your strengths in an authentic and compelling way. See if your strengths align with the company’s needs.

“ Why do you want this job?”/ “Why should we hire you?” Stay focused on why your background makes you an ideal candidate and tell them how you are going to contribute to that department and that company.

“Tell me about yourself.” Don’t tell them your life story, instead discuss what your interests are relating to the job and why your background makes you a great candidate.

“Why did you leave your last job/position/school?” Do not go into details about your dissatisfaction, tell them that while you valued the experience and education you received, you felt that the time had come to seek outo a new opportunity, expand your skills and knowledge, and to find a company with wich you could grow. Try to put a positive spin on things. Be honest if you were fired but don’t trash your previous boss.

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” Be honest about what your greater aspirations are.

And much much much more (from your behaviour to work experiences, education, interests and motivation or problems and challeges you’ve faced previously), I would encourage you to try to write down some topics for each questions that work for you. Being prepared is everything.

THE DAY OF THE INTERVIEW:

sleep and eat well so you look rested and healthy on the big day

give yourself time to calm down/meditate/relax

don’t noodle around on your phone or electronic device while waiting - it may communicate boredom and frivolousness, maybe stick your notebook/notes

What to wear: normally it’s best to dress neutral, professionally/formal, not overly fashionable or trendy, and brightly colored clothing is bad. Make sure your clothes are neat and wrinkle free, and make sure your image is very clean and neat.

What to bring: if revelant, extra copies of your resume on quality paper, a notepad or professional binder and pen, information you might need to complete an application.

IMPORTANT TIPS:

make eye contact

show courtesy to everyone during the interview, this means everyone from the reception staff to the interviewer herself

smile

have good posture

avoid fidgeting too much or playing with your hair/touching face

have a good handshake

don’t cross your arms over your chest

walk, act, talk with confidence

be comfortable and relaxed

choose the words you say

don’t place stuff on their desk

manage your reactions - facial and body expressions give clues on how you feel: project a positive image

show interest and enthusiasm

show warmth and personality - being personable is about getting the interviewer’s emotional side to like you and believe in you

don’t lie to make it seem like you know something you don’t. You probably won’t fool your interviewer, and admitting to not know something is much more impressive than lying

be honest

keep things simple and short, talk in 30-90 second chunks. Any less and you’re likely to seem unqualified; any more and your interviewer is likely to lose interest in what you’re saying

THINK OF QUESTIONS TO ASK: participating actively during the interview gives a good impression of your level of interest in the job. Most of times it is more adequeate to ask in the end of the interview. But I feel like you really need to make sure your questions are adequate. Examples:

“What types of training opportunities do you offer?”

“What are the chances for professional growth in this job opportunity?”

“Is there anything else I can provide you with that would be helpful?”

ALWAYS ask the “ When can I expect to hear back from you about the position?” question if the interviewer does not tell you.

Good questions are open-ended, and thus cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no.” Better questions are behavioral: they ask how things are done or have happened in the past, because current and past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW:

shake hands with the interviewer - try to invest some feeling into the handshake and pleasantries, even if you think you bombed the interview

hold your head high and keep your cool

your emotions are probably teetering at the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, but try to stay measured

project a cool confidence, not cockiness, and walk out of the interview with your head held high

SOMETHING TO ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND:

when you know in your heart and your gut that you bring to the table something just as valuable as a paycheck and maybe much more – your tremendous experience, intellect and instinct – you’ll carry yourself differently. You won’t trip over your words in an effort to please His Majesty or Her Highness, because you’ll see yourself and the interviewer as equals on a level playing field.

you are valuable and unique. You have something very special in you and you deserve to be given a chance. good luck!

Tags

school Advice

24K notes View Post

catarthic

6 years ago