While I don’t think teachers should be programmers, I do think everyone should endeavor to have a basic knowledge of html (the code that makes the Internet work). I say this because there are so many situations where knowing a little html has made life easier and saved me a great deal of time. I am going to explain each step so you don’t have to worry. I am going to show you how to make a social media signature with any combination of the following social media sites: Twitter, Facebook, WordPress blog, Delicious, Diigo, LinkedIn, and Library Thing.
Here is the signature I am currently using as a reference. I chose a maroon color because that is the main color of my school.
Find me online
JTB Consulting
Website – http://jasontbedell.com
Work Email – jason@jasontbedell.com
Personal Email – bedell@litteacher.com
Google Voice: (931) 320-9582
Here is the code for that signature:
1) To get started, open up the text editor on your computer. If you’re on Windows, it’s Notepad. If you’re on Mac, it’s Textedit. If you’re on Linux, chances are you already get your hands dirty with code on a daily basis. Copy this into your text editor exactly:
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
2) Go to this site. Pick out a color you like for your text. Paste this line below what you have. Replace the #000000 with the color code for whichever color you chose.
<font color=#000000 size=7>Find me online</font><br/>.
3) If you have a WordPress blog, either one that you host yourself or one on WordPress.com, copy the following line. Change the part in bold to the url of your blog.
<a href=”http://yoursitehere.com“><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/WP.png”></a>
4) If you use Diigo for social bookmarks, copy the following lines. Replace username with your Diigo username.
<a href=”http://diigo.com/user/username“><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/DI.jpg”></a>
5) If you use Delicious for social bookmarks, copy the following lines. Replace username with your Delicious username.
<a href=”http://delicious.com/username“><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/DE.png”></a>
6) If you use Twitter, copy the following lines. Replace username with your Twitter username.
<a href=”http://twitter.com/username“><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/TW.png”></a>
7) If you use Library Thing for social reading, copy the following lines. Replace username with your Library Thing username.
<a href=”http://www.librarything.com/profile/username“><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/LT.png”></a>
8 ) If you use LinkedIn for professional networking, copy the following lines. Replace username with your LinkedIn username.
<a href=”http://www.linkedin.com/in/username“><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/LI.png”></a>
9) If you use Facebook for social networking, copy the following line. Replace url with the url for your public Facebook page.
<a href=”url “><img src=”http://litteacher.com/pics/FB.png”></a><br />
10) Remember when you chose a font color in step 2, your are going to do the same thing again for the second part of your signature. There is no </font> because we want the color to continue until we are done.
<font color=#000000>
11) Now, include any text you want. I would include at least your website and email address. Add your website url, including the http://, where it says website in bold. Add your full email address where it says email address in bold. Copy everything and you are done writing the signature.
Website – <a href=”website“>http://jasontbedell.com</a><br />
Email – <a href=”mailto:email address“>jason@jasontbedell.com</a><br />
</body>
</html>
12) Some of you may use a social network that is not listed here. If you want to add it to your signature, it is fairly easy. Just download an icon and resize it to 51 pixels square. Then, upload it to a server online, such as Photobucket or Flickr. If you need help editing the html, just let me know in the comments.
Now, just copy and paste the code into your favorite email client and it should work like a charm. In Thurnderbird, it is under Tools, then Account Settings.
Twitter: simplek12
Awesome post! Thanks for sharing!
shawnette @simplek12´s last blog ..Online Show and Tell: Tech Projects for Core Curriculum Use
Twitter: jasontbedell
Glad you liked it. Hope it helps.
Twitter: wadleymoose
I completed the form, copied the html, and then couldn’t figure out where to put the thing. I used Microsoft Outlook to download emails from three different accounts. You will have to show me how to do this at work one day.
Twitter: jasontbedell
I use Mozilla Thunderbird, but I think Outlook is similar. We’ll set it up on Monday. Thanks for trying it.