All About Tumblr Backgrounds

The reason way I love Tumblr as a content management system because of how simple it is to use and customize. One of the easiest ways to spruce up your current Tumblr template is to change your Tumblr background image. Easy enough, right? So today’s post is dedicated to helping you find some cool Tumblr backgrounds and show you how to install it.

Why Should I Change My Background?

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of Tumblr templates available online and the best way to set your tumblog apart from all the rest is by changing your Tumblr background. A new background image can easily add a bright and interesting look to your Tumblr template without much effort.

200+ Free Tumblr Backgrounds

Here I have complied a list of more than 200 hundred free Tumblr backgrounds which can be downloaded and installed into your theme within minutes.

GypsyGarden (1 pattern)

Pattern 2 (14 patterns)

Patterns 2 (6 patterns)

Textured Stripes (6 patterns)

Photoshop Pattern (4 patterns)

Pattern Part1 (9 patterns)

Patterns .24 (33 patterns)

Lace Patterns: the prelude (6 patterns)

Untitled patterns 03 (12 patterns)

Patterns .23 (33 patterns)

Green Patterns (6 patterns)

Patterns .27 (50 patterns)

Patterns 3 (6 patterns)

Softly Plaidly- Peachy Keen (11 patterns)

Black – White patterns (13 patterns)

PINKgossip_04 patterns (13 patterns)

Additional Tumblr Background Image Resources

• Over 1,002,864 user-created seamless patterns from Colour Lovers
• 1000+ Free Background Patterns
• Background Pattern Designs from Behance
• 100+ Seamless Patterns Great for Creating Website Backgrounds

How to Change a Tumblr Background

Now that you have picked out your new Tumblr background and downloaded it to your local computer, it’s time to add it to your theme. There are two ways to add a background to your Tumblr theme. I will discuss them both below.

Option 1: Appearance Panel

If you can add a new background through your Tumblr Customize > Appearance Panel choose this option.

1. Login into your Tumblr account and click CUSTOMIZE in the right side of your dashboard.
   
2. When the customization section opens, click APPEARANCE at the top of the page.
3. When the panel opens you simply click the UPLOAD button to select your theme from your local computer and you’re done! If you have the option for repeating your background choose “repeat-y” if you pattern needs to repeat vertically (from top to bottom). Select “repeat-x”, if you background need to repeat horizontally (from left to right). Choose “repeat-xy”, if you image needs to repeat both vertically and horizontally. You can also choose “no-repeat”, if you have a really large background image that doesn’t need to be repeated.

Option 2: Hand-coding Custom HTML

Use this option if you do not have the Tumblr Appearance Panel available with your theme.

1. Login into your Tumblr account
2. You will need to upload your new background image onto Tumblr’s Static Image Server
3. After uploading your file, make note of your image url. You can copy it to NotePad or SimpleText for safe keeping.
4. Return to your Tumblr Dashboard and click CUSTOMIZE in the right side of your dashboard.
5. Select THEME from the top menu.Click the USE CUSTOM HTML buttonLook for the BODY tags. This is the code we will be editing. (Your coding won’t be exactly like this, so you should look for something similar near the top of the code.)
   

   body {  background: #f8f7e5 url(wdw-bg.jpg) no-repeat center top  }

   

6. Paste your image url  into the CSS
   body {  background: #f8f7e5 url(http://safe.tumblr.com/theme/3383425/) no-repeat center top  }
7. You may need to adjust your background image by changing your background color and whether it repeats or not.
   body {  background: #f8f7e5 url(http://safe.tumblr.com/theme/3383425/) no-repeat center top  }

   Choose “repeat-y” if you pattern needs to repeat vertically (from top to bottom). Select “repeat-x”, if you background need to repeat horizontally (from left to right). Choose “repeat-xy”, if you image needs to repeat both vertically and horizontally. You can also choose “no-repeat”, if you have a really large background image that doesn’t need to be repeated.

8. Click the UPDATE PREVIEW button in order to see your changes.
9. If you are satisfied with the results click the green SAVE & CLOSE button at the top right of the page.
   
10. Your Done!

Additional Resources

• Free Tumblr Templates
• How to Setup a Free Tumblr Blog
• How to Add Google Adsense to Tumblr




Top 10 Ways To Get a Free Domain Registration

When you see the words “free domain registration” your eyes will typically light up, especially if you don’t have much money. Years ago, I probably would have suggested you NEVER register a free domain name, because of all the hidden rules and fees, but in today’s market more and more reputable hosting providers are offering free domain registrations as a part of their paid hosting plans.

With a free domain name registration you can still have your website and can still manage it with a professional address instead of a sub-domain. You will be able to install WordPress, Joomla or any other content management system in order to build your website.

So to make sure you aren’t being taken advantage of I have compiled a list of the top 10 ways to get a free domain name registration online.

1. Hostgator

Hostgator is by far my first choice for getting a free domain name. If you are new to this website feel free to read more about why I love Hostgator. If you use the coupon code ‘brandbuild‘ you will receive a discount of $9.95 and get your first month of hosting for 1 cent!

Okay, I know what you’re going to say. This is a discount on hosting, NOT a free domain. Yes, you are correct, however, Hostgator does have the best customer service on the internet. So with this discount instead of paying for hosting for a month, you will get a 1 cent hosting for 1 month when you pay for a domain, which works out just the same.

2. Dreamhost

Dreamhost also has superior service. I have used them several times in the past and have always been pleased with their level of professionalism and quality. If you use the promotion code ‘brandbuildsell‘ you will get a free domain name forever as long as you remain a customer. Otherwise the domain only costs $9.95 if you would like to move to another hosting provider.

3. JustHost

JustHost offers professional web hosting services with free domain name for life, unlimited web hosting space and unlimited bandwidth. Their basic web hosting service starts at on $3.45 a month with a free setup and no hidden fees.

4. BlueHost

BlueHost is another affordable and reliable web hosting solution, offering unlimited domain hosting, unlimited web space, unlimited email accounts and a free domain name forever! Plans start at about $6.95 per month.

5. WebHosting Pad

WebHosting Pad has hassle free web hosting with the cheapest prices around. Their web hosting is fast and reliable with plans starting at $1.99 a month! This price also includes a $50 MIVA credit, $25 Yahoo credit, $25 Google Adwords credit and of course a completely free domain name.

6. FatCow

Cool name with an even cooler hosting service. FatCow has an incredible deal which includes a totally free domain name. The plans start at $4.58 and you can get an even bigger discount, if you keep reading.

Start filling out your information to get your hosting and a free domain. Once you have filling out everything, DON’T CLICK PURCHASE! Click to close your browser window and before it actually closes FatCow will offer you an even bigger discount of $42 off the regular price.

Click CANCEL to be forwarded to the additional discount page. Click ‘Get your Special Offer‘ to receive your discount.

7. Green Geeks

Is the worlds #1 green energy hosting solution. They have an energy efficient infrastructure which is 300% wind powered. They also provide free website builders and templates when you register free domain name. Green Geeks has a 30 Day Money Back guarantee.

8. iPage

A quick and easy web hosting option which is perfect for people with no experience. They offer free personal domain names, unlimited disk space and bandwidth, a free security suite and free site building tools.

Similar to FatCow, start to register your new site, by typing in your new domain name. Once your domain has been verified and you reach the order page, click the button to close your browser.

An alert message will pop-up, click CANCEL and iPage will give you an additional 60% off hosting discount for signing up, which costs only $2.95 a month!

9. Hostmonster

Hostmonster is another free domain name provider. According to them they have the best customer support in the industry, but in my book they are only second to Hostgator. They offer all the same features as any other hosting provider, plus Frontpage extensions, if by chance you are still using Microsoft to build your sites.

10. InMotion

In addition to award winning technical support and 99.9% uptime, InMotion Hosting offers an absolutely free domain name with the setup of a their Business Class Hosting, which starts at $5.95 per month.

I hope this comprehensive list helps you on your journey of learning how to make a website. Many people will try to discourage you from signing up with hosting for a free domain, but don’t be fooled by what they are trying to tell you.

This list proves that it can be done. Good luck!

Additional Resources

• How to Start a Website
• How to Register a Domain Name
• How to Purchase Hosting
• Learn the Many Different Types of Websites
• Blog vs. Website – What’s the Difference?
• How to Start a Business with No Money

Rio and City Dreams Tumblr Themes

In addition to updating the Be Original Tumblr theme, I have also been working on a few other themes as well – Rio Theme and CityDreams, both originally designed by Amy & Pink. These have been a favorite of mine for years, but I never had a good use for them, until now.

The designs were both created for WordPress, but because of their simplicity I thought they would be great options to convert into Tumblr Themes. So stay tuned, They are both about 50% completed and should be done soon.

WordPress Versions: Rio Theme & City Dreams

Below are screenshots of my working designs. They may differ in the final version, but will essentially look just like these.

Rio Tumblr Theme

City Dreams Tumblr Theme

** disclaimer – disregard the nudity in this theme, all images are owned by Amy & Pink **

Picmeleo – A Free Online Image Editor

Another interesting find from my daily blog stroll via Google Reader. I found this post from SmashingApps and couldn’t resist highlighting it on my site – Picmeleo, a new free online image editor. Coincidentally I had an article planned on free online image editors, so now I can forgo that post. This is the coolest image editor I’ve seen and I’ll be definitely adding it to my site as a permanent feature, I just need to figure out where.

Try It Here and let me know how you like it.

More About Picmeleo

Picmeleo is a free online photo editor that any third-party developers can integrate to their website. They offer the smartest way to let  users upload and edit images.

Picmeleo was created in order to provide a better tool for online photo editing. Third-party developers can easily add Picmeleo to their web service and launch the light-weight yet powerful photo editor whenever their users need to to upload or to edit an image. By adding Picmeleo to your web service, you can now engage your users with even richer content. Unlike other photo editors, Picmeleo opens within your site and your users never leave your service.

Custom Tools – Unlike other photo editors, you can customize the tools of Picmeleo any time you want in the online admin interface. Sometimes photo editors can be overwhelming. Picmeleo allows you to pick the tools your users really need. Choose from a growing list of tools including Crop, Scale, Rotate, Auto-fix, Filters and many more.

Multilanguage Support- Picmeleo has built-in multilanguage support and you can easily set the language in the online admin interface. We are still working on different language options at the moment, stay tuned for more.

Picmeleo can be utilized in numerous places. Think of these examples:

AddThis Labs presents the Sharebar

So I’m trying something new. The AddThis Sharebar (located at the bottom of the page). If you have visited my site in the past then you know I’m not really into this kind of trendy website gimics like these. I like to add content and functionality that I feel will add value to my readers.

I’m not interested in building a huge list of Facebook fans, a ton of Twitter followers or an unbelievable amount of RSS readers. I like new visitors from sent to me directly from Google, Yahoo or Bing (MSN). If this site somehow grows into a community, that’s great. But that’s not my ultimate goal.

My only goal for this site is to finally give people a honest answer about how to make a website, with little to no fluff. Just truth.

With that being said. I liked this AddThis Sharebar. Why? It’s unobtrusive and it took me only about 3 minutes to install. So why not try it?

Trust me if I see that it becomes annoying, I’ll delete it just as fast as I added it on.

Now about the bar.

The AddThis Sharebar is a different way of making your content shareable using the AddThis platform. As a persistent utility at the bottom of your pages, the Sharebar keeps your users’ favorite services front and center to help increase sharing.

It’s a handy little bar that has irect links to Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Tumblr and many more social networking sites to allow users to share your content with their audience. The Sharebar is a AddThis labs project so they is no support for it and they suggest you submit any technical question to their forum.

Add Sharebar to your Site in 3 Minutes

To install Sharebar, copy and paste the following Javascript and DHTML code into your page – it can go anywhere in your page template. An AddThis username is only needed if you want tracking/analytics. You can use your current AddThis username, create a new account, or ignore the username setting.

If you feel this will add value to your site grab one here, then feel free to send me a link to your site if you are using it and or give me a feedback if your like it.

Free High Quality Photos from PicApp

While visiting one of my favorite sites Lost Ball in High Weeds, I learned about a new site that has high quality photos to spruce up your website, called PicApp. I’m always interested in giving my readers access to valuable freebies for website building, so I immediately took a look and was pleasantly surprised. They have some of the best quality photos online, by far and they are all for FREE!

No more “borrowing” images from your favorite blogs. Now you have access to the same great photos they do without the risk of copyright infringement.

From the PicApp website:

Add the best news and stock photos to your blog.

Picapp is all about more opportunities and choices:

Where You– the publisher get access to millions of premium, legal images, updated by the minute and can use them in your posts- for free!

Where You– content owner enjoys this innovative yet monitored distribution channel to reach new users and increase revenue

Where You– advertiser reaches targeted, well segmented audience and access to premium ad inventory

A true Win-Win.

We have over 20 million premium images, editorial and creative, covering any imaginable category—from news, sports, to celebrity, travel fashion and more.

Our content partners include Getty Images, Corbis, Splash News, Pacific Coast News, Newscom, Image Source and more. We support the largest blog platforms: WordPress, Blogger, TypePad and more.

What’s also great about PicApp is that they already have a super cool WordPress plugin, which allows website owners to easily add photos to their websites or blogs directly from the PicApp database.

Here are a few video videos to get you started with using their service.

How to Use the PicApp WordPress Plugin

How to Search for Images on the PicApp Website

In addition to the WordPress Plugin, they also have a PicApp Toolbar which enables you to search for free images from your Firefox browser.

Try them out and let me know what you think! This is a definite add to my recommendations page.

Get a Free Premium Twitter Background

Since entering Keller’s blog design contest at Fresh eVenture, I have been preoccupied with adding content and tutorials to my site. Everyday I sit down to write compelling content about getting started online. I haven’t written this much since college, but I am loving every minute of it!

In between researching content for articles, I still find time to freelance web design and browse my favorite blogs via Google Reader.

Yesterday while visiting one of my favorite icon sites 365 Icon, which has AWESOMELY FREE graphics and icons, I noticed an ad for TwitterBug.

TwitterBug advertised free, high quality Twitter backgrounds, so I was curious to see what exactly “high quality” meant and was pleasantly surprised! They have some of the BEST FREE Twitter backgrounds around. They also offer customization for just $4.99! What a steal! Read more