Step One:  To change the background color of the main blog page, add a heading, or make any other changes to the default settings click on the <Customize Blog> menu link under My Controls on the Blog Control Center page.  Don’t be intimidated by all of the customization options you see.  We’ll break this page down by section and walk you through each one.  Let’s start with the first section, General Page Settings.  This let’s you change the background color, adjust the alignment and length, set the default font, and determine the number of posts per page.  As you make changes you can click <Preview> or <View My Blog> to see how things are progressing.  When you preview your site, a message appears asking if you wish to save changes.  Click either <Yes> or <No>.

To change your background color, click the icon to the right of the option box.  A pop up window showing a grid of color options will appear.  Choose a color by clicking it with your mouse and then hitting the <OK> button.  That particular color’s “number” will now appear in the background color box.  This is also the color box that pops up when you click the icon to change the link colors. 

Step Two:  The next section of the customization page allows you to modify the page header.  There are three main options:  no header, custom header, or add your own header HTML.  Creating a custom header is easy.  Just add a title for the blog, choose a font, create a tagline (optional), and then select a color for the border and interior of your header.  If you know HTML you can include your custom code in the HTML header box. 

Step Three:  The third section lets you customize the site module; these are the menu bars on the left with your picture, details, and information about the blog.  Your options here will allow you to add colors and a background to the menu box, decide which side of the blog post you want it on, and pick and choose what information blog viewers can read (i.e. your age, city, status, and gender.)  Be careful what information you reveal, remember, these are just blog posts—does your age or gender really affect the value of what you have to say?

Step Four:  Wow, this is a long section, but hang in there—your blog is going to look great!  The next set of options allows you to adjust blog post settings. Here you can change the background color of the post (not the blog), font, date format and background color, subject font, and the time format and position.   After that scroll down to the next short section and designate the colors for the Comments area of your blog.

Step Five:  The last step to customizing your blog is to change your background setting, or add a custom style sheet.  Add a background image (URL) and music (URL) for your blog and then click <Preview>.  Don’t forget to save your changes! 

Tada! You’re done customizing the blog!  Don’t forget to go back to the main Blog Control page and play around with the links.  Your blog stats are also listed on the control page.  When people visit your profile, in the upper-right hand corner they will see a list of your latest blog entries, with a link to read them or to subscribe to your blog.

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