Blog Tips--fun graphics in comments

I have updated this post to make it easier to post fun graphics in the comments of blogs. It doesn't work for all blogs, but it does show up in a lot. Just preview your comment before publishing to see if it works. And even after a good preview, there's no guarantee the graphics will display right, because each blog has a particular template or layout that affects how the graphics are displayed once they are published in the comments.


Here is an awesome site that converts your tags into plain text to be displayed in blog post: http://www.freebits.co.uk/convert-html-code-to-text.html


That site has made it possible and incredibly easy for you to just copy and paste the graphics below right into the blogger comments section. Yay!!! Thank you freebits website tool creator!


A word of caution: Every blog has a unique or different template/layout. That affects how the graphics will be displayed. In some blogs, the graphics will appear somewhat crooked--rustic! Preview your comment with the graphics before publishing. Even then, be aware that the graphic might still appear crooked when it publishes in the blog comments. That's just the way that particular blog is set up.


Xmas tree with gifts underneath:
Tip: You can copy just the tree or gifts below by themselves or together.


-----<a><b>((*))</b></a>--
------*o*---
----<a>*</a>o*o<a>*</a>
--<a>*</a>o*o<a>*</a>o*o<a>*</a>
o*o<a>*</a>-]o[-<a>*</a>o*o

-------[<a><b>:::</b></a>]
----[<a><b>8</b></a>][<a><b>#</b></a>][<a><b>+</b></a>]
[<a><b>>•<</b></a>].[<a><b>///</b></a>].[<a><b>~*~</b></a>]


Winter Snowman with Happy New Year Greeting:
Tip: You can copy and paste just the snowman or New Year greeting by itself, or use both together. You can type the recipient's name in front of the greeting plus a space bar to separate the name from the greeting.


<b><a>H</a>a<a>p</a>p<a>y</a> <a>N</a>e<a>w</a> <a>Y</a>e<a>a</a>r<a>!</a>!<a>!</a></b>

-----_[_]_
-----(<a>•!•</a>)
--\/=====\/
---{(__<a>*</a>__)}
--{((__<a>*</a>__))}
-{((_______))}
.<a>o</a>.•.<a>o</a>.•.<a>o</a>.•.<a>o</a>.•.<a>o</a>



Season's Greetings:


<b><a>S</a>e<a>a</a>s<a>o</a>n'<a>s</a> <a>G</a>r<a>e</a>e<a>t</a>i<a>n</a>g<a>s</a></b>


Happy Holidays:


<b><a>H</a>a<a>p</a>p<a>y</a> <a>H</a>o<a>l</a>i<a>d</a>a<a>y</a>s</b>


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year:


<b><a>M</a>e<a>r</a>r<a>y</a> <a>C</a>h<a>r</a>i<a>s</a>t<a>m</a>a<a>s</a> a<a>n</a>d <a>H</a>a<a>p</a>p<a>y</a> <a>N</a>e<a>w</a> <a>Y</a>e<a>a</a>r<a>!</a>!<a>!</a></b>




Cake with candles and Happy Birthday Greeting:
Tip: Replace the YOU in the Greeting with the birthday celebrant's name.


.•.*.•.*.•.*.•.*.•.*.•.*
<b><a>H</a>a<a>p</a>p<a>y</a> <a>B</a>i<a>r</a>t<a>h</a>d<a>a</a>y, YOU<a>!</a>!<a>!</a></b>

..•*•*•*•..
<b>__<a>i</a>_<a>i</a>_<a>i</a>__</b>
<b>[*O*O*O]</b>
<a><b>[O*O*O*]</b></a>



Cake with candles:



..•*•*•*•..
<b>__<a>i</a>_<a>i</a>_<a>i</a>__</b>
<b>[*O*O*O]</b>
<a><b>[*O*O*O]</b></a>




Cake (no candles)


<a><b>._._._._._._.</b></a>
<b>[*O*O*O*O]</b>
<a><b>[*O*O*O*O]</b></a>


Wine/Champagne glass (classic, festive, sparkling)
Tip: The classic is the simplest and easiest to use in comments.


(.*)
_I_


•.
(.*)
_I_
*..•..*..•..*..•..


•.
(<a>.*</a>)
_I_


Wine/Champagne bottle
Tip: These are risky, because a lot of the time, they appear crooked or weirdly shaped due to the blog's template or layout. Preview before publishing. Or just stick with the wine glass above.

*o*
o*o
*[]
/.*.\
[__]
[__]
[__]



..<b><a>*o* </b></a>
..<b><a>o</b></a>.<b><a>*o</b></a>
..<b><a>*[]</b></a>
..<b><a>/.*.\</b></a>
..<b><a>[__]</b></a>
..<b><a>[__]</b></a>
..<b><a>[__]</b></a>



..<b>*o*</b>
..<b></b>o<b>*o</b>
..<b><a>*[]</b></a>
..<b><a>/.*.\</b></a>
..<b><a>[</a>__<a>]</b></a>
..<b><a>[</a>__<a>]</b></a>
..<b><a>[</a>__<a>]</b></a>



Rose or flower in vase.

(@)
~|~
\_/
(_)
(_)


<a><b>(@)
~|~</b></a>
<b>\_/
(_)
[_]</b>


Roses or Flowers in a vase

...*.(@)*(@).*
*.(@).(@).(@).*
...*.(@)*(@).*
.........~|~
.........\_/
.........(_)
.........(_)


Easter Bunny and eggs
Tip: Replace the YOU in the Greeting with the name on of the person you're greeting.


.•.*.•.*.•.*.•.*.•.*.•.*
 <b><a>H</a>a<a>p</a>p<a>y</a> <a>E</a>a<a>s</a><a>t</a><a>e</a><a>r</a>, YOU<a>!</a>!<a>!</a></b>

 () ()
(·_·)
(,...,_}O

..<a>(¤)</a>
<a>(*)(#)</a>


Have fun copying and pasting and using these fun graphics in the comments. Let me know how they work out for you!!!


No need to read past this point. The update above summarizes and simplifies creating fun graphics in blog comments. Also works for a lot of Wordpress blog comments. Have fun!


Original post published 1/14/2010 12:50 PM follows (for archival purposes):

Sometimes, it's fun to use characters and letters and numbers to leave graphics in comment boxes. I thought I'd share some of these graphics and show how to make them.

First, we have to remember html tags and how to use them in comments. I've all ready posted about using tags to bold, italicize, or link words in comment boxes, explained at this post here.

Now let's look at another tag. This one, I discovered by accident. I found that if you use this tag,



it turns whatever character or word(s) inside them blue.

1. Type <
2. Type a
3. Type >
4. Then type words or letters or characters you want to look blue.
5. Type <
6. Type /
7. Type a
8. Type >

Here are a few fun graphics that I had fun making and would like to share. Now it may seem a little complicated, but don't be afraid. I can tell you it gets a whole lot easier once you make it to the end of the post. I'm not a computer whiz but if I can do it, so can you!

(Note: If the pics of what you're supposed to type are too small to read, just right click on it and open in new tab/window to see a bigger size)

Also take note that these graphics will have some blue color when used in the comments box. They aren't blue now because of the way this blog post is formatted. In fact, I'm going to post a few examples in the comment box so you'll see what they're supposed to look like.

Let's get started with my fave for the holidays:

Xmas Tree

To get this:

----((*))--
-----*o*---
----*o*o*--
--*o*o*o*o*
o*o*-]o[-*o*o

Type this for


1. Type each line without using any spaces in between the characters.
2. Use the preview button to see how the graphic looks.
3. Make edits as necessary; sometimes, it might mean adding or taking away a dash or a period along the line to get the correct alignment, so the graphic looks right. In fact, I've had to add and remove dashes and periods to make these graphics display correctly in the post.

How about some Gifts to go with the tree?

......[*]
...[*].[8]
[+][X][+]


Type this for



How about some drinks to celebrate?

Some wine perhaps?

(-*)....(-*)
_I_...._I_


Type this for


How about a bottle of champagne?

..*o*
..o.*o
..*[]
../.*.\
..[__]
..[__]


Type this for


You can even take your graphics up a notch, with just a little bit more work. You can combine graphics, and the easiest way to do this is putting one graphic over the over:

There are two easy steps to combining graphics.

Step 1. Type out the first graphic, then press ENTER twice to make sure you have a line space before the next graphic.

How about a birthday cake?

.__iii__
[.o*o*o*]
[+~+~+.]

Type this for



Step 2. Add the second graphic underneath the first one. Make sure there's a line space between the first and the second graphic.

For example gifts usually go with birthday cakes.

......[*]
...[*].[8]
[+][X][+]
Type this for


And the end result should look like this:

.__iii__
[.o*o*o*]
[+~+~+.]

......[*]
...[*].[8]
[+][X][+]

Now, if you look closely at the graphics for cake, you'll see that there is a period instead of a ~ in the last line. Remember the third recommendation above, where I said, sometimes, you have to make adjustments by adding or removing a period or dash? Well, I took out the ~ and added the period so that the graphics look better and not too crooked.

The second way to combine graphics requires a little more work (and patience). Say you want to combine graphics side by side, instead of one over the other. Well, you can do this, but you really have to pay attention to where you place your lines and you might have to use a lot of periods and dashes to make your adjustments.

For example, after all your hard work, how about celebrating and unwinding with a bottle of wine and some wine glasses with friends?

Step 1: Type out the first graphic.



Step 2: Look at your second graphic, and count the lines from the bottom.

For example, there are two lines in the wine glasses graphic:



Step 3: This requires a little more work, but it's very important. You have to make sure that the lines of the second graphic match the lines of the first.

For example, since there are only two lines in the wine glasses, those lines should match up to the last two lines of the wine bottle.

Now, make sure that the lines of the second graphic are flushed (lined up correctly) with the first graphic. The easiest way to to do this is to look at the last two lines of the first graphic. Notice how the wine bottle's last two lines are the same? That makes it a whole lot easier.

Just type of the last line of the second graphic (wine glasses) next to the last line of the first (bottle). Then match the next above line of the wine glasses to the matching bottle line.
It should look like this:



(Right click and open in new tab/window to get a bigger view)

To get this:

..*o*
..o.*o
..*[]
../.*.\
..[__](-*)....(-*)
..[__]_I_...._I_


You can even add a period or more to provide some separation between the wine bottle and the wine glasses. But make sure that if you add a period to the last line, then you must also add periods to the line above to match.

For example,



And you'll see this:

..*o*
..o.*o
..*[]
../.*.\
..[__]...(-*)....(-*)
..[__]..._I_...._I_

As you can see, I've added three periods between the lines of the first graphic (wine bottle) and the second graphic (wine glasses).

As you may have noticed, some of these graphics require a lot of typing!!! But don't despair. I've got a little gift for you. I've uploaded a small text file (about 2.7kb) here . Just click and download for free. It's in a notepad (text) format, so you can just copy and paste whatever graphics you want to use in your comments. For some reason, the previous uploads were deleted, so I've now updated the link. If the link isn't working, then please feel free to let me know in the comments so I can fix it. Thank you.

Remember to be patient and have fun! Go ahead and practice some of these graphics in the comments section if you like. You can type out the easy ones, like wine glasses, or just download the link above and copy and paste.

Here's a helpful hint: If you want to type just one wine glass, just type the first half of the first line, and ignore the periods and everything else on that first line. Now press ENTER and type the first half of the second line, and ignore the periods and everything else on the second line.


Use Preview in the comments section to see if your wine glass showed up. Then Publish it if you like it.

I've been working on this post for a few weeks now, trying to keep it simple and easy to understand. Hopefully, I've done that. If not, feel free to let me know what I can do to help you out. I'm adding this to the sidebar.

Cheers!