Thread: Custom Made Buttons Tip

Hi everybody,

many of us have been using the standard buttons provided with BV for our Nav Bar. In some cases, ready made buttons just don't suit our needs or our site style. Someone has tricky-solved the problem by using an image as a button, that is linking the image to the page url. However this has an inconvenient: You have to either embbed the text to your image, so you have to create a lot of different button images, one for every link, or you have to put the button text over your image, which lets you with a"dead" area over the button, that is an area where the link dosn't work.

But it is really easy to create a button image that you can save in the BV library, so you can always use the same button for your Nav Bar and change directly the text content, style and size.
These are the steps you have to follow:

1. Create your button image, as you like it. You will need a graphics program to do that: Photoshop, Corel, Paint or other. In this example I will use - I hope with her permission - a ready button image found at http://www.sleepybumblebee.girlonthehill.co.uk/ by Girl On The Hill, a member of our forum.
Im'm using it because I liked it very much. These are the images:

for the main button image

for the mouseover image

Of course you may create any other button image, or even use a picture.

It is important that the height/lenght ratio of your image is suitable for your site needs. It is NOT important to have it already in the final dimensions. You can use PIXResizer to resize it afterwards

2. Save the images as button.jpg and button_over.jpg

3. At this point, if it is required, resize your images to their final size. Usually lenght is 120 - 140 pixels, height is 20 - 40 pixels.

4. Save the images in the BV button library folder: it usually is C\programs\BlueVoda Website Builder\navbar.

You are done! You can use the BV Nav bar and going in Style, choose your new button images for normal and mouseover. One more tip: if you save them in the library under the names of 0_button.jpg and 0_button_over.jpg, they will appear first in the list of available buttons

Sorry *****, posted in the wrong forum.Please move it

That's so cool. Thank you for that little lesson it's really useful! I'll go and have a go now. I've got other domains in the pipeline and it'll be great for them too. You're a star!

Originally Posted by Girlonthehill

That's so cool. Thank you for that little lesson it's really useful! I'll go and have a go now. I've got other domains in the pipeline and it'll be great for them too. You're a star!

Thanks for all the beautiful words. I loved your buttons, that's why i tried to find a way to build really custom made buttons. LOL

Hi again,
I've had a go and it works perfectly. You can also use .gif file types in the same way. Thank you again.

Originally Posted by Girlonthehill

Hi again,
I've had a go and it works perfectly. You can also use .gif file types in the same way. Thank you again.

I've seen your new buttons alread!. Beautiful and without the "dead zone". Cheers!

so this makes the images work as buttons even in the area witht he text over it?

Originally Posted by chucklemouth07

so this makes the images work as buttons even in the area witht he text over it?

Exactly, and not only. This way you use that image directly in your menu bar, just as with the ready BV buttons

Hi, I have my site up and running thanks to you Sangiorgiositalianbistro.com but now I have another problem. I would like to add paypal to my website and I added a gift certificate button to my site and I think I followed the directions at paypal but it is not working. Would you be able to help thanks Lucia

oops i think i posted in wrong thread

Originally Posted by italianbistro

Hi, I have my site up and running thanks to you Sangiorgiositalianbistro.com but now I have another problem. I would like to add paypal to my website and I added a gift certificate button to my site and I think I followed the directions at paypal but it is not working. Would you be able to help thanks Lucia

oops i think i posted in wrong thread

Hi Lucia,

your button just loops in your own page. Usually Paypal button codes are kind of forms with hidden fields that identify you and redirect to the appropriate page on Paypal sit. I didn't see anything like that in your page code, so it's quite sure that you missed something from Paypal instructions. The usual way to get a Paypal button is that you fill in your data in their site, define the kind of payment, and then you download a piece of code from them that you have to insert in your page using a html box. Did you do all this?

yes i did but it did not work I will try again................how does the site look to you??

Originally Posted by italianbistro

yes i did but it did not work I will try again................how does the site look to you??

Can I mail you? if you go here you can contact me through my form, so you can give me your email

I tried to go through your form but it did not go thru OF COURSE you can email me at xxxxxxxxxxxx thank you sooooooooo very much Lucia

Originally Posted by italianbistro

I tried to go through your form but it did not go thru OF COURSE you can email me at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx thank you sooooooooo very much Lucia

Ok, i'll mail you later. Now just give me a sign you have read this and i'll delete your message. No good thing having email adress on the forum