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What are Blogger™ Skins?

B. Miller
B. Miller

Blogger™ skins, also known as Blogger™ templates, are pre-made designs that can be applied to an existing blog, without the need for the user to do any design or coding whatsoever. There are many blog templates in existence, not just those for blogs that are hosted with Blogger™, though Blogger™ skins are some of the more common. They allow bloggers to change the layout, design, graphics, and font of their blogs, among other features, with just the click of a button.

Many Blogger™ skins are free, and can be found just by searching online. They may be applied to a new or existing blog. Free templates may be changed as many times as the user desires.

A blog skin can consist of a different color scheme, unique buttons and a particular arrangement of all of the elements, including text, photos and links.
A blog skin can consist of a different color scheme, unique buttons and a particular arrangement of all of the elements, including text, photos and links.

Blogger™ skins may be designed in a number of different ways; it is common for these templates to feature a two- or three-column layout. The center column is used for displaying published blog posts, while the side columns might be used for widgets. Some things that might be added to a side column in a blog includes links to related entries, links to other blogs, advertisements, or a tag cloud with commonly used topics, just to name a few. Most Blogger™ skins allow the user to add or remove sidebar widgets as needed.

A blog is a popular writing format used on both personal as well as organizational websites.
A blog is a popular writing format used on both personal as well as organizational websites.

Though a blog template will, by nature, come pre-designed with images, font colors and sizes, background images, and any other necessary design elements, some templates allow users to make changes to the design. A user may be able to modify font sizes or colors, for example, or to place a custom header image at the top of the page. Other Blogger™ skins will not allow users to make any changes to the design. Some Blogger™ skins are designed to function well on blogs with a specific purpose; a template designed for a photography blog, for example, may have a wider center column to better feature photographs.

Custom designed Blogger™ skins may also be available. Though these are typically not free, they can add a very personal and professional appearance to the blog. Designers will then be able to work with the blogger every step of the way to create the perfect custom blog template, using personalized images and colors. There are literally thousands of free Blogger™ templates available online, however, so it is best for a blogger to check those out first before paying.

Discussion Comments

irontoenail

Once you get the hang of it, it's quite easy to design your own blogger skins. If you have any kind of flair for design you might want to pick up free tutorial on how to do this and give it a shot.

If you aren't any good at design or you don't have time to mess around learning a new skill, a custom job is often not that expensive.

You can find people willing to do it in most online marketplaces. Not just the Freelancer websites, but also places like Etsy, where you can get exclusive rights to an already designed blog website skin download or custom jobs for under a hundred dollars.

indigomoth

There are quite a few websites that offer a bunch of blogging templates from freelance workers for a small amount of money.

You might want to consider buying one of these if you are looking for a blogging template.

This will contribute to a designer's livelihood, as well as provide her with incentive to make more unique designs.

But it will also provide you with unique blog skins and wallpapers, that allow your blog to stand out.

So few people are willing to pay a few dollars for something they can get for free (although possibly to a lesser standard) that people willing to pay will get something very few other people have.

If it's important to you that your blog stands out, perhaps for commercial reasons, but you can't afford a custom job, then consider this option.

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    • A blog skin can consist of a different color scheme, unique buttons and a particular arrangement of all of the elements, including text, photos and links.
      By: Rawpixel
      A blog skin can consist of a different color scheme, unique buttons and a particular arrangement of all of the elements, including text, photos and links.
    • A blog is a popular writing format used on both personal as well as organizational websites.
      By: Igor Mojzes
      A blog is a popular writing format used on both personal as well as organizational websites.