This series is supported by Webdesigner Depot, a popular web design blog covering tutorials, design trends, blogging and inspirational posts. You can visit WDD at webdesignerdepot.com and follow WDD on Twitter @designerdepot.

Whether you’re blogging for business or pleasure, now is the time to take your little corner of the web to the next level. Social media makes your blog more visible and valuable than ever, and the amount of resources available to beautify and streamline your blog is enormous, and ever growing.

The best part is, you don’t have to be a designer or a programmer to create a great looking blog, but you should know where to find the right resources, and how to align your blog’s design with its purpose.

Learn Some HTML

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We all wish the web was 100% drag and drop, but we’re not quite there yet. You can get away with pushing the knobs and levers on the back-end for a while, but you may never get your blog to look exactly how you envision it without knowing a little bit of HTML.

A basic understanding of the web’s nuts and bolts will allow you to make custom design tweaks, fix template problems, and format your posts more precisely. Rest assured, there’s no need to sign up for classes. Everything you need to know about the web is right here on the web.

A great place to start is W3Schools, a site that provides great free tutorials on web development. The HTML tutorial covers exactly the core basics you should know. While you won’t need to code your new blog design from the ground up, understanding how tags, text formatting, and embedding work will be extremely valuable when you want to start customizing the pre-built boxes and widgets on your site.

Blog customization is an experimental, learn-by-doing process. With a little bit of coding knowledge, a wealth of options will be open to you. If there’s something you’d like to achieve, or something that’s not quite working in your template, a Google Search can be your best friend. Chances are, someone else has had the same problem, and posted an answer or code snippet on the web that you can use.

Find the Right Template

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The world of blog design has come of age, and the web is bursting with beautiful, free design resources that are easy to plug right into your platform of choice. There’s no need to settle for simple color scheme changes or built-in layouts. Brilliant designers are sharing their custom-built templates on the web in droves.

Here are a few resources that you can browse in your search for the perfect design. Not sure which platform to set up your blog on? Hopefully some of the designs cataloged on these sites will inspire you in one direction or another.

Wordpress

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WordPress Theme Directory

Free WordPress Themes

Blogger

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Deluxe Templates

btemplates.com

Tumblr

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Tumblr Theme Garden

Posterous

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Posterous Themes

Note that Tumblr themes are also compatible with Posterous.

Layout

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Shopping for your template can be a lot of fun, but as you start narrowing down your top choices, it’s time to ask yourself: What is the purpose of my blog, and how can the design facilitate it?

Think about utility and user experience when choosing your layout.

Will you be embedding lots of YouTube videos or large graphic elements in your posts? Then perhaps a one or two column template, with lots of horizontal space, is your best bet.

Are you planning to display a lot of content side by side, with links to other posts and advertising? Consider a three column template.

The key to good blog design is to strike a balance between content and clutter. You want to present yourself artfully, without being distracting.

One Column

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Simple and straightforward, a one column blog is all about the posts, with no sidebars or other distractions. If the most important content on your blog is always at the very top, a one column layout might be a great choice.

Blue Basic (WordPress)

Terminal Flashback (Tumblr)

Two Column

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The blogging standard these days, two column layouts leave plenty of real estate for your content, but also a lot for sidebars full of links, contact info, and other information your readers might find useful.

356 Days of Astronomy (WordPress)

Futura (Tumblr)

Three Column

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Use three columns if you plan to spread lots of content, links, and ads out onto your page. But, be wary of clutter. Be sure to choose a three column layout with ample spacing and breathing room for content.

Typography (Blogger)

Majestic (Blogger)

Outside the Box

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For something a little more interesting, break out of the column mold and consider some unique layouts like these.

Art In My Coffee (Tumblr)

Gondaba (Tumblr)

Be a Layout Sleuth

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Have you stumbled upon a blog design that you’ve absolutely fallen in love with? It’s possibly a template that you might be able to use for your own blog. If so, there are a few ways to figure out where it came from, and how to get it.

Many templates are free under a Creative Commons license, and as such, include a link back to the source or designer. Scroll to the very bottom of the blog’s home page and look for a template attribution. There you may find the name of the theme, a link where to find it, and the platform on which the blog is hosted (WordPress, Blogger, etc.).

If there’s no attribution on the page itself, a little detective work can help. On the blog’s home page, use your browser to view the source code. There may be clues, including the blog platform, attribution notes about the template, and possibly a URL where you can find it. Use the “Find” function (Control + F in Windows, Apple + F on a Mac) to search for key words like Theme, Template, Tumblr, or WordPress to find any clues in the code.

Of course not all templates are free. Some are custom built, or purchased from designers, and won’t necessarily have attributions.

Make It Your Own

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Now that you’ve implemented your beautiful new blog template, it looks exactly like the 3,000 other users who have downloaded the same one.

Use your blog’s back-end bells and whistles, in combination with your new HTML knowledge, to add your own brand to the design. The first thing you can do is add a simple logo or moniker in the header of your blog.

Find the box, widget, or code at the top of your blog that contains the template graphic, and replace it with your own. Be sure to keep the size and shape of the image consistent with the template to avoid layout issues. The key to making it ‘fit’ into your new design is to use complimentary colors and fonts.

Sample the color(s) from your new design and input it into Color Scheme Designer 3, a great tool that will generate complimentary and tertiary colors you can use for headers and additional graphic elements.

If you’re not a designer, simple is better. Let your new template do the talking, and keep your header image clean and basic. Looking for a great logo font to express your blog’s content? Check out 1001 Free Fonts and FontSquirrel for some great looking freebies.

For the Non-Designer: Go Minimalist

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If you’re not design-minded, but in the market for a slick looking blog that you can manage aesthetically, think simple. Minimalist themes often use neutral colors, clean layouts, and lots of white space, making them ideal for easy customization.

Don’t fret over color schemes and texture cohesion. Simply pop your logo into a good minimalist theme and let the white space speak for itself. Check out these examples.

Shalom*Typo (WordPress)

Wu Wei (WordPress)

Expi (Blogger)

Need More Inspiration?

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The blogosphere is jam packed with extraordinary designs — clever, functional, and just plain gorgeous. Even if you’re already set with your own new layout, it’s always fun to just kick back and enjoy the creative work of others. Here are some more designs that may get your ideas and creativity churning.

Work Awesome

App Boy

Paul Giacherio

Have any more tips on building a more beautiful blog? Be sure to share them in the comments below.

Webdesigner Depot is one of the most popular web design blogs in the world. It covers tutorials, design trends, blogging as well as inspirational posts. It’s run by Walter Apai, a web designer from Vancouver, Canada. The blog is a great resource for both beginners and advanced designers looking to expand and improve their knowledge. The site is visited by Fortune 500 companies and is used as a reference by many design schools. Visited by almost 2 million readers per month, WDD is a prime resource for both graphic and web designers. Visit WDD at webdesignerdepot.com. Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/designerdepot. Subscribe to RSS feed: webdesignerdepot.com/rss.htm.

More design resources from Mashable:

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- HOW TO: Create Custom Backgrounds for Twitter, YouTube, & MySpace
– Oprah’s Designer Nate Berkus Tackles Twitter Backgrounds
– A Guide to Mobile Web Design Tips and Tricks
– 85+ of the Best Twitterers Designers Should Follow
– 100 Great Resources for Design Inspiration
– 5 Ways Social Media Changed Fashion in 2009
– 20 Creative Apps For Your iPhone

Tags: blog, blogger, blogger templates, blogging, design, layout, posterous, templates, themes, tumblr, tumblr themes, web design, web design tips series, Wordpress, wordpress themes

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HOW TO: Build a More Beautiful Blog

Each Friday we choose a Lunchtime Poll topic to get a sense of how Mashable readers feel about the chosen topic of the week. Below are the results from last Friday’s poll, where we asked your favorite blogging platform.

Is your favorite blog software not represented in the list? Let us know in the comments! And to make sure your vote counts next time, be sure to tell us your choice in this week’s poll for your favorite mobile social app.

There was a clear winner in this poll who smashed everyone else: Wordpress. Both hosted and self-hosted, Mashable readers loved the WP platform about 7 times more than the number two platform, which was perhaps surprisingly the relatively old school Blogger. Were there other surprises in the list for you?

Top 5 Mashable Reader Blogging Platforms

5. Livejournal

4. Tumblr

3. Posterous

2. Blogger

1. Wordpress

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography

Tags: blogger, blogging, LiveJournal, lunchtime poll, poll, posterous, tumblr, Wordpress

Originally posted here:
Top 5 Blogging Platforms Judged by Mashable Readers

Happy Friday, folks! That means it’s time once again for the weekly Lunchtime Poll!

Last time we asked about your favorite video sharing sites — be sure to check out the results of Mashable readers’ video sharing favorites to get caught up. This time we want to know about your favorite blogging platforms: What do you use when 140 characters or a short status update aren’t quite enough? Head on past the break to find out the Mashable staff favorites, then let us know your choice in the comments (and why).

What’s your favorite blogging platform?

Mashable Faves

Adam Ostrow: For personal use: Posterous, for professional: WordPress.

Jennifer Van Grove: Posterous: The super simple platform makes it possible for me to maintain fresh content with little to no effort… Ironically, I’ve found that my Posterous posts are seeing impressive page views. Consistency and frequency is the play, and Posterous makes that possible.

Brenna Ehrlich: Tumblr: I like being able to interact with my readers, who frequently reblog my posts and pass them ’round the Web. I get a ton of traffic from Tumblr alone.

Christina Warren: Long-form: WordPress, even though I think it is mediocre at anything other than blogging (CMS it isn’t). Short-form: Tumblr.

Tamar Weinberg: WordPress!

Matt Silverman: Blogger for me, despite its faults. I like to keep things within one Google username as much as possible.

Josh Catone: WordPress for long posts, Tumblr for fleeting thoughts.

Ben Parr: WordPress, then Posterous. Drupal is better for more complicated CMS tasks, though.

Barb Dybwad: I love the simplicity and community baked into Tumblr, but also the customization and full-featured power of WordPress.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography

Tags: blogger, blogging, blogging platforms, lunchtime poll, poll, posterous, tumblr, Wordpress

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LUNCHTIME POLL: What’s Your Favorite Blogging Platform?

Liskula Cohen is a Canadian-born model, best known for her appearances in fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Cleo. When she discovered that a blog called Skanks in NYC, hosted on Google’s Blogger, had been referring to her as “skank” and “old hag,” she decided to press Google to reveal the identity of the blogger through court, and the court has now decided in her favor. One quote is enough to show the nature of the blog: “How old is this skank? 40 something? She’s a psychotic, lying, whoring, still going to clubs at her age, skank.” However, the blogger’s lawyer argued that these comments are his opinions and hyperbole – trash talk, if you will – but Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden decided that “the thrust of the blog is that [Cohen] is a sexually promiscuous woman,” and that Cohen is entitled to sue the blogger for defamation. This also means that Google will have to reveal the identity of the blogger in question; an important move that will set a precedent for future cases such as this one. The blogger in question has, without a doubt, been very offensive towards Cohen, as can be seen in the above quote. However, as we all know, the internet is full of offensive comments and broad negative statements of all kinds. On the upside, this decision will make people think twice about posting offensive posts and comments about someone, as they’re no longer protected by a shroud of anonymity. On the other hand, it might trigger a flood of similar lawsuits, perhaps for trivial reasons, which can in turn have serious implications on everyone’s online privacy. What do you think? Was Judge Madden’s decision the right one? Please voice your opinion in the comments. Reviews: Google Tags: blog , blogger , Google

Excerpt from: 
Google Forced to Reveal Identity of Offensive Blogger

Everybody’s still regrouping after today’s Denial of Service attacks against Twitter , Facebook , LiveJournal, and other social media websites. Now, however, some further details about what happened and who might be behind it are coming to light. According to Bill Woodcock of Packet Clearing House (a nonprofit organization tracking Internet traffic), the attack wasn’t a traditional DDoS attack using automated bots, but one conducted through a wave of spam email messages that hit Twitter, LiveJournal, and other websites. On top of that, it looks like YouTube was targeted. There are also indications that the attack may be related to an ongoing conflict between Georgia and Russia . The security expert spoke with The New York Times and gave his assessment of the situation: Bill Woodcock, a research director of the Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit technical organization that tracks Internet traffic, said Thursday’s attack was an extension of the conflict between Russia and Georgia. It was not clear who initiated the attack, he said, but likely “one side put up propaganda, the other side figured this out and is attacking them.” Instead of using a botnet, or a network of thousands of malware-infected personal computers to flood a site with traffic, Mr. Woodcock said this particular attack consisted of a wave of spam e-mail messages, which began infiltrating Twitter and other sites at 10:25 a.m. Eastern time. “It’s a vast increase in traffic that creates the denial-of-service,” he said. YouTube and LiveJournal were also affected, Mr. Woodcock said, although “Twitter was definitely hit the hardest.” YouTube said it had not noticed any problems with its service. In short, cyber warfare may be to blame for the attacks on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Livejournal, and others, though that hasn’t been confirmed by any of the companies targeted. However, Bill Woodcock is a respected Internet research expert , so his words likely have some merit. If the attack was related to cyber warfare, then we could be seeing a lot more of this. Still, it’s tough to understand how these social media sites would be of any strategic value to either Russia or Georgia. Today’s events are certainly getting even more complicated, though. Reviews: Facebook , Twitter , YouTube Tags: blogger , ddos , DoS , facebook , Google , LiveJournal , twitter , youtube

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Is Cyber Warfare to Blame for Twitter Meltdown?