How to put comment buttons on your blogspot blog

From a series of posts including How to comment on a blog and free comment buttons, here's how I put comment buttons on my blog, in 10 easy steps. I hope this makes sense!

These are examples of the buttons that I use:





And here's how it's done. This may seem complicated at first glance but if you do it once, it should be easy and I hope the screenshots help. Please note - this is only the way I do it - if you know of an easier method, please do share!

1. Go to Iarfhlaith's website where he's made this zip file of his buttons available for download. Leave a comment to say thanks ;o) Extract all the buttons to a folder on your computer.

2. Go to http://picasaweb.google.com - this is a photo and graphic site from Google, and works well with blogspot/blogger. I use Firefox 3.0 for blog writing.

Upload all the buttons to a new Picasa album using the easy upload form. You'll end up with an album looking similar to this:


3. Write your blog post as per usual, keeping Picasa open in a separate tab. Once you've finished your post and are ready to add in your comment button, go to where Picasa is open. Choose and click on the button you'd like to add. For this example I'll choose green.



4. Click Embed image on bottom right. Tick the Hide album link box.



5. Right click with your mouse to copy the code.



and then paste the code into your Edit Html tab - after all your text. It will look something like this:



6. Then, switch over to the Compose view



select/highlight the comment button by clicking on it



and centre it using the centre button.



You're nearly finished, I promise. After you fill out your labels and everything, all you have to do is publish your post. First though...

7. Open a new tab with your blog in it.



Press publish on your new post. Once it's published IMMEDIATELY choose to Edit this post again.



8. Go to the tab with your blog in it and click F5/refresh. You should see your new post there. If everything looks okay, go right down to the end of the post and you'll see a link for 0 Comments. Right click (in Firefox anyhow) and choose to Copy Link Location.



9. Return to your Edit post tab and go to the bottom where you'll see the code for your comment button. Select the URL for the button, then highlight and replace with the comment link.





So the code ends up looking something similar to



10. Press publish and that's it! As I said, it appears daunting at first glance, but follow the step-by-step process and you should be fine. It takes me only a couple of seconds each time I do it at this stage :o)

Give it a go and let me know how you get on, please. Any questions, please do let me know.

Sushi with Spicendipity's Deborah Hadley

One of the Podcamp Ireland talks I'm most looking forward to later this month is Deborah Hadley's morning session on “From Spare Room to Board Room: How to turn your hobby into a profitable online business“. Deborah (or @Debz) is an inspiration for me - I marvel at her ability to run a successful blog and business, manage a family and do it all with a wicked sense of humour. I pestered her over sushi sat down with her recently to find out more.



I first met Debs at the 2008 Blog Awards, where she'd been nominated for Best Food Blog for the Humble Housewife, a blog she started in January of 2007. Her exuberant personality made an immediate positive impact on me and as we chatted I felt as comfortable as if I'd known this woman for years, her real-life personality mirroring almost exactly how I imagined this "humble housewife" (it was supposed to be ironic, she sighs) to be from reading her posts - this being the first I read. She's lovely - vivacious, keenly observant and funny with a talent for putting her company at ease. My kind of person.

Though not evident from her American accent, Deborah lived in Dublin until she was nine and then thanks to parents working for multinationals went to America for three years, Belgium for a further five and back to Chicago for university. It is perhaps this mix of experience that led to her own journey to discovering what she wanted to do - from studying in medical school to enrolling at the Eastman School of Music - becoming a classically trained opera singer - to being a corporate accountant right through the way to launching Spicendipity in June 2008. Not bad going for a 29 year old, eh?



"Spicendipity offers you ways to speed up your time in the kitchen", she tells me, "with all natural baking mixes, sauces and spice mixes". There are no additives, colourants or preservatives ("100% recyclable outside, NO yucky stuff inside") and there's a great variety to choose from.



From a two-brew barbecue sauce (made with honey, beer and freshly brewed coffee) to beer bread (just add a bottle of beer) to the now almost infamous chocolate brownie mix and more, Deborah's innovative and quality recipes have captured the imaginations and tastebuds of many bloggers and non-bloggers alike.

A casual search on twitter reveals a positive reaction, as do the reviews on LouderVoice.com.



So how did it start? "With €70" she tells me, "the best €70 I ever spent. I enrolled in a Start Your Own Business course, run by the County Enterprise Board in Offaly. One evening a week for six weeks, we learned how to put a business plan together, put the budget on paper and get the pitch right. I sometimes feel I have 7 billion ideas in my head, but I think if I was going to launch another idea, I'd repeat the course and process for Spicendipity because I found it such a help.

"Write it down. Even if you don't have access to a course or know what a business plan is, write down your ideas and how you'd pitch it. Writing and perfecting an elevator pitch is a great way to get some focus. Also, get feedback from lots of people from different backgrounds and in different circumstances. The business course though is definitely the way to go".

Deborah is blogging too, over on the well named Tast.ie. She also finds time to contribute to Frugal Ireland, is a welcome commenter on many blogs and raises two lovely little girls, Ella and Ciara (and the husband sometimes, she laughs) as well. Her passion for food and conviction that cooking is easy shows in the effort she goes to in simplifying her recipes, continually spreading the message that "anyone can cook".

Her blog is a great resource showing her expertise, from recipes - here's her sushi one - to reviews to great tips for an efficient kitchen (definitely one for me, anyway) while her involvement in the Twitter community (the subject of her recent talk on the Podcamp Ireland podcast) has helped her in a number of ways. "The support from everyone has been great" she smiles, "right from the idea through to launch and over, everyone has been so giving and great. The advice has really been instrumental. Sabrina's done a fantastic job with the design and it's something I'm really proud of. I'm glad I gave it a go".



Spicendipity - a real home business, run almost from her kitchen table - is a great example of a business born from a passion and I think it'll do brilliantly. Deborah's talk in Kilkenny will be a
"morning session on turning an idea or hobby into an online business. From getting an idea down on paper to execution to utilising social media to actually launch it" and is definitely on my "must attend" list. There's bound to be some excellent advice (and perhaps the odd treat?) there.

In the meantime head over to the shop and take a look at her gift hampers, especially (says a hungry me, this one. Is it any wonder I like this woman so much?

I'll see her in Kilkenny - hope to see you there too. All the information you need is on www.podcampireland.com.

Now, I'm off to boil the kettle. Anyone for something tastie?

Tuesday Tune - Take a walk on the wild side

It may be dull and damp outside, but in here I have a coffee, convenient snacks and Lou Reed and Suzanne Vega with a marvellous saxophone sound on loud.


(You'll need to let it (down)load)

All together now - doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo...

My hospital appointment's come through

I haven't been well. Thankfully I haven't been ill enough to warrant a hospital stay but fatigue and pain have forced a cessation of most, if not all online activity of late while persistent aches, tremors and stiffness in limbs have been a considerable obstacle to attending or completing many obligations. Sleep eludes me, concentration evades me and short walks have become treks to recover from.

There seems no rhyme nor reason to it. It has refused to present warning signs to let me know I shouldn't plan anything later nor has it done me the favour of being consistent enough to allow me judge my abilities and therefore plan activities for the day. It comes and goes. Similar to Longfellow's little girl, when it's bad, it's horrid.

Thankfully those lovely people at the Health Service Executive, having heard my symptoms, scanned my vitals, tested my reflexes and judged my complaints severe enough to warrant the attention of a Consultant have given me a date where I had nothing planned anyway and will be happy to attend. I pencilled it in this morning.



That's right - May 28, 2009. I quite like the letter which finishes saying

"Please arrive for your appointment at your allocated time. Failure to do so will lead to overcrowding and delays."

Ah that's where the delay is.

Still, I'm feeling better recently. I'm back to blogging today, facing the real world soon. A positive mental attitude and support of friends has been a big help. I feel I'm getting better, unlike our Health Service which seems to be suffering a disease far worse than anything I could have. I'm just glad it's not life threatening and pity those with diagnoses that need urgent assistance.

The appointment is that morning. Anyone free for a coffee or pint after? :o)

John Boyne and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas movie

When I had a brief chat with John Boyne last night after the World Premiere of the movie The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, he seemed like a happy man. Having been given a standing ovation by the audience at Dublin's Savoy, his joy carried through to the lobby of the cinema where he was greeted and congratulated by contemporaries and fans alike.



I'd first spoken to John at the Dublin Writers Festival this year, where on meeting him I gushed about the book. I'm a regular reader of his blog so knew he'd been on set and met the actors. Even back in June his enthusiasm for and confidence in the movie showed - the first movie adaptation of one of his books seemed to be to his liking.



Last night as he spoke I got a real sense of accomplishment on his part. The glowing tribute from Ryan Tubridy who spoke before the movie told how the book's dedication came about - when John had finished the book he gave it to the young Jamie Lynch to read. Being happy that this fable (as he describes it) was well received by children, the book was launched in 2006 and has since ascended dizzying heights of translation into 36 languages and now a movie directed by Mark Herman.



In his thank you speech, John spoke about how it was

"quite special to have this World Premiere in my home town of Dublin, only a few doors down from the Irish Writers Centre where the book was launched in January 2006...

Special thanks must go to Mark Herman who has taken something so important, something that has changed my life and has made it better".

At the premiere also were the director, actors David Thewlis (Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter films) and Rupert Friend as well as many supporters of Amnesty International Ireland, for whom the premiere was a fundraiser.


Image from the wonderful Snitchseeker.com

The movie certainly seemed well received, the only sound as the credits rolled being sobs and sniffles from audience members who found the ending quite emotional. As the last credits raised, the audience erupted in applause for a film that somehow deserved to be made, if only, as Tubridy said earlier, to "work on the eradication of the amnesia when it comes to this chapter of history".

If you haven't read the book, I would strongly suggest not reading any further. As the movie is quite a faithful adaptation, any of the 'spoilers' below won't be surprising to those who have read the book, but may ruin it for those who haven't, and I would not like to do that for what is quite an unique and amazing novel.

Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.

John Betjeman

From the opening quote above and onto a Nazi decorated square in Berlin where little boys play aeroplane, you can tell that the film crew have put care into making this look good. With Miramax (owned by Disney) behind it, there should be no question of quality, but even as Trish Long, head of Disney Ireland said before the movie, adaptations of favourite books are normally approached with hesitation and trepidation. Not so here. The scenery, sets and uniforms seem authentic and there's a sense of care taken.

The entire opening sequence in fact sets the standard for the rest of the movie. The rich shots showing the lavish German lifestyle is contrasted with the fear in the streets; maids cleaning a house in preparation for a party is shown alongside Jewish evictions taking place.

The star of this sequence, and most of the movie is James Horner's powerful soundtrack, which swells and fades with the regularity of breath but catches and amplifies every emotion. I honestly believe that without this music, the film wouldn't have the same impact. You can hear some of this music on the film website.



Just as the book revolves around Bruno, so the film revolves around Asa Butterfield. The child is remarkably well cast in that he looks, well, evil. Norman Mailer's last novel is a book about the young Hitler called The Castle in the Forest and I can think of no better actor to play the role than Butterfield. Throughout the film I'm constantly impressed and surprised by how believably he plays the role, which, though different from the Bruno I imagined, is powerful.



While I have many issues with the English accents, the loss of certain features of the book and the supposed lack of knowledge about the war and Jewish situation of this son of a Nazi commandant, I can't fault the way Butterfield has made this part, his first major movie role, his own. Choosing to be ignorant is its own brand of badness and my dislike for the Bruno character in the book transferred nicely onto his screen character.



Equally Jack Scanlon is well cast as Shmuel, the likable, if not pitiful Jewish child. Time and time again I had to remind myself that is is a book and a movie for children more than adults, and as such had to supress my disbelief at how healthy he looked (despite the make-up) and how well spoken he was - but this seems to be true for him in real life too. In a recent interview the ten year old commented on acting "As long as acting stays fun, I’ll keep doing it. Because, um, we’re all about the fun at this age"

"They smell even worse when they burn, don't they?"
- "What?"
"... But surely you've known?!"

Just as in the book there are wonderful, powerful scenes in the movie that even now some hours later flood my mind. Vera Farmiga as the mother plays a powerful character, one that conveys the real horror of the situation and anchors it firmly into the reality of the atrocity. Her character is much more potent than I feel the book conveys, and I got a real sense of this German Frau realising just how badly the knowledge that she ignored what was going on around her has hit her.



Lottie talks about one of her favourite parts, a universal moment where the boys realise they'e both eight and this will make them friends. For me that moment came when they discussed appearance, and the line went something like

"You could look like me if you wore different clothes and shared your hair off"

And there, for me, was the true atrocity of the situation, the one undeniable truth that makes the whole Holocaust, the senseless murder of so many people and the inexcusable monstrosity of extermination camps like Out-With Auschwitz-Birkenau and Chełmno so intolerable. People died. Children died. Little boys died.



As the film drew to its conclusion - a shock to those who hadn't read the book - I couldn't help hoping that this had happened at least once, that somehow, somewhere the lunacy of the entire drama was brought home to them in such a personal way. Like Darren, I can't say I enjoyed the movie but I certainly got the pay-off at the end from the final scenes accompanied by that haunting music. The sounds of tears falling around me indicated that others felt the same.



John Boyne is, I hope, a happy and proud man today. His creation gave life to a movie that is powerful and memorable. Even though both book and movie have strong differences, neither suffer as a result, they're both monumental testaments to these events. As, indeed the book finishes, so shall I, in the fervent hope that he is right:

"Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age."

Read the book. See the movie. Bring children. The lesson should not be forgotten.

Thanks to Vincent from Movies.ie for the tickets. You can read other reviews here and watch the trailer here.

The wishes of children with cancer

The Barretstown dreamcatcher is my favourite symbol for the Co. Kildare camp. The centrepiece of the Arts and Crafts room there, the campers, who all suffer from cancer or other blood related illnesses, write their wishes down, tie them into the dreamcatcher and there they stay, unread, untouched; secret wishes from children who have been touched by illness.

"Origami birds, shiny little boxes tied up with coloured string, feather coated parcels, all kinds of creations decorated with sequins and ribbons and crepe paper...

For a child with cancer, every wish counts."

Just launched is the new Barretstown Wishes campaign that invites people to not only think about the children from Ireland, the UK and 21 European countries who visit Barretstown, but to create their own wishes to send to Barretstown to join the wishes of other supporters in what they call the magic environment of the camp.



When I first visited Barretstown in 2004, it was the dreamcatcher above anything else in the amazing place that caught my emotions on the tour. Wishes from children that no one will ever read or know if they came true.

While, thankfully, I've never had to deal with the problem of having a child or sibling suffer from any major illness, it was easy for me to wonder what children had chosen to share in felt-tip marker and glitter, having experienced a new sense of freedom in the previous ten days. It was the idea of these wishes that made me volunteer the first time and kept me coming back for more.


All photos are taken from Barretstown.org and are courtesy of Maxwells.

Barretstown, part of Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall camps is set on 500 acres of Co. Kildare countryside - close enough to Naas - and welcomes children aged 7 to 17 to take part in their program of therapeutic recreation.

What happens there is nothing short of wonderful every year as children realise that they're not just an ill child, but a child, who like all the other children there have an illness. That's when the important bit, the serious fun starts.

"The children who come to Barretstown have often spent a long time in hospital enduring debilitating treatment. In the process they miss out on so much that most children take for granted. Simple things like playing in the local basketball team, or sleepovers at a best friend's house.



But Barretstown changes all that. Throughout the summer our camp has been ringing with the laughter of these children. They're here to rebuild their self-esteem and to get the reassurance that they can be happy and have fun. In turn, they rediscover things about themselves to help them cope with life outside Barretstown."

I've always been surprised that Barretstown has to go through so much to raise its funds every year. They receive 3% funding from the government meaning 97% comes from the public year on year. They have very generous fundraisers, volunteers and supporters but like every charity have to run campaigns to beg for donations to help make it happen. It's one of those strange dichotomies where to really understand what you're donating to, you almost have to experience it for yourself.



It's impossible for me to blog about what happens there without breaking into a smile as I remember certain children, their inspiring attitudes, discoveries and sense of adventure. There too are the volunteers I've made friends with, kept in touch with and continue to and mostly the experiences I went through that opened my own eyes to certain truths about others and myself. Barretstown taught me a lot about who I am and who I can be.



Barretstown offers safe challenges to the campers and the volunteers - or 'Caras' (gaelic for friend) - from hanging upside down and crossing a swamp to petting a horse for the first time to getting up on stage and performing to changing your perception of yourself and your ideas about illness. I've learned pity isn't as useful as a listening ear, sharing tears isn't as useful as sharing a hug and that above all a sick child is still a child, and so wants to have fun.



The Barretstown Wishes website offers some ideas of the wishes children might make. "To make new friends." "To be able to catch a fish in the Barretstown lake." "To have their hair grow back after chemotherapy." It's impossible to know, save that one of the only times I've ever seen tears there is when the camp sessions are over and the children have to go home. There and then the wishes tend to be that the children can come back.

Of course, if therapeutic recreation has had its desired effect - if the children have regained confidence in themselves to help them fight their illness, they won't come back as campers - often though they return as volunteers to help others, to share smiles, to have fun.



What would your wish be? Don't tell me, but head over to the Barretstown wishes site where you can download a wish keeper, find out more or help Barretstown by donating. They also have a wish list to ask companies for help other than just cash. You'd be making a real difference and maybe even helping some wishes come true.



Well done to Askdirect.ie for this campaign which I hope goes really well. You can find out more on the Barretstown website, including some beautiful film footage of the place. You'll find all information on volunteering here also. It may be worth the click :-)

Stephen Lynch, Bulmers Comedy and You Tube fans

I never meant 2 cause u any sorrow.
I never meant 2 cause u any pain...
I only wanted 2 one time see u laughing.
I only wanted 2 see u laughing in the purple rain"



I discovered two things last night - one, that Purple Rain is a hilarious song and two, that that I'm not a Stephen Lynch fan.

Yes, I knew who he is, what type of songs he sings and the lyrics to some of them, but compared to the audience at Dublin's Olympia last night, their fanboy adulation and the exuberant applause that greeted every utterance from his lips, I feel like one of those people who say "Lord of the Rings? Absolute rubbish. I never read the books or saw the movie but it's still crap". I didn't have a clue.



Similar to Andrew, I was introduced to Stephen Lynch's music by Darren and Lottie, who stared at me incredulously when I admitted that no, I'd never heard of him. Cue You Tube and the playing of many videos, much laughter and gasps of shock from me at some of the lyrics. Filthy, obscene, irreverend and quite often very, very manky. I loved it. I immediately got copies of the albums and they've been standards in my iPod playlists for the past few months.

I had no idea he was popular this side of the water though. We found out too late he'd played Whelan's earlier this year AND was in Kilkenny for the Cats Laugh Festival so seeing him as one of the opening acts for the Bulmers Comedy Festival was quite a nice surprise. Tickets bought immediately, it became the gig to look forward to for the summer. The fact the first one sold out and they added a second was some indication for me, but then again, it may have been the only tickets they could get for the Festival, seeing as some of the big names were sold out, right?

Wrong.



Lynch's following over here seems to be huge! I really felt sorry for the lovely Ruth-Anne Cunningham, the singer who went on as a warm up. She apologised almost straight away that she "wasn't a comedian" and launched into some soulful, poppy tunes that were completely inappropriate for the night and the audience, even if she did tie in a bit of Prince at the end.



I'm not sure why Bulmers chose not to have a comedy act as a warm-up, especially given the amount of comedy acts in Dublin, though fair play to her, she did her best for the songs she sang. Apparently very successful State Side (and deservedly so) I think we were just bored waiting for Lynch to come on. I'd love to hear her perform in a different venue - last night, brave as she was, it just didn't work. Behind me people were asking afterwards "What was that girl's name at the start?" A pity.

So, though, how was Lynch? Hilarious.



The power of You Tube has really been elevated for me in the last few hours. I'm not sure if I'd forgotten or underestimated the power of the channel but I was taught/reminded that if your content is great, you will get an audience. The amount of people in the Olympia who knew all the lyrics was impressive. The last time I experienced anything like this live was a Christy Moore gig where he played Ride On and the crowd blasted it back at him. Even he seemed surprised and impressed at times at the level of audience participation.

He too understood this and didn't mind people filming it, as long as they gave an accurate representation of the performance. It's refreshing to see artists accepting that people want to share the experience, not to show it was bad, to how great it was and how much they enjoyed it. I'd say there'll be a fair few videos uploaded in the next few days!



I really got the sense that the Stephen Lynch on stage, as polished and contrived as his talking may be in places, is a fairly accurate reflection of him in real life. His banter with Rod Cone during "Big Fat Friend", though scripted (and obscene) conveyed a genuine warmth and friendship between the two that obviously enjoy what they're doing. It must be difficult to stick to the script time and again so their ad-libbing was much more for their benefit than for ours, however funny it was. Lynch has a great ability with voices - his Cartman was excellent - and it's these songs he seemed to enjoy most.





One thing that spoiled it slightly for me, and it's a lot to do with listening to live recordings as opposed to attending many live shows was some of the audience. I really enjoyed hearing people sing along and the giggles of those to whom the lyrics were new, but there were some people who took every opportunity to shout down song titles or just scream random, unnecessary gibberish that detracted from the experience. I'm not talking about the standard whistles and cheers, rather the drunken yells of those in love with their own voices at the cost of those around them. Niamh confided after the show how she'd have stabbed one of them in the eye if she could.



Massive credit must go to David Josefsberg (Lynch starred with him in Wedding Singer on Broadway) whose own voice and presence on stage added so much to the proceedings. Dirty Sanchez (you can see the performance here) was a new one to me, but absolutely hilarious. I had tears rolling down my face for most of it, but it's when the three launched into Purple Rain that I realised that comedy really is looking at the ordinary things in an extraordinary way. He didn't change the lyrics or anything much - they just sang it in a very funny way.









Last night was great. Laughter truly is a great medicine (as is sushi and Guinness) and Lynch and co provided a lot of laughter. I can understand how songs with Nazis, menstrual cycles, special needs children and AIDS may not be everyone's cup of tea but sometimes switching off the brain and indulging in a bit of wickedness can be a welcome reprieve from the seriousness of the situations around you. Being there with good friends who laughed, clapped and sang along - enjoying it as much if not more than I did made it all the better.

I'd go again if I could. I look forward to the Comedy Channel special he told us about, bleeps and all.



Stephen Lynch may not be a household name here yet, but he's on the way. Talented, funny and genuinely likable, he's an artist I look forward to seeing here again.

His website is at www.stephenlynch.com. You can check out the rest of the Bulmers Comedy Festival here.

If you were there, what did you think? If not, which comedy act would you like to see live?