Free Blog Training

The default WordPress theme TewntyTen allows you to quickly and easily change the header image to something different so you can make your blog look a bit different to the standard theme which is installed for you when you set up a free blog account at WordPress.com.

The TwentyTen theme comes with a selectin of eight different header images for you to chosse from and picking a new one is very easy yo do. You also are provided with the facility to use your own header image to make your blog’s header totally unique. Remember though that if you want your own header on your blog then you are going to have to make sure that it is the right size for the header image area in TwentyTen.

This is what your blog might look like after the initial account setup (look further below for what it will look like afer selecting a different header image):

Change The Header Image To A TwentyTen Option

This is easy for you to do and you begin by clicking on the APPEARANCE option and then HEADER. this will display the Custom Header page with the current header illustrated at the top and thmbnail images of all the other default image options so that you can pick a different one.

Just click on the checkbox next to the header image that you want to use and then on the SAVE CHANGES button to apply it to the header on your blog.

In the above example the first option has been chosen and changed from the one that is show as the second option (second down in the first column of the deafult images shown above) and when you check your free blog you will see that it has changed from the header shown above to the one shown here:

Changing the visual elements of your blog like this can sometimes alter the look and feel of you blog quite dramatically. Feel free to also try the other header options to see which one you prefer.

Every time you select a new one and save changes just go to you blog in your web browser and refresh the page to see the new header image in place. Have fun!

Adding Your Own Header Image To TwentyTen

You can do this on the same Custom Header page as shown above and which you get to by selecting APPEARANCE from the menu options and then HEADER, but this time you need to use the UPLOAD IMAGE facility to load an image from your computer up to your free WordPress blog.

Some Notes On Image Size

SAME SIZE

If you can suplly a header image that is exactly 940 × 198 pixels in size it will be used as a direct replacement for the TwentyTen default header options because it will be the same size.

BIGGER

However if the image you supply is bigger then it will have to be cropped to make it the right size, but don’t worry about this as WordPress will do this for you unless it is too big to be processed, in which case you will have to reduce the size first outside of WordPress.

SMALLER

If the image you want to use is smaller then it is suggested that you might want to look for a larger one, unless you are happy with it being displayed somewhat blurred – always best to try first though and see how it looks as it maybe ok.

Simply click on the BROWSE button to start looking on your computer for a suitabe image to use.

When you find the image you want to use just click on it in the browse window and then on OPEN to tell TwentyTen that this is the image you want to upload. After clicking the browse window will close and you will be taken back to the Custom Header screen in TwentyTen.

Note that this may look and work a bit differently depending on the operating system on your computer.

Then simply click on the UPLOAD button to have TwentyTen upload the image from your computer. TwentyTen will then take a copy of your images and display it on the Crop Header Image page for you to manipulate. This may take some time if your image is large so be patient while the image file is uploaded.

When the Crop Header Image page is displayed you will see the full image that has been uploaded. If the image you selected from your computer is larger than the area needed for the TwentyTen header image size of 940 × 198 pixels then a portion represent the correct size for the header will be highlighted and surrounded by dotted lines.

You can drag it up or down to give your header image the view you want or you can resize the crop area and move it to a different part of the image you just uploaded.

In the above example the crop area has simply been dragged down to cover the are where you can see the windsurfer.

When you are happy with your cropped selection just click on the CROP AND PUBLISH Button.

Your new image will be displayed in the Header Image Preview at the top of the page and at the same time will be isnstalled on you blog, so just visit your blog in your web browser to see your new blog header:

So there it is and as previosuly it is a simple task to perform. The only difficult bit is if your image file is too big and memory limits will then stop WordPress processing it. Also if you image area is too small for TwentyTen’s header are then there are other effects you need to be aware of.

What Happens When Your Image Is Too Big

If your actual image file is too big for TentyTen to process then you will see the message…

Image could not be processed. Please go back and try again.

…and in this case you will have to decrease the size of the image file before trying to upload it again. (A program such as Photoshop or Gimp, which you can download for free at gimp.org , will be able to do this for you).

What Happens When Your Image Is Too Small

If your image is too small then it will not fill all of the area set aside for the header image in the TwentyTen theme. When it is uploaded it will stil be displayed and you will be able to crop part of it that has the same ratio of dimensions as that of the full header area image size.

The problem arises when you clcik on “crop and publish”, because although it will install what you have cropped as the header image, the image you see will have been expanded to fill the header image area and therefore it may appear a bit blurred or badly blurred if it was a much smaller image. You obviously need to be aware of this!

With a high quality image this is less likely to happen.