My search for free, pretty floral background yielded over 50 pages(!) which, as you can imagine, took me a while to trawl through. So I thought I’d share my top 15 picks with you to make your job a little easier. Enjoy!

NB: these links open up the image in the www.sxc.hu website where you can download them for free. You’ll need to join, but it’s free and definitely well worth it!

Ok, I admit that even though I have a web design qualification I know pretty much nothing about security etc so being the slack tech girl I am I left mine as “Admin”. Right up until the other day when the blog stats package I use (WassUp) showed up with a “possible hacker” visit.

Arrghhh .. wake up call!

There are a few ways around this but what I did was change it directly in the backend database. Some people get nervous playing around in database tables etc so if that’s you, then you’re probably better to use the WordPress Admin Panel to change it. Instructions for that can be found here.

But if you’re ready to get down and dirty in the WordPress databases read on …

1. Log into your hosting account (cPanel etc)

2. Find the MySQL tool (mine is phpMyAdmin) and log in

3. Click on the database for your blog (on left hand side in phpMyAdmin)

4. Find the wp_users table

5. Find the ‘admin‘ user and click the edit pencil graphic

6. Locate the user_login row and change ‘admin‘ to your preferred WordPress login name

7. Click ‘Go’

All done

If you aren’t confident playing around in the database you can also create a new user with ‘administrator’ rights, then read on to find out how to change the Admin name using the WordPress Admin Panel.

I recently wrote about changing the default Wordpress Admin username through logging into the backend database.

I appreciate that some people may not be confident doing this .. or even know they have access to the databases! So, here’s how to do it in the WordPress Admin Panel.

1. Log into your WordPress Admin Panel

2. Click on Users -> Add New

3. Create a new user, filling in username, email and password (anything else is non required but you can add it if you wish)

4. Change the ‘Role‘ drop down box to ‘Administrator‘. This is important as it will allow this new user to delete the original ‘Admin’ administrator user (oooh the power!)

5. Save and log out

6. Log back in using this NEW user account and navigate to Users -> Authors & Users

7. Find the old ‘Admin‘ user, click the checkbox next to the name and choose delete.

8. You will be asked where you want to assign the posts this users has created. Choose another user and confirm deletion.

All done!

The ones with the lopsided ears and eyes slightly out of alignment. Or even better the ones that you have NO clue what animal they are actually supposed to be. Yes, this site is about beautiful design but I guess as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So, here I was thinking I was the only odd one out there with this hankering. But such is the wonder of the internet I did a bit of searching and apparently there is a whole load of people who like them as well!

I found the one to the left on a very lovely site called Lou Lou & Oscar (what a cute name). The site is full of quirky hand made plush toys by various people. They also run the Plush You show which in their words is ‘an annual exhibit that showcases plush creations from artists all over the globe‘ Now that’s my kind of show!

And maybe it’s because I am getting old and nostalgic but I have a hankering to start collecting hand knitted animal toys, the kind of ones grandmothers make for the annual school fairs. Come to think of it I’m not even sure they DO make them any more for fairs. I was at one last weekend and nope, not a stitch of classic grandma knitting in sight. Now, that would be a shame to see that art die out.

Perhaps I will have a ferret around the internet and see if I can gather myself up a few before the odd-animal-knitting grandmothers take their patterns to the grave…

Here’s my top 5 favourites, the ones I use again and again.

1. Pick a New Colour Scheme @ www.colorschemedesigner.com

Picks simple colour schemes for you for websites, brochures etc. This is a recent find and I love it.

2. Create Favicons @ www.favicon.cc

Frustrated at trying to create favicons easily? I was too until I found this nifty online tool that uploads your image and creates it for you ready to download. So simple and clever.

3. Find What Colour It is with www.colorzilla.com

This is a little app that you download which sits in your task bar. If you ever want to know the RGB or Hex colour of something on your screen just mouse over it and it tells you.

4. Create Screenshots with www.jing.com

Jing was created by those clever people at TechSmith (who also bought us Camtasia and Snag It). It takes screen shots and short videos of what you are working on on your computer. Best of all it just sits discretely at the top of your screen so it’s there when you need it without mucking about opening programmes etc.

5. Find a Funky Photo @ www.sxc.hu

At first glance it seems like the address of a site of dubious content but it’s actually a fantastic resource of high quality free images. The search function is a bit odd at times but we can forgive them for that given how great the photos are!

If you want to add your own top 5 feel free to do so below!

So, let’s go. Here they are folks, my top 10 annoying things online …

1.    Intro Pages, especially Flash ( see #6)

Didn’t we move on from intro pages years ago?

2.    The words “Click Here”

Please give me something meaningful to click on. Click here is just noise. And goodness knows there is enough noise online as it is.

3.    Default 404 pages

Lazy, lazy. Plus such a waste of an opportunity to redirect visitors somewhere else on your site.

4.    Hide And Seek Menus

You know, the ones which move about like a video game when you click on it.

5.    Contact Us forms

Yes I know it’s to avoid spamming a lot of the time. But please, even if you have to space it out, I still want an email address. At least then I know if it doesn’t bounce back that it may actually have got to you.

6.    Flash for Flash’s sake

Nothing more to say here

7.    Videos/audio that starts automatically

So annoying I can’t write anymore about it.

8.    Animation

Anything animated that I didn’t ask for is wrong. It’s annoying and distracting.

9.    White text on black

Up there with wearing white shoes after labor day. Wrong on so many levels.

10.    Sites that use pop ups when you try to leave

And no, not *that* kind of site. Lots of legitimate sites have started using this technique now. Take the hint .. if i’m leaving, I’m just not that into your site!

So, how does that stack up with your top online peeves?

Leave a comment and let me know!

I’m no photoshop wizard (actually Photoshop minus 101 is about my level) but I just had to try to make this pencil when I found it here: http://psd.tutsplus.com/drawing/how-to-create-a-super-shiny-pencil-icon/

The tutsplus.com site has the most amazing free Photoshop tutorials. Never ceases to amaze me what cool things people do in Photoshop. I struggle to know where to begin sometimes but these guys break it down and make it so easy to follow.

You’ll notice how I conveniently haven’t posted my own effort here. As I said, photoshop isn’t my thing so my effort wasn’t pretty! But I’d love to see some of your own work if you did manage it

If you’re building your site on WordPress you’ll know that trying to choose a WordPress theme is a bit like sending a 25 year old single guy to a ‘Looking for Love’ convention for women.

The choice is vast and no sooner have you found one that you think is just perfect then you find yet another ‘10 Best WordPress Themes’ articles. There you were, ready to settle down and choose a WordPress theme and suddenly you’re back into a downloading, uploading and activating frenzy all over again. Or am I the only serial theme hopper here?

Anyway, somehow one night in a ‘10 Best Wordpress Themes’ frenzy I stumbled upon the StudioPress site and ended up purchasing the Lifestyle theme.  And I can honestly say I am now a reformed theme-a-holic.

Yes it was $60 which but I’ve definitely had value for money there. There is no way I could have designed that theme for that price for a start! But over the weeks that I have used it I’ve really started to appreciate it more and more.

So, top 3 features for me?

1. It’s pretty & professional

Simple, stylish but with just enough design features to keep it interesting.

2. It’s simple to customise

The style sheet is set out very logically if you’re looking to make changes. I won’t lie here, you definitely do need to know a little over a smidge of code but it’s easy to learn that as you go along.

3. Video tutorials

It has a whole series of super simple, video tutorials. Can’t speak highly enough of these and wold love to see more of them added.

4. The price

Yes, it’s $60 more than a free theme. But where else can you get a professional deisgner to develop your site and be available to support it for that little?

5. The support forums are top notch.

This is what sets StudioPress apart for me. No matter what theme you choose there will invaribly be times that you have to customise in the actual code and this can be hairy. People are so helpful .. you are encoraged to post the URL of your site and they will take a look and tell you exactly where your code is wrong, the exact file you need to edit etc. How cool is that?

But, even with the tutorials and forum support you will invariably still find yourself spending hours customising and tweaking your site. I’ve probably spent 50 hours minimum on this one.

But you know what. I’ve realised that that is not specific to this Lifestyle theme. All themes need that kind of love and attention to get them humming along. And now that I’ve stopped the ‘grass is always greener’ kind of approach and settled on one we’re getting along just fine and I can definitely see us growing old together

Who would have thought there was a life lesson in a simple WordPress theme?

I’m firmly in the former camp. Maybe it’s because I lean towards liking modern houses but I just think there is something uber cool about these uniquely styled, durable polycarbonate babies!

And, if you’re the kind of person who is a bit chair obsessed like me, check out guardian.co.uk for their list of top 10 iconic chairs.