Tuesday, August 13, 2013

How To Add Social Media Buttons To Your Blog Sidebar

I just spent many hours figuring out how to add some new social media icons to my sidebar yesterday and the night before. 
I google and googled and googled; then I googled some more.
There was downloading, then uploading, then trying to figure out some HTML code.

I just couldn't do it

I am NOT a web designer and I DON'T understand HTML code. 
And I don't have the money right now to be paying a blog designer to do all these things for me, even though I would rather do so.

(Can you feel my frustration???)

So, I googled some more.
And I found this:


And I heard angel sing Hallelujah! OK, maybe I was the one singing!
In this video Emily from Blogoholic Designs
explains how to put  social media icons onto your blog
"WITHOUT
 using a 3rd party hosting site (like photobucket)
or 
WITHOUT
 having to manually edit any code"!!!
The above video is for a Blogger blog, but if you click on the video and then click on her Youtube page, there is also a video on how to do this for Wordpress.


~Anyway~
So, after I found out HOW to put social media icons on my blog, I had to find some social media buttons.
I could have made them, but why, when there are so many great ones out there.
for FREE!
There are also many cool ones that you can buy for
$5, but hey, I'm on a budget...a ZERO budget right now.  
soooooo
I went on Pinterest and searched for "social media icons" and this is what I found:


and I clicked on these beauties:

 They can be found at Craftiments.com

Then, I followed the directions for downloading the icons and downloaded the icons to my computer.

These icons are 100 pixels in size and I needed them to be 48 pixels so that I could get 6 of them on one row of my sidebar (my sidebar is 300 pixels wide)
I opened each one up in Paint and resized them to 48.
(select all, resize, choose pixels, then type in 48 where it says 100, then crop)
I saved the icons in my "blog design" folder on my computer,
then followed the instructions in the video.

It's a little time consuming, but 
I DID IT!!!
Yay!
 Of course, you can see them on my sidebar, but here they 
are:
social media icons, social media icons, how to add social media icons to your sidebar
(lol, I just noticed my spelling error. Changed it on my sidebar, but this pic is all over Pinterest!)

To recap, here are the steps:


1. find your icons and download them. 

2. resize and save them in a folder. 

3. watch the video and install the icons. 

The whole process takes awhile, so break it down by 3 sessions if you get overwhelmed.
 That makes it so much easier. 

 I hope I saved you a lot of time and frustration 
and maybe a little money too!

I've also been  working on my sidebar pics and popular projects so they are easier to find.
Would love it if you checked them out.

ps. I might be able to tell you what we're saving our money for by the end of the week... if  all goes well....

Please feel free to ask me a question you might have after reading this post.

Pam

ps. you might want to pin this page for later when you need it.

Thanks so much for all your nice comments! 
Hope you will all come back and see me again.

121 comments:

  1. I know exactly how frustrating that can be! It took me forever to find out how to add a pin it button to posts, and all I have on my sidebar is the Facebook box, so thanks for the info Pam. Not everyone shares those things:-) Can't wait to see what you're saving up for! Did you see my comment about the planer? We bought it a while back...

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  2. Thank you!!! I am SO NOT tech savvy it is pathetic. I don't even know how to change my header. Hopefully I will find some time to do this too. Now I am wondering what you are saving up for:):) Thanks again. XO, Pinky

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  3. THank you so so much, Pam!!! I've been looking for something like this!!!! Hugs!!!

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  4. Thanks a lot for your post! I never thought of searching pinterest for icons. I found a pretty standard set last week, but I'm definitely going to look into another set after seeing your post. There's just too many cute ones out there!

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  5. I OFFICIALLY LOVE YOU! I've been trying to figure this out, it's been driving me crazy!

    Thank you, thank you, thank you

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  6. I know exactly what you mean. It takes so long to figure it out until you find an amazing blogger who explains it so well.

    Thanks for this-I've been thinking of streamlining mine.

    blessings,
    Shan
    www.The-How-to-Guru.com

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  7. Great site, thanks for sharing. Hugs, Marty

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  8. This is great Pam!..Thanks for helping out this tech challenged person!!

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  9. This is so helpful! Thank you very much :)
    xoxo

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  10. Holy crap! Thank you so much for this! The video was super helpful! I too had searched and searched but this by far was the best! Thank you!

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  11. very simple and easy to follow. thank you for sharing!

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  12. Thanks to you I now have some spanking new buttons on my blog and done in a snap!

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  13. OMG Thank you so much! I have been stupidly downloading icons for a couple of months now and haven't gotten any of them to work! Now I can make my page look more put together - thanks so much!!

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  14. OMG Thank you so much! I have been searching to find someone to tell me what to do with all the icons I keep downloading.

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  15. Hello! I can't get my icons to run alongside each other as it wont let me add pictures via the html box:( any thoughts on why this is?

    thanks for the post though VV helpful !

    xxxx

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  16. Hey Lisa Smyth, you had "no reply blogger" on so I couldn't reply to you directly, but try resizing your icons to small or medium in order for them to line up on one line. Hope that helps.

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  17. I googled to search how to put social media icons and found yours! This is so easy to do and I just added. I just wanted to say Thank you so much for posting this. Such a useful post!! xo akiko
    Style Imported

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  18. This was so helpful! Thanks so much xx

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  19. Was having so much trouble over this, thank you so much for your info. Really love it!<3

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  20. Thanks for the post and step-by-step! I'm still a newbie, so that was SO helpful and I really appreciated it!

    xoxo

    Relatively Offbeat

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  21. Thank you this was VERY helpful!!!!

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  22. YOUR AMAZING! I finally figured it out! But I forgot to resize first! Oh well that can happen later!

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  23. Thank you so much for this post! So helpful! I am going to give this a go today.

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  24. Thanks for sharing this. Am new to the world of blogging!

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  25. Thanks for this blog!!!!!!! I have been looking for a html somewhere I can edit my social media icon. But your way is SOOOO much more easier!!! thx sooooo much! I will be sure to share this blog on mine.

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  26. Hi thanks for this enlightening post. I just wanted to know in case I missed something, what link do I link to the RSS feed icon? My blog link?

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  27. Amy, You have "no reply blogger" checked in your settings and I couldn't respond to your email directly. I have my rss feed linked to feedburner.

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  28. Thanks for the lovely guide dear!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found your post googling how to videos and I need to say that it is the easiest and full guide!

    Thanks a bunch.
    kisses
    Daisy
    www.fashionmemos.blogspot.com

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  29. I have been trying to do this for weeks! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

    If I could I would give you a big hug... SO relieved to finally have this sorted.


    Thanks so much again

    Jess xx

    www.jessicalouisebrown.blogpost.co.uk

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  30. PS, do you have any similar information for RSS?

    I know i'm being incredibly dense, but I don't understand how to use it.

    Thanks again
    Jess xx

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  31. @Jessica Brown, you have "no reply blogger" checked, so I couldn't respond to you by email. I haven't done a post on how to add an RSS feed. I would just "google" it. I do know you can add an RSS feed in Feedburner, which is a Google product. Go to your Google profile and click products and then click on the Feedburner profile and follow the instructions.

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  32. Thanks a million! It took some tweaking but I finally got the icons to look the way I wanted. I shared a link to your post in my bloggers group on Facebook. So helpful. Thanks again!

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  33. Thank you so much! This will be very helpful for my blog. Stop by and visit sometime. www.rolisweets.com

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  34. OMG Thanks so much!! I've been searching too for a while how to put social buttom without beeing a total HTML geek. thx for the tips! I'm proud of me now haha
    check the result on my blog here: www.thewanderlustwardrobe.blogspot.com

    xx

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  35. Thank you so much for providing this awesome tutorial. That saved me a ton of time!

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  36. The video is great, but unfortunately I've tried the whole process 4 times, maybe 5 and though I checked the video again to make sure I followed directions, each time I think I'm successful, it only ever links to the last one that I set up a link for, Pinterest in my case. Has this ever come up, and are there ways to fix this? I would love to add these buttons to my blog.

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  37. This was great! Thanks so much!!

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  38. Hi there. Thank you so much for this entry! I've been looking for this tutorial for ages! Many thanks for again! :))

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  39. Thanks for sharing! This is so much easier than using photobucket like I had previously. Can't wait to update my icons now.

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  40. Hi. I've tried resize my icons many times but blogger will not take it. It just wont upload the icons. I don't know what to do, but useful post!

    www.victoriaaemma.blogspot.co.uk

    x

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  41. Hi! I just wanted to say THANK YOU for providing this information because I have been looking for a way to do this FOREVER.

    It worked perfectly!

    Thank you, Pam!

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  42. Thats awesome! Thankyou so much. I've been looking for how to do this for so long!

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  43. Such a great post! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

    xoxo
    Jasrina
    www.jasrinaprisca.blogspot.com

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  44. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Reading how frustrating this was for you.....described how it was for me too!

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  45. OH my!!! thanks so much! that was so easy!!! Thought it was going to be such a nightmare... Am so glad I stumbled upon your blog!

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  46. This was so amazing! I've been trying to figure this out for a while now, and it was so simple! Really made my updated blog pop! :-)

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  47. I think you may have saved me! I have been trying to figure this out for months! And I am a savvy computer gal, yet, this I could NOT figure out. Thank you! I am going to try it and comment if it works!

    Thankssssss! Julie

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  48. Thank you so much! Everything worked but I seem to have gaps in my buttons, any ideas for solutions?

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  49. Thank you so much for saving me the hours and hours of googling! I searched for a few minutes and then came on your site. You're my New Year's angel!
    Blessings ...
    Lani

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  50. You are a godsend. I have spent so much time trying to figure this out - and I watched the video and it took me no time at all. Thank you for your legwork :)

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  51. So glad I clicked on this link! Thank you! x ambellia@blogspot.com

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  52. OMG YOU MADE THIS SO SIMPLE!
    thank you :) xxxxxxxxxxx

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  53. This was so easy. Thank you for sharing this.

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  54. Hi Pam,

    This post has been a God send! I cannot tell you how happy I was to find it! After spending a whole day trying to figure out how to get social media icons onto my blog as well as where to get the icons themselves, I had almost given up. I am sooo not tech savvy!!!

    I'm so glad you shared your experience. I'm going to be doing a blog post about this on my blog this week and I'll link back to your blog post too so that my readers can see where I got my info. from.

    Another plus side, I've just discovered your blog. It's right up my street and I can't wait to spend some time making my way through it :o)

    Sheen xxx
    http://www.glisteningsheen.blogspot.sg/

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  55. You deserve a GOLD STAR! Haven't even done it yet but I just KNOW I've found the answer HERE to the biggest question of late between me and my blogger friends!
    Thank you!
    Will let ya know how it turns out.
    Lisa

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  56. You seriously saved me with this. I have been trying to do this for MONTHS and could not figure it out. Thank you so much!

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  57. Thanks a million! This was super easy to do! :D

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  58. Nice website. I would like to thanks to sharing important content which is definitely SEO tips...

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  59. Thank you!!! I've been noticing these buttons on other blogs and could not figure out how to do it. Web design is just over my head. I've even looked at their source code and still couldn't figure it out. So thank you, thank you for giving this to me on a platter. I'm off to try it now.

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  60. Thank you SO much for this I have been having real issues with the social media buttons today and this has fixed it sooo quickly!

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  61. thank you so much. wuhuuu! I made it :)

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  62. Hey thanks for this!! I am fairly tech-savvy, but having all the info in one place to make sure I'm doing it right (plus having cute buttons pre-made to use!) is so nice! I got my blog semi-redesign done in the span of an afternoon and lots of it was due to you. Cheers :) xx

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  63. Thanks so much for this! I'm always looking for ways to improve my blog, so I really appreciate the video link you found! It's an issue that's been frustrating me for a while! Worked like a charm! Thanks for sharing!

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  64. YOU ROCK! This was amazing! thank you so much! I got it to work on my new blog http://kaddywhompus.blogspot.com/ I am so, so, happy! Thank you so much!

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  65. You are a life saver! I have been trying to figure out how to do this. Thanks a million!

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  66. Thank you! This was soooo helpful!

    http://lifeofzoedenne.blogspot.co.uk/

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  67. Thank you so much for this video. i just used it for my blog and it was really helpful!

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  68. Thank you, this was SUPER helpful!

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  69. Thank you so much for posting this! I'm a new blogger (courtgetscrafty.blogspot.com) and these social media buttons scream "experienced" ya know? I thought it was some secret clique where only established bloggers could have those cute buttons.

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  70. Thank you SO much for this post and for sharing this video. I have been frustrated and settling for months now! I am very excited thanks to you and the creator of this awesome video! ^_^

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  71. I have started my own blog and this is just what I needed! thank you!!

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  72. You are just fabulous.I was literally dying for this perfection on my blog and you gave it.Thank you sooooooooooo much

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  73. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! You have been most helpful!!!

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  74. Thank you so much for this tutorial!!! really it helped me a lot! it's the most siple way! :)))

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  75. Oh my goodness!!! thank you!!! I've been wanting to do this for 3 or 4 years!

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  76. Thank you so much! ♥ I'm student and of course I haven't enought money.. I'll tell about you in my blog of course in my language but I'll write your link ^.^ Take care ♥

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  77. OMG THANK YOU<3 It is so easy! yay! my blog now looks fab cx thank you thank you!♥

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  78. I wish I could hug you through the computer for showing me this! Thank you so much!

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  79. Thanks for this - made my life so much easier!!!

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  80. OMG!!! Thank you so much, very helpful and easier :)
    I'm a happy girl!

    xoxoxo,
    Teresa
    www.trend-ish.com

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  81. Super helpful. Thank you so much!

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  82. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing this! I got my icons posted in under 10 minutes! Yay! I will share this page. And, of course, connect with you. :)

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  83. I love you sooo much right now!!! I almost lost it too! You saved my life! :D

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  84. Thank you so much for this. It's possibly the first time I was able to do everything right first time, so easy to follow :)

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  85. Thanks so much! I have been wanting to add social icons to my site, and your post makes it so easy!

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  86. Thank you for a very well written article. I have been trying to figure out how to add my social media and you made it clear on how to do that. Thanks again.

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  87. Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I have been trying to figure out how to add social media icons (I am very new to blogging and know nothing about HTML) and this was a huge, huge help! Now I have some cute icons on my blog :)

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  88. Thank you so much! Added them to my blog! Woohoo!

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  89. Thanks to you i don't need to spend hours to have social media icons on my side bar. Keep in touch!

    xx

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  90. I really needed this!! I've been playing about with HTML and websites that are meant to make it easy, but it was still not working. So grateful for your post! Thank you!! :)

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  91. Thank you. Lifesaver. :)
    Anelise Newman (http://anelisemadeit.blogspot.com/)

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  92. Thank you so much for making this tutorial!

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  93. This helped me so much thankyou!!!! If anyone has time please check out my first ever blog post it would mean a lot :) http://iwishsomeonehadtoldmethat.blogspot.co.uk/

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  94. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

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  95. Thank you for this! I was wondering how everyone go those cool icons on their page :)

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  96. Thank you so much for the super useful tutorial!

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  97. Thanks for this. Took me 15 mins to do and I'm extremely happy. Thank you.

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  98. Thank you so much you life-saver!!! Please follow my blog guys, it's new and I need readers! thanks x http://adayinthelifeofrachelj.blogspot.co.uk/

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  99. LIFESAVER! Thank you SO much for sharing this!

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  100. Thank you!! This helped me a lot <3 Will get down to do this asap! ^_^

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  101. Thanks for sharing! It worked for me! :)

    www.marandaheartsstyle.blogspot.com

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  102. THANK YOU!!! <3 You are officially my hero today!!

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  103. OMG.... this is great!
    Completely understand where you are coming from, went around in circles trying to find something.

    Finally came across www.youclone.co.uk

    Maybe you know it, they have free stuff that you can use to improve your site.

    Thanks again, gald to see I was not the only one :)

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  104. OMG! Thank You for adding in the part about resizing your images! I had searched high and low to figure out why mine weren't lining up well!!! You can check them out if you'd like! I'm over at www.jess-walker.com !

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  105. Thank you so much! This really helped me :)

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  106. After seeing so many posts about designing my own social media icons and using HTML code to add them to my blog, I was so happy to find this easy tutorial! I can't wait to follow your tips tomorrow and add the icons to my blog. Thanks again!

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  107. Thank You!!!! Ugh...I was getting frustrated as well, but I just followed all of the directions and now I have beautiful new social media icons.

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  108. Been 2yrs and you manage to save my life :( thank you ♥


    Nique || www.2nbeauty.blogspot.com

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  109. thanks for sharing these widgets, social media is very important now a days to grab visitors and bringing potential users on your website. without these widget its impossible to do the social media job perfectly.
    read more informative social media and seo articles

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  110. Thank you very much for sharing. I did it!

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  111. Thanks for the post and step-by-step! I'm still a newbie, so that was SO helpful and I really appreciated it!
    A Social Media Made Fun

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  112. Thanks for making such a cool post which is really very well written. Will be referring a lot of friends about this. Keep blogging smm platform

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