Tumblr is confusing, help?

[shinami]

Dang, I'm really getting 2007 Quizilla flashbacks right now.

I just made a Tumblr (not UTAU related, it's going to be a blog thing), and I'm so lost. Where do you get themes? Are they really easy to install? I am so lost on this site, Tumblr always baffled me and even now that I have started an account I'm only more lost than ever.

oh help this poor neophyte

EDIT: I am so confused looking around at themes. I just want one that has a main collum, maybe a header at the top, and a sidebar so I can link important posts and have my icon image. Why is that so hard to find?

 

[WendytheCreeper]

RE:

With themes, you can either find them in the theme garden, or you can look em up online. There are many Tumblr blogs that show themes that you can use. The theme garden is good for simple, clean themes(though some of them you have to pay for), while you can find more unique themes on the Internet. One example of a site where you can find themes is http://theme-hunter.tumblr.com.

To install a theme, you need to copy the xml/css/whatever it is code of the theme, and in the "Customize" screen, click "Edit HTML" and paste it in there. You can also further customize the theme by editing the HTML further, but you'll need some knowledge of HTML to be able to do that. As a general rule, NEVER remove the theme maker's credit, because that's not nice, since they worked to make a nice theme for you. Make sure you save your theme, and then voila, a nice looking blog!(Hopefully)

In addition, if you're surfing blogs and you find a blog with a theme you like, if you look around you can find a link to the theme maker or the theme code so you can use the theme yourself(but, ugh, the person who made my theme has moved accounts a million times and I had to redirect so much to get to her blog : ( ).

A good suggestion for a theme for you would be Redux. It used to be the default theme 'till they switched it to that really ugly one you start out with. Since it's an official Tumblr theme, it's easy to install, and it's really easy to add descriptions and stuff like that. Plus, it's very clean looking, and I think it supports Disqus comments too.

Hope things go well for you. If there's anything else you're confused about, don't be afraid to ask : )

 

[shinami]

RE:

I'm Googling Disqus comments since I had no clue what that was, and what I've found makes me both happy and worried. One of the things that irked me about Tumblr is that you can't comment (or at least you can't until you follow that person or they've followed you for two weeks or something? Which is beyond silly?) - so is Disqus their comment system? That makes me happy. What worries me is that I'm guessing I need to look for themes that say they support it if I want it? Bummer.

Yeah, that layout looks way better, the current one is so hideous and bland.

I found this theme that has two elements I liked (those gorgeous background and translucent boxes) but then of course it's a limited frame. http://yukoki.tumblr.com/post/90193492857/theme-33-r-p-g-by-yukoki-almandine-live
This one has the basic layout I'm looking for, though it's way too plain: http://da-rach.tumblr.com/post/90912494750/little-bird-by-da-rach-static-preview-code

I'm still looking, so hopefully I'll find one that suits me. Then when I get to the actual process, I do have two questions:
-Are ask seperate pages/systems or something built in already? It would be such a pain and an oversight it feels if it's the former.
-So reblogging is often how people "comment" on posts - do you get notified who reblogged your stuff, or if they've added something onto it?

Sorry for all the questions! I just want to set this up right.

(And seriously, this is Quizilla homepage making. I feel like I'm 12 again trying to seek out an HTML page to keep everything on, this time avoiding the anime ones, hah. Dunno if anyone even remembers good old Quizilla, the place of horrible written fanfiction.)

 

[WendytheCreeper]

RE:

When it comes to Tumblr, I don't really think anyone that I know actually comments or uses Disqus. Since Tumblr is a short-form blogging site(with a LOT more emphasis on rebloging, at least for most users who aren't those Tumblr Radar tier people), pretty much nobody really comments. The community's form of "commenting" is actually by rebloging and writing down your input(though a strange form of Tumblr etiquette, a lot of people get annoyed if you do this a lot because it seems attention seeking, or if what you're writing down doesn't contribute to the post, like "wow!"), or hiding your thoughts in the tags(especially if it's an unpopular opinion or something offensive or even just unimportant). Also, people tend to give feedback through asks a lot anyway. Tumblr isn't really set up for comments at all; it's just that some themes support Disqus.

The ask page is part of the blog, and it is the universal messaging system for Tumblr. You can disable your ask box, or just turn off anonymous asks(often if people keep on trolling you or some other reason). I'm not quite sure what you're asking about it, so I don't know if I'm any help.

As for the second question, you're on point. People pretty much comment by reblog. You get a notification on your dashboard when people reblog your stuff, as well as when they like it and if someone follows you. In addition, you can see such stats on the activity tab.

The anime themes aren't the biggest issue. The themes you really want to look out for are the "kawaii" ones that are all pastel and, my biggest issue with them, have really tiny and unreadable text. They're just an eyesore to actually read, even if they look nice. With the anime ones, you can sift through the html and see if you can change any anime images.

(I was too young for Quizilla. My old deal was Addicting Games and Club Penguin ; ) )

 

[shinami]

RE:

Hmm, I think I've found a theme I like.

EDIT: Apparently editing in the code to replace doesn't work and I have to edit it in the basic Tumblr editor. That's….really weird. Makes it easy yes but that's absolutely silly that my HTML edit doesn't work. But I got it to work at least.

So I erased my earlier problem.

But now I am frustrated with getting a submit box to show up and work, none of the tutorials work. ughurhughu

 

[WendytheCreeper]

RE:

Submit box? Can I see your blog/theme?

Anyway, how I turn on submissions is by going to settings(the gear up top) and turning on "let people submit posts". Additionally, maybe your theme doesn't have a link to the submit box. Try taking your url and putting a slash and "submit" after it, like this only with your blog and not mine: http://wendythecreeper.tumblr.com/submit If you are taken to your submit box, then it probably just means your blog doesn't have a link.

As for your html editor not working...idk what it is. It could be anything. I remember on IE 8, the html editor didn't always work, so it could be a browser issue. But idk.

 

[shinami]

RE:

Well with the HTML it's a weird mish-mash of working and not working. Edit text inside the HTML? It works! Change an image? Nope.
I'm on Safari on a MAC (10.8?).

Ah yeah, I asked a friend about submit boxes and she told me the same. It's irritating - I googled how to add a Submit page an all the results talked about was adding code. But I've since gotten it to work!

I think for now I've figured Tumblr out. The last thing I want to know if for the future and let's say I make a review of a haul of products I've purchased and need many pictures in the post. Can you upload them through Tumblr and put them in as you like or do you need to use Imgur and insert them by HTML and such?

 

[WendytheCreeper]

RE:

You can upload pictures to Tumblr. My suggestion for a post like that is making a photo post. For the photoset(pictures above any text, the main part of the photo post), you can upload up to 10 pictures. In addition, when adding a description, you can add images by using the insert image button, where you'll need to use Imgur or some other place because you need a link. Also, when answering asks the insert image function lets you upload.

I hope that helps. Happy Tumblring!