I’ve been a fan of Headway for WordPress since I discovered it over a year ago. Most of my WordPress designs are built using the Headway theme as a framework. Which means that I install the Headway theme & then build off of it’s awesome features to create the custom design (click here to see my portfolio of sites using the Headway framework). The Headway theme is easy to use & includes a lot of cool features like a visual editor (where you can change certain design aspects of your site without a lick of code) and built-in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for you to customize the meta keywords and descriptions of each post/page (great for search engines).

I just received an email from Headway announcing the release of Headway 3.0 next week with a video preview of what the new release will include. And. Wow.

It. Is. Amazing.

See for yourself.

I am so giddy, I made my non-geek husband sit down to watch it, too.

The developers at Headway Themes have taken their drag & drop visual editor to a whole new dimension. You can actually draw a rectangle with your mouse — similar to how you would draw a rectangle in Photoshop (or even Paint) – along their grid to create your “boxes” of content (the header, sidebar, footers & other content areas). Once you’ve drawn your “box”, you then select what you want that box of content to be (choose from header, navigation, footer, widgetized sidebar, + more).

I cannot wait for the release! Mom, we may have to take a timeout from Black Friday shopping, so I can see the new Headway 3.0.

Currently, Headway Themes offers a personal license for $87 (with support for up to two sites) and a developer’s license for $164 (with support for unlimited sites that you own or develop). Both sites offer free updates to the Headway Theme for life. That is important to note, because the email mentions that they will soon increase the price of Headway & will have an annual renewal fee. I personally have a developer’s license for Headway & it has been worth every penny (I’ve developed eighteen sites with it to date).

Are you trying to add the Quantcast badge code to your website, but having problems getting it to show up for you? Then read this post for the solution, if you can make it through my nerd tech talk.

I’m a nerd. There, I’ve declared it to the world. No, I don’t wear glasses with tape in the middle, or even have a pocket protector. {Now a pocket projector – that would be cool. Something you could carry in your pocket – or purse – that would project movies onto any solid surface. That would rock my world. I’m sure something similar exists, but I digress.}

In school, my subjects were math & science. It wasn’t that they were my favorite subjects, but I “got” them. They just made sense to me. I couldn’t teach and explain math to others {trust me, I tried tutoring & failed}, but somehow I knew the answers. On my ACT, I got a 34 in the Science section. And that excited me. See? Told ya, I’m a nerd.

So why do I share this with you? Because one of my favorite things to do is troubleshoot. And if you want to know why I like troubleshooting so much, the reason is because I’m a nerd.

Yesterday, I had a colleague email that she was having trouble getting the Quantcast badge to appear on her site & wanted to know if I could take a look. If you don’t know, Quantcast provides audience measurements by collecting data from your site’s visitors, and then gives you a breakdown of your visitors’ demographics.

Quantcast provides different badges you can display on your site with some information on your visitors (like how many visit each month). It’s supposed to be a simple copy & paste job. You copy the HTML code that Quantcast provides you & then paste it into your site. And the simple badges work just like that. However, there are a couple customizable badges with Sparkline, and the HTML code from Quantcast was not working for those. Instead of displaying the badge, it was showing an iframe of the Quantcast website with the Quantcast logo, slogan & a big rectangle link that said “Home” in it:

So, where's the widget?

So, I went to my first place to look for a solution → Google. Surprisingly, I wasn’t able to find any fixes. So, I started troubleshooting. I won’t bore you with the details of what didn’t work & how I came up with the solution. All that matters is that there is a fix. I’m sharing it here in case anybody else is having this problem & goes searching for an answer. The problem was in the source (src) link in the HTML iframe code provided by Quantcast.

{Please note that every time you see yourdomain.com in the following code examples, this should be replaced with the domain of the site for which you are wanting to display audience metrics.}

The default widget code for US People per month with Sparkline is:

<iframe src="http://widget.quantcast.com/yourdomain.com/9" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="160" height="120"></iframe>

The code above will display the right widget. The widgets with Sparkline allow you to set some custom variables for the widget’s display, and this is where it gets tricky.

To show the number of visitors per month, for the previous 90 days, the code from Quantcast looks like this: {note: this is what is not working}

<iframe src="http://widget.quantcast.com/yourdomain.com/9&timeWidth=30&daysOfData=90" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="160" height="120"></iframe>

Notice that the difference between this code and the one above it {that works} is the src url. The customized widget adds the following to the end of the widget url:

&timeWidth=30&daysOfData=90

This specific section needs to be moved to before the “/9″ in the url {9 being the identifier for the type of widget}.

So instead of this:

src="http://widget.quantcast.com/yourdomain.com/9&timeWidth=30&daysOfData=90"

You should use this:

src="http://widget.quantcast.com/yourdomain.com&timeWidth=30&daysOfData=90/9"

The final, working HTML code you should paste into your site should look like this:

<iframe src="http://widget.quantcast.com/yourdomain.com&timeWidth=30&daysOfData=90/9" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="160" height="120"></iframe>

If this solution works for you, your widget will look similar to this:

{this is the badge using audience data for quantcast.com}

Recently, I redesigned Energizer Bunnies’ Mommy Reports, a blog full of giveaways, reviews & inspiration from Christian mommy of 2, Marina. Marina wrote a review about working with me, and reading it truly filled my heart with joy.

Marina coined a new slogan for me “Designing Dreams into Reality” {what do you think, should I keep it?}, but my favorite part of the review was when she said I was “down to earth”. Because at the end of the day, I want humbleness in my heart. I want to be thankful for all God has given me. I want people to be able to see that. I want that to be their takeaway.

Marina and I only communicated via email, which means she had to interpret my tone & emotion based on my words alone. So if she was able to get “down to earth” from that, I figure I must be doing something right!

Marina also wrote about how finding me was a total God-incidence. All of my clients have been providence from God, but some have been more obvious than others (especially when you hear the path of how they found me). Marina’s story is one of those.

I know you’re wondering: Didn’t she say giveaway? Where’s the free stuff?, so I won’t bother you with any more emotional stuff. Plus, I have a 4-month-old on my lap who has spit up on me while I am writing this, at least 4 times. Being a work at home mom is so glamourous, folks. Seriously, don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.

Marina is giving away a custom WordPress blog design from Bellafaith Design {yours truly}. It includes all the bells & whistles, so if you’re already on WordPress, thinking of making the switch, or starting a new blog, make sure you head over to Energizer Bunnies’ Mommy Reports for details on how to enter!{Hint: One of the entries includes looking at my portfolio.}

Click here to enter the giveaway, which is open for another week (’til August 27).

Click here to read the full review on Bellafaith Design.

Up until now, my blog has been “me” centered {I’ve used it mainly for my portfolio}. Starting today, I want to make my blog all about you, and what you want to know.

I’m constantly asked questions about:

• Blogging Basics (how to start, how to blog, how to make money, basic html & css code, et al.)
• Email Marketing
• E-Commerce
• Logo/Branding (yes, there is a difference)
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social Media (particularly twitter and Facebook)

Do you have questions that fit in those categories? If so, I want to know what they are!

Leave your question(s) in the comments below (or email me).

It’s the only way I can make sure that I’m sharing information with you, that you want to know!

Thank you to everyone who entered my first Custom Blog Design Giveaway. I truly appreciate all who entered, and wish I could give you all a custom blog design for free – unfortunately, my checking account won’t allow it!

After posting the giveaway (on a whim) last week, I found myself setting goals over the course of the week. My goals were to have 50 people “like” my new facebook page, reach 1100 followers on twitter & have 100 comments/entries on the giveaway post. I’m so excited to announce that you all helped me exceed every one of those goals! As a thank you, I will be launching a 72 hour round of specials starting at 12PM CST, today!

At the end of the giveaway, the total comments were: 108

Random.org selected: #47

Comment #47 belonged to: Lisa

Congratulations to Lisa of Healthiest Life 4 Me for winning a Custom Blog Design!

I look forward to working with Lisa on her blog’s redesign, and can’t wait to share the big reveal of the new design with you all!

Again, I’m very grateful for all who entered – thank you very much!

I’ve finally made the leap & created a Facebook fan page. And in joint celebration of the fan page’s launch & Valentine’s day → Happy Valentine’s Day → I am hosting my first every blog design giveaway!

This giveaway is for a full custom blog design complete with header, sidebars, and footer. One major revision is allowed and two minor revisions. You’ll also get matching social media icons and a 125×125 badge.

Although I prefer to design for WordPress, this giveaway is open for Blogger, too. And if you’ve been wanting to move from blogger to WordPress, I will include the transfer of your current blog from Blogger to WordPress (domain and hosting would be your responsibility).

So if you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, already have a blog that could use a new look, or want to move from Blogger to WordPress, leave me a comment below to enter this giveaway!

For additional entries, you can:

• Like bellafaith design on Facebook (in it’s brand spankin’ new awesomeness).
• Follow @bellafaith on Twitter (if you already follow me, just tell me in a separate comment below).
• Tweet the following message: Do you need a fabulous blog design? @bellafaith is giving away a custom design that will rock your blog! http://bit.ly/hdXgoi

*If you do any of the additional entries, make sure you come back here and leave separate comments for each additional entry activity.

I see so many inspirational photographs, paintings, graphic designs, etc. online, and although bookmarking them was working okay, the designer in me wanted a way to present them visually. Like an online journal, that I can look through and get inspiration for projects. So, I turned to tumblr. Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform, which simply means it fits somewhere between tweeting {Twitter} & blogging. [Further breakdown: Twitter only allows tweets for up to 140 characters. The recommended length for a blog post is at least 250 words (when I was first being trained on WordPress, my trainer suggested having an average of 500 words per blog post). So micro-blogging is for everything inbetween (it can also include the short & sweet and the long & detailed).

A great thing about tumblr is that you can place a “share on tumblr” link in your browser’s bookmark bar & quickly create a post from whatever web site you are visiting — which makes it super easy to share content gold with your tumblr followers. This is what inspired me to use tumblr for my online inspirational journal: inspired muse.

{the credits for the images used in this collage (left-to-right): papermoth, maechevrette, theshophouse & UrbanPinkPhotography}

I’ve had a lot of fun adding inspirational goodies to inspired muse & I’ve discovered some amazing talent along the way. However, I do think I’m going to have to set a time limit each day to my inspirational searching, otherwise I might get too carried away…

Note: There are other micro-blogging platforms – another popular one you might have heard of is posterous. Posterous is very similar to Tumblr, but I went with Tumblr because I already had experience with it.

I’m in the process of redesigning bellafaithdesign.com & transitioning from a completely static website to a dynamic website using wordpress. If you see “A look back in time…” at the beginning of a post in my portfolio, that means it’s not a brand new design, but a project I’ve moved from my old portfolio to this new updated one.

I’m in the process of restructuring & redesigning bellafaithdesign.com (which means the business aspect is getting some nips, tucks & facelifts as well – this is the closest I get to plastic surgery). I know what it takes to make a site beautiful & successful, however I feel I have skimped on my own site. When I redesigned last year, I “jumped in” & failed to properly plan my lay out or marketing/seo strategy (which are very important things to consider at the beginning of a great web design/redesign). So, I am treating myself like a client and devoting the time and smarts to make bellafaithdesign.com strategic from a business aspect and more helpful to clients and those interested in graphic & web design.

In the process, I’m working on improving my business model so that I can work smarter not harder (which will be beneficial to my family & business). I’m using project & financial management tools to streamline the “paperwork” process & keep projects on track, so that I can spend more time doing my favorite part: the designing. Other business plans include the expansion of the bellafaith design team this year (any freelance graphic or web designers are welcome to email designteam@bellafaithdesign.com for more information).

The gem of the redesigned site will be the blog, which will feature help/advice/tips on seo (search engine optimization), tutorials on using wordpress (and other blogging /content management systems). And since bellafaith design is committed to bringing you the latest in web design as well as helpful tips for your online business, I’m excited to announce that we are introducing a free e-newsletter. The bellafaith design e-newsletter will be a monthly publication delivered directly to your e-mail inbox. You can go ahead & sign-up for the e-newsletter by clicking here.

The focus of the new bellafaith design site is intended to be you the visitor, reader, subscriber, client; so I’d love to hear what you’d like to see at the new site. And, if you’re reading this after the redesign has launched, give us feedback on what you like, what you don’t, and what you’d like to see (or read)!

Recently, I redesigned the logo for KC Parent & KC Baby Magazine. Family Media Group launched the logo on the KC Parent Magazine with the September issue last month. They had sent me a mock-up of the magazine cover with the new logo prior to the release date, but seeing it in person had a whole different dimension to it. A couple weeks ago, I went to urgent care. In the waiting room, I saw the magazine. Just sitting in the magazine sorters like all the other magazines. I wanted to jump for joy, yell my excitement, tell the world that I designed that logo, but I restrained myself. Sitting there in the waiting room, I felt like a secret celebrity {albeit, I was the only person in the waiting room}. Thankfully, the short visit with the doctor was enough time to humble myself. But I still excitedly showed the magazine to my husband {and my mom a couple days later}. Now the October issue of KC Parent is out, but I haven’t yet had a chance to grab a copy of it.

September Issue of KC Parent Magazine

October Issue of KC Parent Magazine

Yesterday, I was out doing some shopping at Babies R Us & there was the KC Baby Magazine with the new logo! It’s just so cool to see your designs in public! I grabbed a copy of it to flip through at home. The Art Director for KC Parent & KC Baby Magazine, who designed the covers of the magazines with the new logo, has also worked with the Editor to redesign the interior layout. And it keeps getting better with each issue!

KC Baby Magazine - doesn't that look great?