Independent Fashion Bloggers » Tech Tips

Customize Your Blog! CSS For BEGINNERS Part 2

Guest Post — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:02:28 +0000

By Stephanie Brown, of FAIIINT

This was going to be a much longer article, hence why I made it separate to the original post. I intended to show you how to create a child theme from scratch. This is the way I’ve always done it and although it’s not difficult at all, there are quite a few long steps to follow and it can be a little daunting (especially for beginners). While I was typing the post up I was told by a friend that recently there had been a child theme plugin added to the WordPress library – perfect timing! I’ve tested it out myself and it is exactly what it says – a “One-Click Child Theme,” absolutely fool-proof and it only takes a few seconds as opposed to maybe 20 minutes to DIY!

I’m going to explain a little about why going through the effort of creating a child theme is so important, as I’m sure most of you are wondering why you can’t just edit the existing theme, like with free WordPress, and are not aware this is the correct way to do it:

The first and main reason is that you don’t have to fiddle around with the existing CSS of the theme, this means that it is very unlikely you will be able to mess the theme up by deleting something by accident or overwriting something important.
It also means, if you do happen to mess up or just don’t like your alterations, you can simply delete the child theme and your blog will go back to the original un-altered theme.
The third reason and possibly the most important, is that by updating your theme to a newer version (as you should always do when one becomes available!), you will lose all of your customizations and the theme will go back to its original state. This doesn’t happen when you use a child theme, as it’s totally separate from the main theme. Child themes make it virtually impossible to mess up your blog, so you all have no excuse not to have a go at customizing!

As I said before, I would always suggest creating a separate tester blog to play around with until you’re happy with your alterations and then just copy these to your real blog, especially if you’re blog is currently live, otherwise your readers will see the various changes you make (even the wrong ones)!

CREATING A CHILD THEME

You’ll want to first find and install a theme you like from the extensive library of options – you can then use this as a base for any customizations you do (this becomes the parent theme).

1. Click ‘plugins’ from the sidebar and choose ‘add new’ –> Search for and Install “One-Click Child Theme” –> Activate the plugin –> Click ‘appearance’ in the sidebar –> Activate the theme you want to modify –> Select ‘child theme’ from the sidebar (or underneath the active themes options)

2. Fill out the form – make sure to give your child theme a unique name so there’s no confusion; I always name it after my blog & what version of the layout it is. When you submit you will get a screen full of random code. This is normal!

3. Click ‘appearance’ again, your child theme should now be the active theme at the top. If it’s not, find it below and activate it.

4. You can now click ‘editor’ from the sidebar and should see a box with a little bit of code inside, just a few lines. Do not delete anything inside the box. Add any modifications you want to make underneath the code that’s already there.

Now you’ve created your child theme, you can customize away as you would with free wordpress! Please see last weeks post (HERE) for the beginners guide to customizing your blogs CSS. Skip the first few paragraphs, down to ‘Tips’ and start from there!

6 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your RSS Feed

crissie.fuller — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:00:18 +0000

I’m sure you’ve all heard the term “RSS Feed” – and you probably use Google Reader, Bloglines or a similar feed reader to follow all the blogs you want to keep up with on a daily basis. Let’s face it, as much as we’d love to visit every blog we love everyday, there are just too many! So we turn to our feed readers… What does this mean to your blog? And to your site traffic?

We have a few quick tips to help you use your RSS feed to it’s full potential, without loosing traffic.

But first let’s start with the basis – what is an RSS feed?

RSS = Really Simple Syndication. Without getting all technical on you, an RSS feed basically turns your blog posts into a file that can be read by a feed reader, allowing it to be easily distributed outside of your blog.
Feed Reader (also called an RSS Reader or and aggregator) – This does just what it sounds like, it reads the RSS feeds. A Feed Reader can be on the web or on your desktop or mobile device – it collects updated from all the feeds you subscribe to in one simple place.

And now – IFB’s RSS Feed Tips for the Blogging Community:

Make it easy to subscribe to your feed. Have an RSS logo near the top of your blog (you’ve seen them – the little orange and white squares? In fact, check out the right side of our navigation bar – it’s right there!)
Consider using Feed Burner. Feed Burner lets you track how many followers your feed has – it also tracks when your posts get read, and when your readers click through. This is all valuable information you can use to optimize your posts.
Share your photos. You have the option of leaving your images out of your feed – however, I think this works against you. When I’m browsing my reader I don’t pay attention to the posts without pictures. It might seem like it would encourage people to visit your blog, but I find it upsets the flow of my reading.
Include extra links. Put your social share links right in the body of your posts – that way they can be easily tweeted from the Feed Reader and your readers followers have the chance to visit your site. Think about adding links to similar posts at the bottom too – giving people incentive you click over to the blog.
Ask a question. This is a good way to encourage engagement with your readers. It can help get a good comment chain going, and RSS readers will be intrigued to click through to comment.
Write snappy titles. This is a basic you should be doing anyway – but it holds true to RSS Feeds, the better the headline the more likely it is to get read!

Do you subscribe to our RSS feed? Do you use a Feed Reader? Which one? What gets you to click out of your reader and over to a blog? Tell us in the comments!

[image by damon.garrett]

Customize Your Blog: CSS For Beginners, Pt. 1

Guest Post — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:00:18 +0000

By Stephanie Brown of FAIIINT

CSS Beginners

CSS is something a lot of people ask my advice on, assuming it is too technical or complex for them to learn themselves, this is absolutely not true. It’s nowhere near as scary as it seems and everyone is capable of learning the basics and using it to customize their blogs. It’s not something that will take months or years to learn, with all the excellent resources available right at your fingertips you can teach yourself the very basics in a few hours.

Layout and design play such a huge role in how your blog is seen and perceived by others, whether they be other bloggers, potential collaborators or future employers, that you should want it to look the best it possibly can. First impressions count and appearance can often make or break future relationships, especially with clients. Not everyone has spare cash lying around to hire a web designer or to buy custom templates, but everyone can, with a little spare time, learn how to do it themselves. So now there is no excuse for a poor or unoriginal design!

I’ve tried to make this as simple as possible, so that even total beginners can alter their themes with ease. Follow the instructions on how to get to the CSS editor for your blogging platform below, then simply copy and paste my CSS code examples into the box and alter the red text to suit your needs. You can go to the bottom to copy the entire code in full, or pick out only the customizations you need from the sections below.

Where

WORDPRESS [SELF HOSTED]
There will be a separate full tutorial next week, stay tuned!

WORDPRESS
To use custom CSS on a free WordPress blog, you need to have purchased the ‘Custom Design’ feature. You can do this by clicking the ‘Store’ button on your dashboard menu and following the instructions. The last time I checked, this was $30 for an entire year (or $0.08 per day) and would require renewing each year. I personally think it’s a great price and a much cheaper option than self hosting!

Log into dashboard → Appearance → Custom Design → Click ‘Edit’ button in the ‘Custom CSS’ box → Scroll to the bottom and make sure ‘Add my CSS to (Your Theme Name) CSS stylesheet’ is selected under ‘CSS Settings’

Note: The first time you customize your CSS, the area at the top for writing your code should be totally blank, if it’s not, completely delete everything inside so that it is.

BLOGGER
For the purposes of this tutorial, the majority of customizations you will be able to make using the Blogger editor and will not need to add the CSS yourself. Go through the various categories listed and make any alterations using the editor. Do not add CSS for any customizations you have already made using the editor, however, if there is something listed below that the editor cannot do simply click the ‘add CSS’ option and add only that customization/s.

Tips

• I suggest that you set up a second ‘tester’ blog for which you can try out your customizations first, this way, once you’re happy with it you can just copy & paste the CSS into your real blog, knowing it’s perfect. This saves your readers seeing the unfinished version, and also it’s reassurance for those that are a little scared to try it out, if you mess up the test blog, no big deal!

• All code highlighted in red can be altered to your own preferences. The descriptions also contain red words, these are your options when altering the code.

• Spellings are always North American – so ‘color’ not ‘colour’ – being British this tripped me up no end of times when I was starting out! If something’s not working, check the spelling!

Background

BACKGROUND COLOR
One of the simplest and most requested things I get asked is how to change background colour. It’s a very simple alteration that can make a big impact on your layout and design, however be wise with it – pale colours tend to work best and are the most user friendly. Also note, depending on your theme this may or may not change the colour of the background on your posts and sidebars.

body {
background: #FCF9F8;
}

The highlighted hex number can be altered to any colour you wish. See the resources section at the end of the post for a colour picker that will give you the corresponding code for any colour you select. The colour picker tool in Photoshop (or similar) will also give you the relevant code, look for the ‘#’ box.

BACKGROUND IMAGE
To add a background image, first you need to upload an image to your usual image folder and then copy the URL down. Replace my URL with the correct one for your image.

I personally suggest an image which is small and can be tiled to repeat across the entire background.

body {
background:#FCF9F8 url(‘http://www.yourdomain.com/yourbgimage.png‘) repeat right top;
}

I’ve also included a background colour here, if your background image takes a while to load, or is broken, the colour will be displayed until the image loads over the top, so make this a similar colour to your image.

The repeat right top command tells the image to tile from the top right corner. This can be altered, but I would suggest leaving it as it is. Possibilities are repeat right top and no-repeat.

Font

Font customization is another simple, but very effective way to add personality and style to your blog. Again, keep in mind your background colour, dark fonts work best on light backgrounds and vice versa, users need to be able to read your blog easily, don’t make it hard for them!

body {
font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-size:12px;
color:#1a1a1a;
text-align:left;
}

Special note regarding WordPress: If the above does not change all of your text to the colour you want, use the below instead. This varies with themes, so try the above first and only use this alternative if it doesn’t work for your theme.

* {
font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;
font-size:12px;
color:#1a1a1a !important;
text-align:left;
}

FONT-FAMILY
This is the font itself, such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Verdana. Unfortunately, you cannot just use any font you like. The font must be one that all computers have installed as standard, otherwise it will not be displayed and a standard font will be used instead. This can really affect your overall design, so it is always best to use one of the fonts which are considered ‘web safe’. Click here for a list and examples of web safe fonts and their families.

FONT-SIZE
This can be any number you want, the smaller the number the smaller the text and vice versa. 12px is the most common size, as it’s easily readable, but clearly smaller than headings and titles. If you do decide to change this, I strongly suggest choosing either 10px, 12px, or 14px.

COLOR
The same as for background, this can be changed to any hex colour code you like. Always make sure to have included the # at the beginning.

TEXT-ALIGN
This tells the text which side to align against, left is the default, but it can also be changed to right, center or justify.

Links

When styling links, a:link, a:visted and a:active should all be styled exactly the same for a clean, uniform look. I suggest customizing a:link and then copy and pasting the styling between the curly brackets into the other ones to be sure. Those 3 are all how the link appears on the page (when it’s unvisited, when it’s visited & when it’s selected), a:hover is how the link looks when the user hovers their mouse over it. It’s common to style this differently to the others, whether you want it to change colour, underline, become bold or it can be styled exactly the same as the others for no change.

a:link {
color:#1A1A1A;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}a:visited {
color:#1A1A1A;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}a:hover {
color: #B7ABA3;
text-decoration:underline;
font-weight:bold;
}a:active {
color:#1A1A1A;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}

Special note regarding WordPress: If you used the alternative second option above for text colour, please follow all colours for links with !important- Otherwise the colour for the text will override your chosen colour!

For example – color:#1A1A1A !important;

COLOR
Again, choose any hex code you like to alter the colour. I think it’s nice to have the a:active colour different to the rest.

TEXT-DECORATION
This is used to add or remove decoration, most commonly to remove the underline from links. The default is underline, but setting it to none will remove the underline from your links. If doing this, I suggest making the link a different colour to the text, or making it bold, so that it stands out as a link and doesn’t just appear as ordinary text, which is confusing for visitors.

You can also use underline just on a:hover, with the rest set to none, this will make the line appear only when the users mouse hovers over it. Slightly more interesting is overline, this is the same as underline, but the line goes over the text instead of under it, line-through puts a line through the middle of text.

FONT-WEIGHT
This can work nicely if you don’t want your links to be underlined, making them bold works equally well for showing the user that it’s a clickable link. The default is normal, change it to bold for bold text , bolder for extra bold or lighter for skinnier text.

All Together Now

All together, this would look like:

body {
background:#FCF9F8 url(‘http://www.yourdomain.com/yourbgimage.png‘) repeat right top;
font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-size:12px;
color:#1a1a1a;
text-align:left;
}a:link {
color:#1A1A1A;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}a:visited {
color:#1A1A1A;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}a:hover {
color: #B7ABA3;
text-decoration:underline;
font-weight:bold;
}a:active {
color:#1A1A1A;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}

Or alternatively for certain WordPress themes:

body {
background:#FCF9F8 url(‘http://www.yourdomain.com/yourbgimage.png‘) repeat right top;
}* {
font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;
font-size:12px;
color:#1a1a1a !important;
text-align:left;
}a:link {
color:#1A1A1A !important;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}a:visited {
color:#1A1A1A !important;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}a:hover {
color: #B7ABA3 !important;
text-decoration:underline;
font-weight:bold;
}

a:active {
color:#1A1A1A !important;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
}

References

http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp – for CSS help and tutorials

http://www.colorpicker.com/ – Hex colour picker

Boost Your Pinterest Benefits With the Pin-It Button

Guest Post — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:00:53 +0000

By Jessie Holeva of Trend Hungry

Hello, I’m Jessie and I’m addicted to Pinterest. I know I’m not alone and I know of a cool tool well-worth adding to your blog – the Pin-It Button. Let’s face it, we’re all a bit exhausted from attempting to balance work, blogging, every social media that comes out, and squeezing in some form of a real life sans on our cell phones. Pinterest is totally revolutionizing the way we share information and it seems here to stay. Plus it’s fun, a useful blogger tool, and did I mention really fun?

Pin-It Button Benefits

Share Using Images. Bloggers aren’t the only ones that respond more to visuals. A picture speaks more than 140 characters and it’s much easier to grab someone’s attention to an outfit post or a tutorial via an image. Grab some clicks simply by showcasing an image of your fabulous content. Polka dots look way cuter on nails or a pair of DIY flats than written out.
Link to Your Site. By pinning through the button you are automatically linking the image back to your site, no extra steps needed. When someone sees the pin from the Pin-It Button there will be no question where the image came from. You’ll get full credit and more hits if/when (and they will) click the pic.
Easy for Readers. We all want more eyes on our site and we want to keep them happy so they stay a while and tell their friends. The button enables just that and without much effort or frustration.
Snag New Readers. Pinterest isn’t just for the blog or social-media obsessed. It’s got a wide range of users and like we said in #1, an image grabs attention. So when Jane A is looking up some organization inspiration and sees a picture of your organized baubles she’s going to click and bam – you’ve just managed to get someone new to your site, all through content you already had and a quick click of a button.
Share on Multiple Platforms. Pinterest encourages sharing. When you or a reader pins there’s the option of sharing on Facebook and Twitter. Imagine how much more likely it will be for a reader (and you) to share on more than one outlet.
Bookmark Blogs. What blogger isn’t forever going through blogrolls to find new reads or a cool DIY? If the blog has the button you can add it to a board in a snap and save to read later. We’re not only bloggers, but blog fans and we know that we’re way more likely to share, comment, and come back to a blog that’s easy to look at, read, and interact with.
Written Image Descriptions. When you pin using the button, it automatically generates a description, depending on how you installed the button. It’s typically the blog title unless you wrote a specific one. Those few seconds of writing one while pinning saves time for you, but more importantly your new pinners. The less work for them, means the more likely they’ll pin again and keep coming back.
Seduce Sponsors. The blog biz is a bit of a hustle and you gotta be on your game. The more Twitter and Facebook followers you have, the more desirable you look. Pinterest has the attention of big brands, big time. Oscar De La Renta just live-pinned a whole bridal show. I bet they’re taking notice of the bloggers that are making an impact on Pinterest.

How To Add The Pin-It Button

Pinterest’s Way: They’re got a Goodies tab (love the name!) and there’s a section specifically to make it easy for websites to add the button. All you need to do is type in your URL, the URL of the image and copy the codes it generates. It’s pretty easy, but does require you do to it for every image you want pinnable. I recommend this method when you’re just looking to try it out, or if you blog weekly or less. When you’re in the Goodies tab take a look around. There’s also a follow button that would ideally be placed with your other widgets and will link back to your account and help you gain more Pinterest peeps.
Self-Hosted WordPressers: There’s a Pin it button plugin that automatically installs, then all you do is tweak, and get ready for the pinning to begin. This installation is a one-time thing and here’s the link to download the tool along with instructions. (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pinterest-pin-it-button/)
Blogger Users: There’s not a specific plugin for blogger, but I did find a tutorial worth trying.

Do you have the Pin-It button on your blog? Share your tips, tricks or advice in the comments!

The 30 Best Android Apps For Fashion Bloggers

Guest Post — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:09:55 +0000

By Jennifer Booth, fashion nerd of frayed threads

There’s always been a great deal of hoopla around Apple products – let’s face it, that company can build followers like Ashton Kutcher on Twitter. But what about those of us tech-savvy fashionistas who prefer the Android operating system? I’m sure I’m not alone in the feeling that sometimes we Droid loyalists are left out of the fun when many apps are released only for Apple – but fear not, compatriots! While it may be true that the Appelists have more mainstream apps at their disposal, the Droid market seems to have more free ones available to its users. I’ve spent some time compiling the top Google Play Store apps for fashion bloggers, and thought I’d share them with my fellow robot lovers.

The Basics:

When it comes to the basic apps, these are (fortunately) the same as the ones listed on the iPad/iPhone list, but the list bears repeating – some have different names or functions in the Android universe.

1. Google Currents (free) The Droid equivalent of Flipboard, this nifty app allows one to flip through your various feeds and displays (Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc) in a magazine style layout that makes keeping up with the techno-world much less daunting that one all-inclusive stream of information.
2. Twitter (free) For moments when you don’t want to be bothered with flipping, the traditional Twitter app is perfect for focusing on a single aspect of your social media self. It’s simple, easy to use and allows you to switch between multiple accounts with a tap of a finger.
3. Facebook (free) Again, an app for the traditionalist in each of us, the Facebook app allows you to view just your Facebook stream – along with the added fun of checking out friends’ and companies’ pages, sending and receiving your messages and checking your page stats.
4. Hootsuite (free) Many bloggers and companies find Hootsuite to be a valuable app for social media multitasking, as it allows you to combine and update multiple accounts (Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, LinkedIn) at once. I haven’t gotten the hang of this one myself quite yet, but I have noticed quite a drain on my battery since installing it. The verdict? Worth it, if you have frequent access to a charger and multiple accounts to manage.
5. Skype (free) Who needs FaceTime when you have Skype? This app allows you to video conference whenever, wherever, with anyone who has a Skype account – a useful tool, especially if you like to take face to face meetings on the go.
6. Evernote (free) The Swiss Army Knife of note taking, the Evernote app allows you to do so much more than tap
out a simple note on your phone or tablet. Attach documents, record audio and video, add photographs – and then sync it all back to a main account that you can access from anywhere. Can I get a “hell yes!” please?
7. Dropbox (free) This app has effectively eliminated the need for a jump drive-to-smartphone converter, because now all you need to do is drag ‘n drop your files to your Dropbox account to move them from once place to another (like from your phone to your computer and visa-versa).

Blogging Tools:

I’m not sure what kind of access I-Users have to blogging apps, but being a Blogger or WordPress subscriber and Android user means that having access to a plethora of valuable blogging apps in the Google Play Store.

8. Blogger/WordPress (free) While occasionally glitchy, these apps are invaluable for updating your blog on the go. The interfaces don’t have nearly the full functionality of a computer, but you can still upload posts with basic formatting and multiple photos from your phone – especially important when away from your comp for extended periods of time, and don’t want your readers to fret (NYFW, anyone?).
9. gAnalytics (free) If you don’t already have Google Analytics installed on your blog, please do so now. I’ll wait.
K, now that you’re back, let’s talk about this fabulous app that allows you to track your analytics and traffic data from your phone/tablet. You can see the number of unique visitors, return visitors, where your referrals are coming from, what search terms are getting the most hits, and pretty much everything else you need to know about your site’s traffic. I tend to post most often at night, and this app is great for checking my analytic data while I eat my Frosted Flakes every morning.
10. Google+ (free) While more of a networking app than blogging, I’m putting in this category because more and more, Google+ is becoming a valuable networking tool for style bloggers. It may still be in its infancy, but I love that it allows you to do from the get-go what Facebook took years to implement: assigning friends to specific groups with specific permissions and feeds. Plus, if you use Blogger, you can connect your Blogger profile directly to your Google+ one, making it easier for people to find and identify you.
11. Voice Recorder (default/free) While I do love me some Evernote, sometimes when I’m driving, I need one-click access to something that will allow me to record my inspired thoughts without taking my eyes off the rush hour traffic around me. This is where a simple voice recorder app comes in handy – put a shortcut to it on your home screen, and release all fears of causing an accident from fumbling with your phone in a desperate attempt to record the glorious thoughts inside your head.

Fashion Apps:

While many may think that the Apple App Store has Droid beat hands down in this arena, I’ve found that it’s simply an issue of knowing where to look. When I was done researching this topic,I had trouble narrowing down the top contenders!

12. Pose (free) Sort of like Instagram, but exclusively fashion oriented, Pose is one of the fastest growing communities within the fashion world. This app allows you to upload and share your outfits and other stylish endeavors with the rest of the fashion world. A quick quiz upon first sign up generates a list of suggested Posers to follow, and from there you can link multiple social media accounts to find friends from other networks. Check out IFB’s previous post on the awesomeness that is Pose here.
13. Mobo Fashion Trends & Deals (free) This app features news on everything from the latest hairstyles to the hottest shoes, and is a great style reference to have on the go. Get one-click access to top fashion sites such as Elle, Style.com, the Sartorialist, WWD, Vogue and many others, and share your fabulous fashion finds with your friends via Twitter.
14. Closet Virtual (free) This app requires a bit of patience to garner its full worth, but if you have the time (and the desire) to catalog your wardrobe, you can take it with you everywhere you go. The app also has a built in calendar to track when you wear what outfit – pretty handy when planning OOTD posts!
15. Pulse News (free) While not strictly a fashion related app, this app is useful because it pulls the content from your favorite websites and allows you to view it in a clean, elegant layout. You can also save stories to read later (even offline), or send them to your Instapaper, Read It Later, Evernote and/or Google Reader account(s) in just one tap. Great for saving stories to read while commuting through areas that may lack in cell signal (they still have those….?).
16. Fashion Style (free) This app brings you closer to your favorite designers, featuring designs from everyone from Alexander McQueen to Valentino and everyone in between. Review the latest trends and collections straight from the runways, and save them forever or flick them away. Great resource for the runway lovers amongst us!

Shopping:

Use these tools wisely, young grasshopper.

17. Coupon Closet (free) Unlike the other apps on this list, this one doesn’t feature streams of data and pretty pictures. No, this one has something for the budget fashionistas (read: most of us) – sales and discounts from many of our favorite stores and retailers. Who can say no to saving money on the things you love?
18. Gilt (free) What to do when insomnia strikes but you don’t want to get out of bed? Bust out your phone and the Gilt for Android app, of course – shop all of Gilt Group’s killer sales with the swipe of a finger. I’d suggest leaving your credit cards next to your alarm clock. Or in the freezer.
19. Zappos (free) One of the world’s most popular online retailers, formatted to fit your phone. Handy? Yes.
Dangerous? Definitely.
20. Retailer Apps (usually free) This is category is broader than a herd of elephants – unlike magazines and other style resources, retailers seem to have recognized the value of the Android market and are beginning to explore it. Most of your favorite retailers have a Droid app available with at minimum browsing capability, though most seem to have full functionality in the form of wish lists and buying straight from the app.

Photo Apps:

Because we’re not perfect, and sometimes you just need an edit or two before an photo is fit to go live on your blog or stream.

21. Instagram (free) Like Twitter for photos, only cooler, Instagram allows you to apply a neat-o effect to a pic before uploading it to your stream to share with your friends and followers. You can comment and “like” the photos of users you love, and tag others in your posts, just like you would on Twitter – AND you can share these posts to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and FourSquare.
22. Adobe Photoshop Express (free) The power of Photoshop, in the palm of your hand. Touch, swipe and click to crop, rotate and edit photos and apply neat effects or adjust color before sharing them.
23. FX Photo Editor (free & paid) A comprehensive photo editor, this app has both a free and a paid version. This app allows you to add borders, effects, crop, rotate, adjust colors, and has all sorts of other tools for modifying and enhancing photos. It ranges from beginner (free) to expert (paid), so your needs and ability will be the judge of which version you need.
24. Diptic (paid) Create fun, easy collages and share them across Twitter, Facebook and/or Tumblr. With tons of different layouts and options, you can use this app to tell a story or just have some fun!

Everything Else:

Face it peeps – sometimes, we do need to raise our heads from the fashion sands and recognize the world around us. Here are the apps for those times.

25. NPR (free) This app gives you access to National Public Radio any time, where you can browse and listen to stories or tune into any NPR station live with just a click!
26. Kindle (free) For the bookworm in all of us – the app is free, and you can sample most any book available in the store for free. The books range from free to $$$, depending on the title. There are tons of $1 options available too!
27. ThinkFree Office (free/default) This app comes default on most Android phones, though it is also available for download. It’s incredibly useful if you happen to view a lot of Microsoft Office documents on the go. The free
version won’t let you edit them though – you’ll have to shell out some cash for an app like Documents To Go for that privilege.
28. Adobe Reader (free) PDFs are a great way to protect content that the author doesn’t want stolen, and downloading Adobe Reader is the only way to view it. It’s also a great option for sending documents to someone who may or may not have access to an Office program, since Reader is free and compatible with most (if not all) devices.
29. Wikidroid (free) The Droid streamlined version of Wikipedia, this travel size encyclopedia is a must to have on hand for easy reference, answering questions and settling (winning) arguments.
30. Pandora (free) Who doesn’t love music? Type in a band, artist or genre that you’re feeling, plug in some headphones and tune out the rest of the world for a bit.