Life Is A Verb Blog Tour support

(This edition of But Wait, There's More! is especially geared towards fellow fans of Patti Digh's work who are planning to serve as hosts for the Life Is A Verb Blog Tour. If all of that means nothing to you, you might want to just scroll on down or stop back tomorrow. Unless you're counting down to something exciting in your life, in which case you might be able to make use of this information after all.)

Hey there, fellow LIAV Blog Tour participants! I have recently created a LIAV blog tour countdown widget for my blog (scroll down to the bottom of this entry if you want to see how it came out), and if you'd like to add one to your blog, the instructions follow below.

Image: 'Frames' on Flickr by João Moura

1) Scout your location. (Figure out where on your blog you're going to place your widget. It'll be helpful to have a sense of the dimensions of the available space.) And save a back-up version of your template BEFORE making any changes, just in case you have to revert back to it. (Which you may want to do once the Blog Tour has passed you by and your countdown counter is at zero, for example.)

2) Commit to a time and date for your stop on Patti's blog tour. (Countdowns require a specific end point.) (You and Patti are in agreement about your date, right?)

3) Leave a browser window or tab open somewhere with this post while you work, so you'll be able to copy and paste the urls from step six.

4) In a new browser window or tab, head on over to http://www.yourminis.com/minis/yourminis/yourminis/mini:countdown

5) Click on the button that says, "Edit Event."

6) In the first two fields (Date & Time), enter the data relevant to your day on the LIAV blog tour.

In the field labeled, "Event Name or Image URL" copy and paste this url: http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i174/butwait/lifeisaverb.jpg

In the field labeled, "Link url," copy and paste this url: http://pattidigh.com

Then hit "Save" and you'll see the first draft of your widget.

7) Drag the bottom right-hand corner of your widget until you get the countdown clock to the dimensions you think will work on your blog.

8) There should be a small cluster of three editing buttons at the top right of your widget. Click on the left hand button to play around with the color scheme if you like. (I left mine basic black.) Then click the middle button, which looks like a downward arrow, to select "Copy Me."

9) Clicking on the first symbol in the resulting graphic (a circle with a plus sign in it) will generate the embed code you need for your countdown widget.

10) Copy that code. Open up your blog's template, and paste the code on in where you would ordinarily paste an html sidebar widget. Hit save, cross your fingers, re-open your blog, and let me know how it works!

Congratulations on being a part of this exciting work, and don't forget to include the following things in your actual September Blog Tour post:

1. Please include a link to 37days (www.37days.com)

2. Please include a link to Patti's online electronic press kit at www.pattidigh.com, where your readers can find a lot more info on the book.

3. Please mention any upcoming book signings, in case you have readers in those areas. You should be able to get up-to-date information at http://www.booktour.com/author/patti_digh.

4. For extra credit, write a review of the book and post it over at B&N online or Amazon.

(PS: How cool is that photo by João Moura?
Anyone know the name of the artist?
Those of us who are serving as way stations
on the Life Is A Verb Blog Tour
have some kinship with those frames,
it seems to me.
If you need tech support, let me know
in the comments, and I'll try to help.)