DIY Design: Make a Back-to-Top Button for Blogger

Okay, first a disclaimer: I am not an expert coder. If you ask me how to code anything on your website or blog, I will probably send you somewhere else, especially if it involves CSS. But HTML I can handle in small doses. And when I recently figured out how to make a back-to-top button without crazy coding, I just had to show you how I do it!

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, a back-to-top button is the little button that appears in the corner of my blog and if you press it, you'll be catapulted back to the top of the page. For really long pages like archives, a long homepage or even a post with a lot of comments, this is super nice to have. 

First, make a small button. You can do this in Picmonkey or Photoshop, depending on your skill set (or I can make you one!). I made mine a circle, about 80 pixels in diameter. Upload the photo either in a post or in Flickr/Photobucket and then copy the image URL. If you upload it into a post, flip over to HTML first to find the image URL.

Then, open up your blog dashboard and go to Layout. Make a new gadget in a sidebar (or in a footer if you don't have sidebars) for simple HTML--it's called HTML/Javascript. Simply copy/paste this HTML into the box, add in your image link + admire! Look at you go, you HTML wizard.

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:5px;left:5px;" href="#" title="Back to Top"><img src="YOUR IMAGE LINK" /></a>

If you need to change your margins, just change the number before 'px' and that will change how many pixels of margin you have between your button and the top and left sides of the screen. This code will automatically put the button on the left side, but you can easily switch it to the right side by putting 'right' in instead of 'left'. I chose to do that + I also changed my position to 34 pixels from the right side so that it wasn't half on gray, half on white (at least on my computer). 

Let me know if you have any issues! I probably won't be able to help but I'll try ;) If you enjoyed this tutorial, I'd lurvvv if you would pin the image up top! I'd love you even more if you pin it from the actual post page, not my homepage!

Finding Inspiration for Your Blog Posts

Lately, I've been less than inspired to write posts here. The desire is there--I love having this blog. But I've begun to overthink it. I feel like I constantly have to balance what my readers want to read (that's you!) and what I want to write and how to be genuinely myself in the process.

(Source, as best as I can find)

I was given the opportunity to host the Lifestyle Bloggers (#lbloggers) chat this week, which is every Wednesday from 2-3 pm EST. I choose the topic "finding inspiration for your blog posts". Over the course of the hour, we discussed how to find inspiration, what to do when you're in a rut, getting inspired from blogs and visual sites like Tumblr and Pinterest. All in all, these ladies (and a couple gents) had some wonderful advice that I just have to share with you. 

(I've credited where possible, but do know that I didn't favorite every tweet and don't remember who tweeted everything.)

On being in a rut:

+ "Take a break, forcing a post doesn't work for me. I carry a notebook & jot ideas down." -@daintyandivory

+ "Get out and do something! Leave the computer and choose to do something you love or something new." -@appreciate_day

+ "Sometimes taking a week off blogging doesn't hurt, so you get new energy and ideas." -@VitaPre

+ "Go for a walk. Listen to old music. Make ice cream. Play guitar. Write a story. Call a friend. Sit in silence." -@serpentineshore

+ "My cure for writer's block is no TV, iPad or phone after 9:30 pm, have bath and read a book in bed. You have to switch off." -@thedemongin

+ "I also recommend taking trips to your local library/museum/gallery: get out. get inspired." -@serpentineshore

On finding inspiration:

+ "My inspirations are always visual. I rarely have the patience to go through a lot of text." -@sarmistha_lbf

+  "Don't just follow trends or do what other big bloggers are doing - forge your own path + create your own niche." -@serpentineshore

+ "If I blog about something I'm already passionate about, the inspiration just flows." -@poppybird_

+ "I think people watching is a great place to get inspiration. We're all so different! :)" -@WhimsicalMrsW

+ "Definitely Pinterest! There are lots of great pictures and ideas on there, especially for food!" -@effievanity

+ And my own personal trick: try to come up with 3-4 ideas for each of your topics in under two minutes. It doesn't matter if they're garbage! I feel like this takes the pressure off of coming up with the most perfect blog post idea ever while allowing me to be creative.

It's not to late to pitch in! How do you find inspiration or get yourself out of a blogging rut?