Tinker Bells, Tinker Bells......

My daughter, Indiana, thinks that Jingle Bells is about her little doll, Tinker Bell. So we Tinker all the way now.

'Tis the season and for the last couple of years I've attempted a 12 days of Christmas. Zac asked me the other day if we were on schedule for 2008 and it's probably not going to happen (at least from my end). I'm leaving town tomorrow for some place warm (likely without internet) and won't be back till the 23rd. So, what a great time to do my Pretendo tutorial! I think it would be great if people would post their favorite Christmas songs over the next week and a half. I'm not sure how many people will dive into this, but try to allow each person at least 24 hours with their songs up before putting yours up, ey? You'll notice that the songs on the Pretendo today are recycled from previous years. Truth is I don't have any new stuff this year and I need to set up an file to keep a running tally of everything I've posted/sent out, etc, but I likey these songs.

PRETENDO STEP I: Host site

Ok, so in order to create an mp3 player for a blog you need a host site for your songs. There are a couple free ones (like www.fileden.com, which I use) and numerous pay sites. If you happen to have your own server and are the kind of person who could say more than a thing or two about Linux, you could be your own host. The key is to find a host site that will not only store your songs but give you an web address for each (make sure the address ends in ".mp3").

The html mp3 players will incorporate those URLs into the code. Fileden is pretty easy to use- so if you have no alternative, I'd go there first. Let me know if you have any problems getting URLs for your songs. Sterling is also a good resource for this.

PRETENDO STEP II: Pretendo time

So, I've found a couple sites where you can make html mp3 players, but the coolest skins (Pretendo!) are over at MyFlashFetish. Set up an account, then go to the red tab at the top titled "mp3 playlist" and pick a skin. On the next screen you have to look for the hyperlink "Upload" next to the "Add Songs" section. Here you can paste your URL s (from fileden, etc.). Once you've added all your songs (click the orange button- "add mp3s"), type in a playlist name and click on the green button "Save/get code," which will take you to a screen which will ask you if you want to embed your player on your facebook page, etc. Don't do this- click on the red text below,


"Click HERE for any other website or blog!"


You'll see a box with logos for different websites and below that will be a text box with a little button that says "Copy." Click on this and you will have the whole code for your mp3 player.

PRETENDO STEP III: Embed in Blogger

Ok, so this step is pretty easy. Make sure you're signed in to Blogger- then click on the tab "Customize" on the top right. If any of you for some reason don't have Administrative privileges, shoot me an email and I'll change that for you. If you haven't seen this before- it's the barebones framework for the page. Look for the bubble at the top that says "HTML/Java script" and click on "Edit". This will bring up a window containing the existing mp3 player's HTML code. Delete this and paste in its place the code you just got from MyFlashFetish. Click on the orange tab, "SAVE," and you're good to go!

Ready, Set, Post!

Merry Christmas, everybody.