How to Use Graphics to Personalize a MySpace Page

So, you have a MySpace page, and you have filled in all the fields for your interests and more. But you want more out of your space, right? As you browse other peoples profiles, you may wonder how they did all those cool things. Well, it really isn't hard to do once you have learned the basics.

I am going to start by telling you, step by step, how to add the codes. First you want to sign in to your homepage and click the link that says "edit profile", it is located just below your name on the upper left side of your home page.

Once there you will see several fields; headline, about me, I'd like to meet, interests, music, movies, television, books, and heroes. There is a text box in each of these fields for you to enter text but with a little help from a few web sites you can add any graphic you want. Once you get the hang of it you can even create your own graphics or paste any picture you want directly on your profile.

There are a few very important things you need to know before you begin adding HTML codes. It can be very difficult to decipher one code from another after you have several codes in any one field so it is always a good idea to leave a space between each code. To do this just hit "enter" at least twice behind each code, this just allows you to tell where one code ends and another begins when you go back to fix things later. One reason this is so important is because occasionally a host site will delete a graphic or it will just stop working. When this happens you are left with red X's or a message that says something like bandwidth exceeded or photo has been deleted. If you leave the spaces you can go back in and you will be able to find and delete the broken code easier. It is also helpful to add this basic html code after each code you enter, just add it on at the very end of each code. The code is (
) only you won't add the (parentheses). That is the code for line break, it tells the computer to insert a line break in the final layout at that point. It helps keep your graphics from looking like one very big picture. This is not a "must" do on MySpace, I have found it to be useful though.

At this point I like to utilize tabbed browsing, I always keep MySpace open and ready while I search for codes so that I can go back and forth with ease. Open a new tab or window and go to one of the many sites that host graphics, For this example I will use Photobucket.com.

Once you are at photo bucket.com you will see a log in space in the upper left, a space in the center that has a button that says join now and just below that is a search field. You do not need to join photo bucket in order to search and use graphics so if you don't feel like joining right now you can do that later if needed. There are millions of photo's being hosted at photo bucket so in the search field just type in the general idea of what you are looking for. Let's say you want a graphic about love, simply type "love" into the search box and click "search". You will now see the first page of graphics associated with love, you can look through all of them until you find one you like. Just to give you an idea of how many there are I have copied the info line that tells you how many graphics your search turned up. It looks something like this: top results 1 - 20 of about 1,934,202 for love images. It may seem overwhelming but usually you will find a few even on the first page so you won't have to look at them all and not all topics are as popular.

When you see a picture that you like all you have to do is point your mouse on it and click it, it will then open a larger size image and display the HTML code and URL for that picture. There are 4 different codes for each image, for use on MySpace you need the one that says HTML Code - Websites & Blogs. You need to highlight the code for that option and then right click over it, choose the option that says "copy". You have now grabbed the code and are ready to add it to you profile. Go back to your tab/window for MySpace and pick the section you want the graphic in. You can place a picture graphic in any section you want but just for example let's say you chose the about me section. Go to the bottom of any text or coding that may be in that section already and leave two spaces, holding your mouse pointer where you want the code to go, right click and select "paste".
Each code is different, but it should look something like this:
()
*I have added the parentheses just to keep the code from showing as an image as those are not used in html.

Now is a good time to add (
) at the end of the code. That's all there is to adding a graphic, now you have to save the changes. Click "save all changes" and then go look at your profile, you should have the picture you chose displayed on it. This process can be repeated for any code available for use on MySpace and you can add and delete them whenever you feel like it. Since you know how now and it was fairly simple I am sure you will changing things around quite often.

Some sites you visit offer layouts, contact boxes, banners, and even cursors. These are just as simple to add but there is one main difference. A layout code must be placed in the "about me" section of your profile, if it is put anywhere else it will not work. I like to keep the layout code at the top so it is the first one, this makes it easier to change. When you decide you want a new layout you have to delete the entire layout code that you previously had so it is always good to know which one it is. When adding a code for profile style such as layout, contact box etc.. it is always a good idea to put them in the about me section unless the site you are using specifically tells you to put it somewhere else.

Now that you have the technique down lets talk about where to find all the neat stuff. If you were to Google MySpace graphics you would find endless sites offering them free, I am going to list some of my tried and true favorites for you.

www.Photobucket.com
In addition to using the codes they have available you can sign up for an account and upload your own pictures. Once you upload them they will host it for you and provide you with the codes needed to use them in websites such as MySpace. I love this one because there is almost nothing you can't find with a simple search.

www.glitterheaven.com
www.myhotcomments.com
www.pyzam.com
www.Commentsdump.com
www.christianglitter.com
For all your Christian commenting needs

www.feedingthedesire.com
www.commentyou.com
www.blingcheese.com

The best layouts I have found so far are available at these sites:

www.pimp-my-profile.com
www.pyzam.com/layouts
www.freecodesource.com
www.pimpfarmer.com
www.ultimateMySpace.com

That is enough sites to give anyone a great start on pimping their MySpace page, you can also find more links located on each one of these sites.

The great thing about MySpace is that if you can dream it, you can make it happen. You get a chance to be yourself, to express yourself in many different ways, and to be unique. My best advice is to have fun with it, after all it is your space!