Showing posts with label random techie stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random techie stuff. Show all posts

Monday, June 6, 2011

yWriter Software Awesomeness

About a month ago, I was directed to the yWriter site by a post from K.M. Weiland at Wordplay--if you haven't checked out her blog yet, you are missing out. She has a ton of great posts on writing, including regular vlogs. It's an excellent resource for writers.

Okay, back to the awesomeness that is the yWriter software. As many of you have probably guessed, I am a hardcore fan of MS Word. That hasn't changed, but when it comes to organizing my story, yWriter is the first writing program to have all the features I want plus a whole lot more.

One of my favorite features is that even though I don't really care for typing my story directly into the software (hardcore Word fan, remember?) I can copy and paste in what I've written for the day and it keeps a log of how much I write each day, so I can keep track of whether or not I'm meeting my daily goals, which helps me stay motivated. Pretty cool, huh?

Best part about it? It's FREE!

I considered putting together a Word Tip Wednesday type tutorial, but this vlog from K.M. Weiland does a great job of showing how simple it is to use and gives a good sampling of the features included.


Anyone already using this software? Any other methods for organizing your stories that you love or can't live without?

Monday, February 28, 2011

Mishmash Monday: Contact Button and a Contest!!

Changing up the schedule this week. Since I have my blog chain post on Wednesday, I won't be doing my regular WTW post. So today I thought I'd do kind of a combo post. Writing and techie stuff--two of my favorite things. Aren't you excited? ;) I'll try to keep it short.

And I guess, technically, this isn't directly related to writing, but if you're looking to get published someday, it's something to think about.

After this post from Meredith Barnes, assistant to the sharkly--and possible mind reader--Janet Reid, I realized that since I changed my layout, I no longer had a contact button on my blog. Sure, you can get to my email through my Blogger profile, but according to Meredith,


Now, I don't expect to be contacted anytime soon (or ever) but it couldn't hurt. And if my email is accessible, you all can email me about WTW stuff if you have questions or features you want covered. Or whatever you want to email me about. :)

These directions are for Blogger, since that's what I'm familiar with.

Adding a contact button is pretty simple. First, upload the image you want to use to the image hosting site of your choice--Photobucket.com, Flickr.com, etc.--and copy the direct link code for the image.

Under the Design tab then Page Elements in Blogger, click on Add a Gadget and select HTML/JavaScript. Copy and paste this code into the box.

<a href=mailto:youremail@youremail.com>
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LhWVsfv2Uw8GgASuHIWK6ohdwWNApfrrtOWIvcSu7cEyyW_IspfsmDlfrHJz1SgYFN_psSyNrM4JraI2mjhFuPOrjBDoIENcFNUACkNae0Fl-dPqLcf9VluIN3kQ6hyGU0OCXaz9YRc/s1600/contact-me-2.png"/></a>

Make sure you update the links to show your email address and your image. Also, you have the option to add a title to the gadget, if you want, but it's not necessary. Then, just click SAVE, move the gadget to where you want it in your layout, and you're done. Easy, right?

The code above is for this image, which I'm happy to share. :)


But, since you guys are so awesome, I'm having a little contest.

The prize: A custom made button for your blog!

I can tailor it to match your blog, use an image or font of your choice, or whatever you want. I am limited by my Photoshop, since I don't have a full program (PS Elements 7--I want CS5 so bad), and everything I know is self-taught from years of fiddling with the program, but if you're the winner, I'll do my best to give you exactly what you want.

To enter, you must be a follower:
  • +1 Leave a comment on this post
  • +2 Current follower
  • +1 New follower
  • +5 Blog about it
  • +2 Tweet @abbyannis Win a custom-made contact button for your blog! http://bit.ly/dOo9wd
  • +2 Facebook
  • +2 Sidebar
  • +1 for adding it all up for me :)

Open internationally. Contest ends Saturday, March 12th at midnight PST. Winner will be announced Monday, March 14th, at which time I will also be announcing the HUGE CONTEST (books, books, books) I've been planning for a while. Be sure to check back for that.

So, what do you all think? Is having an easily accessible email important?