Every newly created blog has the same default widgets in its sidebars (as shown below).

The left sidebar has a text widget with helpful tips, category and archive widget while the right sidebar contains Search, Recent posts (Latest posts), links, and the Edublogs badge.

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To change your sidebar widgets

1.  Go to Appearance > Widgets in your Dashboard

2.  Click on the desired Sidebar to expand (so you can add the widgets)

3.  To add a widget, drag it from the Available Widgets or Inactive Widgets areas on the left into the Sidebar area on the right

• You drag by click on the widget with your left mouse and moving the widget.

4.  Drop the widget when you see a dashed line appear – this indicates the widget is in place

• You drop the widget by releasing your left mouse.

5.  The widget will automatically open — just configure, click Save and then Close.

6.  To open and close a widget click the small arrow on the right side of the widget.

7.  To remove a widget from a sidebar click Delete.

• this removes the widget and places it in the Inactive Widget area while keeping all their settings.

Edublogs provides over 100 themes for you to choose including:

1. Themes that can’t be altered and are “use as is”.
2. Themes that are “extremely customizable”  allowing to change font types, font color and background color.

Every newly created blog has the same default theme which you can easily change using the Appearance > Themes or Appearance > Premium Themes area of your blog’s administration panel.

Almost all Edublogs themes include ability to:

1. Upload custom image headers
2. Add a background image
3. Display comments on pages

Features worth considering when choosing a blog theme include:

1. What is your preferred layout?

Blog themes normally include a:

1. Header -  the area at the top of a blog where the blog title, graphics, and possibly navigational links appear.
2. A content area – for your posts or page.  Posts are where you normally publish the latest update or new article on a blog.   They are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order with the most recent post at the top of the page.
3. Sidebar area - for your widgets

Themes come in several standard layouts:

• Single column with no sidebar (widgets are located at the bottom of the blog)
• Two Column – normally a wide column for content and narrower sidebar
• Three Column – with sidebars side-by-side on one side of the blog or either side of the wider content column
• Four Column – one content column and three sidebars. The content column is often the same width as the other columns. This type of layout tends to be cluttered looking and less suited to reading lengthy content.

Two or three column are the most commonly used layouts.

When considering layout you need to think about which side(s) do you prefer the sidebar to be located? Also make sure you check out the width of the blog and the post area.

2. Do you want your tagline displayed in the blog header?

The concept behind a blog tagline is to create a memorable phrase that sums up the tone and premise of a blog.

Ideally all blogs should have a tagline since they instantly tell first time readers what your blogs all about and whether you write posts in topic areas that interest them.

You change your tagline as follows:

1.  Go to Settings > General in your dashboard.

2.  Add your new tagline and click Save Changes.

3. Do you want to be able to upload your own Custom Image Header?

Being able to upload your own custom image header means you can add your “own personal touch” to your blog.

You can use a custom image header as a work around for blog themes that don’t include taglines.  All you need to do is add a tagline to your image header using an image editing tool.

Most themes allow you to upload a custom image header.

You  upload your own custom image header as follows:

1.  Go to Appearance > Header in your dashboard.

2.  Click on Choose file, browse for the image on your computer and then click on Open.

• Only .jpeg, .gif, and .png files can be used for image headers.
• For best results we recommend you resize the image to the exact dimensions recommended for that theme before uploading by using an image editing program.

3.  Next click Upload.

4.  Your image will upload and if it isn’t the exact dimensions you’ll need to select the area you want to crop and then click Crop and Publish.

5.  Your new image header should appear immediately on your blog. However if it doesn’t try clearing your web browser cache by holding the Ctrl key and pressing F5.

4. Do you want navigation tabs across the top of your theme which links to pages?

Some blog themes have links to pages hard coded into the navigation tabs at the top of the theme.

• You can remove links to pages in the top navigation using a custom menu navigation bar (via Appearance > Menu).
• Add links to pages in your sidebar using the page widget (via Appearance > Widgets).

5. What are your preferred color scheme?

When choosing your theme remember that if color scheme makes your content hard to read you will lose readers. So balance your personal preferences with readability since ultimately you want people to read your content.

Don’t just look at the overall color — remember to check closely the color of: the header; the background; post text and links; post titles; headings in posts; widget titles and links.

While most of the standard Edublogs themes color schemes can’t be altered i.e. “use as is” there are a few themes that allow you to change the theme’s color.

6. What customisation options do you like?

Most of  themes don’t have extensive customisation options and are “use as is”.

However, there are themes that are “extremely customizable”  allowing to change font types, font color and background color.

With these types of theme you normally customise them via their Appearance > Theme Options page.