How to Make Your Tumblr Page Look Cool

Some might call it magic while others may not quite be able to identify the elements that attract them to a Tumblr page. Study cool ones and you’ll discover elements of persuasion, beauty, knowledge and fun. Many people who create cool Tumblr pages aren’t professional graphic artists, programmers or marketing gurus. Learn a few quick tips, tap into your own creative genius and you can begin making your own mark in the seemingly infinite Tumblr universe.

Design in Real Time

Click the “Configure” button on your Tumblr Dashboard and you’ll view the Customize Theme page where you can tweak your page’s appearance. Change a few of the settings in the page’s left panel and watch as the preview panel displays your updates. Click “Background,” for instance, and you can choose a new color for your page's background. Other buttons let you change your page's fonts. When you’re happy with a look, click “Save” to save your changes.

Add Sizzle to Your Sidebar

Many of the cool elements you see on Tumblr lie in a page's sidebar. You can add text to yours by visiting your Customize Theme page and typing something interesting in the Description box. You're also free to paste HTML and JavaScript code into that box. For example, if you want to put an image in your sidebar, paste an HTML <img> tag into the Description box. You could also paste HTML <a> tags if you want links to appear in your side bar.

Let Others Do the Hard Work

If you don't know HTML, you can find code that other's have written by searching the Web for Tumblr widgets. Sites such as YouTube let you copy code you can paste into your Description box. This is an excellent way to show visitors your favorite videos. If you'd like a music player in your side panel, visit Spotify or similar music sites that have code you can add to your side panel.

Pull Out All the Stops

If you know a little HTML, you can make your page even cooler by updating your Tumblr template. Visit Tumblr’s help page that discusses themes and you’ll see the same information that people use to create and modify themes you see on Tumblr. After you learn how Tumblr structures its HTML, you can change just about every aspect of your page. You’ll be able to add a navigation bar, use images as titles, change your background and perform other tricks that make Tumblr blogs appeal to Tumblr fans.